Mahua liquor is a traditional brew for many tribal communities. While Madhya Pradesh encourages its production and sale by Scheduled Tribes, the crackdown against NT-DNT communities under the excise act is exceptionally harsh
Mahua liquor is a traditional brew for many tribal communities. While Madhya Pradesh encourages its production and sale by Scheduled Tribes, the crackdown against NT-DNT communities under the excise act is exceptionally harsh
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the municipal commissioner has introduced a mandatory digital attendance system through a private app. ASHA workers, who are not considered government employees, are also forced to mark attendance thrice a day
This week in BehanVox: a conversation on Dalit History Month, UK’s decision to screen ‘Adolescence’ in schools, and stories of female construction workers struggling to access maternity schemes.
What does Urban Company’s ‘Insta Help’ service mean for India’s unique domestic labour market? We spoke to scholar Sai Amulya Komarraju for answers
Migrant female construction workers in Ahmedabad face immense challenges accessing maternity benefits and healthcare due to lack of documentation, poor living conditions, and exploitation by contractors
Our weekly newsletter BehanVox brings you our top stories, gender news from the world, and our team’s reading recommendations. Hello, and welcome back to BehanVox. We […]
Our monthly newsletter with all things behind the scenes. Want to explore more newsletters? Our weekly digest BehanVox and monthly Postcard invite you, the reader, into […]
Last month, the government released a factsheet of the key findings from the Time Use Survey conducted in 2024. The survey, with crucial data on how women spend their days is also sensitive to errors
Uniforms are a path to social identity and status, but they can become an imposition when detached from women’s social contexts and needs
This week in BehanVox: life on Powai’s footpaths, ASHA workers’ ongoing strike, and the politics of hope.
This month in Postcards: a feminist march, cookbook for one, and women’s labour powering papal decision making.
Shortages of emergency contraceptive pills and the CM’s call for larger families – there is now a question mark over the state’s acclaimed reproductive health policies
Thrown out of their homes eight months ago in a demolition drive, the women of Jai Bhim Nagar are fighting for their right to housing. They are also reclaiming spaces to keep their cultural identity alive
Since 1959, multiple bills have been introduced to provide legal protection for domestic workers, but all of them have failed. Lack of political will and conflict of interest erode the rights of the most marginalised women in India
In Pardhi bastis, suicide is so common that it is normalised by the community. Constant encounters with institutional violence, bias and poverty leave women with little hope for a better future
From containing viral outbreaks to collecting data for its various projects, ASHA workers are a critical part of Kerala’s lauded public health system. But the state does not value their work enough, say the health workers now on strike
For five years now, Arya Pujari, a trans woman, has been relentlessly pursuing her dream of joining the police. Her struggle ties in with the transgender community’s demand for reservations in government jobs
Climate disasters are wrecking crops and inflicting heavy losses on farmers. Natural farming methods – organic inputs, multi-cropping, and indigenous seeds – is helping Gujarat’s women farmers find a solution to this crisis
Despite 30 years of local resistance, the government has pushed through the approvals for India’s largest port. Behind it lie systemic efforts to dismantle special protection given to an eco-fragile area
Improved soil health is one of the key reasons for promoting natural farming. But women who do most of the work on farms, have limited control over land and are unable to invest successfully in it
Sheila Dikshit was voted back thrice to office; Sushma Swaraj and Atishi came in briefly in times of political turbulence. But each made a place in the capital’s political history with their individual strengths
When Shruti first moved to Delhi from Kerala as a student, she was thrilled to find a bus system with a stop close to her accommodation. […]
The manner in which the young garland seller from the NT-DNT community was harassed and ultimately forced to flee the Kumbh Mela shows a disregard for their right to dignity, privacy and a safe workplace
In its election manifestos, the Aam Aadmi Party has always promised better wage and work conditions for the city’s informal workers. But the implementation of existing policies has been inadequate
Ahead of the polls for the Delhi legislative assembly, our data dive exposes how the capital city fares on key parameters
The crises faced by Kathputli Colony’s families, displaced by an interminable redevelopment project, point to the capital city’s struggle to provide affordable housing
In popular culture, Delhi often remains a cliche. You rarely see its informal women workers except as footnotes. We have compiled here a list of films, books and art works where their unseen lives are recorded with veracity and compassion
Who do you hold accountable for Delhi’s governance? Is it the AAP-led state government, the BJP-led central government that commands the Delhi Police, Delhi Development Authority […]
Our Feminist Elections Newsroom brings the focus back to the people of Delhi – the migrants, contract workers, women who yearn for safety and countless others who build and breathe life into the city.
The government’s push for natural farming is rooted in cow-centric policies. But creating a science-based information ecosystem is key to empowering women farmers
Many villages in this Himalayan state have had their fortunes turned around by all-woman Gram Panchayats.
