Why ‘Obscenity’ Case Against Kolhapur Dancers Is Policing Women’s Bodies

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


To Be A Woman In Haryana Politics

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


Why Armed Forces Struggle To Provide Safe Workspaces For Women

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


More Women In India’s Labour Force Now But In Low-Paying Or Unpaid Work

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


Aruna Roy’s Memoir, A Must-Read In Times of Shrinking Democratic Spaces

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


How Maharashtra’s Women Academics Are Resisting The Hate Narrative

In the face of rising right-wing hostility in western Maharashtra, women academics are pushing back, asserting their right to freedom of speech


Why Few Women Are Contesting J & K Polls, Despite Political Resurgence In The State

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


‘Land Jihad’: How Hate Campaigns Turn Vicious In Western Maharashtra

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


Why Instant And Populist Anti-Rape Laws Will Fail To Deliver Justice

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


Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Has Not Caused Any Significant Shifts: Report

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


What Parental Support Means For A 17-year-old Trans Girl In Assam

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


How India’s Employee State Insurance Scheme Lets Down Low-Wage Women Workers

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


It Took A Women’s Collective To Fix The Gender Skew In Malayalam Cinema

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


Transgender women Are Being Excluded From Maharashtra’s Cash Scheme For Women

With no clarity on trans women beneficiaries, and the many hurdles to establishing gender identity, the Ladki Bahin scheme is becoming exclusionary


Why A Roomful Of Bright Young Chennai Women Refused To Discuss Harassment

Tamil Nadu boasts fantastic gender indicators but some subjects still remain a taboo, which shows that deep-set social attitudes take longer to change


What Afreen’s Story Says About Poor Healthcare Funding In India

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


Why The Kolkata Hospital Crime Could Be The Story Of Any Healthcare Worker

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


Monsoon Misery: Why Umbrellas, Rain Footwear Are A Luxury For Working Class Women

A polythene bag clasped over their head is all the protection many domestic workers and women vendors have against heavy coastal monsoons


When Women Have Cancer: Navigating Families, Society and Medicine

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


Why Justice Remains Elusive For Adivasi Victims Of Sexual Violence

 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 […]


Despite Law, Caste Panchayats Still Run Kangaroo Courts In Maharashtra

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


‘Committed To Janata, Not Sarkar’: Protesting Anganwadi Workers In Maharashtra

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


Exploitative Wages, Backbreaking Work: The Home Workers Behind Jalandhar’s Mega Sports Goods Industry

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.


More Women, Adivasis, Dalits and Muslims Died During COVID-19 First Wave

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


A Frog In A Well Seeing the Himalaya

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


How Fertility Preferences Are Killing Women In India

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


Blockades Are Putting Lives Of Women, Children At Risk In Manipur’s Relief Camps

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


In Koraput’s Villages, Women Are Charting A Map For Sustainable Living

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


How This Young Dalit Union Leader Found Her Place In The Union

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


Lack of Knowledge, Agency & Finances: Why Women With Cancer Suffer More

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 […]


Caring and Fierce, Jailed Adivasi Activist Suneeta Pottam Fights Injustice Everyday In Bastar

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’


Rape Survivors From Nomadic Tribes Get No State Support, Compensation Or Counselling

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 Dream Deferred: How The NEET PG Crisis Has Hurt Women Aspirants

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


With Or Without Papers, Indian Beauty Workers Find Work, Freedom In Paris

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


Ignorance and Apathy: Why One Indian Woman Dies of Cervical Cancer Every 7 mins

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 […]


Sleepless On Delhi’s Streets: Homeless Women Are Battling A Brutal Heat Wave

Extreme heat during the days and the fear of harassment at night – homeless women face a relentless battle for survival and sleep


Name Off Rolls, These Women Were Disenfranchised In A Crucial Election

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


In TN’s Garment Factories, Heat Stress Is Leaving Women Workers Sick, Fatigued

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 Trip To The Doctor Means Loss Of Wages, I Can’t Afford That’

A single mother of two, this e-rickshaw driver in Tinsukia says life is a daily struggle to balance earnings and expense


No Income, Unpayable Debts: The Truth Behind PM Modi’s ‘Lakhpati Didis’

The catchy title apart, the Lakhpati Didi initiative has not really been able to increase income generation among beneficiaries


Why Few Informal Workers Know Of A Portal, Meant To Ease Their Access To Welfare Schemes

An offline registration process and better outreach could help, say labour rights activists


Why Not Enough Women Are Benefitting From Odisha’s Rural Employment Boost

Odisha’s scheme to increase workdays under MGNREGA has run into systemic challenges, resulting in poor uptake, especially of women workers


Why Haryana’s Young Women Hope Against Hope For A Government Job

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


Why A Workers’ Rights Activist Has Jumped Into The Electoral Fray

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


‘Our Financial Situation Is So Bad That Our Relatives Have Stopped Visiting’

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


In Maharashtra, Women Activists Of Anti-BJP Front Join Hands ‘For Democracy’

Women activists from all the parties that allied to forge the Maha Vikas Aghadi are campaigning with a never-before show of solidarity


