Status of Women in India: Transformative Reforms, Legal Measures & Societal Empowerment

Breaking Chains in Hindu-Muslim Societies

In the past, status of women in India were typically observed as inferior to men and were often treated as subsidiary to them, lacking their own identity. Their potential to express their abilities was restricted due to customs like purdah, early marriage, ban of widow remarriage, sati, etc. Both Hindu and Muslim women were financially and socially reliant on male family members, and access to education was typically denied to them. 

Hindu women had no legal right to inherit property or exit an unwanted marriage, while Muslim women, though able to receive property, received only half as much as men. Gender equality was not supported in divorce proceedings. Polygamy was common among both Hindu and Muslim communities. Society recognized the need to enhance the status of women in india.

Transformative Reforms Across Indian Societies

• Abolition of Sati and the Courageous Campaign by Raja Rammohan Roy to improve status of women in india

• • Sati, which translates to “a pure and virtuous woman,” was a custom where women would self-immolate on the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands. 
  • Raja Rammohan Roy played a ground-breaking role in ending this practice. 
• His efforts led the government to declare sati illegal, punishable by criminal courts as culpable homicide. 
• The regulation implemented in 1829 (Regulation XVII, A.D. 1829 of the Bengal Code) initially applied only to the Bengal Presidency. 
  • However, in 1830, it was extended with slight modifications to the Madras and Bombay Presidencies.
• Preventing Infanticide: Legal Measures and Social Reforms in India to improve status of women in india
  • Infanticide, the act of killing infants soon after birth, was a common practice among upper-class Bengalis and Rajputs who considered female children as an economic burden.
  • The Bengal Ordinances of 1795 and 1804 declared infanticide illegal, equating it with murder.
  • In 1870, a law was passed requiring parents to register the birth of all infants and mandating the verification of female children some years after birth, especially in regions where the practice was shrouded in secrecy.
• Widow Remarriage: Legal and Social Initiatives in 19th-Century India to improve status of women in india
  • Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856: This Act, primarily championed by Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–91), was instrumental in decriminalizing the marriage of widows and recognizing the legitimacy of their offspring. 
    • Vidyasagar used Vedic texts to support his argument that Hinduism permitted widow remarriage.
  • Widow Remarriage Association: Founded in the 1850s by Vishnu Shastri Pandit.
  • Satya Prakash: Karsondas Mulji established Satya Prakash in Gujarati in 1852 to advocate for widow remarriage.
  • Efforts by D.K. Karve: Professor D.K. Karve, from Western India, also worked to promote widow remarriage. 
    • He married a widow in 1893 and dedicated his life to improving the status of women in India, particularly Hindu widows, eventually becoming the secretary of the Widow Remarriage Association.
• Controlling Child Marriage: Legislative Measures and Social Reforms
  • Native Marriage Act (or Civil Marriage Act), 1872: Prohibited child marriage, but it didn’t apply to Hindus, Muslims, and other recognized religions.
  • Age of Consent Act (1891): Positively advocated by the Parsi reformer B.M. Malabari, it made marriage of girls under 12 years of age illegal.
  • Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 (Sarda Act): Elevated the minimum marriage age to 18 for boys and 14 for girls. 
    • The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978, in independent India increased the age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18 and for boys from 18 to 21.
• Education and Liberation of Women: Initiatives and Contributions to improve status of women in india
  • The Calcutta Female Juvenile Society, established by Christian missionaries in 1819, marked an early effort in women’s education to Improve the Status Of women in India.
  • The Bethune School, founded by J.E.D. Bethune in Calcutta in 1849, played a pioneering role in the 1840s and 1850s women’s education movement.
  • Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was associated with approximately 35 girls’ schools in Bengal and significantly contributed to women’s education, status of women in India and also played a role in the liberation of women.
  • Prominent figures like Jagannath Shankarsheth ‘Nana’ and Bhau Daji actively promoted girls’ schools in Maharashtra.
  • Jyotirao Phule (Jyotiba Phule) and his wife Savitribai opened the first school for girls in Pune in 1848, marking a significant milestone.
  • Charles Wood’s Despatch on Education (1854) stressed the importance of female education.
  • In 1914, the Women’s Medical Service played a crucial role in training nurses and midwives.
  • Professor D.K. Karve founded the Indian Women’s University in 1916, significantly contributing to women’s education and the status of women in india.
  • In 1916, Lady Hardinge Medical College was established in Delhi.
• Women’s Participation in National Movements: A catalyst for the Liberation of women
  • The swadeshi, anti-partition, and Home Rule movements facilitated the liberation of women,  offering them a transformative experience and liberation from their typically home-centered lives.
  • After 1918, women actively engaged in political activities, often facing police batons, bullets, and imprisonment during protests, picketing, and other activities.
  • They played crucial roles in trade union, kisan (peasant), and revolutionary movements.
  • Women exercised their voting rights and also ran for and were elected to various legislatures and local governing bodies.
  • Sarojini Naidu served as the president of the Indian National Congress (1925) and later as the governor of the United Provinces (1947-49), Signifying evolving Status Of women in India.

