The System That Refuses All Rights
An Army recruitment examination in Muzzafarpur, Bihar, made hundreds of young men strip down to their underwear and write on the ground without tables to ensure no cheating. A public interest litigation has been filed.
A sub-judge in Erode has issued a notice to a Dalit woman court staff asking for an explanation for not washing clothes properly in his house. The memo said, “You did not properly wash the clothes given to you in the sub judge’s house. Especially, you felt revulsion to wash underwear garments and threw away them. Moreover, you argued with the judge and his wife when they questioned you about this.” The system of engaging staff for personal work existed during the British rule, but orders issued in 1937 and also after Independence barred this practice. However, it remains in practice even now.
Do sign this petition which condemns the misogynistic attacks on Richa Singh, the first woman President of Allahabad University Students Union on grounds of ‘morality’.
Pop Culture
Colors/IMPACT brings the 50 Most Influential Women in media, marketing and advertising, year after year for the last 4 years. This year they announced the same using a poster which listed all the jury members. And guess what? The jury is all-male!
JNU Updates
As Kanhaiya Kumar was released and his speech went viral, here is another speech where Irom Sharmila, expressed solidarity with JNU students. And a sex workers body writes to JNU students saying that they want azadi too, from discrimination & stigmatization.
Representation of Women At Work
Ahead of International Women’s Day, on March 6, an Air India flight will take off from Delhi to San Francisco, which is the longest flying route, with an all-women crew on board.
In an attempt at gender inclusivity, Amazon recently announced the launch of a first-of its-kind women-only delivery station in India – both managed and run by women. The initiative is already underway at Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai with women at both these stations delivering packages on two-wheelers, covering a radius of 2-3 kms from the delivery station.
Reported Rapes & Rape Case Updates (*Trigger Warning*)
Several cases of rape and child sexual abuse were reported. Verdicts & sentences were handed over.
A 23-year-old Dalit woman, who aspired to be a police officer, was raped for almost two weeks by her batchmates, in Karimnagar district of Telangana. The Joint Action Committee of women victims have been protesting the police inaction & negligence.
Murthal case updates: Murthal rape probe heads nowhere as Haryana Police and SIT finds no survivor, despite one woman having filed a rape case. The Sonipat SP report to the Haryana DGP says all 3 persons quoted in a news report on February 24, about rapes in Murthal on February 21 night, have denied the same to the police.
The Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken over the probe into the rape case involving Alliance University Chancelor Madhukar G Angur, who is accused of repeatedly raping his 32-year-old niece (sister’s daughter) between 2011 and 2014.
A teenaged Dalit girl, who was set ablaze by three persons attempting to rape her, succumbed to burns in a Varanasi hospital.
In a harrowing incident, a man raped his own daughter for four months in Satara, following which both the father and the minor girl were thrashed by the panchayat.
Other News
After pursuing an aggressive movement to seek equal rights for women at Shani Shingnapur temple, a matter that is now pending at Bombay High Court, the fight for “equal rights to pray” has now reached the Shri Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik. On Shivratri and the eve of International Women’s Day, 150 women of Bhumata Brigade, will attempt to reach the sanctum sanctorium of Trayambkeshwar temple.
Irom Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike to repeal AFSPA since the year 2000, has been re-arrested after she was acquitted of suicide charges by a court in Imphal on February 29. The police, however, is yet to press any charge against her and is reportedly seeking a relevant law to justify the arrest, according to a government official.
What We’re Reading
A new study suggests rom coms perpetuate dangerous myths, and make it harder to prosecute stalkers. And feminists have been saying this forever, no?
Coexist, a UK-based organization has introduced a new policy allowing employees to request time off from work for period pain.
How did two top-billed scripts, the Oscars and the Budget, deal with women? In a nutshell, Arun Jaitley barely said the word woman.
Women refer to periods in code using some 5,000 euphemisms, avoid discussing the issue with male colleagues or relatives, and some skip school or work to hide their symptoms, a survey of 90,000 people in 190 countries has found.
Featured Image Credit: ABPNews
