NGO Sarthi: Sanjoli teaching the children as part of her Susiksha programme

Breaking boundaries: A lifelong journey to fight injustices in India

Sanjoli grew up in a family dedicated to gender equality and climate activism - and now runs a respected NGO concerned with these issues herself. Still, being a young, female changemaker from a rural area, she is heard far less than others in her position.
India, Southern Asia

Story by Sanjoli Banerjee. Edited by Sterre van Dord and Charu Thukral
Published on October 31, 2021. Reading time: 7 minutes

This story is also available in it



I was about 4 years old when I started to question what was ‘normal’ in society. My mother was expecting a girl and I was excited to have a little sister. However, society did not share my excitement.They wanted my sister dead in the womb. They would suggest my mom to try again for a boy: someone who could grow up to take care of the parents, someone who could do the last rites,[1] and someone who wouldn’t have to leave the house after getting married. Society expects parents of a daughter to act as bodyguards to protect girls from increasing crimes against women in India. For these reasons, having a girl child was (and, in places in the country, still is) considered a burden. However, I was just 4, and I had a lot of questions: what is female foeticide,[2] why isn’t there male foeticide, why do people support the killing of my unborn sister, why are there so many crimes against women? Little did I know that my curious questions were the starting point of my activism career. Unlike many parents in India, my parents answered my questions honestly rather than shrugging them off. They encouraged me to raise my voice against the issue. My father was the one who guided me to the path of activism.


My family and I believe that nature and women share a very strong bond. Both nature and women are the lifelines to humanity.

In 2003, when I was 5 years old, my father organised road shows and campaigns to create awareness about female foeticide, in which my whole family including me, my infant sister and mother participated. We distributed pamphlets stating “kanya bharoon hatya paap hai,” which translates to “killing female foeticide is a sin.”

 

When I was about 10 years old (in 2009-10), I went on a 4,500 km road expedition for the Save Environment campaign wherein we stopped at various schools and colleges in villages and cities with the message 'Save Earth.' We showed them the documentary “Earth in Flames,”[3] which was directed by my father and I and conveyed the message ‘Save Earth and Save Daughters.' Our aim was to create awareness about climate change and women rights. For the campaign, I also conducted interviews with the general public from all walks of life to see how much they knew and what they had to say about these issues. I compiled these views to be presented in the documentary. My family and I believe that nature and women share a very strong bond. Both nature and women are the lifelines to humanity. One gives birth to us (humankind), and the other sustains us. 


I ticked many pointers on the list of people to be sidelined by patriarchal society such as: younger in age, female by gender, and from a small town in India.

From going on campaigns with my parents as a child activist, I have come a long way to now running a full-fledged NGO called Sarthi[4] with my sister. We are a group of 200 volunteers working on three campaigns: Save Daughter, Plant Trees Save Earth, and Sushiksha: Empowerment through Education. But the journey has not been easy. I ticked many pointers on the list of people to be sidelined by patriarchal society such as: younger in age, female by gender, and from a small town in India. On many occasions I have been spoken over and heard less by males who think they know more. Often at conferences and discussions, my father would be heard more than me because of his age and gender even though I would have valid questions and points.


Feminism in India is misunderstood and is considered an extreme form of activism. A lot of my friends and family misunderstand the term and want to dissociate themselves and me with it.

In India, patriarchy is deeply rooted and time and again females have been forced to sweep it under the rug when they try to question the status quo. I took this up as a challenge and claimed my space in society. I fought as a representative of the youth and millions of unborn and born girls who do not have the opportunity to speak up. For my efforts I have been recognised by multiple organisations, the latest ones being The Diana Award[5] and Young Global Changemakers Award[6] from the Germany Secretariat, which I am honoured to have received.

Feminism in India is misunderstood and is considered an extreme form of activism. A lot of my friends and family misunderstand the term and want to dissociate themselves and me with it. However, for me feminism is simply a scenario where men and women are seen as equal. Coming from here, I call myself a proud feminist and I will keep fighting for women's rights. Since I started my activism career, the situation regarding female foeticide has improved a lot. The female to male ratio in Haryana[7] was 743/1000[8] in the year 2011[9] and is currently 922/1000[10]--a significant improvement. I am proud to have contributed to this positive change that has now become a national agenda with the Prime Minister’s ‘beti padhao beti bachao’[11] campaign (Save the girl child, educate the girl child).

I want to set an example for the other young girls around the world like me that if Sanjoli can, you can too. I am not an extraordinary person; I am a normal human being like you. I hope that with my story and work I am able to influence and encourage many to speak up against injustice to women.


Footnotes

[1] In Hinduism, after death the funeral rites are performed by the eldest son or a close ‘male’ relative who generally starts the cremation process – by lighting the fire or pressing the button for the burning to begin.
[2] Female foeticide is the process of finding out the sex of the foetus and undergoing abortion if it is a girl.
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD0TIStO5WI
[4]The not-for-profit organisation started by Sanjoli’s parents in 1992.  https://www.ngosarthi.org/
[5] The award recognises the efforts of youths in making a positive change in the society.
[6] The award Young Changemakers from 13 countries for their remarkable contributions to furthering the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs by serving as positive change catalysts in their communities. https://www.fenews.co.uk/press-releases/77173-young-global-changemakers-award-2021
[7] Indian state from where Sanjoli belongs
[8] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/haryana-says-its-sex-ratio-has-improved-again/articleshow/67564640.cms
[9] Last census was conducted in 2011
[10] https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/haryana-records-911-sex-ratio-at-birth-in-first-six-months-of-2021-101626546439096.html
[11] https://wcd.nic.in/bbbp-schemes


How does this story make you feel?

