The Rise Of Dalit Feminism

The issue of who is/can be a feminist dalit feminist discourse has persisted from the beginning. 

The question of experiencing authenticity has become a rallying cry for those who argue that only ‘dalit women' are dalit feminists. 

In contrast, experience is questioned in terms of transparency, and the birth-based community is seen as limiting and ghettoized. 

From being a Dalit woman to being a Dalit feminist, this section takes you on a journey. 

This section starts with a mapping of a Dalit woman's identity and continues to an examination of the positionality of/as a Dalit feminist. 

This outlines the main theoretical features of Dalit Feminism while also speaking to its primary audience in this manner. 

This mapping reveals a Dalit Feminism theorization that is both ongoing and ever-evolving. 

The conclusion's title has a political connotation. 

As an epistemological frame, the ontological interpretation of being and becoming in nearly binary terms is rebuilt here. 

Dalit Feminism is seen to be defined by the ontological category of ‘Dalit woman,' but also embracing a stance that emphasizes the politics of casteist sexism and its structural implications. 

We go from the perspective of ‘Dalit women' to that of a Dalit feminist intersectional viewpoint. 

This framework may be used to generate alternative knowledge regarding caste and gender as an epistemological instrument. 

This paradigm is also helpful since it looks at implicit casteist-sexism (in texts/issues that do not explicitly include Dalit women) as well as explicit casteist-sexism (in texts/issues that do not explicitly feature Dalit women). 

This mapping revisits and modifies the concept of the ‘Dalit woman' as its main constituency via its study of Dalit Feminism as an epistemological framework. 

Indeed, Dalit Feminism is based on the basis of Dalit women and their experiences. 

However, as argued in and, the presence of Dalit women, or their articulations, does not automatically constitute a text/event Dalit feminist. 

Through the notion of casteist sexism, the technique of reinterpretation becomes crucial in developing an understanding of the connection between caste and gender, which changes knowledge based on these two as separate systems. 

And this is how a Dalit feminist intersectional perspective is formed. 

As a result, this mapping ends by arguing that Dalit Feminism is a stance, not just an identity. 

As a result, we may utilize the Dalit feminist intersectional perspective to expose the underlying casteist, sexist narratives in any section (not only those that solely concentrate on Dalit women characters). 

Sharmila Rege expands on the concept of speaking as a Dalit feminist by emphasizing that the Dalit feminist perspective avoids "the narrow alley of direct experience based "authenticity" and narrow "identity" politics, and includes "other groups who must educate themselves about the histories, preferred social relations and utopias, and the struggles of the marginalized," as well as "other groups who must educate themselves about the histories, preferred social relations and utopias, and the struggles of the marginalized."

Dalit Feminism as a viewpoint is not limited to Dalit women in this definition. 

In reality, it becomes a political platform that allows for the development of solidarity in the face of systems of intersectional oppression. 

When seen through the lens of analytic methodology, such an understanding of the Dalit feminist perspective broadens the scope of its theoretical framework. 

Because Dalit feminist epistemology is based on tasks of recovery and reinterpretation, Dalit Feminism focuses on both Dalit women's articulations (as seen in their autobiographies) and unraveling the complexities of caste and gender in texts and issues that are primarily viewed through the lens of caste or gender. 

In such cases, the confluence between caste and gender is implied. 

Dalit Feminism offers an essential perspective through which to examine any work, whether or not it includes representations of Dalit women, resulting in new ways of seeing that emphasize the intersections of caste and gender. 

To demonstrate this argument, I offer a Dalit feminist analysis of the films Lipstick Under My Burkha  and Sairat , both of which, although significant feminist and Dalit works, are not explicitly concerned with the figure of the Dalit woman. 

Lipstick Under My Burkha  tells the tales of four women who live in the same neighborhood and whose parallel lives show patriarchal tyranny and resistance. 

Their ‘real' and socially-accepted life are controlled by patriarchy, as Usha Parmar dresses up as an asexual ‘buaji,' Shirin Aslam is exposed to her husband's sexual violence, Rehana Abidi's behavior is dictated by her parents, and Leela is on her way to an arranged marriage. 

At the same time, these women have their fantasy lives, which are shown in the story of Rosy, the protagonist of an erotic pulp fiction section that Usha secretly enjoys reading. 