Sexual and reproductive rights of women do feature in the election agenda of political parties but only those that do not defy established social norms
Pensions and access to healthcare schemes could have benefitted thousands of widows who settle in Vrindavan but isolation, apathy and red tape get in the way
We asked women who we report on and are inspired by to tell us what or who gives them hope, or what they would like to see change in 2025. These are their stories.
Team BehanBox parses through the news and noise of 2024 to find tales of caution, care, and hope.
Vocalist and trainer Shilpa Mudbi talks about art, artist, and appropriation of Dalit music and culture
Dalit women’s leadership not just reshaped the feminist movement but drove powerful alliances. Why then do we still have to answer the question: ‘What is caste?’
Most women interviewed for a study said they had little say in a range of issues from contraception to pre natal care
Analyses of the assembly polls in Maharashtra miss the emergent political agency of women voters by stressing only on women-centric schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana
Studies have shown that criminalisation of child marriage and the excessive use of force to prevent have not been effective solutions to the problem. Questions around poverty, education and the adolescent agency also need to be addressed
Women, especially from the Adivasi community, turned out to vote in record numbers and voted for the return of Hemant Soren’s JMM. We look at a slew of reasons that likely influenced their electoral participation and decision
The recent death of a beauty worker with Urban Company has raised questions about the practices at aggregator platforms – the promise of flexibility and freedom comes bundled with exploitative and coercive work conditions
Smaller states in India have a better record of women’s representation in their assembly. In Maharashtra, the gender skew is glaring – few contest, fewer win and those who do often have family backing
Maharashtra scores 23 out of 100, a disturbingly low score, in its public healthcare systems according to a recent report released by Jan Arogya Abhiyan—a coalition […]
Our FEN is back. And here’s why we believe this matters to you as much as it does to us.
Maharashtra has an unemployment crisis. The overall rate of unemployment is 2.7, slightly higher than it was five years ago. For the state’s young rural women […]
The 14th Maharashtra Assembly rammed through 1000 crucial resolutions in the last days but was visibly silent on crucial development issues
On August 19, the Kerala government released a redacted version of the Hema Committee report which exposed the structural violence that exists in the Malayalam film […]
The leaders’s campaign is awash with pink in a bid to reach out to women voters and to position himself as their big brother and benefactor
A creative initiative using literature and visual arts hopes to educate and sensitise medical students and practitioners about gender-affirmative care
A few days ago, news surfaced about the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) planning to recommend a ban on the over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptive pills […]
Four dancers have been booked and 21 have been virtually banned over accusations of ‘obscenity’. Despite court rulings, obscenity laws continue to police women’s bodies
In poll-bound Haryana, women’s political identity has been historically shaped by patriarchal, kinship, and gender norms. But their role in the protest movements of the last few years is making a difference
Does the entrenched notion of masculine solidarity in the military create room for misogynistic behaviour? In view of a recent case, we look at how these attitudes impact the effective application of sexual harassment laws
The findings in the latest labour force survey indicate that the rising aspirations of educated rural women are not matched by opportunities in non-agricultural work
The boundaries of individual and collective blur in this account of her journey, as an individual, woman, and activist and the member of a unique collective
In the face of rising right-wing hostility in western Maharashtra, women academics are pushing back, asserting their right to freedom of speech
Political parties in the state are still reluctant to field women candidates because they do not believe in their winnability in a politically charged environment
Communal polarisation is gathering pace in the state, with right wing organisations resuming campaigns around what they call land jihad. Vishalgad and its Muslim residents are among the latest victims of this hate campaign
Fueled by public demands for quick justice, and pushed through hastily with no effort at addressing systemic issues, these laws cannot bring real change, say experts
Opacity surrounded the outcomes of the BJP-led NDA government’s flagship scheme for girl children. Data on sex ratio and education do not show significant changes
A trans girl in Guwahati battled hostility and harassment in her early school years but found strength in her parents’ unwavering support, love and care. Recently expelled from school for posting a bikini photo, her parents are pushing back
Long distances to medical facilities, shortage of women doctors and frustrating bureaucratic hurdles discourage women workers in the garment sector from accessing the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme
For decades, women film workers in the Kerala film industry have been dealing with exploitative work conditions, inequalities and sexual harassment. What shook up the complacent club run by powerful men is a band of tenacious women
With no clarity on trans women beneficiaries, and the many hurdles to establishing gender identity, the Ladki Bahin scheme is becoming exclusionary
Tamil Nadu boasts fantastic gender indicators but some subjects still remain a taboo, which shows that deep-set social attitudes take longer to change
Two of Delhi’s biggest government hospitals are right in Afreen’s backyard. But her struggle to access healthcare for her husband when he had a stroke underlines why the government needs to spend more on health
Women doctors, nurses, paramedics and administrative staff who work late shifts have always been vulnerable to violence because little thought is given to ensuring safe work spaces for them
A polythene bag clasped over their head is all the protection many domestic workers and women vendors have against heavy coastal monsoons
When women are diagnosed with cancer, a common concern is this — how will they cope with the needs of both care and caregiving? They also have to face the possibility of neglect and abandonment
In 2017, a 15-year-old Adivasi student in Odisha’s Cuttack district was raped by a group of men wearing police uniforms as she was returning from the […]
Jaat panchayats that routinely impose brutal and humiliating punishments on women for defying caste norms should have been a thing of the past. But they continue to operate with impunity, say activists
With the state indifferent to their demands for better wages and their workload heavier by one more scheme, Anganwadi workers in Maharashtra are protesting again. But their resistance tactics have changed
Rs 4 to feather a dozen shuttlecocks, Rs 35 to stitch a football, Rs 62 to tack together six panels of a rugby ball – that is what home-based women workers are paid to keep the booming sports good industry of the city in business.
