On Women's Day, Celebrate These 5 "Invisible" Leaders

As a journalist who looks at an issue through a gender lens, I meet hundreds of women each year. While I see a change maker in each of them, there have been a few women who have especially inspired me with their grit and passion to turn the tide. On this International Women's Day, I wanted to salute five of  those harbingers of change.

1. From Sexual Violence Victim to Anti-GBV Warrior

There was a time Ramvati Bai thought of nothing but killing herself.  A widowed mother of two, the 20 something tribal woman in Bakud village of India's Madhya Pradesh state was sexually harassed and assaulted by her father-in-law for three years. Yet, when she finally gathered the courage to file a complaint, the police dismissed her, calling it a “family matter”. To make things worse, Ramvati's mother in law threw her out of the house for bad naming her father in-law.  With two young children and no place to go, Ramvati thought ending her life was the only option.

But today Ramvati can be seen consoling and supporting other women victims of sexual and gender based violence. In fact, she informs such women of the existing laws against violence against women and how to seek legal justice.

According to Ramvati, it happened when she joined Narmada Mahila Sangh - a network of  fellow tribal women that helps victims of domestic violence seek justice. The members of  the network are trained paralegals and they in turn run workshops for other women in the villages on a range of issues from understanding existing laws and policies, to learning how to conduct a basic investigation before approaching the police. They also counsel, provide moral support and often, a sympathetic sister's shoulder to cry on.

“We want a life of dignity, free of violence,” Ramvati Bai told me when we met. “Nothing else matters more than that. You can read my story on her here.


2. From disability and abandonment to water leadership

Inclusive growth excluding women? Stop kidding!

I just returned from the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS 2013) in New Delhi. And I can tell you this: it was a man's world!

Photo courtesy: Morten Svenningsen

Consider this: a mega 3-day event where a galaxy of stars descending from across the globe on hotel Taj Palace, rubbing shoulders with each other, speaking, sharing ideas and strategies on how to build a sustainable economy that will help us get green, inclusive growth.

(Actually, the event was a follow up on the Rio Earth summit 2012. Therefore, the slogan was 'The future we want.')

And, speaking about the 'future we want' were 101 speakers. Of them, 89 were men.
That's right. Of the 104 speakers deliberating on the future we want, there were no more than 12 women.

What does this tell us? that women don't matter? that, there are no women experts who have enough know how on green growth or green economy or renewable, clean energy?  or, that, the organizers did not think it was a big deal if there were only a  token representation of women at an important meeting such as this?

2012: 10 Lessons India Taught It's Women

Lesson 1. Rape is on the rise and Woman, its thy fault

Rapes in India have risen by 873% in past five decades. And from politicians to members of  the parliament to top cops, everyone thinks that its majorly women's fault. Here is a sample: right at the beginning of the year, Dinesh Reddy, the Director General of Hyderabad (where I live) said, "rape is increasing because women have started dressing fashionably" and ‘women provoke men to rape them by wearing flimsy clothes.’

(Oh, and the cop not only got away with that,  but actually got a pat on the back. Last month, he became the president of Indian Hockey Federation. Don't be surprised if our women hockey players are now ordered to play in Pyjamas!)

Lesson 2. Know that thy Law maker's job includes watching Porn at work and preach you on decency

It's a male law maker's prerogative to chastise women and decide what kind of clothes they will wear, even when he will watch porn, right inside the assembly building.

Example: A minister in Bangalore, was caught watching a porn clip right within the state Assembly in February this year. The minister had advised women many times to wear less revealing clothes to avoid getting raped. 

Failed States, Just Give Women A Chance!

Thanks to World Pulse - the largest network of women, I now have a colleague in each of the 187 countries. So anything happens anywhere in the world and I can actually have someone to connect it to! And that's what I am doing now, linking the Failed State Index to my colleagues in - the failed states!

Early this week, I started reading the Failed State Index 2012 – an annual, globally recognized and accepted report prepared by the Washington DC- based organization Fund for Peace that ranks countries of the world according to their stability and capacity.

Topping the list of the failed states, for the fifth straight time, is Somalia. According to J J Messner, editor of the report, if this was a championship, Somalia would be called a legend. But since it’s not, the rank only indicates how bad the state of affairs is in the country where chaos and conflicts rule. Things are almost equally bad in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which has gotten the dubious 2nd place. Also sharing the space in the top 10 bracket is Zimbabwe.

Now, I have read this report a couple of times in earlier and just took them as what they were: a compilation of facts. But this year as I was reading it, a series of faces flashed before my eyes; women who are young, energetic, forever challenging, forever questioning everything that is wrong and, what’s more, also working to set them right.

These women come from these failed states, but are anything but a representative of failure. And here’s the reason why I thought of them: they are women of our very own World Pulse change-makers’ fraternity.

Ulhasnagar and Banaskatha - the great Indian Human markets

No matter how much you love shopping, here are two 'unique' Bazaars in India that you will wish had never existed: Ulhasnagar near Mumbai and Banskatha in Gujarat. And what is so unique about them? Its the goods that they sell: humans
 
I was born near Ulhasnagar - a township barely 2 and half hours from Mumbai, en route Pune. I knew that Ulhasnagar had a very dubious distinction of being the piracy hub of India. There was a thriving market for selling pirated copies of illegal - and horrible - versions of any electronic 'foreign' goods. But this week I was surprised to learn that Ulhasnagar also has a thriving market for selling human babies. Exposed by Mid-day, a tabloid published from Mumbai, the baby bazaar apparently sells stolen new born babies at INR 100,000 - 300,000. After the report was published, Fauziya Khan, minister of state, women and child welfare, said, "We will carry out an investigation on this issue. After a proper investigation, we will take action."

I think the question that the investigators should begin with is 'where do the babies come from?' The root of the rot has to be there!
 
Now, while the Ulhasnagar's baby bazaar might see a good intervention and hopefully a closure, a market for adolescent  girls and women in Wadia village in Banskatha district of Gujarat has been continuing smoothly, without any 'disturbance'. In this community run market  men, brothers and fathers of girls pimp for their own sisters and daughters, marketing them to truckers and men from neighboring villages. And this isn't an issue for any politician or opinion leaders

Flogging Marzieh Vafamehr? I Condemn!

Coming from Assam, tea, especially my morning cuppa, is extremely precious to me. With every sip, my head gets cleared, my spirits get lifted, and my inner qualities – whatever they are, definitely get a boost.

But today my morning cup of tea has been embittered. And here is the reason: Marzieh Vafamehr, I just learnt, is to be lashed in public, 90 times. 

Marzieh who?  

An Iranian actor (obviously woman), Marzieh recently acted in an Australian film called ‘My Tehran For Sale’. Her crime or ‘sin’: not wearing the Hijab and shaving her head (as demanded by the script). She was arrested in July. And now comes the punishment: 1 year in jail and public lashing.