VOLUME VI / ISSUE 03
march 2011
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Yousuf Jassem Al Darwish Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Sehgal Executive Vice President Alpana Roy Vice President Ravi Raman
Managing Editor Vani Saraswathi Deputy Editor Sindhu Nair fashion & lifestyle correspondent Orna Ballout Editorial Co-ordinator Cassey Oliveira correspondents Pragati Shukla Ezdhar Ali Contributor Shalinee Bharadwaj
Art Director Venkat Reddy Asst Director – production Sujith Heenatigala assistant Art Director Hanan Abu Saiam Senior Graphic Designers Ayush Indrajith Sampath Gunathilaka M D Managers – Marketing Mohammed Sami Zulfikar Jiffry Senior Media Consultant Chaturka Karandana Media Consultants Victoria Ferraris HASSAN REKKAB Marketing research & support executive amjeth ali
Accountant Pratap Chandran
sr. distribution Executive Bikram Shrestha Distribution Support Arjun Timilsina Bhimal rai
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8
March 2011
FROM THE EDITOR
If we are empowered women who know and demand our rights; who can pursue dreams that shatter some stereotypes, while nurturing quirks that reiterate some others; who can be financially independent and professionally sound – do we still need to observe Women’s Day? Is it an irony that we seek exclusivity and equality in the same breath? Here is why it is important to observe a day, to follow a movement. Because there are gender-specific incidents we seek to mute, experiences we wish to erase, and moments when we struggle for visibility. And that’s speaking for just us – the luckier ones. Now think of the majority of women, across the world, who are in the throes of the worst kind of violations and abuse. If Rihanna, with all her money, fame and the empowerment that comes with it, is easy game for an abusive (celebrity) boyfriend, what about those who have no access to education, health or legal help? A World Health Organization 10-country study on women’s health and domestic violence showed that between 15% and 71% of women reported physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner. Many women said that their first sexual experience was not consensual. (24% in rural Peru, 28% in Tanzania, 30% in rural Bangladesh, and 40% in South Africa). Every year, about 5,000 women are murdered by family members in the name of honour. Let’s not even get into trafficking and underage marriages, because we need an entire edition to speak of all these issues. Don’t picture violence against women as a trend in undeveloped countries or in societies facing abject poverty. It happens in the richest of homes, to the most empowered of women, by the most educated of men. And women from all strata of society face physical aggression, or passive threats at home, in workplaces and in public spaces. That means YOU and ME, are as susceptible. Equal pay and opportunities, representation in governments are other concerns that we need to look at. That is why we need forums, that’s why we need a Day, a Month, that’s why we need a ‘women’s’ magazine. And that’s why we need a sisterhood that sticks together. That is why we feature 21 brilliant women who between them handle 40 odd different roles. Here is to empowerment and freedom of choice.
Vani Saraswathi