Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/author/sakuntala-narasimhan/)
Female feticide may be illegal in India but old structures of patriarchy combine with medical technologies to keep it going. We need basic awareness campaigns, not government mandates that will first invade a woman’s privacy and then backfire.
One girl says the self-defense training makes her feel more able to “escape an attacker.” Other girls like the training, but think boys also need to be taught to treat girls with more respect.
This cultural innovation is part of why 2014 will go down in Indian history as a year when society began cherishing girls and women and overcoming denigrating traditions. Reason to celebrate the U.N.’s International Day of the Girl Child on Oct. 11.
The Supreme Court said stores must restrict sales of acid used to maim at least 1,000 women a year, but that deadline was just blown. Most names and identifying details in this article have been changed to protect the privacy of the victims.
The idea of any Indian women–much less “inauspicious” widows–officiating as priests was unthinkable till two decades ago. Now that two widows have done just that it might help us confront a continuum of sex bias.
A brand-new grain subsidy ration card that requires women be listed as head of the household is one boon. One beleaguered woman said the food security it brings her could be a means of escaping an abusive husband.
The high mortality rates of pregnant women in India are a big topic of policy concern. But what about Ireland? An Indian woman just lost her life there because of that country’s criminalization of abortion. At home her life would have been saved.