How women are navigating cities, work, safety, and change

From the way women move through cities to how they navigate workplaces, safety, cinema, finance, and sport, this week’s stories spotlight the systems that shape women’s daily realities — and the women pushing those systems to change. 

Indian cities don’t work for women because they weren’t designed with women in mind. Mobility expert Shreya Gadepalli argues that the real transformation doesn’t come from glossy metros or token pink buses but from unglamorous basics like safe footpaths, well-lit streets, reliable bus fleets, and last-mile connectivity that actually matches women’s daily patterns.

In a chat with HerStory marking 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Gadepalli talks about how everything from footpaths to bus fleets reflects a “default male commuter,” even though women walk more, take shorter but more frequent trips, and rely heavily on public transport. She argues that metros, despite their glamour, sit too far from where women live and work, forcing long and often unsafe walks, while buses - with their frequent stops and flexibility - are far better suited to women’s daily patterns. 

Read more here.

Gender disclosures surge 51%, yet women’s workforce share stays frozen

In the latest from the Udaiti Foundation’s “Close the Gender Gap” dashboard, corporate gender-data disclosures have surged up 51% over five years, rising from 915 to 1,386 listed companies reporting in FY20-21 versus FY24-25. But despite this progress, the reality remains stark: women still make up just 18% of the workforce in these companies, and more than half of the firms employ fewer than 10% women. 

While sectors such as hospitals and labs, and consumer services show small gains, traditional bastions like IT and banking report no improvement. Wage-gap data is improving with median pay-gap narrowed from 6.7% to 3.3%. Women on corporate boards edged up from 18% to 22%. But at the same time, reports of sexual harassment rose by 16%, and pending cases jumped to 28%; a sign perhaps of rising awareness but also of deep systemic delays in redressal. The data offers a mixed picture: more companies are reporting, but structural gender gaps remain stubbornly persistent.

Read more here.

The hidden economic cost of gender-based violence

Rani, a skilled seamstress, was looking for what anyone would: steady work and financial independence.  But her daily reality, marked by unsafe commutes, harassment at work, and pressure at home, pushed her out of the labour force altogether. 

In her authored article, Dr Seema Bhatia Panthaki, Director, Gender Equality Platform, AVPN, uses Rani’s experience to illuminate a much larger, often invisible truth: that gender-based violence is one of the most persistent economic barriers women face. 

Drawing on research and field insights, she shows how violence—whether at home, on the street, or in workplaces—forces women to skip shifts, accept lower-paid “safer” jobs, or leave the workforce entirely, undermining both their personal agency and long-term economic mobility. 

She argues that addressing this cannot be reduced to legal fixes. It rather requires safer public spaces, gender-sensitive workplaces, supportive community norms, and targeted investment from governments and philanthropies.

Read more here

How a pension scheme is helping women claim long-term security

For millions of women who’ve spent their lives in unpaid or informal work, the idea of a steady pension was once out of reach. But the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has become a financial safety net for women, and this year’s data shows that women now make up 48% of all APY subscribers, a remarkable shift for a scheme that was once dominated by men.

Today, small, flexible contributions translate into a guaranteed monthly pension of Rs 1,000 – Rs5,000 from the age of 60, with protection for spouses too. As more women open bank accounts and gain access to digital finance, APY is emerging as one of the few long-term security tools available to them.

But the story also comes with a reminder that with irregular incomes and rising costs, staying consistent with contributions can be hard for low-income women. While the progress is real, the path to true retirement security still needs stronger support systems.

Read more here.

How Aditi Anand is reimagining cinema through caste and gender

Aditi Anand, the film producer behind Bison, is turning heads by blending mainstream reach with bold social intent. Once a history student in Delhi, she discovered early on that producing films offered a unique chance to shape stories from the ground up.

Bison, her latest project directed by Mari Selvaraj, tackles caste and gender representation head-on, challenging the often unspoken norms of Indian cinema.

Anand says the goal isn’t just commercial success but authenticity. For her, cinema can and should reflect voices and stories that rarely make it to screens. By backing projects with conscience, she argues, producers can expand what it means to tell an Indian story.

Read more here.

Preeti Pawar’s golden comeback after a year of illness

Preeti Pawar, the 22-year-old Indian boxer, made a remarkable comeback this year. And how. After being sidelined by a serious bout of Hepatitis A just before the 2024 Olympics, she spent months rebuilding her strength, fitness and mental grit.

In late 2025, she returned to the international ring and delivered. At the World Boxing Cup Finals 2025 in Delhi, she stunned everyone: first by defeating an Olympic medallist and former world champion in the semifinal, then by clinching gold in the women’s 54 kg category.

Pawar says this win “felt like coming back to life”, a triumph not just over opponents, but over illness, fear and self-doubt. As she eyes bigger goals - from the Asian Games to the 2028 Olympics - her comeback tells a powerful story of resilience, hope and the fighting spirit of a young woman determined to make her own ring.

Read more here.

Intimate-partner violence still a structural crisis 

A new report by WHO and its UN partners shows that in 2023, about one in five women aged 15–49 in India faced intimate-partner violence (IPV), and nearly 30% of women in that age group have experienced it at some point in their lives. 

But this isn’t just a problem of individual relationships; it’s a deeply structural issue rooted in patriarchal power, harmful gender norms, and social silence. The violence isn’t limited to physical abuse; it includes emotional control, coercion, and threats, all contributing to women’s economic, social, and psychological marginalisation. 

The need is for a multi-level response: stronger enforcement of laws, change in community-based norms, support systems for survivors, safe public spaces, and gender-transformative interventions that undo the root causes, not just respond to consequences. 

Until IPV is treated as a systemic crisis, many women will remain trapped in cycles of violence and exclusion.

Read more here.

What 2025’s data reveals about women in India

2025’s data paints a picture of progress, but also of unfinished business for the women in India. In our year-end review,  we see that while there were gains in representation, work and pensions, the landscape is still uneven. 

At the national level, women continue to be underrepresented: for instance, they make up only about 15% of seats in the Lok Sabha, even as representation at the local-body level remains stronger, thanks to reservation mandates.

Meanwhile, key legal reforms - like the 2025 anti-Devadasi legislation in Karnataka - signal meaningful progress for the rights and protections of marginalised women. 

On the economic front, 2025 highlighted how schemes and shifting social norms are enabling more women to join the workforce, access pensions or formalise their work, but many still face barriers rooted in outdated social structures and uneven enforcement of policies. 

Read more here.

Another week, another set of women redefining what’s possible. See you next week with more stories worth your time.