Manasi Pradhan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1962-10-04)4 October 1962 (age 63) |
| Education | M.A. inOdia literature, LL.B. |
| Alma mater | Utkal University, G.M. Law College,Puri |
| Occupations | Women's rights activist, author and poet |
| Organization(s) | Nirbhaya Vahini,OYSS Women,Nirbhaya Samaroh |
| Notable work | Urmi-O-Uchchwas, Akasha Deepa, Swagatika |
| Movement | Honour for Women National Campaign |
| Awards | Stree Shakti Puraskar 2013 Outstanding Women Award 2011 |
Manasi Pradhan (born 4 October 1962) is an Indianwomen's rights activist and author. She is the founder ofHonour for Women National Campaign, a nationwidemovement to end violence against women in India.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In 2014, she was conferred with Rani LaskhmibaiStree Shakti Puraskar by thepresident of India. Along withMary Prema Pierick, global head of theMissionaries of Charity, she won the 'Outstanding Women Award' in 2011.[8][9][10][11]
Pradhan is frequently featured by international publications and organizations. In 2016, the New York–basedBustle named her among 20 most inspiring Feminists Authors and Activists.[12] In 2017, the Los Angeles–based Welker Media Inc. named her among 12 most powerful feminist change makers.[13] In 2018, theOxford Union ofUniversity of Oxford invited her to address the union.[14][15][16][17]
She is the founder ofNirbhaya Vahini,Nirbhaya Samaroh andOYSS Women.[18][19] She has served on the panel ofCentral Board of Film Certification (Censor Board) for India[20] and Inquiry Committee of theNational Commission for Women.[21][22][23][24]
Born to a poor family in a remote village ofOdisha, she fought successfully the widely prevalent socialtaboo 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 womanmatriculate 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 United States and Israel.[25][26][27][28]
Pradhan was born to a poor family in a remote village called Ayatapur inBanapur block ofKhordha district,Odisha.[8] She was the eldest among two daughters and a son born to Hemalata Pradhan and Godabarish Pradhan. Her father was a farmer and mother a house wife.[29]
Female education was considered a majortaboo in most rural areas ofBanapur then. Girls were rarely allowed to attend high school. After completing her middle school in the village, there was strong pressure to end her studies. Further, there was no high school in the nearby areas.[30]
She walked 15 km daily, amidst hilly terrain andswamp, to the only high school in the entire region, to emerge as the first woman to pass high school examination in her village.[8][31]
After completing her schooling from Patitapaban High School in Gambharimunda, the family shifted toPuri for her college education. With little earning from the village farmland, it became difficult to sustain. Soon after passing the intermediate examination, she had to work to support her family and her studies. She earned a B.A. in economics from Government Women's College,Puri, and M.A. inOdia literature fromUtkal University. She obtainedBachelor of Laws from G.M. Law College,Puri.[32][33][34]
She worked with the finance department, Govt. ofOdisha andAndhra Bank for a short period but left both to pursue her own passion. In October 1983, at the age of 21, she began her own printing business and a literary journal. In few years time, the business grew exponentially, putting her in the league of few successful women entrepreneurs of her time.[32][36][37]
In 1987, she foundedOYSS Women. The initial motive was to help girl students achieve higher education and develop them as future leaders in the society.OYSS Women has been organizingleadership workshops, education andvocational training camps,legal awareness andself-defense camps, nurturing thousands of young women as prospective leaders in their chosen field.[38]
Apart from the above, the organization undertakes numerous activities and events and is widely credited for pioneering contribution in empowering women. The organization is also spearheading theHonour for Women National Campaign.[39]
In November 2009, she launched theHonour for Women National Campaign, a nationwide movement to endviolence against women in India. The movement has been instrumental in galvanizing the nation against women atrocities.[40][41]
The movement employs a multi-pronged strategy to fight the menace ofviolence 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.[42]
On the other hand, it puts pressure on the state by mobilizingpublic opinion and sustained campaigning forinstitutional changes and correctional measures to containviolence against women.[43]
In 2013, after a four-year long churning involving a series of national seminars, workshops and consultations involving stakeholders from across India, the movement came up with a detailed draft charting its fight to endviolence against women.
In 2014, the movement released a Four-Point Charter of Demand for allstate governments of India. In the same year, it launchedNirbhaya Vahini, consisting of over 10,000volunteers spread across India to mobilizepublic opinion and engage in a sustained campaign for implementation of its four-point charter of demand.[44]
In 2014, theHonour for Women National Campaign headed by Manasi Pradhan released a four-point charter of demand for allstate governments of India. The charter forms acornerstone of the movement and has led severalstate governments to make suitableamendments.
Manasi Pradhan is an acclaimed author and poet. Her fourth bookUrmi-O-Uchchwas (ISBN 81-87833-00-9) has been translated into eight majorlanguages.[20][46][47]
Manasi Pradhan is a mother ofBaisali Mohanty (born on 5 August 1994 inPuri,Odisha) who she gave birth to with Radha Binod Mohanty, a former chief electrical engineer and alumnus of theIndian Institute of Technology.[48][49]
Media related toManasi Pradhan at Wikimedia Commons
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