Shadhika Shadhika

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Are digital spaces here to stay and if they are, how do we make them as egalitarian as possible?

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Digital Spaces and Education: What’s Gender Got To Do With It?

March 23, 2023

Reading Time: 6 minutes “I’d never seen women using a laptop in my family, so didn’t know if even girls can use a laptop. So that ‘fear’ was instilled in me and my mom that and the fear only kept increasing among the other women of the family too…”  When access to technology and digital spaces is dictated by   

What’s Connection Got To Do With It: Our Way Forward

February 17, 2023

Reading Time: 4 minutes Welcome to the first post of our Executive Director’s blog series! In this series, our Executive Director will be sharing insights on Shadhika’s mission, our gender justice work, and the impact of our programs in India. Follow our Executive Director on Instagram and Twitter for more! Read more from The Executive Director’s Desk here. We   

When She Leads: Meet the Shadhika Staff

January 6, 2023

Reading Time: 6 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads series. Learn more. Meet the Shadhika Staff who work tirelessly to make everything we do possible and read what the year was like, behind the scenes! Personally and professionally, I think that this past year was a big year of growth for me, so ‘We rise,   

When She Leads: Shadhika’s Climate Change Initiative

December 21, 2022

Reading Time: 21 minutes This edition of the When She Leads will celebrate girl leadership at the forefront of climate action in India. The interview is a conversation between Climate Change Initiative Fellow Nitika, the Initiative’s consultant Sayantoni Dutta, and Vanita Ganesh, Shadhika’s Digital Media Coordinator. Nitika is a Shadhika Scholar with a background in journalism and law. She   

This is what girl leadership for climate justice looks like.

November 18, 2022

Reading Time: 5 minutes “I did not know that I could do something so big. I decided to try something in my village, and it turned out to be a very big program.” Beauti shares her experience with the group of Shadhika Climate Fellows about the initiative in her village to gain access to clean drinking water. “Years ago,   

The gendered cost of violence

November 10, 2022

Reading Time: 6 minutes Trigger warnings: Instances of types of violence, mentions of sexual abuse and rape. In my short time as a communications professional, working on a program for 16 Days of Activism is often a bittersweet experience. It is a reminder of how far we’ve come and, simultaneously, of how far we have left to go. In 2021,   

When She Leads: Juthica Stangl

October 20, 2022

Reading Time: 6 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads series. Learn more. 30 years ago, Shadhika founder Juthica Stangl took the first step in what would become a three-decade-long pursuit of gender justice for women across India. Read more about this incredible journey spanning 30 years and how it came together from Juthica and Peter Stangl. Tell us   

When She Leads: Shadhika Scholars’ Community Leadership Projects

Reading Time: 9 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads series. Learn more. UNICEF’s call to action for this year’s International Day of the Girl includes “greater attention, investment and action on letting girls lead by putting girls in the forefront of change efforts, hearing their voices, responding to their asks, and welcoming them in decision-making spaces,” among others.   

When She Leads: Radha Venkatesh

September 6, 2022

Reading Time: 8 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads series. Learn more. Radha is an Independence Coordinator with our Partner Site in Karnataka Baale Mane. Radha was interviewed by Digital Media Coordinator Vanita Ganesh. Could you introduce yourself to Shadhika supporters? I am Radha from Bangalore, currently associated with Baale Mane Trust – Girls’ Home (I don’t want   

From the Field: July-August 2022

September 2, 2022

Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘Leading from a place of compassion’ may seem like an ambiguous concept, but it surprises us when we see it in action. Perhaps its simplicity surprises us, but if we look around, what seems really profound is really simple. I am sharing this because my recent field visits to Shadhika’s partner organizations were also full   

From the Field: July-August 2022

Reading Time: 6 minutes ‘करुणा की स्थान से नेतृत्व करना’ शब्दों में समझना मुश्किल होता है, लेकिन इसे कार्रवाई में देखकर हमें ताज्जुब होता है। शायद इसकी सादगी हमें चौंका देती है। लेकिन अगर हम अपने चारों ओर देखें, तो बहुत सी गहरी चीजें सबसे सरल चीजें हैं। मैं इसे यहां साझा कर रहा हूं क्योंकि मेरी हाल की   

What Really Goes Into Fighting Gender Injustice?

June 23, 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes “I want to send my daughter to college but my family wants me to marry her off soon so she won’t be a burden on the family. I don’t have money to take care of her, so I don’t know what to do. I can’t let her dreams be cut short so soon either,” said   

Gender Injustice is Chronic Trauma

April 25, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes Around the world, women and girls are leading in crisis response.  The Muslim female students are standing up for their right to an education at a time when religious violence reaches new heights in India.  Women are leading in the humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine, galvanizing their communities to meet the needs of   

When She Leads: Lekha & Tasmiah

March 31, 2022

Reading Time: 11 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads Series. Learn more here. Can you introduce yourself to the Shadhika supporters? Lekha: My name is Lekha Masoudi and I’m a senior at Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in New Hampshire. I’ve lived in Denver, Colorado since I was a baby. I started the Shadhika Club along   

No School Safety = No Gender Justice

March 22, 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes Shadhika’s theory of change is centered around education as the most effective vehicle for people marginalized on the basis of their gender to move out of chronic disenfranchisement and towards self-determination.  In one generation, a young woman with a college degree in India is more likely to find a job in the formal economy and