Women: Navigating the Landscape of Gender Empowerment in India, Challenges, and Recent Developments

“It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is impossible for a bird to fly on only one wing.” — Swami Vivekananda.

To prepare for INDIAN SOCIETY for any competitive exam, aspirants have to know about the Role of Women and Women’s Organization. It gives an idea of all the important topics for the IAS Exam and the Economy syllabus (GS-II.). Important Role of Women and Women’s Organization terms are important from Economy perspectives in the UPSC exam. IAS aspirants should thoroughly understand their meaning and application, as questions can be asked from this static portion of the IAS Syllabus in both the UPSC Prelims and the UPSC Mains exams. 

The Complex Status of Women in India

• India, a nation which had Mahatma Gandhi as its role model of rectitude became so unbelievably violent and corrupt that the women can no longer be safe within their bodies. Gandhi who defeated the whites to save the browns by relying on non-violence is considered as the father of the nation, but his values are being betrayed so easily that a woman is raped every twenty minutes in the world’s largest democracy and even children of five years are subjected to rape.
• The status of a woman in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history.
• With women participating in nationalist movements, to being pushed into the domestic household space, to their resurgence as super-women today, women in our country have seen it all.
• The status of a woman might have been raised under the law, in practice they continue to suffer from discrimination, harassment and humiliation.
• Though mother nature has made of a woman with an equally important role as men in the society, the latter have made them subordinate in many ways.

Evolution of Women’s Status: A Historical Odyssey

• POSITION OF WOMEN IN HISTORY:
  • Early Vedic Age
  • Later Vedic period
  • Medieval Period
  • During British Raj
  • Post- Independence

During this period (1500 BC – 1000 BC) women were accorded high level of respect and dignity Early Vedic Age:

• They enjoyed complete freedom in every sphere and were placed as central to creation of all lives in the cosmos.

Later Vedic period:

• During this period (1000 – 500 BC) a need for large army in turn gave more role and prestige to men
• Women were considered inferior and subordinate to men with denied political rights.

Medieval Period:

• During the era of Muslim kings, the existing social evils became more prominent like female infanticide, no education to girls, child marriage etc.
• However, with the rise of the bhakti movement and Sufism, the status of a woman improved significantly across India.
• Various popular figures like Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, Guru Nanak vociferously voiced against ill treatment and suppression of a woman irrespective of caste and religion.

During British Raj:

• During the British East India Company rule(1757–1857), and the British Raj (1858–1947), various measures aiming at amelioration were enacted, including Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829, Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856, Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870, and Age of Consent Act, 1891.

Women in Indian Politics: Breaking Barriers, Facing Challenges

POLITICALLY:

• Status of a woman in politics can be defined as the degree of equality and freedom enjoyed by the women in shaping and sharing of power.
• As of 2018- 2019, some women have served in various senior official positions in the Indian government, including that of the President of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• With only around 9 per cent women in the upper house and around 11 per cent in the lower house of parliament, India ranks 99th in the world in terms of female representation among MPs.
• It includes exercising the right to vote, power sharing, membership of political parties, electoral campaigning, attending party meetings, holding party positions, contesting elections, co-decision making, co-policy making at all levels of governance of the state.
• The social and cultural prejudices against a woman restrict their participation in the decision-making process which can be seen in the political arena as well. As per the Election Commission of India, 49% of the Indian electorate consists of women. Yet, only 14% of the 17th Lok Sabha members are women MPs, the highest since Independence.
• Although, representation of a woman has increased only marginally since Independence – from 4.4 percent in 1951 to 11 percent in 2014 – way below the global average of 23.4 percent. At this rate, it would take another 180 years to reach the desired gender balance.

At Panchayat level:

• 73rd & 74th amendments to the constitution have ensured the participation of a woman in PRIs with a reservation of 1/3rd for women. This was aimed at empowering a woman and ensuring their participation in the political process and decision making at grass root level.

Recent Development:

• In this regard the Government of India introduced various acts and policies so as to empower a woman in India politically.
• Through 1/3rd reservation of seats for women in Panchayats and Nagar palikas, they have been able to make meaningful contributions and that the actual representation of a woman in Panchayati Raj institutions has gone upto 42.3% i.e., beyond the reservation percentage. This has led the Government to make 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies.

