Unsung heroes: 5 Asian women transcending gender roles
- From motherhood in Hong Kong to protests in India, menstruation huts in Nepal and life as a lesbian domestic worker, five women share their perspectives
- Asia is at a turning point, they say, with new generations a driving force for change. But there are many battles still to be won
Sundaram Thakur, 20, was born and bred in New Delhi, India’s capital. Although her family has supported her education and she eventually became a student leader at a top university, Thakur is acutely aware of how her gender shapes her daily life and her future prospects.
“I belong to a non-conservative family, but they still treat me differently from my brother. For instance, I need to get home early and I am shut down every time I have different opinions from them,” she says.
Thakur recently took part in a week-long protest at the Gargi College, one of Delhi University’s top all-women institutes, after a group of men barged onto the campus and harassed students at an annual party.
The students were enraged by what they saw as a lack of action by the university’s administration and the authorities. Some even blamed Thakur for not doing more as the student union leader.
For six days last month, Thakur joined thousands of female students on strike, helping to decorate the college with slogans that condemned sexual harassment and called for a safer campus.
Across Asia, women like Thakur and her fellow students are becoming increasingly outspoken, taking part in protests from India to Hong Kong and bringing change to their communities as feminist movements gain ground in the region and globally.