Viji Penkoottu
Kerala
Fought for the right of women salespersons to sit and access washrooms 
In 2009, Viji Penkoottu was one of the many tailors working on Mittai Theruvu, a shopping street located in Kozhikode, Kerala. But she soon acquired a new identity, that of a trailblazing activist, when she learnt that fellow women workers from the same street, were suffering from uterine diseases, due to lack of toilets.

"I couldn't let the matter slide because these workers had grown accustomed to not urinating for long hours, causing a spike in ailments. They would report to work at 9.30 am and return home by 8 pm, which is when they would relieve themselves," says the activist, who featured in the BBC'S list of 100 inspiring women from around the world in 2018. The women, she recalls, would get scared to drink water during work hours for this reason. When the matter was brought to the notice of their male employers, they were told to use tubes to relieve themselves.