Swagata Sen
A clinical researcher by profession, I am an advocate of gender equality and women’s empowerment. I have created this platform to dismantle institutionalized gender discrimination and harmful social practices through systemic changes. Over the last few years, our contributors from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds were able to voice their concerns about a range of issues that are oppressive to women across the world. We are hopeful that our efforts will help promote awareness and contribute to changing mindsets and shifting cultures about gender roles and norms.
Menstruation Equity: We Can Do Better
The term ‘Menstrual Equity’ is used to describe menstruation as a driver of social and economic inequality resulting from staggering menstruation poverty, taboos, and stigma associated with menstruation. Period Poverty and Stigma: Hundreds of millions of girls and women across the world do not have access to hygienic sanitary products, clean and private toilets or clean…
Decriminalization of Abortion in Mexico Might have a Ripple Effect Across Latin America and Beyond
On September 7, 2021, the Supreme Court of Mexico in a historic decision, has unanimously ruled that abortion is no longer a crime in Mexico, setting an important precedent across the whole country and possibly across Latin America. Describing the decision as “a watershed in the history of the rights of all women, especially the…
Growing Gender Inequality in India: Slips 28 Spots in The Global Gender Gap Index
Discrimination against women and girls has always been a ubiquitous phenomenon of Indian society. India’s progress towards gender parity measured by the World Economic Forum in 2021 is greatly discouraging. India ranks 140 of 156 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 by the World Economic Forum. It has slipped 28 spots compared to the…
Significant Decline in Women’s Political Representation: World Economic Forum
According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 by the World Economic Forum, this year, women’s political empowerment has significantly declined globally. The gender gap in politics is the widest out of the four key areas studied – Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The Global Gender Gap Index or…
A Critical Point To Think About Gender Leadership Gap
The lack of representation of women in leadership positions in both public and private sectors or gender leadership gap is a subject of research. In the United States, women hold only 19 per cent of board seats, 15 per cent of executive officer positions in Fortune 500 companies. The number of female CEOs at…
How Can We Dismantle the Social Construct of Female Beauty?
Women’s bodies and sexuality have historically been used as a commodity to sell everything on earth, from car tires to household appliances! Women are often depicted as objects of visual and sexual pleasure across television, magazines, media, and entertainment industries. If we look around ourselves, we’ll find hypersexualized and unrealistically perfect female forms almost everywhere. Let’s…
Understanding The Harmful Tradition of Breast Ironing
What is Breast Ironing? Breast Ironing is a harmful cultural practice that continues to perpetuate silently in different parts of the world for centuries. Breast ironing is the pounding or ironing of a pubescent girl’s breasts, using hard or heated objects like stones, spatulas, and pestles, over a period of time (sometimes years) for the breasts…
Gender Equality Begins At Home : A Personal Reflection
As a mother of a boy and a girl, I was very conscious about never imposing social gender norms and stereotypes on my children. It was primarily because of my own childhood experience – I was expected to act, behave, and express myself in a certain way since I was nine or ten years old. Since…
Laid Off? Don’t Miss This Opportunity To Grow
Being laid off in the middle of an economic and public health crisis is probably one of the most difficult experiences one can go through. While it’s understandable that after losing a job the entire focus of a person shifts to finding another job. But, this process could be extremely daunting, leaving one frustrated and depressed,…
Importance of Introducing Gender Education In Early Childhood
Thanks to the increasing number of feminist movements and activism, globally women’s rights and equality have started gaining momentum over the last three decades. Women’s empowerment, now, is an important developmental agenda in most of the countries. All societies have gradually accepted that women’s equality and empowerment plays a pivotal role in the overall development of…
