About Us

Women’s WORLD (India) was set up in July 2002. It is part of Women’s WORLD (International) http://www.wworld.org/about/about.htm, a free speech network of feminist writers, which has ongoing projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

The primary aim of WW(I) is to provide a space for women writers in South Asia to analyse the circumstances in which women write, are published and read in this region, to identify the issues facing women writers here, and to develop a strategy for working on them at the national, regional and international levels.

WW(I) has an innovative strategic plan that includes the following ongoing activities aiming to develop a nuanced understanding of the intersections between gender and censorship, and of the writer’s role and responsibility in society:

1. A series of national and regional workshops and conferences on gender and censorship.  
2. A cross-cultural South Asian research and action project enquiring into informal means of censorship, and their  relation to gender.
3. A website in English and, eventually, other Indian languages with links to projects and women writers' groups in South Asia.
4. Publications

Women’s WORLD (India) -- in partnership with Asmita, a Women’s Resource Centre based in Hyderabad -- held 10 language-specific workshops, one national colloquium, and a number of regional meetings within India between 1999 and 2006. This unprecedented process had the participation of approximately 200 women writers across the country. In the course of this pioneering effort WW(I) networked with several other women’s organizations, feminist publishers and media women’s networks, and established links with literary and reviewing periodicals.

WW(I) organised a South Asian Women Writers’ Colloquium in Delhi In February 2007, which featured over 25 writers from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as Women’s WORLD (International) members from Peru, Russia and the U.S. An important cultural centre and a major bookstore in the city collaborated in the effort. A major outcome of the event was the expansion of the national network into a growing regional one.

Trustees:  
Ritu MenonConvenor, Founder Member & Trustee
Founder Member Women’s WORLD (International)
Ammu JosephFounder Member & Trustee
Vasanth KannabiranFounder Member & Trustee
P. Lalitha Kumar (Volga)Founder Member & Trustee
Kamla BhasinFounder Member & Trustee
      Partners: 
      World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), UK
      Interchurch Organisation for Development (ICCO), The Netherlands
      Prince Claus Fund for Art & Culture, The Netherlands
      Hivos, The Netherlands 
      Embassy of Finland, India 
  
© 2008-09 Women’s WORLD India. All rights reserved. Designed & Developed by: www.csoft.co.in