THE WOMEN WHO REMAIN LARGELY INVISIBLE

Too often, women do the groundwork — organising, protesting, feeding, and sustaining movements — without having a seat at the table

- Bhoomika Choudhury, International lawyer and researcher specialising in business and human rights, corporate accountability, and labour rights

Across India and South Asia, women have long been at the forefront of movements resisting unjust development, extractivism, and climate degradation. They have led protests against destructive mining, dams, and infrastructure projects. Yet, when it comes to decision-making, these women are largely invisible.

From the forests of Odisha to the coastlines of Tamil Nadu, women have led some of the most sustained resistance movements.

In Sijimali (Odisha), women continue to protest mining projects threatening their forest-based way of life, often facing police violence. In Jharkhand, Adivasi women in Dewas are blocking coal mining operations to protect ancestral land. In Tamil Nadu, women from fishing communities have been at the forefront of protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. These movements represent a powerful assertion of community-led development and environmental protection rooted in lived realities.

Leadership not acknowledged

Despite being central to the resistance, women are systematically excluded from consultations, especially those that claim to uphold free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). In many cases, community meetings and decisions on land are dominated by men, while women, who bear the disproportionate burden of displacement and environmental degradation, are sidelined. Women’s perspectives are also frequently devalued or dismissed as emotional, despite being rooted in acute socio-environmental knowledge.