India's sportswomen playing to be seen

India's sportswomen playing to be seen

How sport is giving some young women in India a way out of child marriage and allowing them to be seen.

Officially, the practice of child marriage is illegal in the country. But UNICEF estimates that over 200 million girls and women in India have been married before they turned 18. Take Munna as an example. Her mother was fifteen when she married and Munna herself was only 14 when she was told she would be a child bride. However, she fought back, using football as her weapon. She broke social norms and took up the sport, including wearing shorts on the pitch, and fended off various attempts to marry her off early. Now her rebellion has spread to her youngest sister, who has felt emboldened by her elder sister and has made it to the state football team.

Sport has also helped members of a marginalised community - the Siddis, who were originally brought to India from Africa mainly as slaves - to battle against discrimination. For Shahin her route was via judo.

Divya Arya reports on how sport is helping some young women to break free from the bonds of early marriage and to forge an identity for themselves.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

Episoder(2000)

Michelle Bachelet: Chile's first female president

Michelle Bachelet: Chile's first female president

Michelle Bachelet's father died after being detained and tortured during the first year of General Pinochet's dictatorial rule in Chile. More than 40 years later, Michelle became Chile's first female ...

3 Sep 201927min

Museum of Lost Objects: The fire that scorched Brazil’s history

Museum of Lost Objects: The fire that scorched Brazil’s history

It’s been a year since Brazil’s National Museum burned down in a fire. Not only was its collection one of the most extraordinary in the world, but Brazil’s entire history ran through the museum. On th...

1 Sep 201959min

Lethal Force in Rio’s Favelas

Lethal Force in Rio’s Favelas

Brazil’s party capital, Rio de Janeiro, is witnessing a killing spree. Nothing new there, you might think – it’s long suffered from violent crime. Yet in this case, it’s the police who stand accused o...

29 Aug 201926min

Why Woodstock still matters

Why Woodstock still matters

The Woodstock myth is a potent and evocative symbol of the '60s utopian hippie dream – the ultimate example of the unifying power of music, peace and love. To mark the 50th anniversary of one of the f...

29 Aug 201949min

Afghan Star 2: Music, tradition and the Taliban

Afghan Star 2: Music, tradition and the Taliban

The TV talent show Afghan Star has been running for 14 years, and has never been won by a woman singer. This year one of the two finalists is an 18-year-old girl – if she wins, it will be a historic b...

28 Aug 201927min

Maria Ressa: The Filipino-American journalist combating fake news

Maria Ressa: The Filipino-American journalist combating fake news

Maria Ressa, the Filipino-American journalist and author was included in Time's Person of the Year 2018 as one of a collection of journalists from around the world combating fake news. Earlier this ye...

27 Aug 201927min

My very extended family

My very extended family

Two years ago Julia, a high school student from Ohio, received an email from a woman in New York she had never met, claiming that her daughter and Julia shared the same biological father. The phone ca...

24 Aug 201950min

Romania's killer roads

Romania's killer roads

Everybody in Romania knows someone who has died in a road accident. The country has the highest road death rate in the European Union – twice the EU average and more than three times that in the UK. A...

22 Aug 201930min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
alt-fortalt
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden-usa
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
grenselos
wolfgang-wee-uncut
fladseth
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
min-barneoppdragelse
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
den-politiske-situasjonen
krisemoter