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The island nation of Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. The root cause of the country’s economic problem is its inability to pay back its debt, which runs to trillions of dollars because its foreign reserves are at an all-time low. But what exactly does this mean? Who does it affect the most? And how are those most affected reimagining their lives right now? In order to get answers to these questions and a better understanding of the ground situation, our host Damini speaks with Sarala Emmanuel, a development practitioner, and researcher based in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka.

On March 15, the Karnataka high court held that the hijab – or the headscarf worn by many Muslim women and girls – was not essential to Islam, and so educational institutions had the right to ask their students to not wear the hijab and only stick to the uniforms prescribed. In this episode of the Gender Question, we speak to two Muslim women, one of whom wears the hijab and one who doesn’t, to comprehend the issue at hand.

In this episode, Dhamini Ratnam is being joined by a trans man - Rohan and deconstructs his past experiences, how the "Maya Nagari" Mumbai gets very conservative to provide shelter to both the lovers as he comes from the City of Joy hoping something better happens to him. He also speaks about how this "Abnormal Love" as termed by the society has affected his mental sanity. Despite all this, his courage his love, and hopefulness has so much to offer to us. Tune in to get motivated!

One such question pertains to ‘same-sex marriages’. India does not recognise same-sex marriages. None of the marital laws expressly recognise same-sex marriages. One of the petitioners are Joydeep Sengupta, an OCI, and Russell Blaine Stephens, a US citizen. Sengupta and Stephens been in a loving relationship for nearly 20 years and even got married in New York on August 6, 2012 which is recognised in the US, France, and Canada. Tune in as our host speaks with Mario Dpenha, an Indian citizen and a queer rights academic and activist pursuing a PhD at Rutgers University, USA who talks about the case of Joydeep and Russell and answers the questions of our host.

After 20 years, the Taliban have swept to victory in Afghanistan. Since then the questions were being asked about how this group will govern the country, and what their rule would mean for women, human rights, and political freedoms. In this episode, our host had a conversation with Malina Sulaiman, a graffiti artist, painter and metal worker from Afghanistan who had to leave the Taliban earlier due to the threats. Tune in the episode to know about her inspiring journey full of courage and struggles.

A year on, as Covid 19 continues to spread widely in the second wave, we speak to social workers tasked by the government to track the pandemic. The all-women workforce called ASHA workers, battle people's resistance and low pay and put their lives at risk every day.

In this episode, host Dhamini Ratnam talks about how a high court judge made an effort to learn about queer lives. What he learnt, speaking to a counsellor and members of the LGBTQIA community turned his perception, and led to a very progressive judgement.

The defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani has been one of the most high-profile Me Too cases in court. What was the case about? And what does it hold out for women's testimonies?

Women’s participation and role in the agriculture sector is one that has historically been overlooked. With issues ranging from lack of recognition to absence of land rights, the agricultural sector has given rise to decades of struggle for women. After the announcement of the new laws, women farmers fear that the farm laws will further deepen gender inequality in the sector. Tune in to know more.

Work, unemployment and economic recovery are gender issues. And there’s data to prove it. The new season of Gender Question kicks off by talking to women about their experience of working in the pandemic and how tough it’s been to get back on their feet. We also speak to academicians who explain why women have it harder than men when it comes to work. If it’s economic recovery that we’re aiming for, then we need to go deep into the gender question to resolve it.

A Delhi-based legal journalist and researcher, Karan Tripathi filed a petition in the Delhi High Court last month, seeking the inclusion of data on the number of transgender prisoners in the upcoming Prison Statistics of India report, brought out regularly by the NCRB. In response, the central body under the aegis of the ministry of home affairs, said it would start doing that with immediate effect. In this episode, Dhamini speaks to Karan to understand why he filed the petition, and what he hoped would come out of it.

A report released by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that prisons across the country lacked policies and awareness about the needs of transgender inmates, leading to denial of their rights. Tune in to this episode as @dhamini discuss the state of transgender prisoners.