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Nidhi Goyal

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Nidhi Goyal (born 21 September 1985) is an Indian disability and gender rights activist who has been appointed to the UN Women Executive Director's advisory group.[1][2] Goyal is the founder and director of Mumbai-based NGO Rising Flame[3][4] and works in the areas of sexuality, gender, health and rights for women and girls with disabilities.[5] She is also the first blind female stand-up comedian in India.[6][7][5]

Early life

Goyal was born and brought up in Mumbai.[6] At the age of 15, she was diagnosed with an incurable, irreversible eye disorder called retinitis pigmentosa as a consequence of which she lost her eye-sight a year later.[8]

Goyal was involved in performing arts in college. She began a career in mass media before transitioning to rights-based work for people with disabilities.[9]

Activism

Goyal advocates for issues around sexuality and sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls with disabilities.[3][10][11][12][13] Nidhi has been appointed to the UN Women Executive Director's advisory group,[1][2] sits on the advisory board of Voice, a grant making facility by the Dutch Ministry,[14] and is currently the presidence elect of Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID).[15] She is a member of the core group on persons with disabilities and elderly persons by the National Human Rights Commission in India.[16]

Goyal was the director of the sexuality and disability program at the Mumbai-based feminist non-profit Point of View.[12][17] The organisation launched a website resource for girls and women with disabilities.[17][10] The site is accessible to the visually impaired.[17]

Goyal is the founder and director of Rising Flame, a Mumbai-based organization founded in 2017 which is focused on building leadership and advocacy skills among people, particularly women and youth with disabilities.[18][19] Rising Flame has been involved in the #MeToo movement and the campaign 'My Tale Too', which aims to rewrite the narratives of popular movies or novels with disabled people in the lead.[3]

Comedy

Goyal is India's first female visually impaired stand-up comedian.[8] She was encouraged to try comedy by close friend and fellow activist and filmmaker, Pramada Menon.[9][6] She wrote her first set in six months.[8] Goyal was also featured in the first episode of stand-up comedian Aditi Mittal's webseries Bad Girls.[20][21] In her comedy, Goyal talks about sex, relationships and love within the disabled community.[8] She performs about incidents from her own life and uses comedy as a tool for activism to talk about the stigma around disability and sexuality. So far, she has performed in various mainstream clubs, at conferences and for corporations.[9]

Awards

Goyal was given the Neelam Kanga Award by National Association for the Blind, India, in January 2016[22] and the Superwoman of the Year award by ABP News in March 2018.[23]

Research and publications

Goyal co-authored a report for the international human rights research and advocacy organization, Human Rights Watch, titled "Invisible victims of sexual violence: Access to justice for women and girls with disabilities in India".[24][25] The report looks at the challenges that women and girls with disabilities who have survived sexual violence face when accessing legal aid and justice.[24]

Book chapters

Articles

References

  1. ^ a b "UN Women Executive Director establishes her new Civil Society Advisory Group". UN Women. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  2. ^ a b "Author Page". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  3. ^ a b c "Blind comedian Nidhi Goyal talks about her journey". femina.in. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  4. ^ "Nidhi Goyal: Changing Norms One Joke At A Time". Women's Web: For Women Who Do. 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  5. ^ a b "Meet Nidhi Goyal, India's first blind stand up comedienne". Hindustan Times. 2017-04-01. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  6. ^ a b c Aranha, Jovita (25 September 2017). "Change Through Humour! Meet Nidhi Goyal, India's First-Ever Disabled Woman Comedian". The Better India. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  7. ^ Sengupta, Saurya (21 July 2018). "India's stand-up comics are pulling no punches". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d Tuli, Aanchal (2 April 2017). "Meet Nidhi Goyal, India's first blind stand up comedienne". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  9. ^ a b c Shah, Sonal. "You Need To Be Strong Enough To Point To That Elephant In The Room: Nidhi Goyal, Disability And Gender Rights Activist And Comedian". United Nations. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Interview: Nidhi Goyal • In Plainspeak". In Plainspeak. 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  11. ^ "In the words of Nidhi Goyal: "These spaces belong to everyone"". UN Women. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  12. ^ a b Nair, Supriya (2012-06-08). "Willing and able". Mint. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  13. ^ "Feminist Spaces Remain Notoriously Clueless About Disabled Women's Needs: Nidhi Goyal". 2017-12-19. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  14. ^ "Advisory Board |". voice.global. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  15. ^ "Our Board of Directors". AWID. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  16. ^ "Team – Rising Flame". Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  17. ^ a b c Jain, Mayank. "Asking questions about sex that disabled women are often afraid to pose". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  18. ^ "Rising Flame – Lead. Grow. Change". Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  19. ^ Editor (2019-05-21). "Nominations Open: "i can lead" National leadership program for women with disabilities by Rising Flame". enabled.in. Retrieved 2019-07-05. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ Behrawala, Krutika (20 July 2016). "Stand-Up Comedy Show Aims To Bust Myths About Sex And Disability". Mid Day. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  21. ^ Sharma, Deeksha (17 February 2017). "Visually-Impaired Comedian Nidhi Goyal Slays It On 'Bad Girls'". The Quint. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  22. ^ Annual Report, National Association for the Blind, Indiahttps://www.giveindia.org/images/documents/14_ar_15_16.pdf
  23. ^ Bureau, ABP News (2018-03-08). "These 3 Amazing Ladies Have Won Our Superwomen Contest! Read Their Inspiring Stories". www.abplive.in. Retrieved 2019-07-05. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  24. ^ a b "Tough for disabled sexual violence victims to get legal aid: Human Rights Watch report". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  25. ^ Avenue, Human Rights Watch | 350 Fifth; York, 34th Floor | New; t 1.212.290.4700, NY 10118-3299 USA | (2018-04-03). "Invisible Victims of Sexual Violence | Access to Justice for Women and Girls with Disabilities in India". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2019-07-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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