Govt Teaching Jobs: Contractualisation Is Stifling Women’s Aspirations

Job insecurity, random transfers, non-payment of wages, and lack of benefits are hurting contractual teachers, of whom 55% are women


‘Inflation Does Not Allow Us To Be Vulnerable, We Just Work Non-Stop’

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


Women’s Collectives Are Pitching Their Own Manifestos To Parties, Candidates

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


In Poll Season, Why Women’s Care Labour Needs To Be Debated

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’


‘Inflation Does Not Allow Us To Even Aspire For A Better Life’

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


Diversion Of Forests Hits Adivasi Women The Hardest. Here Is Why

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


Those Killed Include Innocents, Say Adivasis Of Recent Anti-Naxal Operation In Bastar

A fortnight before polling in Bastar, security forces killed 13 persons in what it called the biggest anti-Naxal operation since 2017. But at least two of those were Adivasi villagers, one of them a young deaf girl


“My Income Hasn’t Changed In Ten Years, And We Have No Savings”

Whether it is putting off an urgent surgery or making do with 250 gm of fish for her family of four once a month, Lakhya Hira Phukon, like most other poorly-paid ASHA workers, has to balance her domestic budget with extreme care


Rural Jobs Scheme Has Yet To Benefit The Most Marginalised Women Of Maharashtra

Our investigation across eight villages showed just one project available under MGNREGS, forcing women to migrate as far as Odisha in search of work


How Gender, Mobility, and Disability Barriers Prevent Many From Voting In India

At least 986 million Indians should be voting this year. But it is likely the final numbers will be many millions less. We explain why


How Young Women In India Are Carving Space For Themselves In Politics

They don’t helicopter into villages and vamoose. We speak to young women who are political newcomers on how they ensure constant interaction with people


In Govt’s Maternal Health Scheme, Big Gap Between Intent And Reality

Initiatives to make the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana more effective has not quite worked out the way it should, we find


Justice And Normalcy Are Far Dreams For Us, Say Hate Crimes Survivors

These are stories of women whose lives and livelihoods remain ruptured months after they faced sectarian violence


Why Repealing Assam Muslim Marriage Act May Do Little To Empower Women

It will not curb child marriage but may complicate registrations, say experts


‘Sandeshkhali Shows That Women Are Not Passive Beneficiaries of Welfare Schemes’

The fact that they are resisting exploitation ruptures the popular political image of marginalised women, says political scientist Proma Raychaudhury


Despite Laws, Guidelines, Queerphobia Remains Unchecked In Campuses

Students have reported frequent incidents of queerphobia and misogyny in universities. We look at why redressal mechanisms remain ineffective


Cost Of Maternal Healthcare Is Pushing Families Into Debt Trap In Maharashtra

Few women in impoverished packets of rural Maharashtra are aware of government welfare schemes or do not have the documents to access them


In A Forest Amidst Mumbai’s Concrete Jungle, Adivasi Women Are Demanding Their Right To Shelter And Dignity

An ambitious road project is likely to swallow many Adivasi homes in Aarey forest, already the site of many other development projects


‘With UCC, The State Has Become A Father Figure That Sanctions Who We Love’

In a wide-ranging interview on the controversial Uniform Civil Code swiftly pushed through by the Uttarakhand government, feminist legal scholar Surbhi Karwa explains how the law has weaponised the language of women’s rights without actually advancing them


Why This Year’s Interim Gender Budget Is Riddled with Ambiguity

The lack of clarity on exclusion of schemes in previous years, arbitrary increases in scheme allocations, and mismatch in scheme performance and corresponding allocations are concerns


Budget 2024: Empty Declarations, Insufficient Allocations For Key Schemes

Schemes aimed at women did not get the big push they needed, we find


Bribes, Bullying, Sexual Harassment: Why Workers In A Delhi Hospital Want An End To Outsourced Hiring

Striking sanitation workers in Delhi’s Burari Hospital have accused private hiring companies of corrupt practices and sexual harassment


As Ram Mandir Euphoria Peaks, I, A Young Muslim Woman, Am Filled With Dread

In the public discourse around the Mandir, the Muslim voice has been absent. Here is why the community has chosen numbness over articulation


Why A Dalit Woman Is Demanding A Cremation Ground For Dalits In Her Village

In rural Maharashtra, landless Dalit families often struggle to find space to cremate their dead. Pramila Zombade wants that to change


Assam’s Family Size Norm For New Initiative Could Hit Its Marginalised Women Most

Linking economic welfare schemes for women to their family size will further limit women’s participation in work and increase their vulnerabilities, argue experts


How ASHA Workers’ Overwhelming Workload Impacts India’s Healthcare System

The relentless cycle of field and paperwork is affecting their mental health, leaving them prone to errors


Why Maharashtra’s Anganwadi Workers Stir Is Spiralling Into A Livelihood Crisis

Faced with termination and loss of salary, striking Anganwadi workers in the state are living in fear and anxiety


Why Adivasis Of Hasdeo Aranya Are Back On The Streets, Again

Protests to protect one of India’s largest forested corridors has been ongoing for over the past one decade


