Women's Activism NYC

Manasi Pradhan

1962 - Today

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Manasi Pradhan (born 4 October 1962) is an Indian women's rights activist and author. She is the founder of Honour for Women National Campaign, a nationwide movement to end violence against women in India. In 2014, she was conferred with Rani Laskhmibai Stree Shakti Puraskar by the President of India. Along with Mary Prema Pierick, global head of the Missionaries of Charity, she won the 'Outstanding Women Award' in 2011. Pradhan is frequently featured by international publications and organizations. In 2016, the New York based Bustle (magazine) named her among 20 most inspiring Feminists Authors and Activists. In 2017, the Los Angeles based Welker Media Inc. named her among 12 most powerful feminist change makers. In 2018, the Oxford Union of University of Oxford invited her to address the union. She is the founder of Nirbhaya Vahini, Nirbhaya Samaroh and OYSS Women. She has served on the panel of Central Board of Film Certification (Censor Board) for India and Inquiry Committee of the National Commission for Women. Born to a poor family in a remote village of Odisha, she fought successfully the widely prevalent social taboo against educating women, walked 15 km daily amidst hilly terrain and swamp to the only high school in the entire region to emerge as first woman matriculate of her village and subsequently the first woman law graduate of her region. The life story of Manasi Pradhan has been adopted as documentaries in the United States and Israel. In November 2009, she launched the Honour for Women National Campaign, a nationwide movement to end violence against women in India. The movement has been instrumental in galvanizing the nation against women atrocities. The movement employs a multi-pronged strategy to fight the menace of violence against women in India. It uses a plethora of vehicles i.e. women’s rights stall, women’s rights festival, women’s rights meets, women’s rights literature, audio-visual displays, street plays etc. to raise awareness on legal and institutional provisions to fight atrocities on women. On the other hand, it puts pressure on the state by mobilizing public opinion and sustained campaigning for institutional changes and correctional measures to contain violence against women.

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