Empowering Women Economically: Unleashing India’s Full Potential

• India has made significant economic progress in recent decades, however such economic growth has not been matched by progress towards women’s equal economic participation.
• Financial empowerment is central to the overall empowerment of a woman, and financial inclusion can play a major role in empowering women.
• According to the World Bank, India ranks 120 among 131 countries in Female Labor Force Participation Rates (FLFPR) and rates of gender-based violence remain unacceptably high.
• At 17% of GDP, the economic contribution of Indian woman is less than half the global average, and compares unfavorably to the 40% in China.

Current Situation in India:

Female Participation in the Labour Market –

• Recently UNDP, in association with IKEA Foundation, has brought out a report titled “Female work and labour force participation in India” which aims to understand the continuing problem of low female labour force participation in India despite massive investments in employment and skill-building initiatives.
• Female participation in the labour market is 2 percent compared to 78.8 for men.
• Rural women are leaving India’s workforce at a faster rate than urban women.
• A McKinsey Global study in 2015 found that India could increase its GDP by 16-60% by 2025 by simply enabling a woman to participate in the economy at par with men.

Women’s Potential: Overcoming Barriers to Labor Force Participation in India

• Increased income of men – As men in the family start earning more income, women tend to cut back their work in the formal economy to concentrate more on household activities.
• Caste factor – In some communities, notably some upper castes, there may be a stigma attached to a woman working outside the home. It increases family and societal pressures to drop out if the men in the household are earning enough to foot the bills.
• Safety issues & Harassment at the workplace – Women are more vulnerable to exploitation and harassment at work in developing countries like India. They are also unable to effectively fight against harassment.
• The nature of economic growth in the country has meant that jobs were not created in large numbers in sectors that could readily absorb a woman, especially for those in rural areas.
• Sexual Harassment at the Workplace: Around 31% of the firms are not compliant with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, which mandates “Internal Compliance Committees” (ICCs) and Local Complaint Committee (LCC) being constituted.
• Deep-rooted social norms, lack of agency and gendering of occupations often leads to a woman having little choice in their employment and work decisions.
• Policy failure and the policy-implementation gap is also a major reason for low labour force participation.
  • The rising incomes of Indian households have enabled Indian women to withdraw from the labor market and focus on their role in “status production”
  • Double burden or dual responsibility (family and workplace)

Suggestions to improve FLFP:

• By Modifying outcome metrics for labour market programmes by including enabling factors such as safety, aspiration alignment and so on.
• Education ecosystem needs to go through a set of system strengthening initiatives, including the introduction of digital and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education in schools.
• Using tax policies to incentivize a woman into the labour market on both the demand and supply side. By introducing tax incentives for enterprises that have internal complaint mechanisms, gender friendly transport services and so on.
• By promoting large-scale social campaigns for changing social norms which break gender stereotypes, which includes a woman as well as redefining the role of men in households Support Services.
• By providing support to a woman who migrate in search of work and jobs.
• By providing arrangements for childcare at training centers, better stipends for travel, lodging, boarding and other expenses incurred during programme participation.
• By developing forums for informal and formal mentorship and connections to female role models and women in leadership which is to be achieved not by tokenism but by increasing the ease of economic and political participation.

Gender Wage gap and Gender Inequality

• Gender equality is when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision-making.
• However due to unequal treatment, society’s gender norms, the economic status, and financial literacy among a woman shows a downward trend.
• Gender inequality is a major factor curbing potential candidates from performing where they ought to.

Global Gender Gap Report 2020

• The Global Gender Gap Report is published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). India has been ranked 112th out of 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2020
• Gender gap was measured across four key pillars à economic participation and opportunity (42%), educational attainment (4.4%), health and survival (4.6%), and political empowerment (77%).

Women at Work: Maternity Benefit Act, 2017

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017

• The 2017 landmark amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 (MBA), effective as of the 1st of April, 2017, has been welcomed by employees and employers.
  1. It provides a maternity leave of 26 weeks which exceeds ILO’s minimum standard of 14 weeks.
  2. Recognition of the rights of an adopting mother and of a commissioning mother (using a surrogate to bear a child) for the first time, who may claim paid maternity leave for 12 weeks;
  3. A “work from home” option that may be of benefit after the maternity leave expires;
  4. Effective as of the 1st of July, 2017, mandatory crèche (day care) facilities for every establishment employing 50 or more employees, including the right of mothers to visit the crèche four times per day.
  5. The act will help the 18-lakh (1.8 million) women workforce in the organized sector.
  6. They also help a woman devote time to take care of their babies and enable an increase in the women’s labour force participation (WLFPR) rate in India.

