"Gender is a significant dimension in community radio (CR) initiatives that are seeking to deploy communication technologies for social change in general and empowerment of women in particular. CR not only provides an opportunity for women’s access to information, but, more significantly, also allows them to challenge the culturally disempowering gender norms and come out of a condition of silence. By examining the opportunities for and challenges facing women who participate in CR, this paper offers insights into how CR has the potential to recast the dominant and gendered public sphere. The authors look at the CR movement, policy and practice in India and how it is endeavouring to shape the mediascape. Examples of women’s participation in two CR stations – Sangham Radio and Radio Namaskar – is analyzed to foreground their gaining a ‘voice’ that matters in the public sphere. Obstacles that hinder the empowerment process are outlined and recommendations to enhance the inclusion of women in CR are proposed." (Abstract)