In the 70th year of our Independence, a new generation of women, unwilling to be victims, is speaking up and saying ‘enough’. The Chandigarh stalking has received more than usual attention, some of it because one of the two men accused, Vikas Barala, is the son of the state’s BJP chief. But much of it is also is to do with what happened afterwards and the unflinching quest for justice by the woman they allegedly targeted. Varnika Kundu stood her ground as assorted politicians, lawyers and unclejis asked the usual questions — why was she driving so late at night?…

Among the dozen women extraordinary women awarded for transforming India is an amputee mountaineer, an acid attack survivor, an educator and India’s first blade runner Arunima Sinha, the first women amputee to conquer Mount Everest (file photo). She is one of the achievers awarded by Niti Aayog, MyGov and the United Nations.(Hindustan Times) Before she left her village to catch a flight to Delhi, Sunita Kamble’s grandmother had some advice for her: Don’t talk to strangers, follow instructions and, above all, don’t wave your hand out of the window. Nobody in Kamble’s family had ever seen the inside of an…

You see women employed everywhere, in ad agencies and start-ups, on construction sites and in fields. But if the number of women who quit jobs in India between 2004-05 and 2011-12 was a city, it would be the third-most populated in the world. Hariben Matiya, an Indian woman who has been working for decades as a porter — traditionally a man’s job in India, pushes a trolley at the Bhavnagar railway station in Gujarat state.(AP File Photo) In the first four months of 2017, a nugget of information went by unnoticed: While jobs for men increased by 0.9 million, 2.4…

Between 1993-94 and 2011-12, India’s female labour force participation fell by 11.4% from 42.6% to 31.2%. The inordinate burden of household work that falls on women and girls in India might be a reason why they have been consistently dropping out of jobs. A trainer giving instructions to a class of women learning to ride a two-wheeler vehicle.(IndiaSpend/Namita Bhandare) There’s a great deal of giggling at Nikhil Kalelkar’s class for two-wheel riders. “If you’re passing a person who is handling an animal that looks like it might get out of control, how will you respond?” asked Kalelkar. “Will you slow…

College campuses must breed productive citizens – not by placing battle tanks on their premises but by teaching students to question authority The VC’s suggestion comes straight from the rightwing playbook of JNU as the site of anti-national behaviour (not to mention excessive condom use). After all, it’s only anti-nationals who need a dose of patriotism.(Saumya Khandelwal/HT File Photo) I’m trying figure out which one of the two is more outrageous: that a university should be considered an appropriate location for an Army tank, or that the suggestion should have come from its own vice chancellor. If Jawaharlal Nehru University’s…

College campuses must breed productive citizens – not by placing battle tanks on their premises but by teaching students to question authority. I’m trying figure out which one of the two is more outrageous: that a university should be considered an appropriate location for an Army tank, or that the suggestion should have come from its own vice chancellor. If Jawaharlal Nehru University’s vice chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar gets his wish, we might soon have a weapon of war on its grounds. This presumably will remind ‘thousands of students about the great sacrifices and valour of our Indian army’ as they…

In India, the intersection between morality and medicine can make a visit to the gynaecologist harrowing for unmarried women Most women, married or not, will only see a gynecologist when they are pregnant — or trying to be. For most – even those with the means to healthcare — the idea of a routine checkup or health screening is alien. (Photo for representational purposes only)(Shutterstock) She panicked when she thought she might be pregnant. She couldn’t tell her parents; had heard horror stories about doctors. “I was too scared to even buy a DIY pregnancy kit,” says the unmarried, final…

In India, the intersection between morality and medicine can make a visit to the gynecologist harrowing for unmarried women. She panicked when she thought she might be pregnant. She couldn’t tell her parents; had heard horror stories about doctors. “I was too scared to even buy a DIY pregnancy kit,” says the unmarried, final year college student. Those harrowing days were finally dispelled with the arrival of a late period. Not every story ends so happily. In a country where sex is taboo and virginity is prized, unmarried women who have to visit the gynecologist often end up receiving large…

Governments, like citizens, need to be brave. If one woman in a wheelchair can speak up then surely countries must step up. A nation’s progress is not merely measured in terms of GDP but also in terms of inclusion and acceptance. She has five tattoos and, under her baseball cap, hair coloured ash blue. Born with spina bifida, she often travels alone in her wheelchair. In the Rio Paralympics she took a bronze in the 100m breaststroke but was a Singaporean icon well before that. Yet, the one reason to listen to Theresa Goh is this: Her bravery. Goh laughs…

Governments, like citizens, need to be brave. If one woman in a wheelchair can speak up then surely countries must step up. A nation’s progress is not merely measured in terms of GDP but also in terms of inclusion and acceptance Bronze medallist Rui Si Theresa Goh of Singapore poses for the photographs on the podium at the medal ceremony for Women’s 100m Breaststroke in Rio de Janeiro. Goh is one of three brand ambassadors at Singapore’s annual LGBTQ rally, Pink Dot, now in its ninth year. The event, being held today, is a reminder that Singapore, like India, criminalises…

Removing GST from sanitary napkins and menstrual hygiene products is only one of many issues we need to address when talking about menstruation Recyclable sanitary napkins being made at a processing unit at Goonj,Delhi. Most sanitary napkins available in the market are non-biodegradable and are difficult to dispose(Saumya Khandelwal/HT) Hay, dried leaves, straw. Nature’s bounty? Hardly. These are just some of the innovative blotters used by many Indian girls and women who menstruate. That word itself; so troublesome, so awkward. Perhaps that’s why we choose to keep mum over a natural biological process experienced every month by 336 million Indian…

Removing GST from sanitary napkins and menstrual hygiene products is only one of many issues we need to address when talking about menstruation. Hay, dried leaves, straw. Nature’s bounty? Hardly. These are just some of the innovative blotters used by many Indian girls and women who menstruate. That word itself; so troublesome, so awkward. Perhaps that’s why we choose to keep mum over a natural biological process experienced every month by 336 million Indian girls and women. This enforced culture of secrecy comes at a price. Nearly half of all girls have absolutely no knowledge about menstruation when they get…