Despite slogans like women-led development and nari shakti, domestic realities—violence, unpaid work, and regressive attitudes—persist, with recent calls for larger families reducing women to instruments of civilisational survival rather than agents of choice.

Silence on Domestic Violence

• Scale of Dowry Deaths: Nearly 7,000 women die every year due to dowry-related violence, yet public outrage is absent.
• Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence: National Family Health Survey-5 shows that 30% of women face partner violence, with only 14% reporting to police.
• Disproportion in Registered Crimes: One-third of crimes against women are related to domestic violence.
• Silence of Leaders: Political leaders condemn interfaith relationships but avoid addressing violence within homes.

An Inexplicable Silence

• Historical Opposition to Reform: Manuvadi forces opposed Ambedkar’s Hindu Code Bill for granting divorce rights and weakening caste-based marriage rules.
• Cultural Pressure to Adjust: Women are forced to remain in violent marriages under the pretext of sacramental marriage.
• Dilution of Legal Safeguards: Efforts are underway to weaken domestic violence laws citing “misuse.”
• Opposition to Marital Rape Criminalisation: The government argues that criminalising marital rape is against Indian culture and marriage.

Women’s Work and the Time Use Survey 2024

• Participation in Paid Work: Only 25% of women (aged 15–59) are in employment-related activities, working five hours daily.
• Role in Family Enterprises: Around 23% of women contribute to family enterprises for less than two hours daily.
• Men’s Higher Participation: 75% of men are in employment for an average of eight hours daily, with lower contribution to family enterprises.

Women’s Unpaid Work Burden

• Domestic Services: 93% of women spend seven hours on cooking, cleaning, and household chores daily.
• Unpaid Caregiving: 41% of women spend two and a half hours on caregiving responsibilities.
• Negligible Male Contribution: 70% of men do no domestic work, while those who do spend less than 90 minutes daily.
• Overall Gender Gap: On average, men contribute only 26 minutes to domestic work and 16 minutes to caregiving.

Unequal Leisure and Rest

• Total Workload: Women work more hours overall than men, across paid and unpaid categories.
• Reduced Rest and Leisure: Women spend less time eating, sleeping, and in leisure compared to men leading to time poverty for women.
  • Time Poverty: The chronic lack of discretionary time due to the double burden of paid work and unpaid care responsibilities, leaving little scope for rest, leisure, or personal growth.
• Caste and Class Dimensions: Women from Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste labouring classes bear an even heavier workload than upper-caste women.

Government Narrative on Time Use

• Distorted Presentation: The government highlighted minor male contributions as proof of a balanced family fabric.
• Glorification of Inequality: The Press Information Bureau portrayed women’s triple burden as part of the Indian social fabric.
• Policy Extension: Care work in schemes like Anganwadi, ASHA, and Mid-Day Meals is treated as voluntary, underpaid, and unrecognised as government employment.

Economic Undervaluation of Women’s Work

• Contribution to GDP: SBI estimated women’s unpaid work at 7% of GDP (₹22.5 lakh crore annually).
• Invisible Subsidy to Wages: Women’s unpaid work keeps labour costs and minimum wages low.
• Social Reproduction of Labour: Domestic work ensures daily subsistence of workers, yet remains unacknowledged in wage policies.

Way Forward

• End Violence Against Women: Cultural, social, and policy reforms must eliminate domestic violence.
• Equal Right to Work: Men and women must be recognised as equal workers with equal wages.
• State-Supported Care: Universal childcare and elderly care services must be provided by the State.
• Quality Public Services: Accessible health care and education are essential for reducing women’s burdens.
• Shared Domestic Responsibility: Social norms must promote men sharing domestic and caregiving work equally.
• Justice to Scheme Workers: Anganwadi, ASHA, and mid-day meal workers must get minimum wages, benefits, and recognition as government employees.

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