In Medabas village in rural Mewat, India, no girl had ever finished high school — until recently. Instead, girls were married off by the time they were teenagers, and locked into a life of housework, farming and raising children. But when AJWS grantee Alwar Mewat Institute of Education and Development (AMIED) entered Medabas and encouraged …
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Thoughtshop Foundation — a longtime AJWS grantee based in Kolkata — uses a unique approach to expand what’s possible for girls and women within India’s deeply patriarchal, restrictive society. They call it “design thinking,” and for a growing collective of young people across the state of West Bengal, it has proven life-changing. Thoughtshop developed beautifully …
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Samreen grew up Lucknow, India, in a household where her mother wasn’t allowed to do anything without her father’s permission. But when her father passed away, Samreen began to question the patriarchal norms that ruled her family. When she connected with AJWS partner Sadbhavna Trust, her world opened entirely. Sadbhavna Trust runs leadership workshops and …
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Growing up in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, Richa was taught the do’s and don’ts of being a “good Indian girl.” “I actually had training on how to be a perfect wife and daughter-in-law according to Hindu society,” she said with an incredulous laugh. “My grandmother and mother always told me to behave a certain way. ‘Don’t …
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Sanjay Jagtap has spent the past 25 years of his life as a public bus driver in the state of Maharashtra in India. He always thought sexual harassment was an important but distant issue, something he read about in newspapers or heard about on television. That’s before he had a major wake-up call. Thanks to …
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Advocating for the dignity and human rights of sex workers
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Unlocking the potential of global activism through fellowship
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Sonali’s parents forced her to marry at age 14, and her husband turned out to be abusive. Sonali found the strength to start her life over with the help of MBBCDS, an Indian organization in West Bengal funded by AJWS. She is now pursuing her goals, continuing her studies and working to prevent child marriage …
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Stories from the lives and work of young activists India is home to one-third of the world’s child brides, despite decades-old laws that prohibit marriage for girls younger than 18. Child marriage cuts across many regions and religious communities in India, and it causes lasting harm: research shows that child brides are more likely to …
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Sunita Jaiswal can’t remember a time when she was happier. On a Saturday afternoon in her tiny house—set in a sprawling, crowded Delhi slum—her daughters grin and perch along the narrow stairs, bounding up or down to make way for passing guests. Meanwhile, Sunita pours cold soda into steel cups and passes them around, beaming …
Read MoreDuring his journey to find a wife for his master Avraham’s son, the servant Eliezer[1] turns to God for help: “Let it be that the maiden to whom I will say, ‘Please tip over your jug so I may drink,’ and who replies, ‘Drink, and I will even water your camels,’ her will You have …
Read MoreThis week’s portion opens with a friendly, wizened face. Yitro—priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses—emerges from the wilderness, daughter and grandsons in tow. After hearing of Israel’s liberation, the priest has come to reunite Moses with the family he had previously sent away. Moses’s delight in seeing Yitro is palpable. The text is suffused with …
Read MoreWhat is a complete human lifetime, and what does it mean to live a full life? Parshat Chayei Sarah takes on these deeply difficult questions by beginning and ending with death—two deaths that are as unequal as they are momentous in the history of the Jewish people. The parshah begins: “Sarah’s lifetime—the span of Sarah’s …
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