On March 25th, India suddenly announced a strict, severe national lockdown—the largest in the world, affecting nearly 1.4 billion people. People were left scrambling to protect themselves and their families—often with little information about the frightening new disease. Countless questions bubbled to the surface: How would people prevent the virus’s spread without proper health and …
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“Men and women are equal!” “Let us read, let us study!” These are some of the slogans shouted by over 200 girls as part of a rally—organized by AJWS grantee Nishtha—in West Bengal, India, to push for women’s safety and equality in late February of this year. The girls, mostly high-school and college aged, proudly …
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When Vaishali Sen was 9 years old, she loved to watch “Indian Idol.” Like its American counterpart, the show featured amateur singers hoping to launch their careers. Secretly, Vaishali wanted to do the same. She’d always loved to sing. But in her rural village in Rajasthan, India, good girls weren’t supposed to dream big. They …
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Jyoti Gadari got married when she was just 17. Like many young women, she wanted to explore: go to college, try out different jobs, see what kind of opportunities might unfold. And according to local custom, she didn’t have to live with her husband yet. She thought she had time. But her husband’s family had …
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Sexual violence survivors and their friends and family have been making headlines across India since December, when about 5,000 of them began a 6,000-mile journey across 24 states. The “Dignity March,” which concludes this Friday in Delhi, aims to raise public awareness of the sexual violence that affects an untold number of women and children …
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