Rekha Sharma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| National Chairperson of the National Commission for Women | |
| In office 7 August 2018 – Incumbent | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Rekha Sharma is the current Chairperson of the National Commission for Women in India. [1] [2]
Ms Rekha Sharma is currently the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW). As the Chairperson, her job is to advocate for gender equality, spearheading initiatives to further the cause of women's empowerment.
Empowering Law Enforcement: Changing Minds, Empowering Women
Ms. Sharma spearheaded an innovative collaboration between NCW and the Bureau of Police Research and Development.[ citation needed ] This collaboration aims to empower police personnel across the nation with empathetic responses to gender-based violence victims.
Fostering Economic Empowerment: Cultivating Entrepreneurs
Under Ms. Sharma's leadership, NCW launched a business course benefiting 5,000 aspiring women entrepreneurs. [3]
Navigating the Digital Landscape: Promoting Digital Literacy
NCW played a pivotal role in the "We Think Digital" [4] campaign. This digital literacy endeavour has touched the lives of 60,000 women, [5] equipping them with the skills to navigate the online realm safely and effectively.
Under her leadership, NCW failed to respond to complaints from women rights associations over numerous serious rape crimes perpetrated against Kuki women in the state of Manipur, India. Ms. Sharma failed to respond to written complaints emailed directly to her office on June 12 2023 filed by a Manipur Tribal Association headquartered abroad. The complaints clearly state the crimes and abuses faced by women, such as being, "disrobed, paraded naked, beaten and then encircled by a marauding Meitei mob and raped in public”, committed on May 4th. [6] There were no replies or acknowledgement from NCW of the complaints until a video showing the alleged crime became viral on Twitter. Critics argue that under her leadership, India has seen little to no progress on the women safety front, and the country still ranks among the least safe nations in the world for women. [7] In March 2024, Sharma faced further criticism from journalists from India and abroad for her response to a complaint about women's safety in India. Many women noted that they were appalled at Sharma's words, recounting the horrors of their travels in India. [8] [9]
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the time of recorded India's history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordination continued to be reified well into India's early modern period.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) is a statutory body of the Government of India, generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women. It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the Indian Constitution, as defined in the 1990 National Commission for Women Act. The first head of the commission was Jayanti Patnaik. As of 24 February 2024, Rekha Sharma is the chairperson.
The Jhabua nuns rape case refers to the gang rape of four nuns in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh in India on September 23, 1998, by tribal men. Around 18-26 men barged their way into the Ashram where the nuns lived and ransacked the entire ashram and some of the men gang raped the nuns.
Gender inequality in India refers to health, education, economic and political inequalities between men and women in India. Various international gender inequality indices rank India differently on each of these factors, as well as on a composite basis, and these indices are controversial.
Alka Lamba is an Indian politician serving for the President of All India Mahila Congress. After serving the Indian National Congress in various capacities for more than 20 years, she quit to join the Aam Aadmi Party on 26 December 2014. In February 2015, Lamba was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly from Chandni Chowk. She quit AAP in September 2019 citing disrespect for her within the party. On 6 September 2019, she formally returned to the Congress party. She was however disqualified from the Delhi assembly by Delhi speaker for violating the rules for party change over a gesture of strong warning to tainted turncoats.
Domestic violence in India includes any form of violence suffered by a person from a biological relative but typically is the violence suffered by a woman by male members of her family or relatives. Although Men also suffer Domestic violence, the law under IPC 498A specifically protects only women. Specifically only a woman can file a case of domestic violence. According to a National Family and Health Survey in 2005, total lifetime prevalence of domestic violence was 33.5% and 8.5% for sexual violence among women aged 15–49. A 2014 study in The Lancet reports that although the reported sexual violence rate in India is among the lowest in the world, the large population of India means that the violence affects 27.5 million women over their lifetimes. However, an opinion survey among experts carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked India as the most dangerous country in the world for women.
The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi. The incident took place when Jyoti Singh, a 22-year-old physiotherapy intern, was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in a private bus in which she was travelling with her male friend, Avnindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend. She was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for treatment and transferred to Singapore eleven days after the assault, where she succumbed to her injuries two days later. The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned, both in India and abroad. Subsequently, public protests against the state and central governments for failing to provide adequate security for women took place in New Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country. Since Indian law does not allow the press to publish a rape victim's name, the victim was widely known as Nirbhaya, meaning "fearless", and her struggle and death became a symbol of women's resistance to rape around the world.
