Year of the Woman

2018-2019

This exhibition is still available for display. If you are interested in doing so or know of a suitable venue please contact us.

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Our exhibition in 2018 was focussed around the year of the woman. 2018 was an important year for women. In the UK we celebrated 100 years since some British women first received the right to vote, after decades of struggle and protest. Around the world we witnessed the global tidal waves of the #metoo movement, as women, joined by men, speak out against widespread sexual assault, harassment and abuses of power in institutions, industry and the workplace. In April, in the UK, for the first time ever, companies with over 250 employees had to lay bare their gender pay gap. Of those that reported by the deadline, 78% paid men more than women. Every country still needs to make significant strides in the pursuit of true sexual equality – In India, particularly in rural India, this is especially so.

As the statistics accompanying this exhibition make stark, despite the fact that there have been many advances in the position of women in some strata of Indian society, particularly in politics, banking and other traditionally male-dominated sectors, the majority of the 600 million women in India continue to face discrimination on a daily basis. This is particularly true for the 70% of Indian women who live in rural areas, many of whom continue to carry the burden of domestic and child-rearing duties, alongside agricultural work, and where women and girls continue to live with a severe lack of access to suitable healthcare, education and financial independence. Although women in India officially have the same constitutional and legal rights as men, for the most part they continue to be regarded as second class citizens, and Dalit women or those from scheduled castes suffer double discrimination and oppression.

In 2018, the Thompson Reuters Foundation published its results of a survey by 550 experts on women’s issues. India was found to be the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman. This is due to the levels of sexual violence against women, female human trafficking, forced labour, forced marriage and extreme cultural traditions that effect women leading to acid attacks, child marriage, female genital mutilation and domestic abuse.

For over 30 years, Action Village India has been working through its partners to impact the lives of women and girls in India, to enable them to stand up for their rights, gain social mobility and to be able to choose a different way of life.

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