One in three women worldwide faces violence. We should be angry. Pic courtesy: Breakthrough India Women have been told to be many things – patient, accommodating, docile even. Now, for the first time on an international platform, they are being told to be angry. Not that they needed prompting. Anger was in evidence at the regional Beijing +25 conference held this week in Bangkok where UN Women deputy executive director Anita Bhatia told an audience of 500 ministers, policy-makers and civil rights organisers from 35 countries, “Be angry. Ask your government for change.” She was speaking at the launch of…

Perhaps the biggest transformation has taken place in rural India where in 2016, 70% of 18-year-olds were already in college. But do they want daughters to pursue careers? That’s another story. The surge of women and girls in education is an ongoing trend that every year makes tiny, but significant, gains(PTI) To call Sunita Khokar’s resume impressive is an understatement. Khokar, the daughter of a farmer who never saw the inside of a classroom, has a list of degrees that includes three MAs (economics, political science and sociology), a B.Ed, an M.Ed and an MPhil. And, yes, she’s currently working…

More girls than ever before are now studying. But this is not necessarily translating into jobs. Creative Commons/bthomso To call Sunita Khokar’s resume impressive is an understatement. Khokar, the daughter of a farmer who never saw the inside of a classroom, has a list of degrees that includes three MAs (economics, political science and sociology), a B.Ed, an M.Ed and an MPhil. And, yes, she’s currently working on her PhD. Khokar, 41, married with two children, would certainly figure in the government’s latest findings on higher education where the gap between women and men is at its lowest. Female enrolment…

A conversation that began post the December 16 Delhi gangrape has grown louder. We may be miles away from a world free of sexual assault, but we are certainly a few notches closer If India’s MeToo movement has achieved anything, it is awareness, among corporates and employees, of the law; among predatory bosses that it’s #TimesUp; among women of the power of their collective voice(AP) So, was it worth it, after all? One year after India’s MeToo movement, it isn’t out of place to paraphrase TS Eliot’s existential question. On the face of it, there is plenty to be depressed…

A conversation that began after the 2012 Delhi gangrape has grown louder. We may be miles away from a world free of sexual violence, but we are certainly a few notches closer. Pic taken by Namita Bhandare during the 2013 protests in Delhi So, was it worth it, after all? One year after India’s MeToo movement, it isn’t out of place to paraphrase TS Eliot’s existential question. On the face of it, there is plenty to be depressed about. A law student who has accused former minister Chinmayanand of raping her had to threaten suicide over the failure of the…

Concerns about a national law on population revolve around two questions. Will it be coercive and will it further skew our already precarious sex ratio? Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of India’s ‘population explosion’ in his Independence Day speech, an RSS-backed organisation declared that there was no need for sex education in schools. It’s an astonishing stand in a country where 240 million girls are married before 18 and only 7.1% of married women between the ages 15-19 use contraception. Awareness of birth control (along with sex education) is a key driver to fulfilling the PM’s assertion that…

Underlying the BJP’s concern about a ‘population explosion’ is a false belief that one community, Muslims, are reproducing at a faster rate than others. Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of India’s ‘population explosion’ in his Independence Day speech, an RSS-backed organisation declared that there was no need for sex education in schools. It’s an astonishing stand in a country where 240 million girls are married before 18 and only 7.1% of married women between the ages 15-19 use contraception. Awareness of birth control (along with sex education) is a key driver to fulfilling the PM’s assertion that keeping…

Despite the hardships they face, teenage girls are pushing back for change Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, before starting her journey across the Atlantic to New York where she will attend the UN Climate Action Summit next month(AFP) One is on a zero-carbon Atlantic voyage to attend climate change conferences in New York. Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old activist who inspired a global youth movement, has reported dolphin sightings – and, mercifully, no sea sickness, yet. Another, in Samastipur, Bihar, triggers a movement just by saying no to marriage. In a state where 39.1% of girls marry before they turn 18,…

Despite the hardships they face, teenage girls are on a mission to save the world. Representational Image One is on a zero-carbon Atlantic voyage to attend climate change conferences in New York. Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old activist who inspired a global youth movement, has reported dolphin sightings – and, mercifully, no sea sickness, yet. Another, in Samastipur, Bihar, triggers a movement just by saying no to marriage. In a state where 39.1% of girls marry before they turn 18, the 16-year-old tells her parents she’d rather study. With support from Child Rights and You (CRY), she is now inspiring others…

Women who speak up against sexual assault will almost always sought to be silenced by men who are backed by institutional support. When classics professor Mary Beard tells the story of Tereus who, in Greek mythology, cuts off the tongue of Philomena after raping her, it is to point to a particularly grisly example of how women were silenced in ancient culture. That culture persists. Evidence lies in a Delhi hospital where the Unnao rape survivor and her lawyer remain on life support after the car they were travelling in was crushed by a truck, killing two other women in…

From Unnao to Wayanad, the lesson is clear. Women who speak up against sexual assault are sought to be silenced by men who are backed by institutional support People rally in solidarity with the Unnao rape victim, New Delhi, July 29. The Unnao case is a chilling demonstration of what happens when women speak up(AFP) When classics professor Mary Beard tells the story of Tereus who, in Greek mythology, cuts off the tongue of Philomena after raping her, it is to point to a particularly grisly example of how women were silenced in ancient culture. That culture persists. Evidence lies…

Most Indian women athletes face hurdles — from gender bias (girls can’t play; it’s unseemly; they will become dark) to lack of opportunity. In many cases, they must also grapple with poverty In many cases, Indian women athletes must grapple with poverty. Hima Das, who brought home four gold medals in 15 days, is the daughter of a farmer(Getty Images for IAAF) As Monika Kumari begins a two-week, all-female scientific wilderness expedition to Mount Baker, an active volcano, in Washington, USA, she might want to consider the distance she ha s come. Hutup village, Jharkhand, where she lives, is over…