Village life pivots around women. And – at the same time – they are often pushed to sidelines, quietened, ignored. Here we look at how and why that happens, and champion those working to change it. We would also feature LGBTQ individuals and communities who are all too often overlooked in rural India.
Gender
Opportunity cost of personal hygiene too high for rural women
Women in India’s villages still have to pay a high cost in terms of mental and physical pain and financial loss because they are often compelled to neglect personal hygiene by bathing hurriedly in the open
Women are still considered beasts of burden in rural India
Women carrying enormous head loads remain a common sight in large swathes of the country, indicative of our gender insensitivity and skewed priorities
Godda women rise up to leave imprint on local politics
The victory of Poonam Devi of Tarkhutta village in Jharkhand in local government body elections is a story of how collective resolve of village women successfully challenged patriarchal structures and corrupt governance practices
Campaign by tribal women groups brings down alcoholism in Attappadi
When women living around Attappadi Reserve Forest found that no development was possible due to chronic alcoholism among the tribal men, they banded together to rid the area of the menace and start a labor bank for employment
Drummer girls of Bengal step up with a new beat
Despite long neglect, the dhak might be getting a new lease of life as women have stormed a male bastion and have taken up playing Bengal’s traditional big drum
Rural women in Samastipur welcome liquor ban in Bihar
Supported wholeheartedly by women in Samastipur district, the prohibition of alcohol in Bihar has freed up resources that can now be leveraged to bring about significant social transformation
Women standing united can power sustainable social change
Women’s collectives can go a long way in sustainably changing socio-economic conditions of villages for the better, often going far beyond planned interventions by state or civil society actors
A tale of two women and a watershed
Two unlearned women in a remote area of Bihar have broken gender stereotypes to emerge as community leaders and manage the construction of a watershed that now benefits 12 villages
Currency tsunami hits Kerala fisher village
The poor women of Anju Thengue island village in Kerala have been caught unprepared by the ban on banknotes that has seen prices crash and a near total collapse of the fish market