Their concealed aspirations of finding in love, expressing sexual urges, and achieving their objectives are partially performed via their secret second lives as a lady engaged in phone-sex, a salesman, a young rebel, and an ambitious entrepreneur, as shown in this section. 

After being rejected/reprimanded by their families and society, the four women are shown to have a sense of sisterhood based on their common experiences of patriarchal oppression as well as a shared moment of resistance at the conclusion of the film. 

The mainstream feminist interpretation of this film has emphasized its expression of female sexual desire, the duality in women's life, and its assertion of autonomy. 

Even reviews that praise the film's 'inclusiveness' in terms of age and religion, as well as its 'cautionary notes' that preclude any simple resolution of the difficult issues about women's desire that it raises, praise its 'inclusiveness' in terms of age and religion. 

When seen from a Dalit feminist intersectional perspective, the concept of inclusion and its depiction of female desire are reinterpreted. 

Leela and her mother, in particular, become important from this perspective. 

These two characters are characterized more ambiguously in the film than the rest. 

This stylistic difference from Shirin and Rehana seems to identify them as Hindus since none of them wears a burkha in public. 

Leela, on the other hand, is never given a surname, unlike the other three major female characters in the film. 

Given that surnames are often indicative of caste and group identification, this omission is especially noteworthy. 

In light of the film's silence regarding Leela's mother's marital status; whether she is a widow or if her husband abandoned her, this suppression of caste identity becomes even more significant. 

The mother, who supports herself by modeling nude for art students, admonishes her daughter Leela, telling her that the only option to marriage is to become a prostitute or to pursue a career as a nude model, as she does. 

This connection between body and profession can be understood from a Dalit feminist intersectional perspective in terms of the brahmanical sexualization of Dalit women's bodies, as a result of which Dalit women, who are considered inherently impure and lustful, are often confined to jobs that perpetuate their sexualization. 

Leela's mother's restricted option—marriage or prostitution/sexualized use of the body in the public sphere—takes on a caste-specific meaning, preventing any true agential exercise of choice. 

Intriguingly, it is Leela who is portrayed to use her sexual agency to the fullest extent possible in the film, not only initiating sex with her boyfriend many times, but even recording the act in one case and afterwards kissing her fiancé in front of her boyfriend to make him jealous. 

While the film's emphasis on gender religion and the contradiction between sexual freedom and sexual oppression seems to exclude caste as an intersectional category of study, it also employs the brahmanical sexualization of the Dalit woman's body in its portrayals of Leela and her mother. 

As a result, a Dalit feminist interpretation of the film emphasizes the connection of caste and gender, which is implied in the film but overlooked by mainstream feminism. 

Sairat  puts caste front and center, while Lipstick Under My Burkha ignores it. 

The harshness of the caste system is illustrated by its strictures against exogamy in this Marathi film, which has garnered both financial and critical acclaim. 

In the film, a Dalit lad called Parshya and an upper-caste girl named Archie (from the landlord Patil caste) fall in love, are apprehended, escape and marry, only to be stabbed to death by the girl's family. 

Sairat has received praise for bringing to light the "disturbing" realities of caste, as well as playing Archie, a strong female character who "challenges traditional gender norms" by riding a Royal Enfield Bullet and standing up for Parshya against her brother. 

As a result, the film is commended for addressing both caste and gender issues. 

Caste and gender, on the other hand, are regarded as two separate groups that Parshya and Archie must deal with.

While Parshya is regarded as a symbol of Dalit tyranny by the uppercaste Patils, Archie is confronted with patriarchy via her family, particularly her father and brother. 

However, from a Dalit feminist intersectional perspective, the junction of caste and gender becomes the primary issue. 

When seen via this lens, the film seems to tacitly support rather than question certain casteist patriarchal beliefs. 

This film is considered a classic Dalit representation because it explores the Ambedkarite concept of inter-caste marriage (exogamy) via the union of a Dalit boy and an upper-caste lady. 

As a result, the Dalit lad becomes the main focus of the film, with the first part focused on his pursuit of the upper-caste girl who is the object of his love. 

This narrative arc implies a link between Dalit empowerment and Dalit masculinity. 

In reality, the film emphasizes Parshya's masculinity not only via his athletic prowess, but also through a comparison of his strong body to that of his bow-legged buddy, who, unlike Parshya, is unable to get the lady of his dreams. 

