Evescape

    OPINION Am I allowed in? By Dr. Shalini Yadav I love writing. Over time my writing revolved around being a mother, a daughter, a wife, in my roles of a woman. I’d never imagined that there will come a day when I would be writing from the outside in. As someone who falls in an hitherto unexplored category…a widow. I found that all occasions in the world for celebrating womanhood leave this one category of woman out. Every such celebration brings into startling focus in a widow’s mind the question… Am I allowed in? What am I supposed to do? Where do I fit in with this huge multitude with a significant part of whose life I can no longer identify? Whose ongoing stories of love, companionship, shared responsibilities I can empathise but not identify with anymore. It’s no longer a world I inhabit. No longer the path I walk. Who am I? Where do I belong? Because like it or not, a widow is a pariah, even to the women’s world. Even today. Subtly, but surely. It wasn’t until I was be...

A call to accelerate GENDER PARITY      A round-table of women, community groups and stakeholders will discuss the topic of gender imbalance in decision making bodies on October 20, 2018 at the Margao Residency Hall, Goa.  W hile the conversation on sexism and sexual harassment is expanding in India with the #MeToo campaign challenging the status quo, it is even more evident how little is done to position issues affecting womens' rights as political priorities. This is critical. Despite governmental claims that adequate resources are spent to reach women -- women from community levels to state to country continue to be struck by challenges. There is an urgent need to rapidly change the quality of women’s daily lives. Too few women at the top means we are all losing out   Providing an environment for changing women’s lives cannot be achieved unless it is considered within a human rights context. And the job of women rights' advocacy groups is...