'To survive, I have to appear fearless': Former nun helps Indian garment workers fight sexual violence

Many years ago when Thivya Rakini worked as a domestic violence activist to help women escape abusive husbands in the southern state of Tamil Nadu 'India, she took a pair of scissors and cut her black hair down to the nape of her neck.

"Without my hair, I suddenly seemed very scary to a lot of people who couldn't believe that a woman would cut off her femininity like that,” she says. "I was sending a signal that these men shouldn't try to play games with me. Inside, I really am a very soft-hearted person, but to survive I've learned that I have to appear fearless. Now a union leader – has done a lot with her 42. She broke cultural taboos and became a social pariah for choosing to leave her marriage and raise her son as a single mother in a remote part of a deeply traditional state and caste-related.

Now, in her role as chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labor Union (TTCU), the only women-led garment workers union women of Tamil Nadu, she has turned her attention to the multi-billion pound global fashion industry.

Such is her local reputation that despite the regrowth of her hair, her looks are often enough to strike fear into the hearts of pros. garment factories in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, where the TTCU is located. based. “When they see me, they turn pale and run inside,” she laughs. "They tell their employees, 'Don't talk to her, she's a problem.' They try to close their doors to me, but I will always find a way in if there are women inside who need our help."