Answer: 

Introduction:

Nearly one-sixth of the world’s women live in India and they form almost half of the Indian population. Despite this, Women in India face lots of issues and problems some of which have continued since centuries while others are new, some of which are common for all women in India while some may be more prevalent in particular areas.

Challenges faced by Indian women emanate from Hegemonic patriarchy, which is prevalent in Indian society. The discrimination against women appears to be common sense to such an extent that even women also become the supporter and perpetrator of this very notion. This is a problem that is common for all women in India and has been so since time immemorial.

Body:

This leads to various problems like:

• Female infanticide: This can be reflected in poor child sex ratio, i.e. 919/1000 according to census 2011.
• Girls are the worst sufferer of the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition. This is augmented by a lack of education and reproductive rights.
• Lack of freedom: Women in India do not have equal access to autonomy, freedom to move about freely outside the house, social freedom, etc compared to men.
• Motherhood penalty: The primary responsibility of taking care of family and bringing up the child is still on the women. This includes unpaid care work such as childcare, elderly care, and household work.
• Declining female labor force participation rate (LFPR): Many women have to retreat from the workforce due to family pressures. They face ‘dual burden’ i.e., they have to perform both family and professional responsibilities together.
  • Despite increasing levels of education and declining fertility rates, the current female LFPR is 25.1% compared to 57.5% for male.
• Commodification of women: The women are either shown as docile homemakers or they are shown as sex symbols trying to convince the public at large to buy the product. Domestic violence and dowry harassment within the confines of the house are also extensions of this phenomenon
• Pink collar jobs: The women are mostly deemed fit for “pink-collar jobs” only, such as teachers, nurses, receptionist, babysitter, lecturer which have been stereotyped for women. This denies them opportunities in other fields
• Glass ceilings: Even when women show their potential in their fields, they face artificial barriers like stereotypes, media-related issues, sexual harassment at the workplace, informal boundaries, which prevent them from advancing upward in their organization into management-level positions. This is also reflected in an increasing wage gap between men and women.
• Lack of political participation of women: Indian Parliament currently has 14% women representation and 19 state assemblies have less than 10%. Even though the 73rd constitutional amendment act mandates 33% of panchayat seats to be reserved for women, the dichotomy between representation and participation can be reflected by the prevalence of “Sarpanch Pati”.

Way Forward

• Better implementation: Indian Society doesn’t need better laws but better implementation of laws already in place.
• Reservation in parliament for women must be implemented as soon as possible. The political awareness among women must be enhanced.
• The government must empower women through Self-help groups so that they can become financially independent.
• Affirmative action should be pursued by the government to induct more and more women into positions of authority.
• Society has a larger responsibility to disassociate itself from the stigma attached to women’s sexuality.
• Gender based legislation, budgeting and enforcement can go a long way in altering the mindset of society.

Conclusion:

Though with rise in education, modernization and urbanization, women have got respite in some of these aspects, majority of the women in India still face these challenges. Women issue is not a political problem but a social issue, hence it requires a cultural revolution. Initiatives like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is a step in the right direction. In order to improve the condition of Indian women, society must remember the words of J.L. Nehru: “To awaken the people, it is the woman who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves”.