Hima Das, winner of 400 metres during the IAAF World U20 Championships day 3, 12 July 2018 in Tampere, Finland

After a seemingly endless wait, India has finally tasted success in the field of athletics. Recently, Hima Das, an 18-year-old from the northeastern state of Assam, became the first Indian woman to win Gold at the World Junior Athletics.  The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) congratulated her on her success on Twitter but did not refrain from taking a jibe at her poor English.

Though women’s movements are gaining ground in India, women remain extremely vulnerable in society. Every day, rape, torture and violence hit the headlines. Let’s examine this issue with the feminist writer and activist Urvashi Butalia, who established India’s first feminist publishing house “Kaali” in 1984. Urvashi Butalia in conversation with our correspondent Apoorva Agrawal.

The women of the Apatani tribe, which lives in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh, India have a unique tradition. They wear large nose plugs and face tattoos. But contrary to popular assumptions of face piercing and tattoos, the Apatani women do not use them for reasons of beauty.

India is the world’s most dangerous nation for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and regressive traditions, said a new study. Activists disagree with its methodology, but agree that gender crimes are up.

Women in India assert their identities in the face of a patriarchal society – in the arts, too. And they cross boundaries, as an exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg shows.

Kamini Manikam in a thematic Bharatanatyam Recital called Dancing With Shiva © Kamini Manikam

WHEN other 13-year-olds were frequenting fast food joints, Kamini Manikam decided to become vegetarian after reading a book about cruelty to animals.

On March 14th of this year, a 23-year-old woman, whom the police identified as Sunita, was severely beaten for refusing a marriage proposal in Kanchanpur, Nepal. She had her eyes gouged out and hot ghee poured over her body. The suspect Rakesh Chand, who had offered his hand in marriage, then fled. He had been harassing her for months and had already attacked her in the past.