A brutal gang-rape of a young woman in India in 2012 caused a global outcry against rising brutal violence against women. In response to the young woman's death and the protests that followed, the contributors analyze the position of women in South Asia, the issue of violence, women's political activism and gender inequalities.

This book explores and analyzes gender mainstreaming in South Asia. Gender mainstreaming as a concept is about removing disparities between men and women – about equal access to resources, inclusion and participation in the public sphere, representation in government, and empowerment, all with the aim of achieving equal opportunities for men and women in family life, society, administration, politics, and the economy. The challenges of gender mainstreaming in South Asia are huge, especially in the contexts of patriarchal, religious, and caste-based social norms and values. Men’s dominance in politics, administration, and economic activities is distinctly visible. Women have been subservient to the policy preferences of their male counterparts. However, in recent years, more women are participating in politics at the local and national levels, in administration, and in formal economic activities. Have gender equality and equity been ensured in South Asia? This book focuses on how gender-related issues are incorporated into policy formulation and governance, how they have fared, what challenges they have encountered when these policies were put into practice, and their implications and fate in the context of five South Asian countries. The authors have used varied frameworks to analyze gender mainstreaming at the micro and macro levels. Written from public administration and political science perspectives, the book provides an overview of the possibilities and constraints of gender mainstreaming in a region, which is not only diverse in ethnicity and religion, but also in economic progress, political culture, and the state of governance.

This book investigates the contemporary social, political and economic issues faced by women in South Asia. It focuses on the policies and practices that have challenged or perpetuated gender inequalities, and the evolving role of women in South Asian societies. With contributions from practitioners, policy makers, academics and civil society activists from across South Asia, this volume provides a broad and diverse range of viewpoints on South Asian women's labour force participation, political participation, education, and health, as well as country-specific insights.The volume is conceived as a stage for debate where specific insights act as a window into wider themes, practices and policies. Each essay is followed by policy-relevant recommendations and suggestions for avenues to improve current practice. This book will be relevant for undergraduate students and lecturers of South Asian studies, development, and policy studies, as well as industry practitioners.

Misconceptions regarding gender identity and issues of inequality that women around the world face have become a predominant concern for not only the citizens impacted, but global political leaders, administrators, and human rights activists. Revealing Gender Inequalities and Perceptions in South Asian Countries through Discourse Analysis explores how an analysis of language use in the South Asian region exposes issues related to gender identity, representation, and equality. Emphasizing emerging research and case studies focusing on the concept of gender in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Nepal, this publication is an essential resource for social theorists, activists, linguists, media professionals, researchers, and graduate-level students.

In the past century, South Asia underwent fundamental cultural, social, and political changes as many countries progressed from colonial dominations through nationalist movements to independence. These transformations have been intricately bound up with the spatiality of social life in the region, drawing further attention to the significance of social spaces within transformative politics and identity formations. Gender, Place, and Identity of South Asian Women studies contemporary literature of South Asian women with a focus on gender, place, and identity. It contributes to the debate on gender identity and equality, spatial and social justice, women empowerment, marginalization, and anti-discrimination measures. Covering topics such as partition memory narrative, spatial mobility, and diasporic women’s lives, this book is an essential resource for students and educators of higher education, researchers, activists, government officials, business leaders, academicians, feminist organizations, sociologists, and researchers.

This book presents South Asian women’s voices which have been marginalised in the theory and practice of international relations in the region. It highlights critical issues of importance for women which are often neglected in traditional International Relations (IR). Embracing Feminist epistemology, the book re imagines the theory and practice of IR in South Asia, placing women’s experiences and their diverse voices at the centre. Refusing the temptation to typecast women, the book showcases the varied voices of South Asian women in international relations with contributions from an eclectic set of authors from different nationalities. In doing so, the book expands the ontological and epistemological limits of IR by including caste, conflict, protest perspectives. While some of these are uniquely South Asian, like caste, all of them show how the field of IR in general can become enriched by being more inclusive. This book will be of interest to researchers as it provides a fresh conceptual re-conceptualization of the field of IR from gender as well as global south perspective. The book will also help graduate students seeking to understand the intersection of gender and IR.

Contributed studies in various South Asian countries.