PAPER AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Tillewein, H., Shokeen, N., Powers, P., Palmer-Sandles, S., Rijo Sanchez, A. & Kristen, D. (2022). LGBTQ+ Students and the Epidemiology of Violence in Education. The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. Poster Presentation. Vancouver, BC, Canada. November 3-6 2022.
Tillewein, H., Shokeen, N., Powers, P., Rijo Sanchez, A., Palmer-Sandles, S., & Kristen, D. (2022). Silencing the Rainbow: Prevalence of LGBTQ+ Students Who Do Not Report Sexual Violence. Boston Congress of Public Health Research Summit for Clinical and Public Health. Oral Presentation. Virtual. 10 December 2022. (Received an award for notable research)
Shokeen, N. (2022). Making Sense of Violence against Women in India: Towards an Analytical Framework. Paper presented at the 2022 International Conference on Advanced Research in Social Sciences, Virtual.
Siddiqui, L. & Shokeen, N. (2022). Do Tribal lives matter? : Persistent Disparities in Longevity among Scheduled Tribes in India. Paper presented at National Conference on Sustainable Tribal Development, Virtual.
peer-reviewed articles and reports
Panchal, T. J., Thusoo, S., Inamdar, V., & Balaji, A. (2023). Domestic Violence and the Law: A Study of Complaints Under the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005 in Maharashtra, India. Violence Against Women. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231188091
Inamdar, V., Tagat, A., & Parekh, A. (2023). The Effect of Women’s Empowerment on Intimate Partner Violence and Child Nutrition Outcomes in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Journal of South Asian Development. https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/QTH53MXG2KQISFTHMYQI/full
summary
Women’s empowerment is often defined to include aspects of agency, autonomy and choice, which in turn has consequences for facing intimate partner violence (IPV) and the ability of a woman to fulfil childcare responsibilities. This suggests that empowerment is directly and indirectly (via IPV) associated with child nutrition outcomes (CNOs), especially in South Asian countries where gendered norms may place the onus of childcare on mothers. We explore the interplay between empowerment, IPV and CNOs using nationally representative datasets from three South Asian countries—India, Nepal and Pakistan. We use a multivariate probit approach to investigate the direct and indirect effect of women’s empowerment and autonomy on child malnourishment (stunting, wasting and underweight). Across all countries, we find a strong statistically significant effect of improvements in decision-making power on increased likelihood of facing certain types of IPV. We also find a strong negative relationship between facing less severe violence in particular and CNOs across all countries, indicating that such violence experienced by mothers was detrimental to CNOs. Increasing women’s decision-making power within the household can help ameliorate adverse CNOs, and in India particularly, this increase in decision-making autonomy reduced the incidence of stunting and underweight children. The study concludes with limitations and directions for future work.
Tillewein, H., Shokeen, N., Powers, P., Rijo Sánchez, A. J., Sandles-Palmer, S., & Desjarlais, K. (2023). Silencing the Rainbow: Prevalence of LGBTQ+ Students Who Do Not Report Sexual Violence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032020
summary
Previous research on sexual violence suggests that there is a higher likelihood of students from LGBTQ+ community experiencing sexual violence and not reporting it. This study investigates various types of sexual violence experienced by the LGBTQ+ students and the prevalence of reporting it. The study further determines why different types of sexual violence are not being reported. This study uses a LGBTQ+ scholarship survey data conducted in 2019. Using Pearson’s chi square analysis, the study investigates the relationship between who experienced various kinds of sexual violence and those who do not report it. The study provides descriptive analysis of reasons for not reporting sexual violence across different types of sexual violence. The results show that there is a statistically significant relationship between those who experienced various kinds of sexual violence and those who do not report it. In addition, the study illustrates mistrust in support services and fear of embarrassment as the major reasons resulting in non-reporting behaviors. In conclusion, the study illustrates high prevalence for various types of sexual violence against LGBTQ+ students as well as high underreporting. Study results have implications for health professionals and institutions to focus efforts in making school environments safe and inclusive for LGBTQ+ students.
Chunekar, S. (2022). Book review: Shanta Gokhale, Shivaji Park: Dadar 28: History, Places, People. South Asia Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/02627280221119644
Shokeen, N. (2022). Beyond Enrolment and Appropriation Politics in Dalit Girls’ Education: Caste and Patriarchy Among Scavenging Communities of Urban Haryana, India. Contemporary Voice of Dalit. https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328x221118491
summary
While contemplating on Dalit girls’ education, a large body of research and policy drafts generally draws from the integration of enrolment and appropriation politics (around being a ‘Dalit’ and ‘women’) to explore the educational experiences and challenges of Dalit girls in the Indian education system. However, less attention is given to what lies beyond the enrolment and appropriation politics in Dalit girls’ education. This article is based on an empirical study conducted among households associated with ‘Unclean’ occupations from two urban cities of Haryana. In order to position Dalit girls’ education beyond enrolment and appropriation politics, the article attempts to unmask the ‘multiple patriarchies’ embedded in the socio-economic barriers often pervading Dalit girls in the Indian education system. While doing so, the article demonstrates the inseparable intersectionality of caste and gender, through the workings of external Brahmanical as well as internal Dalit patriarchy simultaneously functioning against Dalit girls’ education. Eventually, the article calls for a need to position Dalit girls’ education in a Dalit feminist standpoint framework.
