Homai Vyarawalla, India's first woman photojournalist, is best known for documenting the country's transition from a British colony to a newly independent nation.

"The PM said removal of the restriction of having a male guardian or ‘mahram’ may appear as a “small thing”, but such issues “have a far reaching impact on our image as a society”. “Why this discrimination? And when I went into the depth of the matter I was surprised to find that even after 70 years of our independence, we were the ones who had imposed these restrictions. For decades, injustice was being rendered to Muslim women but there was no discussion on it,” he said in his broadcast.

The nuns said they came across several cases of trafficking while volunteering in relief efforts for earthquake victims. “That’s how we had this idea of going on this cycle yatra to all the remote places and telling people we are all girls, girls are capable of doing everything. They are not useless, they are not things to sell,” said 23-year-old nun Jigme Konchok Lhamo."

Performing naked on stage is still an unnerving experience for her. She is very strict about not allowing mobile phones and other recording devices inside the hall. Notably, in the four years that she has performed the play, not a single photograph or video of her nudity has surfaced online.

Ayisha Safeeda, from Kuttichira in the southern state of Kerala, is from a very traditional Muslim family and lives in a remote area. But she has been able to pursue her Masters degree through the open source platform. "Even if I feed my baby I can read research papers or I can do work on my laptop," she says. "So women who have high potential but are buried inside the family should come forward." The work these women do in the virtual lab involves whittling down the choice of potential molecules that could eventually be turned into drugs to fight diseases, such as tuberculosis.

Amla Ruia, 71, has become known as the “Water Mother” after leading an initiative that helped provide water to more than 300 villages in Rajasthan, one of the biggest, and driest, states in India. Speaking to BBC News, the inspiring Ruia explained how she found a solution to the barren region’s water problems after hearing that the government had been forced to send water tanks to stop people from dying of dehydration during a drought. “Something had to be done for a permanent solution,” she said. “It was conceived with the idea of building ‘check dams’ … This is not a new solution. This was practiced by our ancestors.”

Cognizant of the fact that it was vital to involve men in the process of finding solutions — sexism, male dominance and patriarchal social norms form the foundation of violence against women — the organisation started conducting regular meetings with the men of the community. The idea was to raise awareness against gender-based violence and to demystify issues relating to sexuality and sexual health. Though the meetings initially had to face a lot of resistance, they gradually found acceptance among the community. Today, the volunteer group has hundreds of active members who participate regularly in these meetings and have started challenging deep-rooted patriarchal norms.

I wonder whether, in our work to empower young girls and women, we are ignoring one half of the problem, and therefore underestimating one half of the potential solution. If there is a morally undeniable societal goal of sarve bhavantu sukhinah – “May all be happy” – then we need to think about the situation of the 200 million young men in this country. And we need to turn to them with as much urgency and focus as we spend on the millions of young women, and their multiple needs.

“Male producers, directors and actors have the power to make and break these women’s careers, and so routinely and aggressively proposition them, or at the very least let it be known that a willingness to grant sexual favours would help a woman professionally.”

Safety continues to be a major concern for women and girls in New Delhi, where more than 95 percent report feeling unsafe in public spaces. Street harassment is so bad in parts of the city, including Mangolpuri, where men follow girls down narrow streets, that some parents prefer to pull their daughters out of school than have them walk there.

The GEMS classes succeeded in bringing a marked shift in attitudes and mindsets, of not just girls but also the boys in school, siblings at home and parents, teachers and neighbours in the community. Things that were so far considered taboo were now being practised. Boys and girls began sitting together on the same bench, playing games in the sports grounds and fields without being segregated by gender, families mustering the courage to say no to dowry and boys helping with household chores.

“They wanted to be changemakers in their communities and make a positive impact,” she says. “These girls are critical thinkers and are aware of the issues in their community, the foremost being the suppression of young girls. There is a high drop-out rate of girls from secondary classrooms.” Another challenge is the high incidence of alcoholism, drug abuse and abuse of girl children in the area, Ms. Bala says. “We wanted to instill confidence and help them step out of their homes without compromising their safety.”