Voices
“Do You Get What I’m Saying?” – Discussing Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Indian Regional Languages
Language is central to how we think about concepts and ideas, and rights-based language matters enormously when we talk about sexuality. However, much of what many of us know about sexuality-related topics is constructed, explained and communicated solely in English.
By Vani Viswanathan
Queer Pride in India: Creating Space for Intersectional Queer Identities and Other Marginalised Voices?
There are many ways to be queer. Apart from the fact that queerness encompasses a wide variety of sexual expression,…
By Sonia Dhawan
The United States of Indian-Americans
It is very easy to fall into the trap of believing that the survival of the larger group is more important than the rights of an individual. This is especially true in diasporic communities, where people are constantly struggling to keep their cultural identities intact while simultaneously assimilating to the majority culture just enough to survive.
By Sonia Dhawan
July 15, 2017
On Being Gay and Muslim
My entire life has been a struggle of confused identities. I stood at the intersection of gay, Muslim and economic privilege.
By Aersh
July 15, 2017
Hum Aapki Hain Samdhan*
Let me begin with a confession. I have always loved the idea of marriage. What is one to do when…
By Manak Matiyani
July 1, 2017
Early ‘Love Marriage’ and the Big, Bad Internet
In fact, the Internet actually allows adolescents access to a wide range of information including on sexual health. A 2015 study by Marie Stopes International[2] (an organisation that provides contraception and safe abortion services) found that the main source of information on sexual health among adolescents is the Internet.
By Shubha Kayastha and Indu Nepal
June 1, 2017
How We Can Make Our Cities Safer Using Crowdsourced Data
Sexual violence is a global pandemic affecting one in three women at least once in their lifetime. The statistics in India are equally shocking. National Crime Records Bureau statistics of 2014 indicate that a rape occurs every 20 minutes in India.
By ElsaMarie D'Silva
Cashless and Stranded in Budhwar Peth: How the 2016 Demonetisation Affected Sex Workers
The disruptions in sex work due to demonetisation were not merely about the cash crunch though. Probing deeper, the real problems were to do with a breakdown in the rituals of soliciting, and what it meant behaviourally for the women.
By Sutapa Majumdar and Rohini Sahni
From Village to City: ‘Housemaids’ and their Sexual Desires
A few days ago, my cousin saw Anita masturbating while going to sleep. And while having a discussion around this, I realised how, even after its being noticed, nobody wanted to talk about finding ways to discuss it with her in a pleasure-affirming manner.
By Medha Kalsi
Does Sex Equal Grape? How Sexuality Relates to Money
As soon as you add sexuality to a piece about money, the first instinct generally is to reduce it all to sex, leaving the “-uality” like a little invisible tail feather that flutters away into the unknown.
By Shikha Aleya
Not a Job for Women?
A year ago, just ten minutes after I had landed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. I was introduced to this young lawyer – not the least bit enthusiastic, a big critic of the law, of lawyers, of the High Court, and most importantly, of women. “Let me tell you a secret: law is not a profession for girls,” said he.
By Nikita Garg
April 18, 2017
Owning Our Boundaries
The concept of boundaries has become mixed up with the concept of being bound in a this-far-and-no-further way. They have become enclosures, aquariums, cages built for those who inhabit them, but not necessarily built by them.
By Shikha Aleya
April 3, 2017
Yellow Light
Invitation cards had been printed. Her parents wanted to get the best of everything for her. She knew that all this generosity came more out of them trying to put up appearances than out of their love for her. Instead of trying to make sense of it all, or to reason with them, she was told to just enjoy this special life event. Once the whole family had arrived, all of her father’s financial worries and her mother’s emotional ones got drowned in the festivities that took place each night. The bright strings of lights flickered all around the house, announcing the upcoming marriage to the world.
By Surbhi Dewan
March 15, 2017
Beyond Acceptance and Rejection
Tolerance and space for another who is not like oneself is important. Without such tolerance and space we risk becoming perpetrators of injustice, forcing everybody into a mold that is not their shape.
By Shikha Aleya
March 5, 2017
Locating Marriage
I began to see Marriage / in Appa’s weathered hands, / smell Marriage / in the tea he brewed…
By Damini Kulkarni
March 5, 2017