Sulochana Dongre, also known as Sulochanabai Dongre, was an Indian activist and feminist. She was a prominent advocate for birth control and female emancipation.[1]
Sulochana Dongre | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | India |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Known for | Advocate for Birth Control and Female education |
| Movement | Indian feminism |
Biography
editSulochna Dongre was born into a Chamar family in the 1930s and 40s. Dongre became a notable advocate for female emancipation. Initial affiliated with the All India Women's Conference, Dongre - along with other Dalit leaders - broke away from the conference, feeling it was too heavily dominated by the upper castes. She would go on to become a leader of the All India Depressed Classes Women Congress, and chaired a large-scale conference held by the congress in 1942.[2] That same year, Dongre (along with Shantabai Dani) spoke before a crowd of 25,000 women at the women's conferences of an All-India Scheduled Caste Federation meeting in Nagpur.[3][4] Dongre also chaired the Dalit Mahila Federation, the last Dalit feminist group to form before Indian Independence.[5]
Notably, some sources describe Dongre as the first Indian leader to call for nation-wide access to birth control, a measure she supported.[5]
Dongre's biography and exploits were included in Urmila Pawar's 1989 work We Also Made History.[6]
References
edit- ^ Suchitra. "Sulochanabai Dongre: The Woman Who Advocated Birth-Control In Dalit Feminism". Feminism in India. Feminism in India. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^ Concrete Steps By Indian Industry On Affirmative Action For Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes. Gautam Book Center. 2008. ISBN 978-81-87733-33-1.
- ^ Arya, Sunaina; Rathore, Aakash Singh (2019-09-09). Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-65148-5.
- ^ Paik, Shailaja (2016). Dalit Women's Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination. Routledge Research on Gender in Asia Series. New York: Routledge, 2014. ISBN 978-0-415-49300-0.
- ^ a b Suchitra (2019-12-09). "Sulochanabai Dongre: The Woman Who Advocated Birth-Control In Dalit Feminism | #IndianWomenInHistory". Feminism In India. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
- ^ We Also Made History.