THE DEHUMANIZING FACE OF POVERTY
Despite India’s rapidly growing economy, poverty imposes a heavy weight on the country. Tens of millions in the country remain in extreme poverty, seeing little to no benefit from the country’s economic growth. The percentage of persons below the poverty line in 2014-15 was 21.9% with a significant gap between people living in rural areas (216.5 million poor) and urban centers (52.8 million poor). This poverty works against underprivileged women in an attempt to limit and work against their participation in communities. Dependency on moneylenders and traditional gender roles work against women living in rural areas–in particular. Women of low-caste are especially affected.
In reaction to this, groups of women in rural India have challenged such injustices by forming self-help and micro-finance initiatives in their villages. Below is the link to one such organization:
