Women’s Empowerment Starts with YOU!
I’ve worked at Breakthrough for four months now and the most important lesson that I’ve learned to date is the meaning of the word ‘empowerment’. Being an ordinary citizen of this country, I knew that I was never going to be someone who would start a revolution or some movement to make myself feel empowered. [...]
Q&A with Writer Hugo Schwyzer
Hugo Schwyzer is a writer, activist and professor who regularly covers issues of gender, sexuality and rights. He’s taught history and gender studies at Pasadena City College in California since 1993, where he developed the college’s first courses on Men and Masculinity and Beauty and Body Image. He serves as co-director of the Perfectly Unperfected Project, a campaign to transform [...]
Is Ignorance Really Bliss? A Female Perspective on Sexual Education in India
My decision to conduct a research study on HIV and female sex workers (FSWs) for my dissertation in Delhi two years ago provided me with some unforgettable experiences. These experiences taught me so much about ignorance, not just others but also my own. Having completed my MA degree in social work, I got the [...]
Let’s Write a Better Beginning For Our Children
The earliest memory I have of my childhood is probably from when I was about two. I was standing on a stool and trying to reach for an egg on a shelf and in the process I broke it in two. Some people claim having a memory as early as nine months old. This was [...]
Empowerment Starts With You
Empowerment is a relative term that can inspire different meanings depending on the individual. But at the core of the word is courage. For it takes courage to let that spark ignite within yourself. My personal journey of empowerment from the time I joined Breakthrough follows this sentiment. I’ve grown accustomed to Delhi life, being [...]
Why Does India Hate Women?
By Tripti Lahiri So, which countries in the world boast — though I suspect that’s not quite the right word — the highest rates of pregnancy among teenage girls? If you were to pick one of the nations of the supposedly sexually precocious West, you’d be quite wrong. The latest United Nations human development report shows that [...]
‘Give Me Sexy’ – Media Friend or Foe?
There is no doubt that the media, and its images of women, impacts girls and women of all ages. But this influence is especially dangerous when it comes to young girls who are in a continuous state of learning from others and the images they see how they should act themselves. Children are influenced by [...]
What You Don’t Know About Domestic Violence (Infographic)
Here’s a look at DV facts and figures in the US:
A conversation with journalist Amana Fontanella-Khan
Photo credit: Amana Fontanella-Khan Amana Fontanella-Khan is a journalist based in Mumbai. She regularly covers women’s issues such as prostitution, rape, reproductive rights and women’s empowerment. Her work has been featured by various publications including The New York Times, The Financial Times, Slate Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor. I first came across Amana’s writing last summer when Slate published [...]
Damsel in Dress or Distress
After studying English literature for 3 years in Delhi University, and staying with people like Saumya Aneja, I had become a loyal preacher of Feminism and Women Liberation. The books I read, the lectures I attended, the teachers I heard and all the brainstorming sessions had all made me look beyond the beliefs which saw [...]
