Anita Ghai

Anita Ghai (23 October 1958 – 11 December 2024) was an Indian academic who was the president of Indian Association of Women's Studies.[1] She was a professor at School of Human Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi.[2] She was also a disability rights activist in India working in the areas of sexuality, gender, health and education rights.[3][4] She authored three books.[5]

Early life

Ghai was born on 23 October 1958. She was diagnosed with polio at the age of two.[4] The polio vaccine came to India in 1959, one year after her birth.

Academic work

Ghai was engaged in the field of disability studies for many years and her contribution to the field is considered seminal.[6] Her volume, Disability in South Asia: Knowledge and Experience, is considered the first of its kind in South Asia.[6] Ghai is pushing for disability studies to claim the status of a university discipline.[6]

Ghai's book Rethinking Disability in India focussed on disability in India as a social, cultural and political phenomenon.[7]

Ghai was also on the editorial board of Disability and Society and Scandinavian Journal of Disability.[8]

Activism

Ghai focussed on the specific concerns and experiences of disabled women.[7] Ghai also wrote (Dis)embodied Form on the gendered politics of disability and its impact on feminist theory.[9]

She held workshops on sexuality and disability, as part of an online course run by feminist organisation CREA.[10] Ghai also advocates for sexuality education .[11]

Ghai advocated for accessibility in India.[4][7] She argued that access is crucial for allowing people with disabilities to secure their proper citizenship rights,[12] and has spoken out against the Indian government's token efforts for people with disabilities.[1] She also advocated against the lack of accessible toilets.[13]

In January 2016, Ghai claimed that she was forced to crawl on the tarmac by Air India at Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi, as they failed to provide a wheelchair for her.[14] The airline denied Ghai's allegation.[15]

Books

  • Ghai, Anita (17 January 2019). Disability in South Asia: Knowledge and Experience. Sage Publications. ISBN 978-9352807079.
  • Ghai, Anita (28 November 2017). Rethinking Disability in India. Routledge India. ISBN 9780815373216.
  • Ghai, Anita (2003). (Dis)Embodied Form: Issues of Disabled Women. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 81-241-0930-3.

References

  1. 1 2 "Smooth edges". theweek.in. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  2. ↑ "Ghai, Anita". SAGE India. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  3. ↑ "Dr. Anita Ghai". HAQ : Centre for Child Rights. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 trij. "BBC – Ouch! (disability) – Interviews – 13 Questions: indian campaigner Anita Ghai". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ghai, Anita". SAGE Publications Ltd. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Ghai, Anita (10 September 2018). Disability in South Asia: Knowledge and Experience. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 9789352807093.
  7. 1 2 3 Fremlin, Peter (2016). "Rethinking disability in India". Disability & Society. 31 (10): 1411–1413. doi:10.1080/09687599.2016.1221665.
  8. ↑ Ghai, Anita; Johri, Rachana (May 2008). "Prenatal Diagnosis: Where Do We Draw the Line?". Indian Journal of Gender Studies. 15 (2): 291–316. doi:10.1177/097152150801500205. S2CID 144856247.
  9. ↑ Erevelles, Nirmala (15 March 2005). "(Dis)Embodied Form: Issues of Disabled Women". Disability Studies Quarterly. 25 (2). doi:10.18061/dsq.v25i2.567. ISSN 2159-8371.
  10. ↑ Masoodi, Ashwaq (3 December 2014). "Sexual rights of disabled women". Mint. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  11. ↑ "Sexuality and Disability in the Indian Context" (PDF). www.tarshi.net. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "There is more to accessibility than ramps". The Alternative. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "Lack of toilets restrict access to public spaces for differently abled women". Hindustan Times. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS SECTION 3 – AIR TRANSPORT SERIES 'M' PART I" (PDF). OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "Disabled passenger says Air India made her 'crawl'". ABC News. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
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