Award-Winning Journalist Ellen Barry on India's Missing Women Workers | Asia Society Skip to main content
  • Arts
    • Asia Society Museum
      • Visit
      • Exhibitions
      • Programs
      • Learn
      • Support
    • Arts & Museum Summit
    • Asia Arts Game Changer Awards
      • About
      • Honorees
      • Ceremonies
      • Photos
      • Support
    • Creative Voices of Muslim Asia
      • Resources
      • Exhibitions
      • Videos
    • Film
    • Literature
    • Performing Arts
  • Education
    • Center for Global Education
      • Professional Development
      • Educator Resources
      • Our Ideas
      • Asia Society at Home
      • Education For Equity
      • About
  • Policy
    • Asia Society Policy Institute
      • Topics
      • Regions
      • Events
      • About
      • Support Us
    • Center on U.S.-China Relations
      • Home
      • About
      • Projects
      • Reports
      • Past Events
      • ChinaFile
  • Initiatives
    • Arts
      • Arts & Museum Summit
      • Asia Arts Game Changer Awards
      • Asia Society Museum: The Asia Arts & Museum Network
      • Creative Voices of Muslim Asia
      • U.S.-China Museum Summit
      • U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit
    • Education
      • Center for Global Education
      • China Learning Initiatives
      • Global Cities Education Network
      • Global Learning Beyond School
      • International Studies Schools Network
    • Leadership
      • Asia Game Changer Awards
      • Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative
      • Global Talent Initiatives
      • U.S.-China Dialogue
    • Policy
      • Asia Society Policy Institute
      • Center on U.S.-China Relations
    • Sustainability
      • Coal + ICe
  • Countries & Regions
    • Column One
      • Afghanistan

      • American Samoa

      • Armenia
      • Australia
      • Azerbaijan
      • Bahrain
      • Bangladesh

      • Bhutan

      • Brunei

      • Cambodia

      • Central Asia
      • China
      • Cook Islands

      • Cyprus
      • East Asia
      • East Timor
      • Fiji

      • French Polynesia

      • Georgia

      • Guam
    • Column Two
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Israel
      • Japan
      • Jordan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kiribati
      • Kuwait

      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Laos
      • Lebanon
      • Macau
      • Malaysia
      • Maldives
      • Marshall Islands
      • Micronesia

      • Mongolia

    • Column Three
      • Myanmar

      • Nauru

      • Nepal

      • New Caledonia

      • New Zealand

      • Niue
      • North Korea

      • Northern Marianas
      • Oceania
      • Oman

      • Pakistan

      • Palau
      • Palestine

      • Papua New Guinea
      • Philippines
      • Qatar

      • Samoa
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore

      • Solomon Islands

    • Column Four
      • South Asia
      • Southeast Asia
      • South Korea
      • Sri Lanka
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Tajikistan
      • Thailand
      • Tibet
      • Tokelau
      • Tonga
      • Turkey

      • Turkmenistan

      • Tuvalu
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Uzbekistan
      • Vanuatu
      • Vietnam
      • Wallis and Futuna
      • West Asia
      • Yemen
  • Current Affairs
    • Topics
      • Business
      • Environment
      • Governance
    • Programming
      • Beyond the Headlines
      • Business of Asia
    • Center on U.S.-China Relations
      • Home
      • About
      • Projects
      • Reports
      • Past Events
      • ChinaFile
  • Look & Listen
    • Asia Blog
    • ChinaFile
    • Podcasts
    • Video Gallery
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
  • Visit
    • Visit Us
      • Hong Kong
      • New York
      • Texas
    • Global Network
      • Australia
      • India
      • Japan
      • Korea
      • Northern California
      • Philippines
      • Southern California
      • Switzerland
      • Washington, DC
  • About
    • About Asia Society
    • Inclusion & Diversity
    • Mission & History
    • Co-Chairs and Trustees
    • Senior Leadership
    • Global Staff
    • Experts & Fellows
    • Global Council
    • Careers
    • Interns and Volunteers
    • Financial Statements
    • For the Media
      • Press Releases
  • Support
    • The Campaign for Asia Society
    • Corporate Engagement
      • Business Council
      • Global Talent and Diversity Council
      • Rising Executives Network
      • Enhancements to Membership
      • Corporate Membership
      • Global Corporate Leaders
    • Membership
    • Donate
ASIABLOG
Search
Search
  • Arts
    • Asia Society Museum
      • Visit
      • Exhibitions
      • Programs
      • Learn
      • Support
    • Arts & Museum Summit
    • Asia Arts Game Changer Awards
      • About
      • Honorees
      • Ceremonies
      • Photos
      • Support
    • Creative Voices of Muslim Asia
      • Resources
      • Exhibitions
      • Videos
    • Film
    • Literature
    • Performing Arts
  • Education
    • Center for Global Education
      • Professional Development
      • Educator Resources
      • Our Ideas
      • Asia Society at Home
      • Education For Equity
      • About
  • Policy
    • Asia Society Policy Institute
      • Topics
      • Regions
      • Events
      • About
      • Support Us
    • Center on U.S.-China Relations
      • Home
      • About
      • Projects
      • Reports
      • Past Events
      • ChinaFile
  • Initiatives
    • Arts
      • Arts & Museum Summit
      • Asia Arts Game Changer Awards
      • Asia Society Museum: The Asia Arts & Museum Network
      • Creative Voices of Muslim Asia
      • U.S.-China Museum Summit
      • U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit
    • Education
      • Center for Global Education
      • China Learning Initiatives
      • Global Cities Education Network
      • Global Learning Beyond School
      • International Studies Schools Network
    • Leadership
      • Asia Game Changer Awards
      • Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative
      • Global Talent Initiatives
      • U.S.-China Dialogue
    • Policy
      • Asia Society Policy Institute
      • Center on U.S.-China Relations
    • Sustainability
      • Coal + ICe
  • Countries & Regions
    • Column One
      • Afghanistan