The film's near-complete omission of Dalit women strengthens this implicit link between Dalit masculinity and Dalit empowerment. 

Despite the fact that Parshya's mother and sister appear in the film, they are just in the background. 

While Parshya is away at school, his sister stays at home, and the film shows little knowledge of the family's gender inequality. 

The only time Parshya's mother and sister are shown conversing in the movie is during their discussion with Archie, during which they seem to be acutely aware of the latter's upper-caste status (as is visible through their servile attitude while speaking to Archie). 

As a result, this short contact does little to break down the caste barrier between women. 

The portrayal of Archie as a powerful, confident woman contrasts sharply with the near-invisibility of Dalit women. 

When seen in this light, Archie's caste identification becomes crucial to comprehending her agency in the film. 

Archie's behavior, for example, when she visits the large well and taunts the Dalit boys swimming there, represent a kind of caste agency that, in a harsher version, defines upper-caste men's verbal and physical attack on Dalit males. 

Caste dominance is portrayed as aggressive masculinity of upper-caste males when Dalit men verbally attack upper-caste men. 

Archie appropriates this masculinist casteist agency by mocking the Dalit lads. 

The mainstream understanding of Archie's pride as solely feminist is therefore challenged by a Dalit feminist reading, which emphasizes the caste privilege underpinning the feeling of superiority that characterizes her agency in connection to the Dalit males, especially Parshya. 

Archie's portrayal of caste and gender intersects even more in the second part of the film, when she and Parshya move to a new city to escape their caste-ridden hamlet. 

Archie does not have quick access to her caste authority in the public realm in this new social context, making her susceptible to sexual predators. 

Even in the city, however, Archie is portrayed to advance rapidly to a managerial position, whereas Parshya remains a mechanic, a low-paying, demeaning profession. 

As a result, their workplaces perpetuate the casteist pattern of valuing an upper-caste individual (although a woman) above a Dalit person. 

However, inside the domestic realm, Archie is perceived to be in charge of childcare and cooking, while Parshya shops and brings home the required supplies, reinforcing the patriarchal divide between the private and public spheres. 

Refocusing on the junction of caste and gender, rather than caste and gender in isolation, provides a new perspective on Sairat. 

It offers a more nuanced view of patriarchy's role in the portrayal of Dalit women, upper-caste women, and Dalit men.

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Feminism and Activism here.

Feminist Coalition Across The World.

A number of feminist thinkers from across the world discuss the potential for cross-border and international alliances among feminists. 

In the fight against sex trafficking and rape of women in war circumstances, global feminist alliances have already formed. 

Additional kinds of global solidarity among women provide not only potential coalition-building opportunities, but also insightful theoretical assessments of global issues. 

Global feminist alliances need agreement on a political objective but not on a common identity or experience. 

The aim is to bring women together via a common commitment while yet preserving the individuality of each member of the coalition. 

• The demand for sisterhood or solidarity in second wave feminism conflicts with this call for political solidarity. 

• To root sisterhood among women, second wave feminism sought for common experiences of oppression or identity. 

Global feminists speak of a shared political commitment, or, as Chandra Talpade Mohanty puts it, a "common framework of struggle." Global feminist coalitions may benefit from the combined experience of all members in this manner. 

Transnational or global feminist alliances are often established across borders or despite linguistic difficulties. 

Coalitions may face challenges or impediments due to cultural norms and national political systems. 

Because their government is blameworthy for the agony and suffering of the women and men in that other nation, sympathetic feminists in one country may find their involvement in a cause in another country unwelcome. 

Perhaps their efforts should be focused toward opposing their own regime before forming alliances and coalitions with activists in other countries. 

Women in the United States, for example, could band up with women in Sudan or the Congo to oppose mass rape campaigns. 

Each member of the coalition contributes to the cause with her own set of skills and abilities. 

All of these initiatives come together to form a worldwide feminist political movement. 

Importantly, in order to build a genuine coalition - transnational or global solidarity – actual efforts must be taken to listen to and learn about those with whom one shares solidarity. 

Cultures and histories are also important. 

We should attempt to inquire about the numerous cultural norms that guide our varied responses to a problem as part of our listening. 

As a result, we strive to avoid replicating coercive or dominating relationships in our contacts across borders and across the world. 

