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
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
The taps and pipelines meant to carry water to the homes of hill-dwelling communities of the state have either not been installed or have no water supply. Women trudge miles and undertake risks to collect water
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
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
The numbers do not tell the complete story of violence against women and this means that the measures based on existing evidence are inadequate too
We speak to a farmer family whose roots lie in rural Andhra, but have also spread to the cities – there is simply never enough money to get by
The improvements in parameters related to the girl child cannot be solely attributed to the scheme’s implementation
In a London beauty salon run by women from the subcontinent, links between caste, food and odour echo the arguments in the debate in India over a ‘pure vegetarian’ delivery fleet
Our investigation across eight villages showed just one project available under MGNREGS, forcing women to migrate as far as Odisha in search of work
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
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
Initiatives to make the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana more effective has not quite worked out the way it should, we find
These are stories of women whose lives and livelihoods remain ruptured months after they faced sectarian violence
In Delhi, evictions get you resettlement housing but in areas with little access to job, services or essential facilities. And it is the women who struggle the most with travel and livelihood options
It will not curb child marriage but may complicate registrations, say experts
The fact that they are resisting exploitation ruptures the popular political image of marginalised women, says political scientist Proma Raychaudhury
Students have reported frequent incidents of queerphobia and misogyny in universities. We look at why redressal mechanisms remain ineffective
Few women in impoverished packets of rural Maharashtra are aware of government welfare schemes or do not have the documents to access them
An ambitious road project is likely to swallow many Adivasi homes in Aarey forest, already the site of many other development projects
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
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
Schemes aimed at women did not get the big push they needed, we find
Striking sanitation workers in Delhi’s Burari Hospital have accused private hiring companies of corrupt practices and sexual harassment
In the public discourse around the Mandir, the Muslim voice has been absent. Here is why the community has chosen numbness over articulation
In rural Maharashtra, landless Dalit families often struggle to find space to cremate their dead. Pramila Zombade wants that to change
Linking economic welfare schemes for women to their family size will further limit women’s participation in work and increase their vulnerabilities, argue experts
The relentless cycle of field and paperwork is affecting their mental health, leaving them prone to errors
Feminist solidarities come in all forms — legal petitions, street protests, Whatsapp conversations, vigils and signature campaigns – as the Bilkis case shows
Faced with termination and loss of salary, striking Anganwadi workers in the state are living in fear and anxiety
Protests to protect one of India’s largest forested corridors has been ongoing for over the past one decade
The bright red slash of kumkum across her forehead has become a mark of feminist solidarity
There is state pressure to dissuade frontline health workers from fighting for political office even though they are still hired as ‘honorary volunteers’
Now 40% of the trainees at the Guru Premnath Akhada are women dreaming of making it to the Olympics, mostly from small-town India
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 […]
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 […]
Anganwadi workers says their role has gone from deliverers of schemes to being data collectors for the government
In conversation with playwright Jyoti Dogra, whose new play Maas discusses patriarchy, capitalism and our bodies
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
A unique sports event gives women from poor homes the chance to defy gender norms and find sisterhood in play
Women’s Urdu was pungent, it drew from the world around, and it makes for great theatre
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
Two in five women fielded by major parties won in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana elections
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
In the south, Telangana has one of the lowest shares of female MLAs, doing worse than its sibling state Andhra Pradesh
Intensification of mining activity has upset the tribal groups for whom the Surjagarh Hill, forest and water bodies are sacred
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
Rural women have few work options in the state and poverty does not allow them to study either
Procedural issues around self-identification mean that the real numbers are rarely reflected in official data, show studies
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
The Madhya Pradesh government is going all out to woo women with special schemes. But how do the women see this outreach, we ask
Students say that university authorities remain apathetic to repeated instances of sexual harassment and complaints panels are neither unbiased nor effective
With sex education centred around reproductive biology and not consent or pleasure, young girls in small towns rely on their peers, family and the internet
There are growing instances of criminalisation of women workers protesting for better work conditions and wages. After ASHA, Anganwadi and Mid-Day Meal workers, this is happening to the communications workers at Dial 112 in Uttar Pradesh
The acute anaemia crisis in the state is missing from the poll agenda of Chhattisgarh’s political parties
Since it attained statehood, women have made for only 4% of all candidates who have contested in Mizoram’s electoral history
Even the women who are leading pro-reservation rallies in Maharashtra are using the language of patriarchy
The Sijimali mining project could end up destroying a fragile ecosystem and an entire way of life, say Adivasi women and they are determined to protect them
Ration cardholders in various parts of Maharashtra are complaining that they are being denied food grains even before cash transfers have been made to their bank accounts
After a 73-day protest, Haryana’s ASHA workers were able to negotiate for themselves a Rs 2100 hike in their honorarium. This surpasses what is paid by Kerala, the state that pays ASHA workers the highest amount. But the Haryana ASHA workers union is determined to continue the movement for those working in other states too.
Despite the enervating humidity of the mid-October night in Mumbai, Bhimabai Zunjure, 40, is deftly working a mound of mango leaves into neat bunches. She sits on the bridge leading to the Dadar flower market, and looks up from her work to only sell the leaves which are in high demand for the ongoing Navratri rituals.
The frontline health workers have called for a 24-hour strike outside district offices and homes of political leaders
Since its first assembly election as a separate state in 2003, Chhattisgarh has seen a steady increase in the number of women contestants as well as the number of elected women representatives
