Citizens for Justice and Peace
Intersectional Feminism What it means, how it works, and why you should practice it
07-Mar-2018
Consider the various aspects of your identity: your job, your marital status, your favourite food or book or colour. More importantly, consider the most basic aspects that identify you: your gender, your sexuality, your caste, your religion, should you choose to embrace one. In this context, it is vital to question which parts of your…
Poor and Dalit women in India struggle with illiteracy, early death: UN
23-Feb-2018
A UN Women report on gender equality as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs) has underscored how poorer women in India struggle compared to their wealthier counterparts, according to The Hindu. According to data from Demographic and Health Surveys, an Indian women, aged between 20 and 24 and from a poor rural home is…
Religious exemption laws attack LGBT rights: Human Rights Watch
21-Feb-2018
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report outlining how a slew of new “religious exemption” laws passed in several states in the United States are a “thinly-veiled assault agaisnt the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.” Ryan Thoreson, an LGBT rights researcher at HRW, said that calling the laws “exemptions” is “misleading,” adding, “Given…
Progress on global goals leaving women behind: UN Women
15-Feb-2018
The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported that, according to a newly published report from the United Nations’ women’s agency, progress under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were outlined in 2015 remains “unacceptably slow” for women and girls. “Even where progress has been made, it has been highly uneven,” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director, UN Women, said in the…
Valentine’s Day का सपना (बजरंग दल से बचना) देखिये Guddu Akela का संस्कारी Valentine
14-Feb-2018
इस Valentine’s Day पर आपका प्यारा Guddu Akela खुद को एक दुस्वप्न में पाता है . इससे वह कैसे बच पायेगा ?
Somaliland issues fatwa barring female genital mutilation
12-Feb-2018
The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported that Somaliland’s ministry of religious affairs has issued a fatwa (a religious directive) banning female genital mutilation (FGM). The fatwa said that those performing FGM would be punished, and that victims could be entitled to compensation. Ayan Mahamoud, Somaliland’s representative to Britain told the Thomson Reuters Foundation “The reason that this harmful…
Rainbow through the Years A photo gallery of the Mumbai Queer Azaadi March from yesteryears
02-Feb-2018
The gay pride parade, called Queer Azaadi March, was first held in Mumbai in 2008. Since then it has been held annually and has grown from strength to strength. Participation has varied between 8,000 to 12,000 people from not just India’s vibrant LGBTQIA community, but also their friends, families, coworkers and other supporters. The QAM…
India’s Economic Survey reveals first ever estimate for number of ‘unwanted’ girls
01-Feb-2018
The Indian Express reported that India’s newly released Economic Survey includes the first ever estimate of the number of “unwanted” girls in the country, i.e. girls whose parents wanted a boy, but instead had a girl. The figure, 21 million, was obtained by considering the sex ratio of the last child (SRLC), which was disproportionately tilted in…
Love is the Order of Nature An Exclusive Blog by Harish Iyer on Intersectionality and the LGBTQIA movement
01-Feb-2018
75 years ago, we fought the Brits with all our grit, when we screamed “Bharat Chhodo” at Gowlia Tank in Mumbai’s Grant Road area. To borrow from the Tryst with Destiny speech by Jawarharlal Nehru on the eve of our first Independence Day Now, time has come to redeem our pledge, and to work towards the large…
A Proud Rainbow Parent at the Pride An exclusive blog by special invitation
30-Jan-2018
At 3.30 pm on Saturday 3rd February, when Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride Parade begins from August Kranti Maidan, I will be a part of it. As a mother of a lesbian daughter, I will walk in support of my child, and also for all the LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans-gender, Queer, Inter-sex) persons in our…
EU Court finds that asylum seeker in Hungary should not have undergone sexuality test
27-Jan-2018
Reuters reported that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that a Hungarian immigration authorities should not have administered psychological tests on a Nigerian asylum seeker to ascertain if he was being truthful about his sexual orientation. “The performance of such a test amounts to a disproportionate interference in the private life of the asylum seeker,” the…
Mahila Samman Abhiyan Where landless women take leadership into their own hands
25-Jan-2018
“Sarkar Bani to Lenge Haq Se, Nahin Bani to Lenge Ladkar” (“If we form the government, then we will rightfully claim our rights. If our government is not formed, then we will fight back to claim our rights”). This has become the slogan of twenty odd women in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. These women…
Baby Steps with Paras Tomar #DesiMillennial Interview
23-Jan-2018
Film makers have often chosen to make short independent films to tell sensitive human interest stories. An excellent example of this is Baby Steps, a short film about a mother discovering that her son is homosexual. What made this short film popular and immensely watchable was its non-preachy tone and actor Paras Tomar’s Merry Poppins…
Sex trafficking in American massage parlours is a $2.5 billion industry: Polaris Study
23-Jan-2018
The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported that, according to a study by anti-slavery organisation Polaris, traffickers make $2.5 billion forcing women to have sex in massage parlours in the United States. The study revealed that these women are usually recent immigrant mothers from China or South Korea who struggle with debt and know little or no English. They…
Technology will exacerbate gender pay gap and impact women more than men: WEF Report
23-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that researchers at the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland said that the gap between women and men at work, “in both pay and status” will likely increase unless steps are taken to deal with inequality in high-growth fields like technology. A new WEF report on the future of jobs reveals that…