From an epistemological standpoint, commitments to global feminist activity may necessitate what Maria Lugones refers to as "world" traveling. 

Traveling across the world is a metaphor for understanding. 

When you travel the globe physically, you have to alter the way you think and behave. 

Because it exposes the traveler to different ideas and views, real travel frequently offers up new ways of viewing things. 

Similarly, epistemological ‘world-traveling' requires us to view people from their perspective rather than our own. 

We are urged to attempt to comprehend a person as he or she comprehends himself. 

This kind of 'world' travel requires empathy and genuine attempts at friendship. 

In terms of morality, a commitment to global feminist action implies that interpersonal relationships and everyday choices are examined for their global consequences. 

What is ethically decent is not just what would result in the greatest outcomes for oneself and those in one's immediate circle of contacts. 

Instead, the repercussions of our acts are assessed worldwide, and our responsibilities are also expanded globally. 

Reciprocal agency is another essential moral component of global feminist commitment. 

Canadian, American, and European feminists are not the only ones with agency or who contribute to feminist thought. 

Women and men from the Third World, often known as the two-thirds world, have moral agency – the capacity to act in their own and others' best interests – and have a lot to say about global feminist thought. 

One of the most fascinating aspects of transnational and global feminist coalitions is that they demonstrate how feminists from many schools of thought and methods can work together to achieve major social change for the freedom of all women, men, and children. 

Individuals are also changed as a result of the process. 

These are some of feminist theory's main objectives. 

Global feminism, like third wave feminism, demonstrates that feminism is not only a female problem.

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Feminism and Activism here.

War Rape And Violent Crimes Against Women

The emphasis of international law has traditionally been on inter-state conflict, but violence against women in war circumstances has only lately been addressed. 

Despite the fact that Hugo Grotius, the founder of international law, specifically mentions rape in his study of war, women have long been considered part of the spoils of war. 

That viewpoint is still prevalent in many areas of the globe. 

Women are often subjected to unjustified attacks during war circumstances, especially when they are not regarded simple property to be traded between defeated and victor. 

The United Nations has been compelled to confront violence against women in war circumstances as a result of recent initiatives by global feminist campaigners. 

The Beijing Platform for Action has had a significant impact on the international community's efforts to avoid violence against women in conflict. 

Furthermore, feminist theorists argue that women's bodies have become the battlefield in conflict, that rape and forced pregnancy employed in genocidal campaigns are aspects of genocide, and that rape adds layers of difficulties to the postwar healing process. 

Rape in battle typically involves non-combatants from the opposing side, although rape among military members is also a problem in combat circumstances. 

Despite the fact that both international law and most military rules of conduct ban targeting noncombatants, rape was and continues to be ignored. 

Rape, for example, was seen as an unwelcome but unavoidable aspect of military operations during World War II. 

This mentality is only the top of the iceberg, as bad as it is. 

Rape is frequently utilized in a systematic way as part of military strategy during wartime. 

Human rights groups in the former Yugoslavia, for example, documented at least five distinct ways that rape was utilized as part of the war effort. 

Rape was first utilized to terrorize and intimidate a population prior to the military assault. 

The Serbs then used rape as part of their assault and conquest tactics against a town or area. 

Women were raped or taken prisoner for use in rape camps; males were raped or taken prisoner for use in rape camps. 

Rape camps were facilities that were taken over solely for the purpose of sheltering women who had been raped on a regular basis for months. 

The rape camps also had a further purpose. 

Because the Serbs thought that a kid inherited his or her father's ethnicity, the rape camps were also used to forcefully impregnate women and force them to carry the child to term. 

Rape and forced pregnancy were therefore used as weapons in the ethnic cleansing effort. 

Fourth, in detention and refugee facilities, rape was committed solely for the purpose of rape. 

Finally, some women were imprisoned in so-called "bordello" camps, where they were mercilessly raped until they died. 

However, these acts of rape are not limited to the former Yugoslavia. 

Every war scenario include rape and other kinds of sexual assault, with women being the primary victims. 

Men's bodies, on the other hand, are used as weapons in battle. 

Men refer to their penises as extensions of or interchangeable with their weapons, according to several anecdotal reports from victims of war rape. 