Societal Empowerment: Addressing Health, Education, and Violence Against Women

• The social and cultural Empowerment is the fundamental and the foundation block for the development of women empowerment. It includes a range of constituents such as discriminatory patriarchal norms against women, access to health and education services, caste and class and religious divides
• Social status of a woman can be further classified based on following factors like health, education, violence against a woman which are discussed as below:

Status on Health:

• Health and nutritional status of Indian women is becoming worse due to the prevailing culture and traditional practices in India.
• Indian women are generally vulnerable to poor nutrition, especially during pregnancy and lactation.

Maternal Health Initiatives: Fostering Well-being for Mothers and Infants

Maternal Health:

• Poor maternal health often affects a child’s health in adverse ways and also decreases a woman’s ability to participate in economic activities.
• Therefore, national health programmes such as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Family Welfare Programme have been created to address the maternal health care needs of a woman across India.

Reproductive rights and women health:

• Women’s reproductive rights may include some or all of the following:
• the right to legal and safe abortion;
• the right to birth control;
• freedom from coerced sterilization and contraception;
• the right to education and access in order to make free and informed reproductive choices.
• the right to access good-quality reproductive healthcare;

Nutrition plays a major role in an individual’s overall health; psychological and physical health status is often dramatically impacted by the presence of malnutrition. Malnutrition and morbidity

• India currently has one of the highest rates of malnourished women, adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating women in India, with repercussions for children’s health.

Bridging Educational Gaps: Women’s Literacy Initiatives in India

• Literacy in India is a key for socio-economic There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India:
• Today the female literacy rate is 65.46% where the male literacy rate is over 80%.
• The differences in literacy rates among the states are also extreme.
• Kerala has the highest female literacy rate. On the other hand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have low female literacy rates.
• literacy in India is characterized by wide gaps between the urban and rural populations.
• The rural population depends mainly on agriculture and the rate of illiteracy is high while the urban population is more of the employee class and also more educated.

Navigating Patriarchy: Women’s Struggle for Autonomy and Equality 

Status of Women in Patriarchal society

• Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power, predominating in the roles of political leadership, moral authority, special privilege and control of property. They also hold power in the domain of the family, as fatherly figures.
• Women are a victim of male domination in the respective sphere of life; especially in economic life, over decision making on resources, on the utilization of her earnings and her body.
• Hence, a woman’s life lies between pleasure at one end and danger at another end.
• Patriarchy leads to exploitation of a woman in the form of violence, economic exploitation, educational deprivation etc.

Marriage:

• Though the status of a woman in their husbands’ homes has improved a lot, women still face domestic violence for dowry or love marriage or inter-caste marriage.
• It creates a lot of emotional tensions in the family and society at large.
• They are regarded as dependent beings which underline the preference for child marriage, especially among rural and backward communities.
• In order to curb child marriages, dowry, domestic violence against a woman, the government has implemented various acts like Domestic Violence Act, 2005 so as to eliminate the loopholes in the current system.

Nature, Range and Patterns of Women’s Work 

Education, Paid Employment and Household Responsibilities

• On one hand, illiteracy among the majority of a woman in the lower socio-economic group constitutes a major barrier to increasing and diversifying work and training opportunities.
• On the other hand, pre-defined roles, ideology and labour market forces in a labour surplus economy effectively restrict a woman’s work opportunity among educated women of certain sectors.

Agricultural and Industrial Sectors

• The proportion of female agricultural workers which was less than one-third of the total workforce in 1951 rose to more than fifty per cent, which means greater dependence on the agriculture sector.

Women in Services and Professions

• Despite the impressive increase in the number of educated women in urban areas, the gap between men and women in the services and professions is large. It can be attributed to the following factors:
• Girls are generally specialized for their domestic roles
• Less investment in the vocational and technical training of a woman
• Higher concentration of girls is found in humanities and social sciences rather than vocational and technical courses.
• There is less physical mobility among a woman after marriage

WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

• National Women’s Farmer’s Day (Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas) is celebrated on October 15 for recognizing the multidimensional role of a woman at every stage in agriculture.

Breaking Ground: The Feminization of Agriculture in India

• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women’s contribution to Indian agriculture is approximately 32%, while in some states (such as Hill states, Northeastern states, and Kerala) contributions of a woman in agriculture and rural economy are more than men.
• According to the data of the Economic Survey (2017-18), with growing rural to urban migration by men, there is ‘feminization’ of the agriculture sector, with an increasing number of women in multiple roles as cultivators, entrepreneurs, and labourers.
• Out of total female main workers, 55% were agricultural labourers and 24% were cultivators (Census 2011).
• As per the 10th Agriculture Census (2015-16), the percentage of female operational holdings in the country has increased from about 13% percent during 2010-11 to around 14% during 2015-16.
• Others: Agrarian distress, male migration and poverty are prominent reasons for increasing feminization of agriculture.

