Anita Nawle leads a campaign of ‘Ekal Mahila’ (Single women) in Marathwada that has more than 19000 women as its members. Married at the age of 16, and widowed at the age of 22 with two daughters to care for, Anita’s stories were tales of grief, poverty, helplessness, humiliation, and anxiety. Anita’s introduction to a local NGO, ‘Sheti va Gramin Vikas’ enabled her to interact with other women and motivated her to mobilize them. Her realization about her potential to be a change-maker and her own experiences of being a ‘single woman’ led her to lead the fight against the stigma and violence against single women. Anita has also successfully set up a saree shop at the block place (Paranda) that has grown from her tiny business of trading in sarees and clothes a few years ago in search of livelihood.