This dubious and disturbing conflation of penises and weapons is even reflected in a military marching chant: 

‘This is my weapon, this is my rifle.' I fire bullets with this, and I have a good time with it.' 

We saw two significant genocide operations in the early 1990s, both of which utilized rape as a primary method of genocide. 

Unfortunately, the former Yugoslavia and Rwandan wars were not the last of their kind. 

Rape has been widely utilized in the Sudanese Darfur area and the Congo in recent years. 

Studying war rape, feminist theorists have claimed that rape is not only utilized as part of genocide, but that rape constitutes genocide in and of itself. 

Rape that results in death is known as genocidal rape. 

It may be rape that is carried out repeatedly till the woman dies or rape that is carried out in such a manner that the woman dies. 

Rape with the intent to kill is often carried out using items other than the penis. 

Women who have been raped may commit suicide, infanticide, or just want to die. 

Genocidal rape is also systematic and pervasive, whether as part of a genocide campaign or as genocide itself. 

Rape committed against a group of individuals, such as an ethnic, cultural, or religious community. 

However, it is also against women, prompting many radical feminists to call genocide rape femicide — the systematic slaughter of women. 

Rape also complicates attempts to restore peace and security in the aftermath of a conflict. 

In this respect, the example of Rwanda is instructive. 

During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, 800,000 people were murdered in around 100 days — neighbors were often raped by their neighbors. 

Furthermore, even after the war ended, many rape victims were murdered before they could testify against their former friends and neighbors. 

Because they were afraid of retaliation, several women were hesitant to even file charges against their rapists. 

This, among other things, was a problem for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). 

Rape and torture were added to the list of crimes against humanity by both the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the ICTR also included forced pregnancy. 

In 1997, the accusations against JeanPaul Akayesu, Mayor of Taba, Rwanda, were amended to include "rape as a method of genocide," and a year later, he became the first individual ever prosecuted and convicted of genocide and rape as a crime against humanity. 

Such beliefs are a necessary part of the postwar healing process. 

However, there are certain additional issues that must be addressed. 

Some cultures, for example, have strict restrictions against any kind of sexual activity before to or after marriage. 

Women who were raped in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda were often shunned by their communities. 

Rape also rips communities apart, which is another way it is genocidal. 

Following such terrible events, especially for the benefit of rape victims and their children, postwar reparations must include appropriate consideration of how rape has harmed personal and community ties. 

Counseling should be given not just to the women who have been raped, but also to their families and the broader community, so that rape victims do not continue to suffer the agony of their ordeal from inside their own community. 

Feminists and other activists concerned about justice believe that rape offenders should face punishment as part of the postwar process. 

Appropriate tribunals would need to be set up inside armies, as well as at the national and international levels. 

This proposal would involve prosecutions for individual troops who committed rape, as well as trials for commanders in charge who stood by and did nothing to prevent rape or who incorporated rape in their war planning and strategy.

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Feminism and Activism here.

Women And Child Victims Of Human Trafficking

The term "global market" generally refers to legitimate commerce between countries, however there is another kind of trade that has infected the global market: illicit people trafficking. 

This trade is known as "human trafficking," and it mainly affects women and children, as I noted in my discussion of the feminization of poverty. 

• Women and girls are enlisted with the promise of a big monetary reward, sold into slavery by their parents or guardians, or kidnapped from their homes. 

• Women are targeted by human traffickers to be exploited for prostitution, mail order brides, or domestic servitude. 

• Children are targeted for the same reasons as adults, as well as for illegal adoption and recruitment as child soldiers. 

• Humans may also be trafficked for the purpose of organ harvesting. 

Human trafficking, according to postcolonial feminists, is a kind of neocolonialism or a continuation of colonial pasts. 

People trafficking utilizes the human resources of these now-former colonies, while the colonialism that characterized so much of European history from the fourteenth through the twentieth century utilized the natural riches of the colonies. 

Global feminists examine the causes of human trafficking and female exploitation and propose a number of solutions to protect women and girls from being trafficked. 

They also provide specific suggestions for prosecuting human traffickers and rehabilitating and reintegrating women into non-exploitative societies. 

Global feminists argue that, in addition to practical steps such as providing alternative sources of income for women and legal prosecution of traffickers, there must be: 

(1) explicit condemnation of human trafficking as a human rights violation by the UN and other regional and international governing bodies; 

(2) social and cultural transformations. 

