How Women Form the Backbone Of The Farmers’ Protest At Ghazipur I Farm Laws I Ground Report

It’s been over six weeks since farmers from across the country occupied Delhi’s borders in protest against the three farm laws passed by the central government. Through these weeks, farmers have braved several obstacles - not just the biting cold weather but also vicious propaganda campaigns that labelled them terrorists.
 
But women who have joined these protests have faced an additional obstacle: sexism.

On January 11, the Chief Justice of India reportedly said, about women’s participation in the protests. “We don't understand either why old people and women are kept in the protests”.

At the Ghazipur border, the protesting women express a strong disapproval at such statements.

From working in the fields and harvesting crops to selling them at mandis, the women say they work shoulder to shoulder with men. Why then should they not protest, they ask?

The Wire spends a day at the Ghazipur border and finds out the various roles women are playing in these protests.