🔆 Women Leading Environmental Resistance in South Asia ✅ Across India and South Asia, women lead movements resisting unjust development, extractivism, and climate degradation — yet remain largely excluded from decision-making. ✅ Examples of Resistance: • Odisha: Women in Sijimali protesting mining threats. • Tamil Nadu: Fishing community women opposing Kudankulam Nuclear Plant. • Jharkhand: Adivasi women blocking coal mining on ancestral land. • Narmada Bachao Andolan: Medha Patkar’s global leadership on dam impacts. ✅ Lack of Recognition & Inclusion: • Women often excluded from consultations, even under Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) frameworks. ✅ Legal Frameworks vs Reality: • India’s Forest Rights Act (2006) & PESA Act (1996) recognise women’s roles; Nepal promotes joint land ownership; Bangladesh prioritizes women in khas land distribution. • But land titles mostly held by men; Gram Sabhas and compensation dominated by men or exclude women. ✅ Gender Bias in Compensation: • No comprehensive gender-sensitive land policy in India. • Redistribution often overlooks single women, widows, and undocumented women. • Customary laws override Hindu Succession Act in tribal areas. ✅ Climate Adaptation Challenges: • Women suffer deeper inequalities from heat, water scarcity, pollution. • They bear caregiving burdens and longer work hours but are excluded from resilience planning. ✅ Call for Structural Change: • Ensure consultations are free, prior, informed, inclusive. • Provide women-only spaces, legal aid, translation, accessible timings. • Recognise women as independent landowners. ✅ Valuing Women’s Leadership: • Support women’s leadership in activism, negotiation, legislature, and compensation boards. #gs1 #society #mains https://t.me/CSE_EXAM