When some people are exploited as things for the enjoyment of others, all people are degraded. 

The first of these stages has already begun. 

Both the United Nations and the European Union have particular laws, as well as offices and specialized people, to combat human trafficking. 

Despite this, shady travel agencies continue to arrange "sex holidays" and promote the possibility of having sex with a virgin or an underage girl. 

Clients may even do activities that are prohibited in their own countries, according to travel brochures. 

A societal and cultural shift that appreciates all women for who they are is taking longer. 

Even in nations where women seem to be the most free, there is still enough oppression or dominance that certain women – particularly impoverished women – are susceptible. 

Of course, various schools of feminist thinking would suggest different methods for altering the dominance ideology and achieving a more equal situation for women. 

Marxist and socialist feminists may emphasize the necessity for decent-paying employment and other social system changes to keep women out of poverty – and to prevent huge wealth inequalities. 

Liberal feminists may argue that the legal measures put in place to prevent human trafficking and punish traffickers are sufficient to bring about a societal shift in how we think about women. 

Some radical feminists may even argue that correctly applied severe forms of punishment for traffickers, such as castration, would not only discourage future would-be traffickers, but would also have considerable symbolic significance. 

Liberation has always been seen by feminists as more than an individualized goal. 

It is insufficient that just a few women can "succeed." Human trafficking highlights the need of broadening the definition of freedom. 

Human trafficking is an issue that combines race, class, and gender oppression. 

However, when other people are bought and sold for their sexual services, bodies, or body parts, all people are degraded. 

We become simple things, and we submit ourselves to the same destiny by treating others as objects. 

Furthermore, since human trafficking is so common, we are all responsible in some manner. 

While we may not actively participate in human trafficking, we indirectly condone it when we fail to prevent the commercialization of others. 

Pornography and prostitution, as well as the exploitation of women as sex objects in advertisements, are lesser kinds of human trafficking, according to certain radical feminists. 

If they are correct, human trafficking is an issue in every town. 

Recognizing our linkages may lead to coalitional politics, as women and men from all walks of life battle the same issue from various perspectives. 

In Thailand, mothers may discover methods to thwart recruiters who visit their homes. 

In Thailand, professional women and men may attempt to educate the girls and families that are most susceptible to recruiters. 

Young and elderly women might combine their resources and skills to form a weaving cooperative, which could give families with the financial stability they need to avoid having to sell a daughter into slavery. 

Women in other countries may help by pushing vigorously government measures to punish human traffickers. 

Other women from other countries could help in similar ways, such as providing start-up funding for the co-ops, researching the effects of small businesses on traffickers' recruitment capabilities, and scrutinizing their national ideologies to uncover implicit ways those ideologies condone sexism and exploitation. 

Although some collaboration among these initiatives is beneficial, collaboration and coordination are not always feasible or desired. 

The last part of this chapter looks at some of the opportunities and challenges that coalitional politics or global feminist political solidarity provide. 

Another issue with human trafficking is how to rehabilitate children and adults if and when they are rescued from human trafficking enslavement. 

It's frequently tough to reintegrate them into their native communities. 

Again, cultural norms are a major impediment. 

When recruiters visit a Thai hamlet, for example, they are drawn to the community because of its poverty. They entice females away with the promise of regular employment at a high salary performing domestic chores. 

But it isn't always, or even generally, the females who are deceived – and it isn't always a question of deceit. In certain cases, parents and guardians may sell their daughters or female charges into indentured servitude or sex slavery. 

These guardians may even return a girl to the recruiter or trafficker if she escapes and returns to her community. 

Despite the fact that I chose Thailand as an example, it is essential to remember that women are kidnapped from virtually every country, including affluent Western nations. 

Because she is no longer pure, some cultures may shun or even murder a woman who returns to her society. 

Rehabilitation and reintegration into the community need the transformation of whole communities. 

To keep recruiters at away, the transition involves social and economic adjustments, as well as ideological shifts that may drastically alter men-women, parent-child interactions. 

The phrase "the personal is political" was popularized by second-wave feminists. 

Many activists have coined the phrase "think globally, act locally," which is embraced by global feminists. Human trafficking is an example of this expression in action. 

Theorists and activists must consider how their local behaviors affect women across the world. 

