Swati Maliwal is an Indian activist and politician. She is the current Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women. She is the youngest to hold the esteemed post. Before joining DCW, Swati Maliwal was working as the advisor to the Chief Minister of Delhi on public grievances, where she used to manage CM's janta samvad and other such related events. Swati left her lucrative job at an MNC and joined an NGO called "Parivartan", where she worked as a volunteer for several years. She worked for the people in Bihar during the Kosi Floods. She was also an integral part of the RTI movement in the country and worked for several years trying to bring transparency in the ration PDS system in the capital. Swati was a core member of the Indian Against Corruption movement led by social activist Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal. After the formation of the Arvind Kejriwal government in 2015, Swati Maliwal was appointed as the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women on the merits of her long career in activism and social service. Ever since she has joined DCW, there has been a 700% increase in the work done by the Commission. DCW handled more than 55,000 cases in a period of 3 years, attended 2.35 lakh calls on the 181 helpline. Swati believes that one can justify the post only if she works on the ground. In the year 2018, Swati did a 30 day work Satyagrah in which she worked 24*7 and used to sleep at the office after finishing her work. During the 30 day Satyagrah, DCW conducted various surprise inspections and fixed responsibilities of various officers who were found having a callous attitude towards their job. Delhi Commission for Women under Swati Maliwal has conducted hundreds of successful rescue operations. DCW has cracked down on the GB Road nexus and rescued several women and children from the racket. Apart from this, Swati had also exposed the fake baba Virender dev who was allegedly involved in illegal activities in the garb of an ashram. After the expose, Swati got various death threats too but she refused to bow down to the threats. In the year 2018, Swati launched the RapeRoko movement, which aimed at creating a massive level awareness about the situation of women safety in the country. The volunteers of this campaign collected 10 lac signed letters from people all over the country and delivered the letters to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The letters demanded strong punishment for rapists. This campaign was supported by prominent personalities from all fields.
Maliwal started her first term as Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women in July 2015. At the time, she was the Aam Aadmi Party leader. Her tenure in the position was extended another three years in July 2018. She is the youngest person to hold the role of commissioner for women. In 2018, she went on a 10-day hunger strike which started on April 13. She had several demands, including the passage of an ordinance requiring the death penalty for individuals who rape children under age 12, recruiting police under United Nations standards and demanding accountability of the police. Maliwal sent her demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Her strike took place during a series of protests surrounding two alleged rapes of girls ages 16 and 8. On the 10th day of her hunger strike, an ordinance was brought in the parliament which had provision of death penalty for rapists who rape children below the age of 12 years. It was a huge achievement for her movement and on the 10th day, she decided to break her fast. Members of an organization, Rape Roko were supportive of Maliwal.