Follow-up

Do you have any questions after reading this story? Do you want to follow-up on what you've just read? Get in touch with our team to learn more! Send an email to
[email protected].

Talk about this Story

Please enable cookies to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Share your story

Every story we share is another perspective on a complex topic like migration, gender and sexuality or liberation. We believe that these personal stories are important to better understand what's going on in our globalised society - and to better understand each other. That's because we are convinced that the more we understand about each other, the easier it will be for us to really talk to one another, to get closer - and to maybe find solutions for the issues that affect us all. 

Do you want to share your story? Then have a look here for more info.

Share Your Story

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter

Stay up to date with new stories on Correspondents of the World by subscribing to our monthly newsletter:

* indicates required

Follow us on Social Media

Sanjoli Banerjee

Sanjoli Banerjee

I am a student, social activist, pet parent, Founder, and Director. I am a big seeker of new experiences and I love learning new ideas. Most of the choices I have made so far have been with the motive to gain a new experience. I find deep conversations very comforting and have a natural tendency to reflect a lot which I believe is my superpower. I am learning to maintain balance and work on myself with each passing day. 

Connect with Sanjoli at her website and through Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Topic: Gender




Get involved

At Correspondents of the World, we want to contribute to a better understanding of one another in a world that seems to get smaller by the day - but somehow neglects to bring people closer together as well. We think that one of the most frequent reasons for misunderstanding and unnecessarily heated debates is that we don't really understand how each of us is affected differently by global issues.

Our aim is to change that with every personal story we share.

Share Your Story

Community Worldwide

Correspondents of the World is not just this website, but also a great community of people from all over the world. While face-to-face meetings are difficult at the moment, our Facebook Community Group is THE place to be to meet other people invested in Correspondents of the World. We are currently running a series of online-tea talks to get to know each other better.

Join Our Community

EXPLORE TOPIC Gender

Global Issues Through Local Eyes

We are Correspondents of the World, an online platform where people from all over the world share their personal stories in relation to global development. We try to collect stories from people of all ages and genders, people with different social and religious backgrounds and people with all kinds of political opinions in order to get a fuller picture of what is going on behind the big news.

Our Correspondents

At Correspondents of the World we invite everyone to share their own story. This means we don't have professional writers or skilled interviewers. We believe that this approach offers a whole new perspective on topics we normally only read about in the news - if at all. If you would like to share your story, you can find more info here.

Share Your Story

Our Editors

We acknowledge that the stories we collect will necessarily be biased. But so is news. Believing in the power of the narrative, our growing team of awesome editors helps correspondents to make sure that their story is strictly about their personal experience - and let that speak for itself.

Become an Editor

Vision

At Correspondents of the World, we want to contribute to a better understanding of one another in a world that seems to get smaller by the day - but somehow neglects to bring people closer together as well. We think that one of the most frequent reasons for misunderstanding and unnecessarily heated debates is that we don't really understand how each of us is affected differently by global issues.

Our aim is to change that with every personal story we share.

View Our Full Vision & Mission Statement

Topics

We believe in quality over quantity. To give ourselves a focus, we started out to collect personal stories that relate to our correspondents' experiences with six different global topics. However, these topics were selected to increase the likelihood that the stories of different correspondents will cover the same issues and therefore illuminate these issues from different perspectives - and not to exclude any stories. If you have a personal story relating to a global issue that's not covered by our topics, please still reach out to us! We definitely have some blind spots and are happy to revise our focus and introduce new topics at any point in time. 

Environment

Discussions about the environment often center on grim, impersonal figures. Among the numbers and warnings, it is easy to forget that all of these statistics actually also affect us - in very different ways. We believe that in order to understand the immensity of environmental topics and global climate change, we need the personal stories of our correspondents.

Gender and Sexuality

Gender is the assumption of a "normal". Unmet expectations of what is normal are a world-wide cause for violence. We hope that the stories of our correspondents will help us to better understand the effects of global developments related to gender and sexuality, and to reveal outdated concepts that have been reinforced for centuries.

Migration

Our correspondents write about migration because it is a deeply personal topic that is often dehumanized. People quickly become foreigners, refugees - a "they". But: we have always been migrating, and we always will. For millions of different reasons. By sharing personal stories about migration, we hope to re-humanize this global topic.

Liberation

We want to support the demand for justice by spotlighting the personal stories of people who seek liberation in all its different forms. Our correspondents share their individual experiences in creating equality. We hope that for some this will be an encouragement to continue their own struggle against inequality and oppression - and for some an encouragement to get involved.

Education

Education is the newest addition to our themes. We believe that education, not only formal but also informal, is one of the core aspects of just and equal society as well as social change. Our correspondents share their experiences and confrontations about educational inequalities, accessibility issues and influence of societal norms and structures. 

Corona Virus

2020 is a year different from others before - not least because of the Corona pandemic. The worldwide spread of a highly contagious virus is something that affects all of us in very different ways. To get a better picture of how the pandemic's plethora of explicit and implicit consequences influences our everyday life, we share lockdown stories from correspondents all over the world.

Growing Fast

Although we started just over a year ago, Correspondents of the World has a quickly growing community of correspondents - and a dedicated team of editors, translators and country managers.

94

Correspondents

113

Stories

57

Countries

433

Translations

Contact

Correspondents of the World is as much a community as an online platform. Please feel free to contact us for whatever reason!

Message Us

Message on WhatsApp

Call Us

Joost: +31 6 30273938