Thusoo, S., Inamdar, V., & Singhi, S. (2022). Child Artists In India. An exploratory study in Mumbai, India. Child Rights and You (CRY). https://www.cry.org/downloads/safety-and-protection/Child-Artists-in-India-An-Exploratory-Study.pdf
summary
In the last few years, following the successful spate of child-centric content, the stature of child artists has been elevated to central characters holding up entire plots in both films and tele-serials. As the number of child artists in film and television industries is growing, there has been a growing concern within the child rights organisations regarding the rights of child artists, their working conditions, and the impact of working on the development of children. It has also been observed that studies on the impact of working in films and tele-serials on child artists is minimal, and is limited to a few news articles in the popular press. Given this scattered discourse, this study seeks to provide an overall situational analysis of conditions in which child artists are forced to work and recommendations to make film sets and studios child-friendly in nature.
Mehta, N., Inamdar, V., Puthillam, A., Chunekar, S., Kapoor, H., Tagat, A., & Subramanyam, D. (2022). Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) researchers in India. Wellcome Open Research. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17853.1
summary
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the nationally mandated lockdown has resulted in facility closures, decreased laboratory activities, and shifting to remote working. The effects of the pandemic have spread across all professions, including academia. Hence, the present study aims to understand the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) researchers and stakeholders in India.
Methods: The study employed a mixed method design. Both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) methods were used to gain a comprehensive understanding on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) early career researchers (ECRs), graduate students, Heads of Institutes, suppliers of scientific equipment, funders, and other stakeholders in India.
Results: A total of 618 researchers completed the survey, and 24 stakeholders were interviewed for this study. Our findings highlight the importance of institutional and social support for mental well-being and scientific productivity among researchers, especially during the pandemic. It also shows the impact of the disruptions in grant disbursals on research activities of scientists. Further, the gendered impact between these relationships was also noted, all of which hint at a need for structured reform within STEM.
Conclusions: The study highlights the various challenges faced by early career researchers, and STEM scientists at various positions in their careers during the COVID-19 restrictions in India.
Prasad, D., Inamdar, V., Thusoo, S (2022). The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Intrahousehold interactions. EPW, https://www.epw.in/journal/2022/16/special-articles/impact-covid-19-lockdowns-intra-household.html#.Yl0aptO2IrM.whatsapp
summary
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the institution of family and intra-household interactions during the lockdowns into focus. Apart from speculative essays and social media content, there is a dearth of empirical data on the interactions within families globally. To understand the impact of the stay-at-home diktat, this paper examined survey data (N = 388) on these broad domains: intra-household interactions, including interpersonal communication, work from home, leisure time, use of digital media, and overall subjective well-being. Our findings reveal increased food consumption and relationship-centred conversations among the sample households, followed by an increase in women’s responsibilities in the context of work from home. Elderly respondents, as compared to youth, and those from multigenerational households reported better well-being.
Thusoo, S (2022). Exploring the formation of Jat Masculinity in contemporary Punjabi Music. EPW, https://www.epw.in/engage/article/exploring-formation-jat-masculinity-contemporary
summary
This article draws from present-day Punjabi music to understand the overarching and recurring theme of Jat masculinity. The article begins with the non-film Punjabi music industry and the reasons for its meteoric rise in recent years. The glorification of misogyny, caste-based violence, use of arms and ammunition, which are a mainstay in popular Punjabi music today, is framed as a manifestation of a caste-based identity. The article charts the emergence of Chamar pop and the role of caste in Punjab, especially cultural assertion and its roots in the state’s Dalit politics, particularly the Ad-dharmi movement. The Dalit resistance art and music movement which began years ago, and the sudden rise of Dalit singers like Ginni Mahi and Roop Lal Dhir have taken the modern Ambedkarite assertion of equal rights one step forward is considered the beginning of the reconfiguration of Punjab's sociopolitical milieu. While the Jat singers and their music get hailed, the Dalit singers are physically attacked, hounded, and threatened to speak out against caste oppression, suggesting that caste realities in Punjab are reflected in artistic expressions.
Thusoo, S., Panchal, T., Ajgaonkar, V., (2020). Child Marriages in Haryana : Challenges in Implementing PCMA, 2006. Economic and Political Weekly. 55(19).
EdelGive Foundation and Monk Prayogshala Best Practices Series
summary
This series of ‘Documentation of Best Practices’ is born out of EdelGive’s commitment to enhancing the knowledge and skills of its partners within this philanthropic ecosystem. The findings from this series will be used to aid capacity building of EdelGive partner NGOs (through cross learning); inform donors about existing best practices in the sector, thereby enabling them to optimize funding decisions, and to contribute to the existing knowledge on the development sector in India. This series explains selected Best Practices that directly help NGOs scale, in size and reach. The papers are a mix of secondary research and interviews with representatives of NGOs which are recognised for being mature and effective players in the development sector. The Documentation of Best Practices series is a set of five papers:
Thusoo, S., Inamdar, V., Tagat, A., and Kapoor, H. (2018). Best Practices for Building Strong Foundations. Mumbai: EdelGive Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Monk Prayogshala.
Inamdar, V., Tagat, A., Bhattacharjee, D., Thusoo, S., and Kapoor, H. (2018). Best Practices for Building Sustainability of NGOs for Social Impact. Mumbai: EdelGive Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Monk Prayogshala.
Inamdar, V., Bhattacharjee, D., Thusoo, S., Tagat, A., and Kapoor, H. (2018). Growing at Scale: Best Practices in Scalability. Mumbai: EdelGive Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Monk Prayogshala.
Thusoo, S., Bhattacharjee, D., and Murzello, L. (2019). Skilled Futures: Best Practices in Capacity Building and Community Engagement. Mumbai: EdelGive Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Monk Prayogshala.
Thusoo, S., Bhattacharjee, D., and Murzello, L. (2019). Coalition to Convergence: Best Practices in Outreach and Advocacy. Mumbai: EdelGive Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Monk Prayogshala.