Publications

Law, Policy, and Human Rights:

I write and publish on gender justice, human rights and access to justice for survivors and marginalized communities.

• Gaps in the Law on Image-Based Sexual Abuse and Its Implementation: Taking an Intersectional Approach, Book Chapter, The Palgrave Handbook of Gendered Violence and Technology, pp 507–527 (January 2022)
• The Delivery of Civil Legal Aid in Nepal: An Assessment of the System and Recommendations on the Way Forward. Akhila Kolisetty and Neetu Pokharel. National Human Rights Commission, Nepal. Sambahak: Human Rights Journal, Vol. 15 (May 2020).
• Examining the Effectiveness of Legal Empowerment as a Pathway out of Poverty: A Case Study of BRAC – World Bank Justice and Development Working Paper Series (2014)
• Book Review – The International Rule of Law Movement: A Crisis of Legitimacy and the Way Forward – Harvard Human Rights Journal
• The Shah Bano Case as Constitutional Conflict in India’s Muslim Family Law – ShariaSOURCE
• The Danial Latifi Case and the Indian Supreme Court’s Balancing Act – ShariaSOURCE
• Opening the Door to Constitutional Challenges to Muslim Personal Law in India, with Polygamy as a Starting Point – ShariaSOURCE
• Unilateral Talaq and the Indian Supreme Court’s Responsiveness to Perceptions within India’s Muslim Community – ShariaSOURCE
• Child Marriage in India: Loopholes in the Law – IntLawGrrls
• Informal Injustice? Customary Mechanisms and the Emerging Role of Community Paralegals – ICAAD Blog
• Keeping the Fire Alive: Lawyering in the Public Interest – Ms. JD Blog
• Afghan JusticeMaker provides representation for accused women – JusticeMakers Blog
• Mahfuza Folad and the Resilience of Afghan CSOs – Building Markets
• The Westernized Nature of the #SocEnt Industry – How Matters
• The Unintended Consequences of Livelihoods Programs – Women’s Refugee Commission

Media and Interviews:

• Tackling online gender-based violence — in conversation with Reclaim Your Privacy (Jan. 2021)
• Love, tech and online abuse of women in the time of coronavirus (Thomson Reuters Foundation News, Jan. 2021)
• Pornhub forced into climbdown after outcry over rape allegations (Telegraph, Sept. 2020)

Creative Non-Fiction:

I write essays about gender, race, immigration and identity, as well as my experiences working as a lawyer and human rights advocate.

• Unraveling the Sari – The Spectacle (May 2021)
• Relearning to Write After Law School Buried my Voice – LitHub (Feb. 2020)
• How the Instant Pot helped me feel like a real Indian cook – The Takeout (Feb. 2020)
  • Named one of The Takeout’s most popular recipes of 2020
• The Right Pronunciation – The Nasiona (Dec. 2019)
• The Geographies of Violence – The Offing (Sept. 2019)
  • Nominated by The Offing for Best of the Net 
• The Power of Blood – Entropy (Sept. 2019)
  • This piece was ranked #4 in the “Best of 2019: Most Popular Articles on Entropy” list
• I Defend Survivors to Keep My Grandfather’s Legacy Alive – Catapult (Apr. 2019)
• Experiencing Whiteness – Lunch Ticket (Issue 13)
• Making Idlis with Amma – Kitchen Work (Vol 1, No. 4, print)
• What it’s like to live with an “invisible disability” – Ravishly (Oct. 2018)
• In the Shadows – The Rumpus (Sept. 2018)
• Self-Hatred to Self-Love: A Brown Girl’s Journey to Accepting Her Brown Skin – Brown Girl Magazine (May 2018)
  • Republished in The Rights Collective Zine (Sept. 2019)

Poetry:

From time to time, I also publish poetry.

• “Water” – Lily Lit Review (Vol 4, Issue 11)
• “Axis Mundi”  – Sky Island Journal (Issue 4) *nominated for Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net award
• “conditional greencard,” “Silver,” “Italian of the East” – Rigorous Magazine (Vol Two, Issue 2)
• “The Unraveling” – The Rights Collective Zine, Brown Bodies (Edition 6)