Manasi Chaudhari

In an interview with Advocate Manasi Chaudhari, we explore what goes on behind the venture Pink Legal and the hows and why of its impact. 

Advocate Manasi Chaudhari is the founder and CEO of Pink Legal and the Co-founder of Project Nyayri. Manasi has been passionate about the cause of women's empowerment and gender equality ever since her time in law school and even before that. But it was in 2017 that an incident finally put her at the crossroads in life. Manasi saw herself getting into an accident with another car which prompted the two men driving it to step up to her car screaming and banging on the doors, even breaking off the side-view mirrors on her car. She knew then that ignoring and not reporting the incident would be an insult to her profession. The very next day she entered the police station to file a complaint against the men and that's when she realized how intimidated and apprehensive she felt, despite having complete knowledge of her rights and the law. This was the impetus that led to the establishment of Pink Legal and subsequently, Project Nyayri.

"Pink Legal is India's first and only website exclusively dedicated to women's rights and laws. It was designed with the explicit purpose of bridging the gap between the law and the people while helping empower and embolden women to take charge of their rights. We also help connect the women to lawyers from all over the world for their legal needs," Manasi describes. 

We asked Manasi the significance behind the name Pink Legal and this is what she told us, "The name Pink Legal was the idea of my best friend and as soon as I heard it, I loved it. I knew it would aptly describe the undertaking as Pink stands for power and knowledge, which is what we were trying to do:  empowering women through the knowledge of their legal rights."

Manasi describes how the passage of Pink Legal is a journey of continuous learning to remain sustainable and keep on growing. Coming from a legal background it was nothing less than a challenge for Manasi to work on marketing, hiring a team, and letting the world know about her brainchild, i. e, Pink Legal so that they could benefit from it. These emerged as some of the most prominent challenges faced by her. 

Previously when things began to get rough, Manasi used to get worried thinking there was something wrong with her but now she knows it's just the time to take a small break from work. She unwinds by watching a TV series or maybe even reading a book and finds herself ready to go back in again. Manasi considers her team as her greatest achievement and recognizes their consistent contribution to Pink Legal and the cause. 

We asked Manasi to outline a few basic laws that a woman must know about and here's her reply, "Sexual Harassment of women is a pretty common occurrence and it is seen by the law as being divided into 3 types - physical (any kind of touch without consent), verbal (Catcalling, sexual comments, etc.), and non-verbal (vulgar gestures, body language, staring, etc.). All of these are considered sexual harassment and one can file a complaint about them. Domestic violence is also very much present in our culture hidden behind doors, which is legally classified into 4 sorts: physical, emotional, financial and sexual." 

This was Manasi's advice for the readers:

“Follow your passion and go after it no matter what. Be financially independent, as it is very important to sustain your passion. It might sound romantic to know that someone threw away everything to follow their dreams but in reality, only a stable financial backing can help you pursue your dreams.