Gender Agenda newsletter: Some good news

Kids these days call it ‘timetable cleaning’, but most people simply call it the good old ‘good news’. This week, my heart swelled with a series of news stories that provided a respite from the dreary nature of the news cycle.

It was full of victories in the world of sex. The Karnataka government has become the first Indian state to approve paid menstrual leave in the government and private sectors. Many women welcomed this move. This is because there is almost no recognition of how dysmenorrhea, in particular, prevents women from functioning at their best during their monthly cycles in the workplace. Even when you’re not doing physical work, menstrual cramps tend to be limiting and cause acute discomfort. One day of rest a month will help with better performance while taking into account women and their bodies.

However, this issue of menstrual leave caused Indian feminists to debate the issue. This article quotes Infosys personnel management MP Shruti as pointing out that granting 12 menstrual leaves per year will create unequal problems in the workplace. “The introduction of one-day menstrual leave may be disadvantageous to women themselves due to the possibility of losing employment opportunities,” he said. When the issue came to the fore, similar arguments against maternity leave were raised. But necessity seems to have outweighed patriarchal notions of what ’employment’ and ‘opportunity’ mean. We must ask for more permission; parental leave (not just maternity leave); Otherwise, employers will refuse to hire women or pay them equal wages.

Another delightful article this week by Alisha Dutta describes how around 30 women of all ages, once bound by the shackles of child marriage, are now marching to the office of Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti, an NGO in Ajmer, hoping to learn the craft of filmmaking and editing and soon make their own films.

In other news, the sentence of the only man who appealed his conviction for raping 72-year-old French Gisèle Pelicot has been increased from nine to 10 years. Hüsamettin Doğan, 44, claimed his innocence in court despite sensational video footage showing him entering an immobile Pelicot. During the hearing, he asked her to stop being referred to as an icon. “I am an ordinary woman who dared to open her trial,” she said. “I became an icon against my will.” How women became reluctant heroes is a longer story that will one day be told.

Most recently, Harvard University appointed professor Kareem Khubchandani’s drag persona, Lawhore Vagistan, to teach courses on queer culture, ethnography, and RuPaul’s Drag Race as an adjunct professor. In her class, students will learn to answer questions about bodies, pleasure, power, and desire.

Have a sex-filled week!

wordsworth

Gender-based exclusion: Although the term is self-explanatory, it seems we need to explain this for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. On October 10, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, the official representative of the Taliban, addressed the Indian press, which excluded female journalists. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called the incident “an insult to some of India’s most empowered women”.

toolkit

National Crime Records Bureau Last report of 2023 It reveals alarming statistics on gender-based violence in India. A total of 4,48,211 cases of crime against women were recorded in 2023; This increased by 0.7% compared to 2022, when 4,45,256 cases were recorded. According to this report, cases registered under dowry-related crimes increased by 14% in 2023; More than 15,000 cases were recorded nationwide and more than 6,100 deaths were reported throughout the year.

Ah!

“Look, I come from a backward family. Whenever there was an emotional scene in a movie, we used to turn our backs. This happens even today in our house. Gauahar [Khan] He is now part of our family and we are responsible for his reputation. But I can’t tell him not to work; This right belongs only to Zayd [Darbar]. That’s why I don’t engage in activities that might disturb me.”

Music composer Ismail Darbar on actor and his daughter-in-law Gauahar Khan’s post-marriage work.

people we met

Poorani C (29), co-founder of Penn Collective, aims to equip women with the skills necessary for political participation and encourage them to pursue long-term careers in politics. During her time as a political consultant, Poorani witnessed blatant gender-based discrimination, abuse and indifference. “I have seen many women participating in political meetings as beneficiaries, but we rarely see them on stage as leaders or organizers. Why are women not part of the power structures, part of the decision-making tables?” Through initiatives such as Thaenkoodu (Honeycomb), her organization hopes to build the capacity of local women leaders and candidates through workshops. This, in addition to representing the grievances of grassroots women politicians through petitions and protests. “I also aspire to enter mainstream politics one day. But that is secondary. My immediate goal is to build a sisterhood and community of women leaders where they can trust each other, develop themselves, run for office, and be meaningfully represented at the local, state, and national levels,” she says.

It was published – 12 October 2025 08:08 IST