Marya
Celebrating Women this week and every day for their achievements and fighting spirit. With some historic decisions and wins and protests, this week’s top stories constitutes the grand win of Shree’s novel winning the Booker Prize, Middha becoming the First Dalit Mayor in UK and others.
Continue reading to catch up with this week’s top stories concerning women.
1. WHO honours India’s one million all-female ASHA volunteers
One million all-women in India The World Health Organization honoured ASHA volunteers on Sunday for their “crucial role” in giving direct access to healthcare facilities in rural regions and their unwavering efforts to combat the country’s coronavirus outbreak. ASHA volunteers, or Accredited Social Health Activists, are Indian government-affiliated health-care workers who serve as the initial point of contact in rural India. During the peak of the pandemic in India, the majority of them made headlines for conducting door-to-door checks to track down coronavirus sufferers.
2. Female activists protest during Cannes 2022 red carpet
During a red carpet protest in Cannes 2022, female activists unfurl a big banner to expose violence against women. After a group invaded the red carpet at a premiere of a film about the murders of sex workers, protests regarding women’s safety occurred for the second time in a couple of days at the Cannes film festival.
3. Geetanjali Shree’s ‘Tomb of Sand’ becomes the first Hindi novel to win the International Booker prize
The Hindi novel ‘Tomb of Sand,’ written by Delhi-based novelist Geetanjali Shree, has won the coveted International Booker Prize for the first time in any Indian language. Daisy Rockwell has translated the 2018 book, originally titled ‘Ret Samadhi,’ into English. According to NDTV, the Booker jury noted that the novel, which follows an 80-year-old woman during Partition, is an “urgent and timely protest against the destructive impact of borders and boundaries, whether between religions, countries, or genders,” and that it is “an urgent and timely protest against the destructive impact of borders and boundaries, whether between religions, countries, or genders.”
4. The Supreme Court states sex workers are entitled to equal protection of the law
The Supreme Court declared sex work to be a profession “entitled to dignity and equal protection under the law.” The Court issued orders prohibiting the police from interfering with or prosecuting adult and consenting sex workers. On the basis of age and consent, the Bench declared that criminal law must apply equally in all circumstances. It further stated that children of sex workers should not be removed from their mothers only because she works in the sex trade. When a brothel is raided, the Bench decided that sex workers should not be “arrested, penalised, harassed, or victimised,” because “voluntary sex work is not criminal and only running the brothel is prohibited.”
5. Mohinder Midha becomes the First Dalit Woman Mayor in the UK
Mohinder Kaur Midha is the first Dalit woman to be elected Mayor of the United Kingdom. Midha was elected Mayor of Ealing Council in West London for the year 2022-23 on the 24th of May. In 2018, she was elected as a Councilor for Dormer Wells in the London Borough of Ealing, and in 2021, she was selected as the Deputy Mayor of the Ealing Council.
6. Having 7 woman judges, Kerala HC reaches the highest number of women judges in history
With Justice Shoba Annamma Epen’s appointment as ‘additional judge,’ the Kerala High Court now has seven female judges, the greatest number in the state’s judicial history. According to a report by LiveLaw, this is the first time the Kerala High Court has had seven women judges out of a total of 38 judges.
7. Abhilasha Barak joins Indian Army As First Female Combat Aviator
Golden Letter Day in the history of #IndianArmy Aviation.
Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes the First Woman Officer to join #ArmyAviationCorps as Combat Aviator after successful completion of training. (1/2)#InStrideWithTheFuture pic.twitter.com/RX9It4UBYA
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 25, 2022
Abhilasha Barak, a 26-year-old army officer, has made history by becoming the Indian Army’s first female combat aviator. Abhilasha, a Haryana native, has succeeded in every profession in which she has worked. Having grown up in military Cantonments across the country, joining the forces was a natural career choice for Captain Abhilasha Barak. The 26-year-old, who wore the Coveted Wings, was honoured with 36 Army pilots at the Combat Army Aviation Training School in Nashik.