Role of Women and their Organizations: Advocacy for Status of Women in India

• Post-1920, a proactive and confident women’s movement emerged, leading to the creation of various organizations and institutions such as the All India Women’s Conference (founded in 1927).
• Sarla Devi Chaudhurani:
  • In 1910, she organized the inaugural meeting of the Bharat Stree Mahamandal in Allahabad, which was known as one of India’s earliest major women’s organizations established by a woman. Its goals included progressing women’s education, abolishing the purdah system, and enhancing the socio-economic and political status of women in India throughout India.
  • She believed that men advocating for women’s upliftment of status of women in India, were living “under the shade of Manu.”
• Ramabai Ranade:
• She established the Ladies Social Conference (Bharat Mahila Parishad) in 1904 in Bombay, operating under the umbrella of the National Social Conference.
• Pandita Ramabai Saraswati:
  • She founded the Arya Mahila Samaj, dedicated to women’s causes.
  • She advocated for improvements in the educational curriculum for Indian women and presented her case before the English Education Commission, which resulted in the introduction of medical education for women at Lady Dufferin College.
• Mehribai Tata:
  • In 1925, she played a significant role in the formation and progression of the National Council of Women in India, the national branch of the International Council of Women.
  • She believed that the purdah system, caste distinctions, and lack of education hindered women from actively addressing societal issues.
  • Other influential women holding key positions on the executive committee of the council included:
    • Cornelia Sarabji, India’s first female barrister; 
    • Tarabai Premchand, the wife of a wealthy banker; 
    • Shaffi Tyabji, a member of one of Mumbai’s prominent Muslim families; and 
    • Maharani Sucharu Devi, the daughter of Keshab Chandra Sen.
• All these personalities and organization worked in the direction of improving the status of women in India.

All India Women’s Conference (AIWC): Pioneering Reforms for the Status of Women in India

• The All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), recognized by Margaret Cousins in 1927, is considered one of the earliest women’s organizations with an egalitarian philosophy.
• Key founding members included Maharani Chimnabai Gaekwad, Rani Sahiba of Sangli, Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Devi Chattopadhyaya, and Lady Dorab Tata.
• The AIWC aimed to endorse a society built on principles of social justice, honesty, equal rights, and opportunities. 
• Their goal was to safeguard that every individual could access life’s necessities based on planned social distribution rather than by the chance of birth or gender.
• To achieve these objectives to improve status of women in India, the AIWC actively pursued legislative reforms both before and after India’s independence. Some notable reforms it worked towards include:
  • Sarda Act (1929)
  • Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act (1937)
  • Factory Act (1947)
  • Hindu Marriage and Divorce Act (1954)
  • Special Marriage Act (1954)
  • Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (1956)
  • Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (1956)
  • Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women Act (1958)
  • Maternity Benefits Act (1961)
  • Dowry Prohibition Act (1961)
  • Equal Remuneration Act (1958, 1976)

Also Read: Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: Vision of Religious Unity

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