“Indian patriarchy is very, very deep rooted and nurtured from birth: You shall not question men. It’s entwined into the smallest moments of daily life,” says Aruna Dholakiya, program leader of AJWS partner organization Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS). “Girls internalize these patriarchal beliefs; the patriarchy becomes them.” Across India, AJWS supports grassroots organizations like KMVS to …
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Nita Bhil still remembers the moment she thought her whole life would fall apart. Her parents—bricklayers from a marginalized caste in India—had arranged a match for Nita’s sister. To save money, they’d decided to have Nita, their youngest of seven daughters, married off at the same time. She was 14 years old. “I was shocked; …
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Anima Mondal was in eighth grade when her parents announced they’d found a man to marry her. Growing up in a village in rural West Bengal, Anima knew this was the norm — her mother wed when she was only nine; her grandmother at six. But something inside Anima demanded that she say no. Anima’s …
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Santoshi is the youngest of seven siblings in a family where none of her older sisters ever went to school and all were forced into marriage. As her sisters’ lives unfolded, Santoshi understood she couldn’t follow in their footsteps. She convinced her parents to allow her to go to school, but that was the extent …
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In a tiny, bright blue room tucked away from a chaotic market street in Kolkata, India, 24-year-old Munmun Das has created the neighborhood’s only safe space for girls to express themselves freely. Munmun is one of nearly 150 youth mentors trained by Thoughtshop Foundation to lead a Youth Resource Cell and guide conversations about taboo …
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“As a child, I was awestruck by what nurses could do. And yet I knew that was an impossible dream for me,” says Ruksana Khatun. Ruksana saw her life spread out before her: She’d be forced to drop out of school to work in the fields and support her family, as her father had a …
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RAJASTHAN, INDIA — At 23, Manju Kumari is already a sarpanch, the elected head of her rural village. And she’s one of a rising number of women in India filling these political positions, ever since the government reserved a proportion of village leadership seats for women. But in the face of longstanding gender inequality and …
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“Hope for Her Daughters” tells the story of Rekha, who was married at 12 and had her first child at 13. She earns her living by sorting out recyclables from garbage, a difficult and sometimes dangerous job that’s fallen to extremely low-income families in India. Rekha presumed her daughters would have no choice but to follow the same path–until she got involved with Kashtakari Panchayat, an AJWS grantee.
Read MoreOn December 16, 2012, 23-year old Jyoti Singh was raped by six men while riding on a bus in New Delhi, India. The attack reportedly lasted over two and a half hours, and Singh died two weeks later in Singapore from her injuries. Four of her attackers were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
Read MoreParashat Miketz continues the narrative of Joseph and his brothers. It describes Joseph’s ascent to power, the trust he earns from Pharaoh and his power as a minister over all of Egypt. It also mentions, in passing, a woman whose life becomes entwined with Joseph’s: Osnat, daughter of the Priest of Ohn. Osnat receives a bare four sentences, and is never again mentioned in the Tanach. Who is she, and what can we learn from her presence in the text?
Read MoreParashat Vayishlach contains the harrowing story of the rape of Dina and its equally violent aftermath. Dina “goes out” to see the daughters of the town of Shchem. Instantly Shchem, the son of Chamor, sees her, takes her and defiles her. He then falls in love with her and asks for her hand in marriage. Dina’s father, Yaakov, is unable to offer a response, remaining silent and waiting for his sons to return home from the field. As a form of retaliation, two of Yaakov’s sons, Shimon and Levi, slay all of the men of Shchem and take the women and children as captives.
Read MoreParashat Bereshit, the first parashah in the cycle of weekly Torah readings, contains two monumental “firsts”: the creation of the first humans and the first act of violence. I’m always struck that these two events take place in the same parashah. And each year, I reflect on how their power and centrality shape our ethics in the modern world.
Read MoreAs I stood in the magnificent Magen Avot synagogue in Alibag, India, I felt the sweat trickle down the side of my face. Though it was hot, the sweat was born out of nervousness and intense regret, not the sweltering heat. The High Holidays were around the corner and I was at the synagogue teaching …
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