Unlike the rest of the world, women’s life expectancy fell by more years than men’s and that of marginalised communities fell more sharply in the first year of the pandemic. This skew, say, researchers can be traced to social inequalities
What was it like for an Indian woman in the early 20th century to travel for pleasure? In this essay excerpted from Zubaan’s new book, Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women, early Bengali feminist Begum Rokeya offers insights
Pregnancy can exacerbate pre existing health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune conditions and cancer. But even women in vulnerable health are often pressured to conceive, especially if they have yet to deliver a son
The blockades mounted by community vigilantes in Manipur make it hard for critical relief material, especially medicines, to reach relief camps. It is the women and the children who suffer the most
Forests, water-bodies, flowers, tubers and bears have disappeared from the biodiversity rich villages of Koraput because of climate change. The women are trying to draft a map to understand the loss and plan ahead for conservation
Gender based violence, caste discrimination and forced labour practices are rife in Indian garment factories. In Tamil Nadu, Theivanai Maruthai, a young Dalit woman trade union leader is trying to change this
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center When I first met Amrita Singh at Gadge Maharaj Dharamshala, a subsidised hostel for cancer patients close to the […]
She is an Adivasi leader, an activist, a farmer, a migrant labourer and an eager student. But the only descriptor the police have for her is ‘Maoist’
Stigmatised and doubted when they report sexual violence, women from NT DNT communities are never informed about the resources the state provides to rape survivors
A doctor and a once-NEET aspirant provides an insider perspective on what the ongoing exam crisis means for the healthcare system and especially for women aspirants who have to constantly deal with the pressure to start family life
Indian beauticians occupy a cultural niche in the beauty salons of Paris. This provides vulnerable migrant women an entry into a labour market that is otherwise inhospitable to them
This story is supported by the Pulitzer CenterThe flow of patients is incessant at the outpatient departments of the Gujarat Cancer Research Institute (GCRI). The tertiary […]
Extreme heat during the days and the fear of harassment at night – homeless women face a relentless battle for survival and sleep
Elderly women who fear this will be their last vote, women from minority communities keen to back democratic norms – missing from the electoral list these women feel deprived of their right to vote in what was a historic election
The delivery deadlines of fashion brands and suppliers make no allowance for women who are forced to work in peak summer with poor access to water, sanitation and healthcare
A single mother of two, this e-rickshaw driver in Tinsukia says life is a daily struggle to balance earnings and expense
The catchy title apart, the Lakhpati Didi initiative has not really been able to increase income generation among beneficiaries
An offline registration process and better outreach could help, say labour rights activists
Odisha’s scheme to increase workdays under MGNREGA has run into systemic challenges, resulting in poor uptake, especially of women workers
The only way to fob off matrimony and find independence is to ensure that you land a government job, say young women at a Rohtak campus
Aditi, a member of the Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India, has contested elections multiple times at both local and national levels but has never won. She says that winning was never the point
Carrying the burden of an eight-year-old debt, 50-year-old Karuna Kale from Madhya Pradesh’s Barwaha almost broke down while talking about the financial condition of her household
Women activists from all the parties that allied to forge the Maha Vikas Aghadi are campaigning with a never-before show of solidarity
Job insecurity, random transfers, non-payment of wages, and lack of benefits are hurting contractual teachers, of whom 55% are women
The small business run by the Paswan family survives through relentless work. Even after 30 years of this, the only way to make ends meet and save some money is by limiting expenses to necessities
From women belonging to nomadic tribes to cane-cutters, small social and workers’ groups are presenting their charter of demands to politicians and parties contesting the ongoing elections
When politicians promise to pay for care work they are putting a value on unpaid labour but they also end up reinforcing social norms about ‘women’s work’
A cinema outing, books, dreams of personal space – every joy, big and small, has to be put off, says a young social activist, in the face of inflation
In 15 of the 86 constituencies where the general elections will be held tomorrow, more than 30% of voters are impacted by the Forest Rights Act. We look at how the loss of forests impacts the lives and livelihoods of Adivasi women
