White Ribbon Alliance

Married young and living in a society where women traditionally do not have a voice, Nirmala’s journey to becoming a part of the What Women Want campaign has been remarkable. She counts herself fortunate to have a husband who encouraged her to go back to school after their marriage and later taught tailoring skills to other women in her community who needed to make a living. That’s when she realized how many women were struggling; women who had been abandoned by husbands, were widowed or caring for other family members. She saw that domestic violence poisoned almost every household. “Either women are being beaten, or they are under the threat of physical or verbal abuse and control,” says Nirmala. “It is domestic violence which stops so many women from seeking the healthcare which is their right. Even if a girl gets education and skills, as soon as she is married,...