{"id":74676,"date":"2026-08-21T12:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T06:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=74676"},"modified":"2026-08-21T12:18:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T06:48:23","slug":"how-women-in-meghalayas-khweng-village-got-their-right-to-vote","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/kn-in\/article\/gender\/how-women-in-meghalayas-khweng-village-got-their-right-to-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"How women in Meghalaya\u2019s Khweng village got their right to vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"How women in Meghalaya&rsquo;s Khweng village got their right to vote\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oc--hkMyeBI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Meghalaya&rsquo;s Khweng village, the headman was once chosen by a voice vote at a village meeting. Whoever got the most voice votes and the loudest shouts was chosen. Women were neither part of this meeting nor did they have a say. Iohnam Syiem, secretary of the Village Employment Council, and Redian Syiem, former secretary of the women&rsquo;s group Seng Kynthei, pushed the village council to change this.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Watch this video where Iohnam, Redian, and council member Lastnokhel Jalong explain how the change came about, and what it means for women&rsquo;s role in village governance.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&mdash;<\/p><div id=\"idron-1049856079\" class=\"idron-article-in-content idron-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idranswers.idronline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png\" alt=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-300x60.png 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-1024x205.png 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-150x30.png 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-768x154.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div><h3 id=\"h-know-more\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Know more<\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Learn&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/ground-up-stories\/women-are-at-the-forefront-of-ken-betwa-protests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how<\/a>&nbsp;women are leading the protests against the Ken-Betwa river-linking project.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learn <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/city\/guwahati\/a-village-on-assam-meghalaya-border-votes-in-both-states\/articleshow\/109868994.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">why<\/a> a village in Assam-Meghalaya border votes in both states.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"idron-4215064914\" class=\"idron-troublemakers-placement idron-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"donate banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg\" alt=\"donate banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-1024x205.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-150x30.jpg 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-768x154.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":74673,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[21,582,2892,2652],"tags":[3664,3682,3702,3736],"series":[],"meta-filter":[],"schema-filter":[743],"no-display":[],"class_list":["post-74676","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","category-instagram","category-ne-media-fellowship","category-rights","tag-local-governance","tag-northeast-india","tag-rural-india","tag-women-rights","contributor-banteilang-syiem","states-meghalaya","schema-filter-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.5 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How women in Meghalaya\u2019s Khweng 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