Ruchi Kumar

Kabul

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Award-winning Journalist #Afghanistan #India #Ukraine. @iwmf @PRBdata @unfoundation @jcogt1 fellow. Words in @Guardian @NPR others Earlier: @dna @TimesofIndia

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Articles

U.S. college grants for 208 Afghan women are cut, then restored -- yet still in limbo

3 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Ruchi Kumar

Updated April 23, 2025 at 07:42 AM ETShe's a young woman who has zero chance of pursuing a college degree in Afghanistan. That's because in December 2022 the Taliban decreed that women would no longer be allowed to pursue university education. High schools for girls were banned the year before. But she found a way to follow her dream.
Could polio be poised for a comeback?

4 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Ruchi Kumar

The world is so close to wiping out polio. But in 2025, there are sign that the virus is not quite ready to go the way of smallpox — the only disease eradicated by humans. Two countries are seeing an increase in cases caused by the wild polio virus, which can cause paralysis and even death, particularly in infants and young children. And the cuts in USAID contracts that support polio vaccination raise concern that other countries will see a resurgence as well.
USAID enabled 208 Afghan women to defy the Taliban ban on college -- until now

1 month ago | boisestatepublicradio.org | Ruchi Kumar

She's a young woman who has zero chance of pursuing a college degree in Afghanistan. That's because in December 2022 the Taliban decreed that women would no longer be allowed to pursue university education. High schools for girls were banned the year before. But she found a way to follow her dream. Starting in 2024, R.K. began taking online courses at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF), thanks to a scholarship funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Millions of Afghans lose access to healthcare services as USAID cuts shut clinics

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Ruchi Kumar

More than 200 health facilities run by the World Health Organization in Afghanistan, providing medical care for 1.84 million people, have closed or ceased operating after the US aid cuts announced by the Trump administration shut off life-saving medical care, including vaccinations, maternal and child health services.
‘I begged them, my daughter was dying’: how Taliban male escort rules are killing mothers and babies

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Ruchi Kumar

It was the middle of the night when Zarin Gul realised that her daughter Nasrin had to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Her daughter’s husband was away working in Iran and the two women were alone with Nasrin’s seven children when Nasrin, heavily pregnant with her eighth child, began experiencing severe pains. Gul helped Nasrin into a rickshaw and they set off into the night.
The Forced Sterilization of India’s Sugarcane Farmworkers

1 month ago | atmos.earth | Ruchi Kumar

Countless women have had their wombs removed under questionable medical advice—and climate change is making the situation worse. In early 2021, Bhanubai Madhulkar Shinde went to a local clinic in her village in Beed, a small district in western India, with complaints of heavy menstrual bleeding. “There was lots of pain during the monthly cycle.
How to Make Urban Spaces Less Misogynist

1 month ago | thepersistent.com | Emma Haslett |Ruchi Kumar |Josephine Lethbridge

💛The following piece is republished with kind permission of our friends at The Evidence newsletter. The Evidence is a monthly deep-dive into the causes of gender inequality, written by Josephine Lethbridge. Every month, Josephine sifts through the latest academic research to help readers understand the gender gap—and how to begin to close it. Sign up for The Evidence here.
Why WFH Should Stay

1 month ago | thepersistent.com | Emma Haslett |Ruchi Kumar |Gabriella Griffith

“Unprecedented.”That’s the word that, five years ago this month, wormed its way into our everyday lexicon, as almost every country on earth went into lockdown. Everything became unprecedented. Schools shut. Shops shuttered. Offices closed. As people were driven back into their homes to work, the unprecedented levels of uncertainty created intense stress for one group in particular: women.
AI Skews Beautiful. What Is That Doing to Us?

1 month ago | thepersistent.com | Ruchi Kumar |Gabriella Griffith |Preeti Jha |Emma Haslett

Technology — 12 min read In recent months, my social media feeds have been filled with videos like this: A woman stands on a stage in a floaty blue dress. She is very beautiful. She holds a peacock. Cut to the British TV talent show judge Cheryl Tweedy. She is dubious. Cut back to the woman. She wiggles her hips. Now she is the peacock! Or, her head is the head of a peacock—her body still that of a sexy woman. Cut back to Tweedy.
A Refusal to Be Forgotten, Two Years On.

1 month ago | thepersistent.com | Gabriella Griffith |Preeti Jha |Luba Kassova |Ruchi Kumar

Turkey — 9 min read When she was just 13, Dicle Hayat Dağdeviren’s life was upended. A massive, 7.8 magnitude earthquake flattened most of her small hometown of Adiyaman in southeastern Turkey. You certainly read about the earthquake in the news. It ravaged Turkey and Syria. It killed over 60,000 people across both countries. It was February, 2023. Shielded by her father, the teenager, now 16, survived the earthquake, but it took the lives of her mother and brother.