The apex court recognised that narrow patriarchal principles and assumptions about permissible sex are limiting the legal options available to pregnant persons, and lead them to unsafe alternatives.
Odisha's Livelihood Mission promotes local gardens to help adivasis find food security. These also improve nutrition levels, and provide additional income from surplus produce.
In low-income families, women have faced more vulnerabilities than men during covid. These interventions could form the backbone of a new resilience for them now and in future disasters.
A survey of nearly 15,000 women in the aftermath of the pandemic-induced lockdown last year reveals specific ways in which women are particularly vulnerable to risks.
NFHS data on nutrition and gender parity show worsening trends in recent years. Unless the norms that underpin discrimination are addressed, the risk of regressing can never be overcome.
A vocal community demanding its health rights through greater participation local governance is the key to long term change, and this may be finally starting to happen in a few places.
Left to fend for themselves while their men look for work elsewhere, poor women find themselves trapped between the quackery of the limited medical attention and the social binds of their families.
There are 70 million diabetics in India, 80 percent of them have vision problems about which they are either not aware or lack access to good eye care. Swapna Majumdar reports how NGOs are partnering to reach out to the marginalised and providing them better eye care and prevention.
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 introduced in the parliament proposes a ban on commercial surrogacy. Shoma Chatterji finds out if this will help in checking exploitation of women.
Handing out non-biodegradable sanitary pads to rural school girls who have reached menarche will not address their menstrual hygiene issue. Clean and functional toilets with water supply, awareness about menstruation, economical and biodegradable pads and more is needed, finds Puja Awasthi.
Bijayalaxmi Nanda tracks some of the prominent debates surrounding two critical legislations, dealing with gender-biased sex selection and abortion respectively, and points to the commonalities in recommendations made by the apparently contradictory camps.
Institutionalised delivery is encouraged as a means of reducing maternal/infant mortality, but the misbehaviour meted to pregnant women in government hospitals deters them from seeking such care. Ruhi Kandhari reports.
In the tribal villages of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, committed social workers are improving the health and lives of mothers and children by spreading awareness about their special needs.
The death of 14 women in Chhattisgarh following botched sterilisation procedures has rightfully led to furore across the country. But a detailed, historical analysis of family planning as it has evolved, by Shoma A Chatterji, exposes an inherent and sustained gender bias in policy as well as practice.
It has been widely established that the health impact of indoor air pollution, caused often by solid fuels for household cooking, far outweighs the hazards of outdoor pollution. Arpana HS quotes data from the Census and findings from a recent paper to show why India needs to tackle this on priority.
India Together is published with support from Oorvani Foundation.