      • American Samoa

      • Armenia
      • Australia
      • Azerbaijan
      • Bahrain
      • Bangladesh

      • Bhutan

      • Brunei

      • Cambodia

      • Central Asia
      • China
      • Cook Islands

      • Cyprus
      • East Asia
      • East Timor
      • Fiji

      • French Polynesia

      • Georgia

      • Guam
    • Column Two
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Israel
      • Japan
      • Jordan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kiribati
      • Kuwait

      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Laos
      • Lebanon
      • Macau
      • Malaysia
      • Maldives
      • Marshall Islands
      • Micronesia

      • Mongolia

    • Column Three
      • Myanmar

      • Nauru

      • Nepal

      • New Caledonia

      • New Zealand

      • Niue
      • North Korea

      • Northern Marianas
      • Oceania
      • Oman

      • Pakistan

      • Palau
      • Palestine

      • Papua New Guinea
      • Philippines
      • Qatar

      • Samoa
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore

      • Solomon Islands

    • Column Four
      • South Asia
      • Southeast Asia
      • South Korea
      • Sri Lanka
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Tajikistan
      • Thailand
      • Tibet
      • Tokelau
      • Tonga
      • Turkey

      • Turkmenistan

      • Tuvalu
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Uzbekistan
      • Vanuatu
      • Vietnam
      • Wallis and Futuna
      • West Asia
      • Yemen
  • Current Affairs
    • Topics
      • Business
      • Environment
      • Governance
    • Programming
      • Beyond the Headlines
      • Business of Asia
    • Center on U.S.-China Relations
      • Home
      • About
      • Projects
      • Reports
      • Past Events
      • ChinaFile
  • Look & Listen
    • Asia Blog
    • ChinaFile
    • Podcasts
    • Video Gallery
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
  • Visit
    • Visit Us
      • Hong Kong
      • New York
      • Texas
    • Global Network
      • Australia
      • India
      • Japan
      • Korea
      • Northern California
      • Philippines
      • Southern California
      • Switzerland
      • Washington, DC
  • About
    • About Asia Society
    • Inclusion & Diversity
    • Mission & History
    • Co-Chairs and Trustees
    • Senior Leadership
    • Global Staff
    • Experts & Fellows
    • Global Council
    • Careers
    • Interns and Volunteers
    • Financial Statements
    • For the Media
      • Press Releases
  • Support
    • The Campaign for Asia Society
    • Corporate Engagement
      • Business Council
      • Global Talent and Diversity Council
      • Rising Executives Network
      • Enhancements to Membership
      • Corporate Membership
      • Global Corporate Leaders
    • Membership
    • Donate

Award-Winning Journalist Ellen Barry on India's Missing Women Workers

May 23rd, 2017

During her first year as the New Delhi-based South Asia Bureau Chief of the New York Times, Ellen Barry noticed something unusual when she traveled in North India: There didn’t seem to be many women around.

“I began to think that they weren’t anywhere,” Barry said. “When I began to hear stories about women dropping out of the labor force, it made sense.”

Related

Oz Elliott Prize winner Ellen Barry recently spoke to Asia Blog about her reporting in India.Learn more

This observation culminated in an extraordinary series of articles in which Barry explored why tens of millions of women in India — one of the world’s most dynamic economies — were no longer working. To illustrate this phenomenon, Barry framed narratives around individual Indian women whose efforts to join the labor force encountered both organized resistance and practical difficulty. In recognition of her work, Asia Society honored Barry with the Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia.

