Reframing Agrarian Distress as Structural Violence Against Women: Findings from Maharashtra, Telangana and Punjab

Women constitute the backbone of Indian agriculture, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the rural female workforce, yet they remain systematically excluded from land rights, institutional support and policy recognition. Drawing on a large mixed-methods study in eight distress-prone districts across Maharashtra, Telangana and Punjab by the Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM) and Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch (MAKAAM), this article conceptualises agrarian distress as a form of structural violence against women, which is often unrecognised. Rooted in long-term engagement with women farmers and workers, the analysis moves beyond episodic accounts of violence to examine how caste, gender, labour regimes and ecological change produce everyday, normalised forms of violence. Combining survey data on over 3,000 women with qualitative interviews and collective documentation, the article shows how landlessness, informal labour, debt and state neglect shape women’s work, health and exposure to violence. It concludes by outlining pathways towards a gender-just agrarian transformation grounded in women’s rights, recognition and collective leadership.