in the historical and social culture of India, the debate in favour of Indian women had to be conducted creatively, and certain Western ideas had to be rejected. Women's issues began to gain an international prominence when the decade of 1975–1985 was declared the United Nations Decade for Women. Indian feminists face certain obstacles in Indian society that are not present or as prevalent in Western society. While Indian feminists have the same ultimate goal as their Western counterparts, their version of feminism can differ in many ways in order to tackle the kind of issues and circumstances they face in the modern-day patriarchal society of India. Indian feminists attempt to challenge the patriarchal structure of their society in a variety of ways. Sampat Pal Devi is a former government worker and mother of five, who noticed domestic abuse and violence within her own community as she grew up in India. As a result, she decided to start a vigilant group known as the 'Gulabi Gang' who track down abusers and beat them with bamboo sticks until it is believed that they have repented and victims have been sufficiently avenged. In the area of religion, Indian feminists draw attention to the powerful image of female Goddesses in Hinduism. They also point out the matriarchal pre-history of Indian society and emphasise that there have been periods of Indian history that were not patriarchal, and communities eixted in India that were largely female-orientated and matriarchal. Indian women negotiate survival through an array of oppressive patriarchal family structures: age, ordinal status, relationship to men through family of origin, marriage and procreation, and patriarchal attributes. Examples of patriarchal attributes include dowry, siring sons etc., kinship, caste, community, village, market, and the state. It should, however, be noted that several communities in India, such as the Nairs of Kerala, Shettys of Mangalore, certain Marathi clans, and Bengali families, exhibit matriarchal tendencies. In these communities, the head of the family is the oldest woman, rather than the oldest man. Sikh culture is also regarded as relatively gender-neutral. In India, of communities recognised in the national Constitution as Scheduled Tribes, "some ... [are] matriarchal and matrilineal" "and thus have been known to be more egalitarian." According to interviewer Anuj Kumar, Manipur, "has a matriarchal society", but this may not be a scholarly assessment. Manipur was ruled by strong dynasties and the need for expansions of borders, crushing