Feminists are compelled to acknowledge women's rights problems outside their local concerns when they think internationally. 

We can see that global feminism is a vital endeavor in this sense as well. 

It is critical of conventional Western feminisms that fail to recognize the day-to-day challenges of women throughout the globe as essential to feminist theory and practice, not only of social structures and global institutions that hurt women.

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

You may also want to read more about Feminism and Activism here.

Organized Global Feminist Coalition And Care Networks.

Global feminists go even farther by examining global care networks. 

A worldwide care chain is a network of carers linked by contractual ties. 

A care chain is established when a rich First World lady employs a poor woman from another country to come to her house and care for her children. 

However, the chain may go on for a long time. 

The impoverished lady may have abandoned her own children in her own country. 

In such scenario, she may either employ another woman to care for her children (for even lesser pay) or depend on family members to take over her domestic and familial responsibilities. 

So, while a woman in the West can enjoy her relative freedom with the assistance of a domestic servant from a Third World country – and the domestic servant can earn more money than she could in her own country – the Third World domestic worker has had to give up something important: her motherly relationship with her own children. 

The contractual agreement between carers for the transfer of caring services from one person to another is one element of this relationship. 

This is sometimes set out in great detail in a service contract. 

At other times, it's a handshake that seals the deal. 

Furthermore, caregiving is seldom a nine-to-five profession, with certain hours requiring much more effort than others. 

If the hours and pay of the hired caregiver are not specified in the work contract, the hired caregiver may be exploited. 

Employers and carers may also try to develop a pleasant (caring) relationship with one other, whether or not there is a formal contract in place. 

While such a connection may be beneficial in terms of facilitating cultural interchange, it can also be abused if the employer expects certain things from a friend that would not be expected of an employee. 

The employee is exploited, for example, when employers use social connections to urge caregivers to be available at the last minute or during planned off-duty hours. 

The domestic worker and the employer are never on an equal footing in their relationship, and pretending to be friends, which is based on equality, only serves to disadvantage the worker. 

The employer has control over the employee in terms of the salary that is paid, as well as the employee's immigrant status, language difficulties, distance from home country, cultural and family isolation, and general vulnerability. 

Care is another component of global care networks. 

Caregivers often form close bonds with the people they look after. 

However, when a caregiver has left her own children behind in her native country, she is unable to show her love for them on a regular basis. 

This isn't to imply she doesn't care about them or that the kid she looks after is more important to her than her own children (although both of those might be the case in any given situation). 

The argument is that demonstrating concern for one's own children becomes much more difficult when they are separated by national boundaries, seas, or continents. 

This reality may cause us to reconsider what constitutes care or to condemn global care networks for depriving some impoverished children of their moms' affection so that rich women may work outside the house or have more leisure time free of domestic obligations. 

The third thing to consider regarding global care networks is that they often depend on or perpetuate gender labor divides. 

Gender divisions of work may even be used in relationships between affluent employers. 

Frequently, a rich family looking to employ a domestic worker or live-in caretaker delegates the hiring and administration of that domestic worker to the woman, recruits only female candidates, and expects all family members to behave in typically feminine ways (quiet, nurturing, and attentive, but also deferential, submissive, and passive). 

Any issues that arise as a result of the female's failure to employ an appropriate caretaker for ‘her' children, her incapacity to be a ‘proper mother,' or just the gendered assumption that all matters pertaining to children fall to the woman, would be her duty. 

Caregivers often leave their native nation in search of better pay, exposure to or adventure in a new culture, or to avoid being sold into slavery by family members. 

In other cases, the female caregiver already has a college degree and is a qualified professional. 

Employers are drawn to such caregivers for a variety of reasons, including what Joan Tronto refers to as "competitive mothering." Employers that hire a caregiver with a different profession or a college degree essentially receive the advantage of those talents in their children's education and early training while just paying for the care. 

Finally, global care networks span the globe. 

They bring women from all over the world together, but that togetherness isn't always desired. 

While global care chains may contribute to a generation of affluent children growing up with an understanding of a culture and language other than their own, such understanding comes at a cost. 

Not only will these young people grow up believing that they can pay others to do their dirty labor (such as cleaning up vomit and dirty diapers) and nurturing work for them, but they may also think that other women's children are less valuable than their own.

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

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