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ANALYSIS:THE PEN, it’s sometimes said, is mightier than the sword. For these women, it’s also a ticket to respect. The Khabar Lehariya, or News Waves, is India’s first newspaper written, read and run by tribal women or those from the Dalit, or so-called untouchable, caste. While most readers only know of the politics, crime, or education news in the eight-page weekly, each of the writers has a story of her own about struggling against life’s harsh challenges that remains out of the publication, writes MARK MAGNIER

Many of the dozen or so women on the staff were beaten or sexually abused as children, married off young, endured abusive marriages and fought mightily for an education and a divorce. Often, the newspaper provides them with a voice on important issues for the first time in their lives along with a sense of confidence and purpose.