V. Mohini Giri was an Indian community service worker and activist, who was Chairperson of the Guild of Service, a New Delhi-based social service organisation. Established in 1979, it provides advocacy for women's and children's rights for education, employment, and financial security. She founded War Widows Association, New Delhi in 1972, and was Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (1995–1998).
Manasi Pradhan is an Indian women's rights activist and author. She is the founder of Honour for Women National Campaign, a nationwide movement to end violence against women in India. In 2014, she was conferred with Rani Laskhmibai Stree Shakti Puraskar by the President of India. Along with Mary Prema Pierick, global head of the Missionaries of Charity, she won the 'Outstanding Women Award' in 2011.
The term 'political participation' has a very wide meaning. It is not only related to 'Right to Vote', but simultaneously relates to participation in: decision-making process, political activism, political consciousness, etc. Women in India participate in voting, run for public offices and political parties at lower levels more than men. Political activism and voting are the strongest areas of women's political participation. To combat gender inequality in politics, the Indian Government has instituted reservations for seats in local governments.
The Cinema of Manipur is the film industry based in Manipur, India. It includes not only Meitei language movies but all the films made in different languages of the different communities in Manipur. The Manipuri film industry was born when Matamgi Manipur by Debkumar Bose was released on 9 April 1972. From Aribam Syam Sharma's Paokhum Ama, the first colour Manipuri film (1983), M.A Singh's Langlen Thadoi, the first full-length colour Manipuri film (1984), Oken Amakcham's Lammei, the first Manipuri digital film (2002), to Priyakanta Laishram's Oneness (film), the first Manipuri gay-themed film (2023), Manipuri cinema, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, has grown in both its form and culture.
Aruna Sundararajan is former India's Telecom Secretary and Chairman of the Telecom Commission. A retired 1982 batch IAS officer from Kerala Cadre, Ms Sundararajan, is one of the most senior civil servants of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the country. Ms Sundararajan has over three decades of experience in a variety of leadership roles in the Central and State Governments, especially in Economic and Development Administration, Investment Promotion and IT/Telecom Domains.
Mamta Sharma is an Indian politician and former chairperson of the National Commission for Women India.
Khawar Mumtaz is a Pakistani women's rights activist, feminist author and university professor. She is the Former Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) who served for three consecutive terms from 2013 to 2019.
Swati Maliwal is a Social Activist and a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Delhi. She was the former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) for 9 years, she was the youngest Chief of DCW.
On 6 February 2020, at around 6:30 pm, a group of intoxicated men entered the campus of Gargi College, a women's college affiliated to University of Delhi. The incidents happened during the annual cultural fest of the college, Reverie. Reportedly, some students were sexually assaulted by members of the mob. It was also reported that some of the men masturbated in front of the female students.
Jammu and Kashmir State Commission for Women is a statutory body constituted in the year 1993 to deal with the issues relating to crime against women in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The commission for welfare of women in the state was set up by Jammu and Kashmir Government as a quasi-judicial body.
Jharkhand State Commission for Women is a statutory body constituted in the year 1993 to deal with the issues relating to crime against women in the state of Jharkhand. The commission for welfare of women in the state was set up by Jharkhand Government as a quasi-judicial body.
On 4 April 2022, a 14-year-old girl was raped in Hanskhali of Nadia district, West Bengal, India. The main accused are Brojogopali Gayali and his friends. Notably they are associated with TMC.
On 5 January 2024, a team of Enforcement Directorate officers visited the village of Sandeshkhali in West Bengal, India, to interrogate a local Trinamool Congress leader, Sheikh Shahjahan, about his involvement with the corruption scandal of the politician Jyotipriya Mallick. Mallick, a former minister with the Trinamool Congress, pled guilty for embezzling multiple crores from food rationing funds in October 2023, implicating Shahjahan. In January 2024, the ED investigated additional allegations of sexual assault and improper land acquisition against Shahjahan. In the resulting altercation, three ED officers were injured by local supporters of Shahjahan.