Giving Compass' Take:

• Yogesh Kumar is an activist who is creating opportunities for women in India to build financial sustainability and foster empowerment. 

• How can collaboration help advance localized activism projects? 

• Read about some of the problematic elements of women empowerment programs in India. 


Growing up in Delhi, Yogesh Kumar always sought out inclusive spaces for all. But living in India’s captial also made him a witness to the inequality and various injustices that women face across the country.

“I would say it’s not the privilege, but the shame, that I as a male would live with every day seeing the other gender struggling on a day-to-day basis to lead a dignified life," Kumar told Global Citizen.

Kumar founded Delhi Oye in 2014 in an effort to create a safer public environment for women. The foundation designed a platform to register cases of sexual harassment and assault, including groping and molestation, which often go unreported. Hoping to work with local police to bring more attention to gender-based offenses, the collaboration ultimately failed for a number of reasons, according to Kumar. But the experience made him realize how long government processes take to obtain justice for women who fall victim to these crimes.

Instead, he began to focus on educating the younger generation to build awareness around prevalent gender issues through workshops and other programs. After some time, Kumar recognized that these workshops were largely catering to the wealthier areas of Delhi, so he made a conscious effort to target the underpriviledged areas, providing such education that they likely had never received before.

After some time, Kumar recognized that these workshops were largely catering to the wealthier areas of Delhi, so he made a conscious effort to target the underpriviledged areas, providing such education that they likely had never received before.

“While doing so, we realized that people were finding it hard to make their ends meet. Poverty was not allowing them to aspire, dream, and work for it,” Kumar told Global Citizen.

This experience inspired him to develop a program to empower women in these neighborhoods by training them and providing them with economic opportunity. When deciding what field they would focus on, Kumar and his team were clear that they wanted to make a statement.

Read the full article about safe spaces and economic opportunity for women by Gabrielle Deonath at Global Citizen.