Her Voice: Helping Women Heal Beyond Hospitals

In India, a woman’s illness doesn’t end with medicine or a hospital visit. Recovery becomes harder with social pressure, stress, and money problems. Shalini Kanwar Chand, Director at Artemis Hospitals and President of the Foundation, Her Voice, witnessed all these gaps while working at hospitals. These problems go beyond medicine; what women need is more support and warmth to face them. She felt women needed more than medicine. That’s how Her Voice began — to care for both body and mind and help women stand on their own feet.

“Treating the body is not enough. Without dignity, knowledge, and independence, recovery is only half done,” Kanwar says. Her Voice combines healthcare with education, financial literacy, vocational training, and emotional support.

The foundation focuses on areas often ignored in women’s health. Even though people know mental health is important, it’s still rarely talked about in villages. Women are affected during and after pregnancy because they put their family’s needs before their own. Periods are still seen as a private matter and not discussed openly. Many illnesses, like diabetes and heart problems, go unnoticed for years because people don’t know much about them. Cancer screenings are often skipped due to fear, lack of money, or family pressure. Kanwar says women can take charge of their health only when they get the right care, education, and confidence. But even today, social rules stop many from speaking up or asking for help. 

“Many are afraid of judgment. Some don’t even have the freedom to decide about their own health,” she says. Her Voice works around these barriers with community education, mobile clinics, trained healthcare workers, and policy advocacy. Slowly, women are learning to seek healthcare with confidence.

Awareness is as important as treatment. Good medical care means little if women don’t know when or how to seek it. Her Voice helps them understand their bodies, notice warning signs, and act early. It also works to break the shame and fear around women’s health.

The foundation runs simple but strong programs. Her Comfort and Her Confidence talk about periods, body image, and self-respect. Other sessions teach women basic money skills, life lessons, and how to stay emotionally strong. Through street plays and quiet helplines, they initiate conversations about mental and reproductive health that people often avoid.

Change is visible. Women are talking openly in communities, making more decisions at home, and helping shape local discussions. Success isn’t just numbers—it’s women feeling confident, seeking care, and gaining independence.

Partnerships matter. Her Voice works with government bodies, NGOs, and local communities, training grassroots leaders and collaborating with health workers. Kanwar emphasises that men also need to be involved. “Real equality means changing old social habits, and men must be part of that change,” she says.

The foundation now plans to grow its work. It will train more young people in skills, improve digital access, and support women facing mental health issues or violence. It also pushes for fair policies—free reproductive care, sex education in schools, mental health services, safe workplaces, and strict action against abuse.

For Kanwar, true empowerment in health means giving women the knowledge and confidence to make their own choices about their bodies. Through Her Voice, Artemis Health Sciences Foundation is showing that helping women heal is about more than medicine—it’s about freedom, dignity, and choice.