Nicola Desouza

Nicola Desouza is a freelance writer and documentary filmmaker based in Mumbai, India. She has directed two short fims with noted Nepali transgender activists Badri Pun and Bhumika Shrestha.

'Not a tomboy, a lesbian or a Hijra but a transman'

‘Whenever laws and bills in India are passed regarding transgender rights, transmen are almost never called to the discussion table. So what can I, a transman expect? Sometimes I feel I am in ‘No Man's Land’.

By Nicola Desouza

/ 20 Oct 2016

Abortion and contraception in India: the role of men

The callous attitude of Indian men that ‘she can always abort’ in cases of an unwanted pregnancy caused by failure to use a condom needs to be tackled at the root.

By Nicola Desouza

/ 26 Jul 2016

De Pondy à Paris – le marché matrimonial de Pondicherry

Les mariages entre les Pondicherriens qui ont pris la nationalité française en 1962 et ceux qui ont choisi de rester indiens se révèlent être un ensemble de mariages d’intérêt qui ont lieu aujourd’hui. English

By Nicola Desouza

/ 14 Apr 2016

From Pondi to Paris: Pondicherry's marriage market

Marriages between Pondicherrians who took French nationality in 1962, and those who chose to remain Indian, reveals a complicated range of ‘marriages of interest’ taking place today. Français

By Nicola Desouza

/ 14 Apr 2016

Welcoming gays into the church: voices from India

Following Pope Francis' appeal to welcome gays into the church, Indians of diverse backgrounds and faiths reacted with bewilderment, threats, and in due course support.

By Nicola Desouza

/ 11 Jan 2016

Nepal: the struggle for equal citizenship rights for women

Nepal's new constitution was widely celebrated as progressive, but restrictions on a woman's right to pass on citizenship to her child mean that thousands of Nepali women remain second-class citizens.

By Nicola Desouza

/ 2 Dec 2015

Focusing on women and transgenders in LGBT rights

Nepal is the most open country in South Asia for LGBT rights, but even here, patriarchal biases exclude women and transgenders. Can foreign funding change this? A contribution to the openGlobalRights debate, Funding for Human Rights.

By Nicola Desouza

/ 29 Oct 2014