What concerns me most is how this vertical growth - all in the name of development - rarely considers the safety and mobility needs of women. Urban design continues to prioritise speed and vehicles over safety and inclusion. This one-sided approach severely impacts women’s everyday use of public spaces, whether as commuters, roadside vendors, pedestrians, or travellers during odd hours.
Dalit women face multiple layers of discrimination and barriers when attempting to participate in the criminal justice system. The police and judiciary, which should safeguard vulnerable communities, regularly become structures through which violence against Dalit women is perpetuated. Police often refuse to register FIRs or delay filing charge sheets; cases are
frequently dismissed as closed or false. Arrests of the accused are sporadic, with FIRs only filed after protests and activism, while Dalit women face threats from the dominant caste community, as well as police, judiciary, and public prosecutors.
Female genealogy means to explore, accept and imply the histories of women's relationships, love and bonding and supportive nature. Luce Irigaray uses the term ‘original matricide’, in her essay Body against Body that curtail the significance of mothers. Mothers play a vital role in creating a sexual identity.
Gender-based Violence is a global health concern that affects most age groups across the globe. A significantly vulnerable section of population being both victims and potential changemakers for the same is the Adolescent population.
National Safe Motherhood Day must, therefore, be more than a symbolic gesture. It must act as a catalyst for deeper reforms, pushing for improved last-mile delivery of services, cultural sensitization, and robust monitoring of maternal health schemes.
Workplace sexual violence remains a major global issue, impacting women’s safety, dignity, and economic participation. Studies indicate that 1 in 3 women worldwide face workplace harassment (ILO, 2022). According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2022, India has over 419 reported cases, equating to about 35 incidents per month. International frameworks like ILO Convention 190 (2019), CEDAW (1979), and the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) set global standards for addressing this issue.
It is welcome that a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih have stayed the order of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra of the Allahabad High Court that had downgraded the criminal offence of attempt to rape determined by a lower court to a lesser charge of assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe, and aggravated sexual assault. This matters not just for gender justice, and social justice (the accused and the victim are from different castes separated by a power differential), but also for India’s economic prospects.