On Tuesday, Barry accepted her award in a ceremony at Asia Society's New York headquarters that included remarks by Seymour Topping, a legendary former New York Times correspondent known for covering China’s civil war in the 1940s. In praising Barry, Topping called women's equality "the defining issue of our era."

In few places is this struggle more acute than in India: Among G-20 countries, only Saudi Arabia has a lower percentage of women who work — a problem that acts as a drag on the country's ambitions. A largely rural nation where much of the population works in agriculture, India is attempting to modernize by growing its manufacturing and service sectors, emulating a process that has lifted hundreds of millions in other parts of Asia out of poverty. Realizing this goal requires Indian women to leave home and work in factories. But entrenched gender norms that require many women to seek permission to leave home has stymied India's economic potential — and caused tremendous hardship for many of the country's most vulnerable citizens.

In a conversation on Tuesday with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait, Barry noted that poor families would often grant girls permission to migrate for jobs — only to have them leave work in order to marry within months. Many have concluded that sending their daughters to work in factories is too financially risky.

"A son is a credit [in India] while a daughter is a debit," said Barry.

During the course of her research into India's missing women workers, Barry embedded herself in remote villages and worked to earn the trust of her subjects. But the deliberate nature of her reporting paid dividends — her stories revealed a more intimate portrait of a country than foreign correspondence typically yields.

“It was an idiosyncratic project,” Barry said, referring to her reporting on India’s women. “We’re expanding our perimeter as journalists and finding new ways to tell the reader about the world.”

Watch the complete video of Barry's Asia Society appearance below:

Related Links

  • 'Everyone Knows That India Is a Hard Place for Women'
oz elliott prize
ellen barry
bloomberg
new york times
economist
seymour topping
oz elliott
media
journalism
human rights
human rights
gender equality
john micklethwait
about partners subscribe

About the Author

Profile picture for user Matt Schiavenza

Matt Schiavenza is the Assistant Director of Content at Asia Society. His work has appeared at The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, The New Republic, Fortune, and strategy + business among other publications.

Contents

  • Arts
  • Business
  • Current Affairs
  • Education
  • Food & Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • Multimedia
  • Policy

Featured Posts

Suharto
Q&A: Vincent Bevins on How Indonesia’s Anti-Communist Campaign Shaped the Modern World
Doctors treat a patient infected with COVID-19
A Pulmonary Physician on What It's Like To Treat COVID-19 Patients
A scene from Never Have I Ever
'Never Have I Ever' Star Poorna Jagannathan on Saying No to Roles Portraying Indian Caricatures
Alan Yang Asian In-Depth
Asia In-Depth Podcast: A Conversation With Writer and Director Alan Yang
Facebook
We Know Asia,
Get to Know Us

Visit Us

  • Hong Kong
  • New York
  • Texas

Global Network

  • Australia
  • India
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Northern California
  • Philippines
  • Southern California
  • Switzerland
  • Washington, DC

Resources

  • Arts
  • Asia Blog
  • ChinaFile
  • Current Affairs
  • Education
  • For Kids
  • Policy
  • Video

Shop

  • AsiaStore

Initiatives

  • Arts & Museum Summit
  • Asia 21 Young Leaders
  • Asia Arts Game Changer Awards
  • Asia Game Changer Awards
  • Asia Society Museum: The Asia Arts & Museum Network
  • Asia Society Policy Institute
  • Center for Global Education
  • Center on U.S.-China Relations
  • China Learning Initiatives
  • Coal + Ice
  • Creative Voices of Muslim Asia
  • Global Cities Education Network
  • Global Learning Beyond School
  • Global Talent Initiatives
  • Int'l Studies Schools Network
  • U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit
  • U.S.-China Dialogue
  • U.S.-China Museum Summit

About Asia Society

  • Mission & History
  • Our People
  • Become a Member
  • Career Opportunities
  • Corporate Involvement

Connect

  • Email Signup
  • For the Media

©2021 Asia Society | Privacy Statement | Accessibility | About AsiaSociety.org | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap | Contact

Asia Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with any government.
The views expressed by Asia Society staff, fellows, experts, report authors, program speakers, board members, and other affiliates are solely their own. Learn more.

 

 

  • Visit Us
  • Hong Kong
  • New York
  • Texas
  • Global Network
  • Australia
  • India
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Northern California
  • Philippines
  • Southern California
  • Switzerland
  • Washington, DC