Shabana Azmi

Women's health is not a niche issue - it impacts everyone in some way. That is why a collective effort to improve awareness and understanding of menstrual hygiene is key to closing the gender health gap.

I grew up in a family that believed that art should be used as an instrument for social change.

We never had money but it was never a problem. The spirit of comradeship, the commitment to gender equality, social justice and a celebration of pluralism and India's composite culture provided the glue that kept us joyous and closely bonded.

My being Muslim is only one part of my identity. But particularly in India and the world over, a concerted effort is being made to diminish all other aspects of identity and only take your religious identity as who you are.

It is accepted the world over that women are an essential part of what makes a society successful, and only through supporting and empowering women can a country truly be strong.

It seems kosher and OK to treat women as objects because the business of cinema is about images and when you have fragmented images of a woman's bosom and her swiveling hip and her twisting navel, it robs the woman of all autonomy and subjects her to the male gaze.

India is a country that lives in several centuries simultaneously, and her people at any given time and place encapsulate all the contradictions that come from being a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual society.

I'm not saying a housewife is in any way inferior to a workingwoman. No, she isn't. But as an activist, as a woman, I would say the choice of being a housewife or pursuing a career should be left entirely to the woman and that choice should be respected.

In a patriarchal society like ours, women have to fight hard for a seat at the table. Boys are privileged over girls from birth. Equal opportunity and access for both girls and boys must become the norm.