Impact of feminization of agriculture:

• According to the FAO, if a woman had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by up to 4% which would mean a dramatic reduction in hunger.
• Research worldwide shows that a woman with access to secure land, formal credit and access to markets have greater propensity to invest in improving harvest, increasing productivity, and improving household food security and households.

Family Structure in India:

• India’s family structure is unique as it accommodates both nuclear and joint families. In the past, joint households were the norm; however, migration and urbanization are rapidly changing family structures.
• According to the 2011 census, out of 24.88 crore households, 12.97 crore or 52.1% were nuclear households.
• Nuclear families are increasingly common, changing women’s relative position in a family and with respect to social security and care for the elderly.

Navigating Autonomy: Women’s Roles in Evolving Family Structures

• In nuclear households, Women enjoy greater decision-making power, greater freedom of movement outside the house premises and greater participation in jobs.
• Women’s autonomy is differentiated by economic status, caste and household location.g. women in richer joint households have more autonomy in intra-household decision-making but less freedom of movement outside the home. For a woman in poorer joint households, a woman has greater freedom of movement outside the home but less autonomy in intra-household decision-making.
• Geographic location of the household: Women in joint households in Northern India have less autonomy compared to their counterparts in southern India. In the south, the effects of family structure on a woman’s autonomy are weaker.
• Division of labour on the basis of sex is a characteristic of traditional family life in India. A woman was supposed to do all sorts of domestic work such as cooking, cleaning utensils, washing clothes etc. besides she has to do motherly duties of looking after the children and the interests of all the members of the family.
• In recent times with the increasing education levels and the economic opportunities in wake of Globalisation the socio-economic mobility of Indian women has increased.
• In 1993-94, as many as 2 percent female workers were engaged in the primary sector, which includes agriculture and allied sectors such as forestry, livestock etc., in the rural areas.

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES RELATED TO WOMEN AND RESPONSE:

The problem of a woman keeps changing from time to time with changing circumstances. Women faces the following problems:

Unveiling Shadows: Tackling Sexual Harassment Challenges in Uttar Pradesh

• It acts as a deterrent to a woman’s freedom and perpetuates the notion that women are the weaker sex. The NCRB data highlights that sexual harassment is a risk in all facets of life: in shelter homes, in the workplace, in the home, on public transport.
• According to statistics recently released by the NCRB, of states, Uttar Pradesh recorded the most sexual harassment cases that year.

Silent Agony: Addressing the Legal Void on Marital Rape and Women’s Rights in India

• Marital rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without the consent of the other spouse.
• Currently marital rape is not a ground for a divorce in Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Muslim Personal Law [Shariat] Application Act, 1937 and Special Marriage Act, 1954, it cannot be used as a ground for divorce and cruelty against husband.
• Section 375 of the IPC holds that “sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape”

Necessity of Criminalizing Marital Rape: Safeguarding Women’s Rights and Dignity

• The report ‘Status of Women in India’, by the high-level Pam Rajput committee of the Ministry of Woman and Child Development, criticised the legislature for its failure to criminalize marital rape.
• Exception under Section 375, violates Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of a woman.
• The patriarchal nature of Indian society, ingrains it in the minds of men that women are expected to comply when their husbands demand sex.
• The victim suffers physical abuse, and she also has to undergo mental trauma of her dignity being violated.

Child Rape:

• National Crimes Record Bureau statistics state that a total of 48,338 child rape cases were recorded from 2001 to 2011.
• India saw an increase of 336% of child rape cases from 2,113 cases in 2001 to 7,112 cases in 2011.

Combatting Workplace Harassment: Legal Frameworks for Women’s Safety

• In order to effectively address the heinous crimes of sexual abuse various acts and policies are being implemented across the nation like:
• Sexual Harassment of a woman at workplace (Prevention, prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 demands that any workplace with more than 10 employees need to create a mechanism for redressal of complaints against sexual harassment.
• VISHAKA guidelines by the Supreme Court which provide measures to be taken by employers, SHE Box by Ministry of Women and Child Development for online complaints.

