Swapna Majumdar, Author at Women's eNews

Bangladesh ‘Golden Girls’ Guard Maternal Safety

By Swapna Majumdar ● Health & Science ● January 19, 2015

In Bangladesh only 27 percent of pregnant women have access to highly trained birth attendants. These teen volunteers are trained to meet pregnant women in their communities and connect them to the most basic medical resources and information.

Women of the Tsunami Face Business Survival Test

By Swapna Majumdar ● Employment ● December 26, 2014

Female co-owners of the fish processing Sea Dot unit in Chennai, India, are struggling to keep their comeback enterprise going. After several good years, times have gotten tough. As the economy slackened, so did their sales.

India’s Coastal Women Gather Post-Tsunami Force

By Swapna Majumdar ● Health & Science ● November 17, 2014

The 10th anniversary of the deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean offers an impressive panorama of achievements by coastal woman in southern India over the past decade. For one of their leaders everything changed, even her marriage.

Dalit Stops Cleaning Dry Toilets, Becomes Leader

By Swapna Majumdar ● Employment ● October 6, 2014

Choti Bai has left the dehumanizing work behind and is helping other Dalit women follow her lead. Manual scavenging is illegal in India but activists estimate that over a million people, mostly women, are still caught in it.

Widow Joins All-Male Ranks as Railroad Porter

By Swapna Majumdar ● Employment ● August 25, 2014

Defying extremely rigid gender-based traditions, a 32-year-old Rajasthan widow left her village and broke into the all-male ranks of railway porters in the capital city of Jaipur. Now she’s planning a better life for her children.

India’s Men Assist Maternal Health Campaign

By Swapna Majumdar ● Uncategorized ● August 18, 2014

Women are running the “cold chains” crucial to the success of any immunization drive. They’re also administering the medicine, keeping track of records and swaying male attitudes that seemed unalterably opposed just 10 years ago.

Donor Deaths in India Highlight Surrogacy Perils

By Swapna Majumdar ● Uncategorized ● June 16, 2014

Two women have died from causes tied to their role as egg donors in India’s booming market for artificial reproduction. Advocates are pressing the government to publicize health warnings and pass regulations.

India Politics So Dangerous to Women They Keep Out

By Swapna Majumdar ● Uncategorized ● May 16, 2014

India’s marathon national elections have added to the collective toll of vicious, sometimes deadly, violence against political women. Only 8 percent of this year’s candidates were women and advocates point to rape and harassment as likely reasons.

Indian Courts Prop Door Open for Rape Survivors

By Swapna Majumdar ● Uncategorized ● April 16, 2014

India’s Supreme Court chief justice has promised to direct courts to translate legal advice booklets for rape survivors into local vernacular languages. Amid declining rates of conviction and a dismissive atmosphere, survivors are turning away from the system.

Philippine Sex Ed Comes Via Video and Text Message

By Swapna Majumdar ● Uncategorized ● April 1, 2014

With quicker feedback on how fast and widely online messages are shared and which videos are popular, reproductive health advocates in projects in India and the Philippines see social media powering a spread of information, changing attitudes and behavior.

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