Shamita Das Dasgupta: Difference between revisions

'''Shamita Das Dasgupta''' ([[Bengali people|Bengali]] : শমীতা দাশ দাশগুপ্ত, born 1949) is an Asian Indian scholar and [[activism|activist]].<ref>[http://www.abbeville.com/interiors.asp?ISBN=0789203383&CaptionNumber=05 ''The Family of Women'' by Carolyn Jones and Todd Lyon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217140052/http://www.abbeville.com/interiors.asp?ISBN=0789203383&CaptionNumber=05 |date=2012-02-17 }}</ref> A social activist since early 1970s, she co-founded [[Manavi - An Organization for South Asian Women|Manavi]] in 1985.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nriworld.com/achievers/display.asp?achname=Shamita%20Dasgupta |title=NRI world – the Platform for Global Indians |access-date=2009-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123064948/http://www.nriworld.com/achievers/display.asp?achname=Shamita%20Dasgupta |archive-date=2006-11-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is the first organization of its kind that focuses on [[violence against women|violence]] against South Asian women in the United States. A part-time teacher and full-time community worker, she has written extensively in the areas of [[ethnic group|ethnicity]], [[gender]], [[immigration]], and [[violence against women]]. Her books include: ''A Patchwork Shawl: Chronicles of South Asian Women in America'', ''Body Evidence: Intimate Violence Against South Asian Women in America'', ''Globalization and Transnational Surrogacy in India: Outsourcing Life'' and ''Mothers for Sale: Women in Kolkata’s Sex Trade''.<ref>[http://www.aasp.uiuc.edu/Balgopal%20Lecture%202009.pdf The Annual Balgopal Lecture on Human Rights and Asian Americans]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Married at an early age, she moved to the US at the age of 19.<ref>[http://www.abbeville.com/interiors.asp?ISBN=0789203383&CaptionNumber=05 ''The Family of Women'' by Carolyn Jones and Todd Lyon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217140052/http://www.abbeville.com/interiors.asp?ISBN=0789203383&CaptionNumber=05 |date=2012-02-17 }}</ref> She did her undergraduate and graduate studies at [[Ohio State University]]<ref>{{Cite thesis|title=An investigation of sex-role identity of women prisoners.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/investigation-of-sex-role-identity-of-women-prisoners/oclc/6291331|date=1979|language=English|first=Shamita Das|last=Dasgupta|oclc = 6291331}}</ref> and received her PhD in [[developmental psychology]].<ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Relations between women's gender identities and gender-associated activities in crime and occupation|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/relations-between-womens-gender-identities-and-gender-associated-activities-in-crime-and-occupation/oclc/10128557|date=1983|language=English|first=Shamita Das|last=Dasgupta|oclc = 10128557}}</ref> She moved to New Jersey and taught at [[Rutgers University]] for several years.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} Her deep interest in issues relating to [[domestic violence]] led her to head a women’s agency in Pennsylvania.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} From her association with various women’s organizations, she realized that South Asian women were generally ignored by the mainstream domestic violence organizations, so she decided to establish an organization that would focus on their unique issues. She co-founded [[Manavi - An Organization for South Asian Women|Manavi]], an organization for South Asian women, in New Jersey with five other women.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Roy|first=Debjani|date=2012|title=South Asian Battered Women's Use of Force Against Intimate Male Partners|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212461431|journal=Violence Against Women|volume=18|issue=9|pages=1108–1118|doi=10.1177/1077801212461431|pmid=23108807|s2cid=23695174|issn=1077-8012}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Although, Shamita describes herself as a community worker,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110723232738/http://www.oneamerica.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9&products_id=61  One America celebrating our diversity]</ref> she is one of the few community workers who have established themselves as an academic through research and teaching. She has written numerous articles on south Asian women’s issues and collaborated with her physician daughter, [[Sayantani DasGupta]], on mother-daughter experiences. Currently she is an adjunct faculty member at the [[New York University School of Law]]. She serves on the editorial board of ''Violence against Women'' journal.<ref>[http://www.sagepub.com/journalsProdEditBoards.nav?prodId=Journal200837 Sage Journal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104070522/http://www.sagepub.com/journalsProdEditBoards.nav?prodId=Journal200837 |date=2010-01-04 }}</ref>  Recipient of many awards including the [[Bannerman Fellowship]],<ref name=":0" /> she is on the board of several national organizations.

* {{cite book|title=The demon slayers and other stories: Bengali folk tales|publisher=[[Interlink Books]]|year=1995|isbn=978-1-56656-156-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZ6BAAAAMAAJ}}

* {{cite book|title=Body Evidence: Intimate Violence against South Asian Women in America|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=2007|isbn= 978-0-81353-982-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBoEAQAAIAAJ}}

* {{cite book|title=Mothers for Sale: Women in Kolkata's Sex Trade|publisher=Dasgupta-Alliance|year=2009|isbn= 978-8-18211-051-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H9wGPwAACAAJ}}