Perils of Dowry: Battling Domestic Violence Against Women Legally

• Dowry deaths are deaths of married women who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and torture by their husbands and in-laws over a dispute about their dowry, making the women’s homes the most dangerous place for them to be.
• According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data released recently, the highest number of dowry deaths during the last three years have been reported from the state of Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar.
• There are three laws in place in India that deal directly with domestic violence:
  • The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
  • The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and
  • Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

Domestic Violence Act, 2005:

• Recently, the Supreme Court has ruled that under the domestic violence law, even a brother-in-law can be ordered to pay maintenance to a woman under the Domestic Violence Act if they had lived together under the same roof in a shared household as part of a joint family at any point of time.

Navigating Complex Issues: Tangled Threads Impacting Women

• The changing socio-economic relations particularly in urban areas such as more income of a working woman than her partner, abusing and neglecting in-laws, dowry demands etc.
• Most often a woman is cursed for their husband’s death and is deprived of proper food and clothing without often being given the opportunity for remarriage in most of the homes.
• Patriarchal mindset– male domination and control over women, male privilege and women’s subordinate status, infertility or desire for male child.
• Women are also more likely to experience intimate partner violence if they have low education, exposure to mothers being abused by a partner, abuse during childhood, and attitudes accepting violence, male privilege and women’s subordinate status.

Empowering Women: Legal Safeguards Against Domestic Violence

• The Act expanded the definition of domestic violence to include not just physical, but also verbal, emotional, sexual and economic
• Domestic Violence is broad in its definition – “domestic relationship” includes married women, mothers, daughters and sisters.
• This law not only protects women who are married but also protects a woman in live-in relationships, as well as family members including mothers, grandmothers, etc.
• Under this law, a woman can seek protection against domestic violence, financial compensation and they can get maintenance from their abuser in case they are living apart.
• It provides the Right to Secure Housinge. right to reside in the matrimonial or shared household, whether or not she has any title or rights in the household. This right is secured by a residence order, which is passed by a court.
• It provides for breach of protection order or interim protection order by the respondent as a cognizable and non-bailable offence punishable with imprisonment.
• It provides for appointment of protection officers and NGOs to provide assistance to the woman for medical examination, legal aid and safe Shelter.
• PWDVA enshrines principles of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which India ratified in 1993.

Issues with Domestic violence Act

• Gender biased and not gender neutral: There have been an increasing number of false cases. Also, domestic violence against men in India is not recognised by the law.
• The Lack of awareness especially in rural areas where there is more need for such Acts.
• Judicial system resorting to mediation and counselling even in cases of extreme abuse. Also, Insensitivity by male police officers, judicial magistrates during hearings, etc.
• Absence of economic, psychological and support systems for victim women.
• Insufficient budgetary allocation to States– the States could not assign ‘Protection Officers’ because of the already overburdened department.
• Though most of these cases are reported from urban areas, innumerable cases of violence against a woman go unreported in India’s distant villages.

Shielding Women in Cyberspace: Battling Cyber Crimes Targeting Women

• Harassment via eMails: It is a very common type of harassment through sending letters, attachments of files & folders i.e. via e-mails; most common now in the form of using social sites. Facebook, Twitter etc.
• Cyber-Stalking: It means expressed or implied physical threat that creates fear through the use of computer technology such as the internet, e-mail, phones, text messages, webcam, websites or videos.
• Dissemination of Obscene Material: It includes Indecent exposure/ Pornography (basically child pornography), hosting of web sites containing these prohibited materials.
• E-Mail Spoofing: A spoofed email may be said to be one, which misrepresents its origin. It shows its origin to be different from which actually it originates. This method is often used by cyber criminals to extract personal information and private images from unsuspecting women, these images etc. are then used to blackmail those women.
• Others: Cyber Pornography, Defamation, and image morphing.

Steps taken by the Government in Preventing Cyber Crimes Against Women

• Cyber Crime Cells have been set up in States and Union Territories for reporting and investigation of Cyber Crime cases.
• Government has set up cyber forensic training and investigation labs in the States of Kerala, Assam, Mizoram etc. for training of Law Enforcement and Judiciary in these States.
• Programmes on Cyber Crime investigation – Various Law schools are engaged in conducting several awareness and training programmes on Cyber Laws and Cyber Crimes for judicial officers.
• Training is imparted to Police Officers and Judicial officers in the Training Labs established by the Government.
• The Scheme for Universalization of a Woman Helpline has been approved to provide a 24-hour emergency and non-emergency response to all women affected by violence.

