Men say they are scared by this new environment. Far too many women have lived in fear of the old environment. It’s time to pack the dinosaurs off to the museum. I hear a great lament these days. Aggressive women are killing romance in the workplace with their flurry of complaints (young corporate executive) Come […]
Time to say ‘enough’ to sexual harassment Read More »
Gloria Steinem, one of feminism’s most influential voices, on the state of the women’s movement, and her enduring connection with India. I am putting together Gloria Steinem’s first-ever pani-puri, and a great deal of care has gone into its making: cracking the puri, stuffing the filling and adding the chutneys with what I can only hope is a
Gloria Steinem | The galvanizer Read More »
Political parties are slowly realising that women constitute the largest vote-bank and they need to at least look concerned. But, dressed-up manifestos and sops like saris and pressure cookers won’t cut it any longer. I am a woman. When I vote, I do not cast my ballot because my husband tells me to vote for
I will vote as a woman Read More »
In just a month’s time, it will be one year to the brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi. The incidence that shook the collective conscience of the nation has inspired a documentary film, which was screened recently in the Capital. In just a month’s time, it will be one year to the brutal
Documenting the politics of rape Read More »
The national conversation, dominated by temples, toilets, has no patience for stories of Dalit women who face humiliation daily. Given the measly media coverage, their stories cause no outrage. The national conversation, dominated by temples, toilets, has no patience for stories of Dalit women who face humiliation daily. Given the measly media coverage, their stories
At stake is the dignity of Dalit women Read More »
The juvenile justice system needs many changes to reflect social reality. This is what worries me. Three years or two years or how so ever many months from now, the juvenile who at 17 years and six months of age gang-raped, brutalised and eventually killed a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in December will walk free. We
They’re not minor offences Read More »
Despite numerous attacks, there are no street protests demanding justice for the victims of acid violence. No campaigns for the basic demand for the ban of acid sales. Speaking in a clear, sing-song tone, Laxmi says she cannot forget that day on April 22, 2005 when acid was thrown on her face. The man who
A life of pain and penury Read More »
In India we are leap years away from giving women a just work environment. The unlamentable fall of Phaneesh Murthy should have been a clear signal of zero tolerance by managements towards sexual harassment. The collective tut-tutting by the IT industry — ‘message to all leaders in business’, ‘right decision’ etc — should have come
An inconvenient truth Read More »
Our failure to protest loudly enough makes us complicit with weak governance. It’s a silence that threatens democratic ideas and places every citizen, regardless of ideology, at peril. The right to be offended is now an all-inclusive Indian sport that unites citizens from Tamil Nadu to Kashmir, Jaipur to Kolkata, women, Dalits, Muslim, Hindus. The
Quiet in times of intolerance Read More »