Our entry “Breaking The Nets” is a 5-part multimedia series of India’s fisherwomen that chronicles the discriminations they have faced, the battles they have waged, and the solutions they have crafted.

At the heart of the fishing industry is the invisible labour of women. Over 12.3 million women, mostly from oppressed castes, work in fishing in India. They catch, farm, process and sell fish, mend nets, and maintain fishing gear. But, their contribution is largely unacknowledged, both in government policies and within fishing communities.

So what happens when these women decide to organise and stand up for their rights? The series brings you five stories from across India.

From Bihar, women from the Mallah community, who were trapped in sex slavery and debt bondage by dominant caste landlords, wrested control of village fish ponds and freed themselves. In the Sundarbans mangrove forests, widows of tiger attack victims defy the forest department to catch fish and crabs at great risk to make a living. In South India, women defy the forest department to harvest seaweed to escape poverty.

In Mumbai, women fish vendors from the indigenous Koli community are waging a battle for control of fish markets located in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets. In Puducherry’s fishing hamlets, all-male community panchayats govern every aspect of women’s lives. To take on them, women have organised themselves to rebel against these panchayats. In Odisha, women from indigenous tribal communities who have been wrecked by malnutrition have forayed into fish farming to improve the health of women and children.

The series has been reported and produced by Shamsheer Yousaf, Monica Jha, and Sriram Vittalamurthy, and appeared as a weekly instalment on The Wire, one of India’s leading online news publications. Each story in the series has been designed and developed with custom multimedia formats to serve the best needs of the story.

Links to individual stories are available on the series homepage link above.