Shiney Ahuja Case: Power Struggles Within Four Walls

Ten Years After Kargil, Borderline Women

Gardening Tips For The Global Meltdown

Iraqi Women Search for New Lives

Out of School? Take The Rescue Bridge

Chhattisgarh's Children, Nobody's Children

Switching Countries, Tough on the Teens

Women Students From Down Under Speak Out

Mum's Holiday Homework

Metro Freedoms: Delhi Women's Rapid Transit

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India
Shiney Ahuja Case: Power Struggles Within Four Walls
Kamayani Bali-Mahabal

The case involving actor Shiney Ahuja, accused of raping an 18-year-old domestic worker, has shaken Mumbai and raised familiar questions about sexual exploitation within the film industry and the perception of many within it that they can transgress every social norm and not be held accountable. The incident also underlines the fact that sexual harassment at the hands of those in whose homes they work continues to be a major occupational hazard for domestic workers. But the issue remains shrouded in silence as it has always been.

"The problem arises when stupid and ignorant people start perceiving make-believe as real," philosophises Kay Kay Menon.

[Photographs Available]

India
Ten Years After Kargil, Borderline Women
Prakriiti Gupta

Exactly a decade ago war broke out between India and Pakistan at Kargil, Kashmir. But for many women with homes along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir, the cessation of hostilities between the two countries has not given them what they could term as peace of mind. Having moved into makeshift homes, they live as victims of conflict - some with bullets in their heads, others with the pain of the loss of a loved one, and most with the agony of not having a home to call their own.

"I am as good as dead, rather I'm a burden on my young daughters who should instead have been my responsibility."

[Photographs Available]

United Kingdom
Gardening Tips For The Global Meltdown
Barbara Lewis

As Britain celebrates the 250th anniversary of its botanical Kew Gardens, it appears that in an age of recession the British pastime of gardening has, in fact, helped spirits and profits blossom. Thus, besides the topical virtue of gardening being an antidote to the kind of grasping materialism that triggered the global financial crisis, its other advantage is a very practical one: Growing one's own food. Of course, research has proven that women's aptitude for growing things dates back to their role as gatherers, while men were the hunters. But that's not where female gardening talent ends. Many are now getting into the garden design business, creating havens of greenery for stressed out Londoners.

'More and more women are being recognised for their talents... Women just seem to create beautiful poetic gardens in their own quiet way.'

[Photographs Available]

Syria
Iraqi Women Search for New Lives
Nitin Jugran Bahuguna

There are around 1.2 million Iraqi refugees living in Syria - the only country in West Asia which has not closed its borders to those fleeing death and persecution in the war-torn nation. But, for women, life in their adopted country too is not free from dangers: More than 2,800 women are at risk of being forced into child labour, early marriage or sex work, as their financial resources are diminishing and Syria does not give them the right to work. However, UN agencies and the Syrian government have collaborated to assist women and children living in safe houses to access counselling, vocational training and legal and medical services.

'When I first arrived, I was terrified at the thought of what was going to happen to me next. Soon, I was reassured by the presence of other girls like me. We became sisters.'

[Photographs Available]

India
Out of School? Take The Rescue Bridge
Kulsum Mustafa

Shabbo would have never gone back to her books. Pulled out of school to help buttress the family's income with her meagre wage of 30 rupees a day, earned through hours of pouring over embroidery stitches, the young girl knew a life no better than one steeped in poverty and far removed from the classroom. Fortunately for Shabbo and hundreds like her, who number among Uttar Pradesh's nearly quarter million out-of-school children, the new Residential Bridge Course (RBC) schools - a UP government-UNICEF initiative - will see them back with a timetable for self improvement.

"These girls are fast learners but we have to ensure that their interest is sustained."

[Photographs Available]