Cynthia Stephen

Bio

Cynthia Stephen is an independent social policy researcher & analyst and independent journalist. She is also well-known as a trainer on Gender, policy and Development issues. She has written extensively for newspapers, magazines, and journals as well as contributed chapters to several books, for example, on the girl child and experiences of discrimination in higher education in India. Her work includes leadership in several people’s initiatives for justice, in large country-wide women’s empowerment groups, and theoretical work on women’s concerns from the unrecognized perspective of women and girls from the large number of marginalised sections in India. She pioneered the concept of Womanism in the Indian/South Asian context, being a woman from a religious minority (in India), and also being identified with the Dalit community. She is Founder President of the Training, Editorial and Development Services Trust, (TEDS Trust), and is based in Bangalore, India.