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Neha Sood
26 years old
Program Coordinator, Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA)
India

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Neha Sood is a feminist activist based in Delhi, India, where she has been working at CREA since April 2004. Neha works on CREA's different programs that act as a catalyst for learning, such as exchange programs, training workshops, thematic meetings and creating public education material, focusing on issues of sexuality, reproductive and sexual rights, violence against women and women's rights. She is also a member of the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (YCSRR) since May 2006 and is working on promoting advocacy for safe abortion.

Jennifer Kidwell, IWHC: What is your first memory of a situation where you were personally aware of or affected by gender inequality?

Neha Sood: My first such memory is of a neighbor scolding and hitting his daughter upon finding out that she was in a relationship with a man. I remember wondering why what she had done was considered wrong and why she was being punished for it. Other early memories are of reading routine reports in the newspapers of rapes occurring in Delhi, where I lived, and being asked by my parents not to stay out after dark because "it isn't safe for girls."

JK: How did the experience of growing up in Delhi differ for girls and boys? Did activities or perceptions of the future differ for girls and boys?

NS: There are many ways in which gender inequalities are experienced by girls and young women. Girls routinely face sexual harassment in public spaces, apart from their homes and neighborhoods (although boys also face abuse in their immediate environments). Girls' mobility is restricted, ostensibly to protect them from such abuse, thus limiting their access to many opportunities. They are also expected not to have sex until they marry a man, while it is accepted that boys will be sexually active before they marry. In a middle-class context, while these stereotypes regarding girls' and boys' interests and activities are strongly prevalent, there is a gradual yet increasing acceptance for choices that may not fit within these stereotypes.

JK: Growing up, did you ever learn or talk about sex and reproductive health and rights?

NS: My parents sat my brother and me down for a chat on "the birds and the bees"-anatomy, sex, and reproduction-when we were young children and also gave us books to read on adolescence, sex, romantic relationships and contraception. I also learned from various articles in magazines, information shared with friends, television shows, films and an awkward session conducted during high school focusing on contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

JK: How did you get involved in the struggle for women's and young people's rights?

NS: Until a few years ago, I was not politically active or even aware, and I was eventually bothered by my lack of knowledge and perspective. After I finished a degree in Commerce at age 20, I realized I wanted to get involved in improving the quality of people's lives. So, I enrolled in a Master's program in Social Work and while pursuing the degree, decided to work in community development and human rights.

As a young woman raised in Delhi, gender norms, biases, and discrimination were a part of my experience. As a consequence, when I returned to Delhi after my master's program, I wanted to be part of the active women's movement there, so I joined Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA).

My priority was to spread awareness and feminist understanding of gender and sexuality among young people in colleges, since I was deprived of information at that stage of my life. During my first meeting with the staff at CREA, I described how sexuality education was missing completely from the formal school and university systems. Apart from menstrual management and STIs, I had received no information about gender, sexuality, or sexual expression. As a result, I had a very narrow outlook on sexual relationships and choices. I had a strong desire to work to change this situation.

JK: What drew you to work with CREA specifically?

NS: When I went to meet with them, I was very excited by the shared core beliefs and convictions that emerged in our conversations. We discussed how various power structures exist in societies, are linked to each other, and need to be challenged. For instance, women face multiple levels of discrimination due to gender, age, economic status, occupation, race, caste, ethnicity, disability, nationality, citizenship status and much more.

Another belief at CREA is that women can develop their own solutions to difficult situations, but it is first necessary to develop their leadership capacities. Young people are also important stakeholders with leadership potential that needs to be strengthened. CREA has its base in strong feminist principles and I was attracted to working in this environment.

JK: How do you feel that CREA has changed young people's lives?

NS: CREA believes that human rights apply to young people, just like everyone else, and that young people have the power within themselves to demand and realize their human rights. Our workshops encourage young people to challenge all types of discrimination, and make society more just for all. They promote a sense of entitlement, a questioning spirit, and a desire to seek and access information and resources that improve quality of life.

Also, CREA raises questions and issues that many young people we work with have not analyzed before, inspiring a lot of thoughts and questions. For instance, understanding that disability is socially constructed, not an objective concept, comes as a revelation to many. Similarly, it is thought-provoking to analyze how sexuality is a central issue in women's rights and violations faced during situations of armed conflict. A lot of the young people who we work with come back for more discussions, asking for more information on the different issues.

Throughout this process, CREA staff do not assume that we know what the young people need or want to learn. Rather, all programming is consultative, flexible, and constantly responsive to feedback.

For instance, one of the organization's programs brings together a group of young people working in Egypt, India, and Palestine for a learning experience in India. They learn from each other's work, experiences, and perspectives, and from other organizations and activists in the field. The program, running for the past four years, has evolved constantly based on the participants' feedback. Among other things, it was restructured to include Indian participants, to bring participants back for an in-depth internship, and to organize a training workshop in Egypt on gender and sexuality because of the lack of a widespread sexual rights movement there.

Following the learning visits, CREA has encouraged participants to form autonomous networks and build alliances. Recently, a group of past participants joined to translate resource materials on sexuality into their local language. They chose this course of action themselves, and CREA will support them in any way they require.

JK: What do you see as major challenges facing young people in India today? What about greatest opportunities?

NS: The most significant challenge facing young people in India is that they are largely not taken seriously or viewed as capable of making decisions about their lives. Historical marginalization on the bases of gender, caste, religion, class, sexuality and disability impedes many young people from realizing their full potential.

This will sound cliché, but the greatest strength young people have is that with appropriate stimulus, they are capable of making significant social and political progress.

JK: What are you personally proudest of?

NS: I am proud of my parents and my partner, who support my activism and commitment and constantly push their own boundaries and understanding.

JK: How do you imagine your future?

NS: I imagine that I will continue to engage and build understanding on issues of gender, sexuality and the intersections with other rights issues, with different groups of people and in different ways. I also envision that I will keep learning about these issues and others throughout my life.

JK: Can you describe your vision of an ideal or better world?

NS: I envision and work towards a future where all people respect all other people equally and value their individual worth; where no prejudices or biases exist on the bases of age, religion, gender, sexuality, caste, race or class; and where every institution and organization has human rights at the core of its working principles.

JK: How did you first become acquainted with the International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC)?

NS: IWHC funds CREA for its work advancing women's human rights, so that's how I was introduced to the organization. IWHC has also worked in the past with another organization that I am part of, the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (YC). YC is an international organization of young people committed to promoting sexual and reproductive rights of young people at national, regional, and international levels.

Based on my role as a young advocate for women's and young people's rights, IWHC invited me to attend a training, called Advocacy in Practice (AiP), scheduled before the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The focus of AiP was to develop a cadre of new and younger advocates to work at all levels of the policy process, who would also share information, experiences, achievements, and concerns. I look forward to participating in more such initiatives that recognize young people's capacities and work to strengthen them.