Manasi Pradhan

Significance: Manasi Pradhan is a women’s rights activist, social worker, and author. She has campaigned to end violence against women in India and fought for education for girls and women. She has founded and headed organizations such as Honour for Women National Campaign and Odisha Yuva Sanskrutik Sansad (or OYSS Women). Pradhan overcame superstitions against educating girls beyond middle school to become the first female high school graduate from her village. She went on to become the first woman from the region to earn a law degree.

Background

Manasi Pradhan was born into an impoverished family in a small village in Orissa (renamed Odisha), in eastern India, on October 4, 1962. She was the eldest of three children, and her brother and sister were considerably younger. Her father was a farmer, while her mother cared for the family. From an early age, she recognized that women in her community were not respected. They toiled to support and care for their families, but often were victims of domestic violence. Pradhan resolved to one day help women, but had to fight a culture in which education for girls was not valued or encouraged. However, she persevered. To attend high school, she had to take public buses and walk about 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) each day. When she graduated, she became the first girl from her village to finish high school. After this, she had to fight for the opportunity to attend college. She worked while she was a student to pay her younger siblings’ education expenses. She graduated from Government Women’s College with a degree in economics. Later, she earned a master’s degree in Odia literature from Utkal University.

Pradhan enrolled in a law program, but in her second year, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Her father was unwell and bedridden, so Pradhan decided to take over all responsibility for her siblings. She briefly worked for the government of Odisha’s finance department and for a bank. To support her siblings and parents, she bought a printing press and founded Josodhara magazine. She completed a bachelor of law degree as well.

Life’s Work

In the 1980s, while studying law, Pradhan decided to work toward her longstanding goal of helping women and girls. She founded a nonprofit organization, OYSS, to help girls seek higher education and fund it. She encouraged many young adults and students to volunteer to educate women in villages. Over time, the organization, which was active in several states, expanded to offer leadership training, vocational programs, self-defense classes, and more. OYSS also launched a Model United Nations (UN) program exclusively for female students. In 2013, more than seven thousand female delegates attended the first National Meet on Rural Women Empowerment and the OYSS Women National Meet on Tribal Women Empowerment.

Pradhan launched Honour for Women, a national movement to fight violence against women, in 2009. The campaign provides community education, encourages self-defense training in schools, demands limits on sales of liquor, and pushes the government to provide special units to investigate and prosecute crimes against women. More than ten thousand members were involved in the organization’s early work. The number of members in the Honour for Women campaign had reportedly doubled to twenty thousand by 2024, with representations from twenty-four Indian states and ten countries across Europe and Asia. In 2013, Pradhan established Nirbhaya Samaroh, an annual dance and music event that aims to raise awareness of women’s rights. Nirbhaya Vanhini, a volunteer arm of the Honour of Women National Campaign, was founded by Pradhan in 2014. Pradhan, who was both an activist and a social worker, explained that the demand to limit or ban sales of liquor was meant to support women and children. She said many wives called her asking for help because their husbands, who worked as day laborers, spent most of their pay on alcohol. This left meager funds to feed and care for the family.

Pradhan is also an author and poet. She has published several collections of poetry. Her fourth book, Urmi-O-Uchchwas, has reportedly been translated into eight languages. She is the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Jasodhara, which is published by Jasodhara Global Media. Several documentaries have been produced to share her work and life.

Impact

Pradhan has achieved success toward her goal to help women, girls, and children. Although her demands for social change have not been universally adopted, they have found greater acceptance in urban areas. Self-defense classes for girls, for example, have been incorporated into curricula in some cities. Some states have curtailed the availability of liquor.

Pradhan has been recognized for her activism. The UN Women and the National Commission for Women conferred on her the 2011 Outstanding Women Award. She received the Rani Laxmibai National Stree Shakti Puraskar award (renamed to Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2015) from President Pranab Mukherjee on International Women’s Day in 2014. The award is a national honor in India, recognizing women’s courage and achievement. In 2018, she was invited to address the Oxford Union in England as the Leading Global Women’s Rights Icon. In October 2020, Pradhan was nominated as one of the world’s six most influential women and as a keynote speaker for the International Women’s Summit in Washington, DC.

Personal Life

Pradhan reveals little about her personal life. She is the mother of a daughter, Baisali, with Radha Binod Mohanty.

Bibliography

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Ambaly, Anwesha. “Activist at Oxford Union.” Telegraph India, 10 Apr. 2018, www.telegraphindia.com/odisha/activist-at-oxford-union/cid/1412151. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

Darpan, Shweta Kulkarni. “Manasi Pradhan: A Trailblazer for Women’s Rights in India.” Darpan, 21 Mar. 2024, www.darpanmagazine.com/magazine/darpan-salutes/manasi-pradhan-a-trailblazer-for-womens-rights-in-india/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

Dsouza, Gerald. “Her Childhood Experience Urged Her to Take Up Higher Education Issues for Girl Child in Orissa.” Book of Achievers, 2018, bookofachievers.com/articles/indian-womens-rights-activist-manasi-pradhan. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

“International Women’s Day.” Advance Charity, 8 Mar. 2021, www.advancecharity.org.uk/international-womens-day/. Accessed 6 Apr 2026.

Kulkarni, Shweta. “Manasi Pradhan: A Trailblazer for Women’s Rights In India.” Darpan, 21 Mar. 2024, www.darpanmagazine.com/news/india/manasi-pradhan-a-trailblazer-for-womens-rights-in-india/. Accessed 6 Apr 2026.

“Manasi Pradhan Nominated Keynote Speaker for Washington DC Women Summit.” Orissa Diary, 27 Oct. 2024, orissadiary.com/manasi-pradhan-nominated-keynote-speaker-for-washington-dc-women-summit/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

“Manasi Pradhan Wins Rani Laxmibai Puraskar.” Orissa Post, 2014, web.archive.org/web/20160304031553/http://www.orissapost.com/epaper/080314/p2.htm. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.

“Manasi Pradhan - Women’s Rights Activist and Author.” Itihaas.ai, itihaas.ai/en/people/manasi-pradhan/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

Mathew, Shannon. “Interviewing Manasi Pradhan.” The YP Foundation, Medium, 24 Apr. 2017, medium.com/@theypfoundation/interviewing-manasi-pradhan-d45223466919. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

“OYSS Women.” OYSS WOMEN, 2025, www.oyss.org.in/about.php. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

Panchal, Praveen. “Manshi Pradhan.” Womens Activism NYC, 29 June. 2023, www.womensactivism.nyc/catalog/980. Accessed 6 Apr 2026.