For Young Women, Savitribai Phule’s Legacy Of Rebellion Is Empowering

The bright red slash of kumkum across her forehead has become a mark of feminist solidarity


Their Roles Ambiguous, ASHA Workers Fight For The Right To Contest Elections

There is state pressure to dissuade frontline health workers from fighting for political office even though they are still hired as ‘honorary volunteers’


Back When Wrestling Was Macho, This Delhi Akhada Began Training Women

Now 40% of the trainees at the Guru Premnath Akhada are women dreaming of making it to the Olympics, mostly from small-town India


When Women Became The Main Spectacle In Manipur’s Civil Conflict

Sangi Duhlian is constantly browsing her phone for updates on the Gaza war on social media. She is anxious and triggered by the war in the […]


Who Is Responsible For Safety Of Domestic Workers At Workplaces?

India has approximately 5.2 million domestic workers according to government data. However, the National Domestic Workers’ Movement (NDWM) estimates the total number in India from anywhere […]


Why The Digital Dream Soured Quickly For Anganwadi Workers

Anganwadi workers says their role has gone from deliverers of schemes to being data collectors for the government


“50, Fat and Frumpy: Our bodies deserve respect”

In conversation with playwright Jyoti Dogra, whose new play Maas discusses patriarchy, capitalism and our bodies


Freedom, Enterprise And Sisterhood: What Women Find At Chaityabhumi

The annual Mahaparinirvan Din means many things for the women who throng the annual event in Mumbai to mark Dr.Ambedkar’s life and work


Kabaddi Means More Than A Game For Women Wage Workers Of Rural Maharashtra

A unique sports event gives women from poor homes the chance to defy gender norms and find sisterhood in play


Why I Want To Put Begamati Zubaan, The Vivid Urdu Of Zenanas, On Stage

Women’s Urdu was pungent, it drew from the world around, and it makes for great theatre


‘Data Breach Affects Women More, Has Chilling Effect On Their Online Participation’

Data breaches not only violate digital boundaries, but also have real-world consequences that disproportionately affect women and marginalised groups, says Radhika Roy of the Internet Freedom Foundation


After Recent Elections, Women’s Share Increases In 4 State Assemblies

Two in five women fielded by major parties won in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana elections


Why Bastar’s Young Adivasi Women Struggle For A University Education

It is difficult for young Adivasis to leave home and head for neighbouring towns or far metros to join universities. For the women, these challenges are multiplied by fear of the city and social biases


Despite New Statehood, Female Representation In Telangana Lags Behind

In the south, Telangana has one of the lowest shares of female MLAs, doing worse than its sibling state Andhra Pradesh


Why The Adivasi Protest Against Mining In Gadchiroli Shows No Sign Of Flagging

Intensification of mining activity has upset the tribal groups for whom the Surjagarh Hill, forest and water bodies are sacred


Women Win In Tougher Poll Fights In Rajasthan, Yet Don’t Get Enough Chances

In the last two decades of their rivalry in Rajasthan, only around 10% of the candidates picked by the BJP and Congress have been women


Why Homi, 15, Has No Option But Work At A Mine In Rajasthan, 7 Days A Week

Rural women have few work options in the state and poverty does not allow them to study either


Why Lives And Deaths Of Trans Persons Remain Underreported, Undocumented

Procedural issues around self-identification mean that the real numbers are rarely reflected in official data, show studies


For These Women Running Public Toilets In Mumbai, The Workday Lasts 15 Exhausting Hours

On World Toilet Day, here are the stories of two women who struggle to keep sanitation complexes in the slums of Mumbai clean and safe


In Rural Madhya Pradesh, Women Struggle To Access Govt Schemes Aimed At Them

The Madhya Pradesh government is going all out to woo women with special schemes. But how do the women see this outreach, we ask


One In Two Trans Men Struggle To Access Basic Healthcare: Study

Most trans men and transmasculine individuals in India end up seeking private medical care because of multiple hurdles to government schemes, says a study


Malnutrition, Poor Rural Public Health Infrastructure Behind Infant and Maternal Deaths In Maharashtra

Sunita Sahebrao Dandekar (28), a Dalit woman from Kharvad village in Hingoli district in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra had to be rushed to Dr. Shankarrao […]


How A Trade Unionist Used Art To Power Her Unique Trade Union Journey

Culture is a powerful medium to collectivise and empower the working class, says the veteran union leader


‘Buses Don’t Stop For Us, We Are Shamed For Free Travel’: Delhi’s Women Commuters

Up to 80% women complain that buses drive past them and they have to frequently deal with snide remarks about freeloading


Does the size of an organisation have any link to the share of women it employs?

Key Highlights Firms with a larger number of total employees had a higher proportion of female workers  For every 1 percent additional workers firms hire, the […]


What An Evening At Purdah Bagh In Old Delhi Says About Women And Leisure

Are segregated parks for women the solution to a city’s heavily male-dominated leisure spaces? Even as urban planners and feminists argue, we take a walk in Old Delhi’s historical zenana parks to find some answers