We are heading into a general election in 2024 where we will see a record number of first time voters. Although women across India vote in almost equal numbers as their male counterparts, their engagement in political processes declines beyond the process of voting, with very few women running for office and therefore, few elected representatives. 

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On the 26 January 2022 we published results from our survey on “Perceptions of politics among children and young adults across India”. We received over 400 responses from young people between the ages of 11-24. Among other findings, our study found that boys are more likely to have political aspirations than girls and that knowledge of and exposure to politics increases political interest. You can find our report here.

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A career in politics is not aspirational for most young girls across India. Our goal is to build political engagement and leadership by working with young girls to demystify political processes and policy issues. 

 

Kuviraa, which means courageous women in multiple Indian languages, is a feminist initiative that aims to work with young girls, between the ages of 14 - 20 to increase knowledge and engagement in politics through the following three goals:

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1. To inspire to engage in political processes and policy making

2. To build agency to participate in politics beyond voting

3. To connect and build a community of politically engaged girls to support each other

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For India to have better representation, at the local, state and national levels, we will build a strong sisterhood of young women that are politically engaged and will support each other when they decide to run for leadership positions in the future; and learn ways in which they can hold political representatives accountable as a community.