Category: Women’s Rights
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Understanding the theme of International Women’s Day 2024: Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress
INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day serves as a global platform to celebrate the achievements of women while highlighting the challenges women face. The theme for this year is ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’ and emphasizes the critical role of investing in women to achieve gender equality and advancing the overall well-being of societies worldwide. International Women’s Day…
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5 NGOs for women in India promoting social justice
ON World Day of Social Justice, it is important to support the crucial work that NGOs for women in India are doing to advance social justice for women in India and promote women’s empowerment. These NGOs for women act as catalysts for change by focusing on providing comprehensive support to women in need, particularly in…
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National Women’s Day: 5 NGOs supporting women
NATIONAL Women’s Day in India is celebrated on February 13th each year to honor the birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu, a prominent Indian political leader, poet and the first woman Governor of an Indian state. This day holds great significance as it highlights the contributions and achievements of women in various fields and promotes gender…
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5 NGOs fighting violence against women
LOOKING back on the details of the attack on Nirbhaya, who died on December 29th eleven years ago, one of the questions asked is what makes a person commit such violence? Whether it is throwing acid on a woman’s face, abducting a woman and forcing her into prostitution or a husband beating his wife, one…
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How online fundraising can help women empowerment NGO endeavors
IN the pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment, women empowerment NGO efforts are greatly helped by online fundraising. These digital efforts play a crucial role in addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by women worldwide. The power of online fundraising has emerged as a transformative tool for these NGOs, offering them a dynamic platform to…
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Empowering safety: a call to action during 16 Days of Activism
16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an annual global campaign that commences on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and concludes on December 10, International Human Rights Day. This 16 day period serves as a poignant reminder of the pervasive issues surrounding gender-based violence and encourages collective…
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World Day Against Trafficking: 5 NGOs to support
THE trafficking of human beings occurs for various nefarious purposes such as forced bonded labor, domestic servitude, child labor and arguably the most devastating – sex trafficking. Traffickers use coercion or abduction as tactics to lure or force their victims into a vulnerable state from which they are then taken to locations far from their…
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How NGOs are promoting women’s rights in India
India, the world’s largest democracy, has made significant strides in various fields, yet the fight for women’s rights remains an ongoing battle. Despite numerous challenges and deep-rooted patriarchal norms, Indian women have persevered in their struggle to secure their rightful place in society. And NGOs for women’s rights are playing an important role in this…
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World Population Day: 5 NGOs working for gender equality in India
WORLD Population Day is observed on July 11th each year with a focus on population issues that impact our world. It was reported that the world’s human population has now reached 8 billion people, with India being the world’s most populous nation. This population increase comes with many questions. While a healthy birth rate is…
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5 women’s rights that Sarojini Naidu fought for
EVERY year on February 13, India celebrates freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu’s birth anniversary as National Women’s Day. A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi in the fight for independence from the British, he also nicknamed her the ‘Nightingale of India,’ for her well-known talent as a prolific poet. But it is for her contribution to women’s…
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Top 10 NGOs to support on Women’s Day 2021
International Women’s Day is a reminder that half of us still are still discriminated against because of our gender
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Why Women Empowerment Does Not Reach Villages
In a country like ours where ~99 percent (Source: National Crime Records Bureau) of the rapes go unreported, the success of the #MeToo movement is a happy flip in favour of women empowerment. Indian women are starting to speak up of what is otherwise tucked away under the sheet of shame, and this is proving…
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How it began at Spurthi Mahila Mandal
It all started in the year 1981 when Ms. Shyamala Vardarajan, the founder of Spurthi Mahila Mandal (SMM) relocated to Bijapur from Chennai after marriage. With a Masters in Botany, she joined The Aided College in Bijapur as a professor. Shyamala was an active volunteer back in Chennai, always ready to get involved with social…
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How it began at Sarada Ramkrishna (Sishu O Mahila) Sevashram
The Late Tarani Chakraborthy, who was the founder and secretary of Sarada Ramakrishna Sevashram, was once upon a time the only educated woman in her village Morjada in South 24 Paraganas district, Kolkata. She belongs to a Bengali Brahmin family and her father used to work at the village temple. The early 60s was a…
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Teaching women to become independent in spirit, in thought, in action and have full control over their lives
It was going to be my first visit to Budhwar Peth, Pune’s famous red-light area, and I was both nervous and excited. While safety concerns were making me a little nervous, I was excited at the prospect of finally visiting this oh-so-talked-about area. The Pune-based NGO Swadhar IDWC (Institute for Development of Women & Children)’s…
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Fighting rural poverty in Andhra Pradesh
If you’re reading this, I am assuming you are prosperous enough to have a toilet in your home. Millions of villagers in India, however, are not as blessed. Enter good Samaritans like Chaitanya Educational and Rural Development Society (CERDS), one of whose projects is to financially help people build toilets. But more on that in…
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How it all began at Bhagini Nivedita Pratishthan
It’s said that too many cooks spoil the broth. But in the case of Bhagini Nivedita Parishad, every cook has added a new spice, which has only enhanced the flavor of the dish. These cooks were Pratima Joshi, Lalitha Marathe, Vaijayanthi Joshi, Rujuta Pitale, Pranoti Garge, Ushatai Sathe, Surekha Parande, Sulabha Deuskar, Nilima Karkhanis and…
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Helping the “aam aurat”
Never underestimate the power of a common man is the theme of the 2013 Bollywood blockbuster “Chennai Express”. If a movie were to be made on not underestimating the power of the common women, then the growth and work of the Pune-based Bhagini Nivedita Parishad (BNP) must feature in it! Set up by a group…
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Helping women stand on their own two feet and become contributing members of their families and society
by Paula Donoso An extremely devoted team is leading the efforts of The Akshara Centre towards their vision of establishing a gender-just and violence-free society. In the ideal society that they envision, women have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential; and their rights are respected and secure. I sat down with three members of…
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How it began at Akshara Centre
by Paula Donoso The Mumbai-based Akshara Centre grew as result of the contemporary Indian women’s movement of the 1980s, which primarily campaigned against violence against women. The organisation was established in 1995 as a resource centre, at a time when women’s rights were gaining momentum in society and there was a rising need for material…