Jaya Sharma is a queer feminist author based in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. She identifies as a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

activist, working on issues of

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

, education and

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. As the founder of Nirantar and part of the sexuality education initiative within Nirantar, she is involved with

capacity building Capacity building (or capacity development, capacity strengthening) is the improvement in an individual's or organization's facility (or capability) "to produce, perform or deploy". The terms ''capacity building'' and ''capacity development'' ha ...

, research and advocacy.

Life and career

She is a founder member o
Nirantar
a Centre for Gender and Education based in

. Nirantar is an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

based in

that deals with

and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

issues. She has been working on the rights and education of women and the LGBTQ+ community for over fifteen years. She co-founded Pitara, a rural magazine which aimed at sustaining literacy in rural spaces by publishing relatable local and international news. This project was supported by Nirantar. The programme started in the wake of the total literacy campaign, and stopped functioning in 2010. She is also the founder trustee of RAHI, an organization that works with women who are survivors of incest and

Child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

. She also advocates for adolescent education and sexuality education. She also works on sexuality with women from marginalized communities through workshops. She is also a co-founder of The Kinky collective, an Indian

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

community that aims at destroying myths about the community practices.

Academic work

She has authored papers on pleasure vs danger binary, which address the lack of agency rural and marginalized women felt over their sexuality before and after perspective changing workshop. She also co-authored a landscape analysis of early child marriage in India. The research was approached from a feminist perspective, analysing the influence of sociocultural norms on gender and sexuality. The research also considers interventions which could be further used by the government, NGOs, and researchers so they can empower girls to achieve greater autonomy over their lives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Jaya Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Indian feminist writers Queer feminists Indian LGBT rights activists