Women seldom receive the solidarity they extend

Women were central to both the December 2012 protests over the gang-rape of a student and the July 2026 protests over exam paper leaks.

In response to the 2026 protests, the BJP-led NDA government set up a commission and passed an anti-paper-leak bill.

At Jantar Mantar, AISA leader Neha Bora undertook a 23-day hunger strike; women volunteers provided food, water, medicines, and other supplies.

Some women faced workplace repercussions; one woman, AB, attended secretly for fear of being fired by her boss.

Women participants objected to posters stereotyping women and transgender people, but were silenced by men who said it was not the time for such objections.