Slum kids confront sexism as India grapples with abuse of women

By Nita Bhalla MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Standing before a classroom packed with teenagers, Yojana Salunke begins her weekly one-hour lesson on a subject which many experts say is crucial to helping India address one of its biggest challenges - gender inequality. As India grapples to stem rising violence against women, activists say classes like these - which confront traditional gender roles and challenge sexism amongst the youth – are key to changing attitudes and curbing widespread gender abuse. We talk about how boys and girls are equal as human beings, but how we treat girls differently," said Shakir Parvez Shaikh, 15, a student at the Shahaji Nagar Municipal Hindi School in Mumbai's Cheeta Camp area. I didn't realize before ... I think it's unfair." BARRAGE OF THREATS From female feticide, child marriage and dowry killings to rape and domestic violence, Indian girls and women face a barrage of threats, say experts, largely because of age-old patriarchal attitudes that view them as inferior to men. March 22, 2015 at 08:12PM

via Lazahealth.org