Swati Maliwal (born 15 October 1984) is an Indian activist. She is the current Chairperson of

Delhi Commission for Women The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) is a statutory body of the Government of Delhi constituted to investigate and examine all matters relating to the safety and security of women under the constitution and other laws in Delhi Delhi, of ...

. Before joining DCW, Maliwal worked as the advisor to the Chief Minister of Delhi on public grievances. Maliwal was a core member of the Indian Against Corruption movement led by social activist

Anna Hazare Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising an ...

and

Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal (Hindi: �ɾʋin̪d̪ ked͡ʒɾiːʋaːl born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, former bureaucrat, and activist who is the 7th and current Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. Currently, he is the national conv ...

. After the formation of the Arvind Kejriwal government in 2015, Maliwal was appointed the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women.

Personal life

Maliwal was born in

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Mu ...

on 15 October 1984. She went to Amity International School and then received a bachelor's degree in Information Technology from the JSS Academy of Technical Education. She got a job at an MNC and left it to join an NGO called "Parivartan". Maliwal was married to

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, popular ...

leader Naveen Jaihind. They divorced in February 2020.

Political career

Maliwal started her first term as Chairperson of

in July 2015. At the time, she was the

leader. Her tenure in the position was extended another three years in July 2018. She is the youngest person to hold the role of commissioner for women. In 2018, she went on a 10-day

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

which started on 13 April. She had several demands, including the passage of an ordinance requiring the death penalty for individuals who rape children under age 12, recruiting police under United Nations standards and demanding accountability of the police. Maliwal published an open letter to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

. Her strike took place during a series of protests surrounding two alleged rapes of girls ages 16 and 8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maliwal, Swati Living people 1984 births Place of birth missing (living people) Indian women activists Indian anti-corruption activists Indian women's rights activists People from Ghaziabad district, India Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Delhi