Violence Against Women In India – Part 2

“There is a hierarchy within the house, by which women are at the bottom. Women’s exposure to violence can increase when they threaten this household dynamic“ In my last article, I spoke about how the society and community contribute to a culture of violence against women in India. I particularly highlighted how formal institutions fail to protect women. How they undermine legislative changes. But …

Violence Against Women in India

“Violence against women is a structural and systematic problem. Intrusive examinations, unresponsive police, and low conviction rates deter women from reporting violence.” Understanding and combatting the various levels of violenceWithin Indian society, social, political and institutional factors lead to a culture of violence against women. This is visible at the individual, interpersonal, community and society level. Known as the social …

The Night She Stood For Herself

When I was growing up, we didn’t even have a sex-ed class. Even in films, the first thing that happens after a woman is molested is – she waits for a man to save her! Recently, a young Indian editor, Radha (name changed for this blog) had a horrifying experience in Mumbai after which she put up a status on …

Save Our Girls: A High School Fundraiser

The objective of my fundraiser was to empower girls and women in India against gender-based violence My name is Yadavi Patil, I am currently a senior at New Haven Academy in Connecticut. For my Senior Action project, I decided to tackle the issue of gender-based violence in India. My interest lies in exploring why sexual assault and other gender-based violence …

Wage Gap in India

In India, the Equal Remuneration Act 1976 is a law that states there must be Equal Pay for Equal Work. In brief, the act highlights: “Duty of the employer to pay equal remuneration to men and women workers for same work or work of a similar nature. — (1) No employer shall pay to any worker, employed by him in …

Feminism In India

  Every year for international women’s day, WhatsApp is flooded with forwarding messages about women. Their importance, their achievements, and an ever long reasons for them to be celebrated. One said, “A beautiful woman draws strength from troubles, smiled during distress and grown stronger with prayers and hope. You are one of them. Wishing you a very Happy Women’s day.” …

The Informal Justice System, Panchayat

A few weeks ago, one of Times of India’s headlines read, “UP woman tied up, thrashed on panchayat’s order; molested”. I received this video as a part of a forward message thread. Amongst these angry and reasonably reacting people were people, who supported the panchayat’s decision. They wanted everyone to honor the decision of a panchayat since this sort of …

Shut Up Or Be Shamed

India is a diverse country and full of contradictions. On one side we have a long history of influential women leaders while on the other, girls and women are asked to dress in a certain way to not entice men into raping them. Women are sacred only for as long as they follow a prescribed outline of how to look, …

Bollywood and it’s Long term Commitment to Sexism

New Age media has repeatedly published articles about the problems with Bollywood. About how movies portray actresses, awards, and the million things that are related to Bollywood and our society. This article comes with the hope of making a difference, however small. It comes from a desire that women everywhere can watch a movie and be entertained instead of being infuriated, …

Visibly Invisible: India’s Human Trafficking Victims

  Human Trafficking in India produces invisible victims that hide in plain sight!  As I was strolling down Calcutta’s streets, I stumbled upon the above graffiti. Usually, a typical Calcutta graffiti is about a political organisation. Comically, a few centimetres away from one political graffiti, is that of an opposing political group. So naturally, in the sea of politics, my eyes caught sight …