Why Is She Here? (Gendered Spaces) | Shreena Thakore | TEDxNMIMSBangalore

Shreena Thakore talks about the gendered negotiation of space as reflective of deeply imbalanced power relations. Her talk analyzes and provides solutions to implicit manifestations of gender-based discrimination - such as the right to loiter, the right to leisure and the right to social existence. She emphasizes the importance of making public spaces accessible as a crucial measure in the fight toward gender equality. To do so, she argues that we must shift the discourse away from “why is she here?” toward “why can’t she be here?”

Shreena Thakore is the co-founder of No Country For Women (NCFW) - an organization dedicated to fighting systemic gender-based discrimination in India. She realized that there was a significant gap between the space of academia, where the sociocultural causes of gender-based discrimination are analyzed, and the space of activism, where social change is actually executed. Due to this disconnect, changemakers are not equipped with the appropriate analytical and introspective tools to effect lasting change. Shreena co-founded NCFW to bridge this gap.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx