In 2025, women were no longer the footnote to the big story — they were the story. Across crises and celebrations, ballots and battlefields, podiums and boardrooms, women emerged as the decisive force shaping outcomes and narratives.This year ender traces how women became the X factor of 2025: from the symbolism and steel of Operation Sindoor, to the women voters who once again decided Bihar’s fate; from new women heads of state reshaping global politics, to athletes who carried India’s sporting year; and finally, to a woman who climbed into the world’s richest ranks, redefining economic power. These were not isolated moments. Together, they marked a year when women didn’t just influence events — they changed the balance.

Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor

A newlywed wife, sitting silently beside her husband’s body — the image that came to define the Pahalgam attack.A terrorist strike. Twenty-six dead. All men.“Go, tell Modi,” a terrorist told a woman after shooting her husband.Operation Sindoor was the response. Its imagery was stark and deliberate — red and black, vermillion smeared like a warning. A symbol of vengeance, resolve, and the state’s answer to terror.

"Terrorists dared to wipe 'sindoor' from the foreheads of our sisters; that is why India destroyed the very headquarters of terror," PM Modi had said in his first address to the nation after the launch of the operation.The symbolism did not stop at words or posters. It took shape on the world stage when two women officers stepped forward to brief the global media on Operation Sindoor.

Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika SinghTheir presence was widely seen as intentional messaging — women not just as victims or symbols, but as the face and force of India’s response to terror.Operation Sindoor also saw women in direct combat. In the Akhnoor sector along the IB, a six-member women’s BSF team led by Assistant Commandant Neha Bhandari defended forward posts under sustained Pakistani fire for three days and nights, forcing enemy positions across Sialkot to retreat. For several of the young recruits, it was their first combat test — marking a decisive shift from symbolism to frontline action.

Nitish won Bihar, but credit goes to women

Women decided Bihar’s verdict once again, delivering Nitish Kumar a victory that numbers make hard to dispute. While their support for the JD(U)-BJP government’s pro-women agenda has been steady since 2005, this election saw a decisive surge. The turnout told its own story. As many as 71.6% women voted, nearly nine percentage points higher than men, and a sharp rise from 59.7% in 2020.A Rs 10,000 cash transfer to over 1.5 crore women in the run-up to polls acted as a turbo-boost.