It's a big initiative but the message is simple: It starts with you, and what you will pledge.
To that end, the upcoming October issue (on stands on the fourth of the month) will feature pledges by various influential women (and men!) from all walks of life and from many parts of the world — from playwright Eve Ensler and journalist Barkha Dutt to actors Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt—to take the movement forward, either by contributing to a charity of their choice, or offering their services, time or expertise to raise consciousness on the issue.
We've made it easy for you to join in, too. Come October 1, you can donate through our partner GiveIndia, which will fundraise for a variety of organisations that work to better women's lives. But if you want to do more, let these various pledges be your inspiration and guide.
Vikas Bahl, director, and Alia Bhatt, actor: "We pledge to create a short film titled Going Home, in which we visualise a utopia for women, where, unlike today, mistrust and fear don't dictate actions and decisions."
Priya Tanna, editor, Vogue India: "I pledge to sponsor self-defense workshops for women of Mumbai across various age and income groups."
Chiki Sarkar, publisher, Penguin Random House India: "I pledge that Penguin Random House India will work with lower-income women's colleges across four metros in India and mentor the girls who want to write—apart from in-house editors, we will also rope in established authors on our roster. We will also offer internships across a number of our divisions to these colleges. To start with, we aim to work with 10 girls over 2015. We would like to commit to this for five years."
Rujuta Vaidya, editorial co-ordinator, Vogue India: "I pledge to volunteer at Dr Ganesh Rakh's Medicare Hospital Foundation Trust in Pune that raises awareness on female infanticide. The hospital waives off all medical charges if the infant delivered is a girl."
Arianna Huffington, author, journalist and entrepreneur: "As a mother of two daughters, now 23 and 25, I do whatever I can to help organisations that help women. That's why I support Ignite Good's mission of inspiring young women like Molly Hayward to lead lives of service. While travelling the world, Molly was shocked to learn how many women lack access to sanitary pads and face health problems and humiliation as a result. So she founded Cora, a company that brings locally-made sanitary pads to women in India, not only helping those women but creating local jobs for women, too."
Bandana Tewari, fashion features director, Vogue India: "I pledge to start an NGO that uses fashion as a tool of therapy and healing, especially in the field of trauma recovery."
Princess Pea, blogger: "I pledge to the Vogue Empower campaign, my performance titled How Loud Should We Be? featuring mouths that are not agape but in the act of screaming. This performance represents the artist’s growing interest in vocal catharsis, an idea she has decided to experiment with by inviting female visitors to let go and let it all out and scream."
Homi Adajania, director: "I pledge to create a film—My Choice—with Deepika Padukone at the heart of the story. She epitomises the quintessential 'empowered woman', one who is self-made, fiercely independent, and holds her own with grace and dignity in a very unequal world. The movie will feature a montage of women, including Deepika, freewheeling—laughing, dancing, or crying—just being themselves. The central idea is to employ a hard-hitting monologue that advocates a woman’s basic right to have a choice."
Anindita Ghose, features editor, Vogue India: "I pledge to buy engineering and building sets for 10 girls under the age of 10 (along with 'More than just princess' T-shirts) from Goldieblox.com, a toy company on a mission to inspire the next generation of female engineers."
Barkha Dutt, journalist: "I pledge to start a fellowship dedicated to my mother, Prabha Dutt, that puts one girl from a disadvantaged background through journalism school every year."
Sunil Sethi, president, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI): "I pledge, as a chief patron for Japan Karate-do, Kuniba-Kai India, to sponsor seven self-defence lessons by trained instructors for a minimum of 100 women in Delhi."
Eve Ensler, playwright and activist: "I am incredibly proud to support AIDMAM (All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch), which is working to demand justice for Dalit women survivors of violence across six states of Northern India. The Dalit Mahila Swabhiman Yatra tackled the caste system head-on with a multi-state tour led by hundreds of Dalit women that identified women leaders in their communities, sought accountability of state officials, and provided legal awareness and support to Dalit communities. As my friend Asha Kowtal, lead organiser for AIDMAM, says, 'Dalit women are not flowers, we are the flames of resistance.'"
Priyanka Parkash, fashion co-ordinator, Vogue India: "I pledge to go to as many schools as possible, especially all-girls schools, and talk about how important it is to work, not just for the income but for the mind and soul."
Sudha Murty, author: "I pledge to give 5 crore to the Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai to fund cervical cancer vaccinations for underprivileged women for a five-year period."
Priya Paul, chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels: "I pledge to support the Legal Fellowship Programme of the South Asia Women's Fund through a grant to strengthen the work of four female lawyers in India to facilitate pro-bono assistance to women survivors of violence."
Aparajita Jain, co-director, Nature Morte, and trustee, Saat Saath Arts: "I pledge to support the Ranthambhore Foundation in Rajasthan, which conducts design and skills training workshops for rural women to make them economically independent—hence also preventing their families from poaching tigers for livelihood. I will fund the training of 30 women from Kundera village for one year."
Vrinda Grover, lawyer and activist: "I pledge to continue to raise my voice in support of women seeking justice, particularly where the axis of socio-political and economic power aggravates their marginalisation. I reaffirm that regardless of the rank, stature or position of the perpetrator of violence against women, I will stand in solidarity with the victim-survivors."
Shivan & Narresh, designers: "We pledge a garment from our collection, available on VogueEmpower.in, powered by Amazon.in. Proceeds from the sale will go to GiveIndia.org. We, Shivan & Narresh, also pledge to create 80 bespoke swimsuits for women who have undergone mastectomies, which we will donate to charities that support breast cancer."
Ranbir Kapoor, actor: "I pledge to photograph important women and showcase these in an exhibition. I also pledge the proceeds from the sales to contribute to the charities picked by Vogue Empower."
Upasana Kamineni and Sangita Reddy, Apollo Hospitals: "We pledge a free breast examination and pap smear test against the voucher enclosed in this magazine. In addition, all Vogue readers holding the voucher get 50 per cent off on a mammogram. This is applicable across the various centres mentioned.”
Adar Poonawalla, chairman, Poonawalla Group: "I have already pledged to invest USD 20 million in creating a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, which today is one of the top three causes of death in women. I also pledge to promote the cause of women's empowerment by financially supporting [Conde Nast] director Vinil Mathew in the making of his powerful short film addressing women and equality."
The Vogue Empower issue will be on stands October 4, 2014. For more information visit VogueEmpower.in from October 1.
