Neelam Chaturvedi (b. 1 July 1960 at Kanpur,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

) is an Indian women's human rights defender and activist. She works to create awareness about gender and caste violence in India and build networks to combat violence against women. She seeks to increase women's ability to participate in democratic institutions through capacity building and promote rehabilitation and counselling services for street children and children involved in child labour. She founded the first women's shelter in her region and campaigns against violence and sexual harassment of women in her community. Her work for women's rights has been highlighted by Amnesty International. As a trade union activist in the 1970s she became involved in work on women's issues within the trade union movement and in Indian society as a whole. She organised women workers to raise issues of physical and mental violence, the dowry system, rape, prostitution and sexual harassment. She is the founder or co-founder of Indian women's organizations including Mahila Manch, Sakhi Kendra and the

National Alliance of Women's Organisations NAWO or the National Alliance of Women's Organisations is a London-based umbrella organisation dedicated to promoting women's human rights with a special focus on gender and Europe. It was founded in 1989 and has 140 members, both women's organi ...

. She is a core member of the

(NAWO) and a leader of the Opposition (for the Democratic Party) in the NAWO's Indian Women's Parliament.

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External links

* Indian human rights activists 1960 births Living people Indian women activists People from Kanpur Women from Uttar Pradesh Activists from Uttar Pradesh {{India-activist-stub