PROSTITUTION

• A large number of women destitute or victims of rape who are disowned by family fall prey to prostitution forcibly.
• Laws related to prostitution in India:
• Suppression of Immoral Traffic in woman and girl act – 1956
• Prevention of immoral traffic act – 1956
• Immoral traffic prevention act – 1956

Empowering Survivors: Strategies to Combat Prostitution and Human Trafficking

• Normal education should be made available to those victims who are still within the school going age, while non-formal education should be made accessible to adults
• The Central and State Governments in partnership with non-governmental organizations should provide gender sensitive market driven vocational training to all those rescued victims who are not interested in education.
• Rehabilitation and reintegration of rescued victims should be done.
• Awareness generation and legal literacy on economic rights, particularly for a woman and adolescent girls should be taken up.

FEMALE FOETICIDE

• Female foeticide refers to ‘aborting the female in the mother’s womb’; whereas female infanticide is ‘killing the girl child after her birth’.

Alarming Gender Disparities: India’s Disturbing Trends

1. Nearly 10 million female fetuses have been aborted in the country over the past two decades
2. The United Nations has reported that India’s female ratio between 0-6 years age group has fallen to 896 females per 1,000 males, the lowest ever in a decade for the world’s second most populous nation
3. About three-fourths of the women in the suburban area know about the sex determination test, and female foeticide is favored both in rural and urban areas
4. 1 out of every 6 girls does not live to see her 15th birthday. Of the 12 million girls born in India, one million do not see their first birthday.
5. Seven thousand fewer girls are born in India each day than the global average would suggest.

Female Feticide in India: Deep-Seated Causes

• Preference for son: The bias against females in India is grounded in cultural, economic and religious roots. Sons are expected to work in the fields; they provide greater income and look after parents in old age.
• Dowry system: which has been going on for the past 50 years but today it has become worse. People demand so much money that girl families can’t fulfill it, and even there are some cases where brides are tortured to get money from their families. This system is more rigid in northern India.
• Education: why one should spend so much money on the schools and colleges because she has to go to another family and what is the benefit of her knowledge to us, even if she starts earning then we don’t get any money from her.
• Availability of latest technology: Various aspects like focus on family planning, availability of latest technology facilitating sex identification and abortion, failure in stringent application of PCPNDT act all have resulted in increased cases of female foeticide.
• Others: Decline in the moral and ethical standards as individuals and families lead to more cases of female foeticide.
• The Indian government passed Preconception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act(PCPNDT) in 1994 to ban and punish prenatal sex screening and female foeticide.

The Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994:

• It was enacted to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India which was amended in 2003, to improve the regulation of the technology used in sex selection.
• The basic requirements of the act include the registration of clinics, written consent of the pregnant women, prohibition of communicating the sex of fetus, maintenance of records and creating awareness among the public at large by placing the board of prohibition on sex determination.

Rigid Provisions in the PCPNDT Act: Safeguarding the Girl Child

• Key to prevent female foeticide à The Supreme Court highlighted that non-maintenance of record by sonography and diagnostic centre is a springboard for the commission of the offence of female foeticide, which is what is intended by the Act and, it cannot be termed as a clerical error.
• Sex selective abortions relegate the right to life of the girl child under Article 21 of the Constitution, to a mere formality. As per a United Nations Report, more than 6 lakh girls went missing at birth on an average annually during the period 2001-12.
• Leads to a cycle of violence against women à A skewed sex- ratio is likely to lead to greater incidences of violence against women and increase in practices of trafficking, ‘bride­buying’ The rigorous implementation of the Act is an edifice on which rests the task of saving the girl child.
• Responsibilities of a doctor: to know all such minute details like the form he is required to fill and the impact of medical findings and its consequences, which is virtually the prerequisite for undertaking a test. It is critical for a member of a noble medical profession to be educated about such details.

Pros of the act:

• Due to stringent provisions in this Act lead to Increase in registrations of PCPNDT Clinics, Increase in sex ratio in some states, Check on advertisements for sex selection, Overall drop in child sex ratio etc.

Reason of failures:

• Poor reporting under the law – Only 3,000 cases have been filed against violators of the act, since the passing of act, though half a billion medical crimes have been committed
• Poor conviction rate – There are only 586 convictions out of 4202 cases registered even after 24 years of existence.

Way Forward

• The Implementation of this Act requires a more systemic involvement of the State and enactment of legislation in this direction and the health departments of the states along with local bodies have to play a more crucial role.
• Help of Anganwadi and ASHA workers can be sought to report any suspicious activity to determine the sex of a child. e.g. Better result was observed by implementing Government schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in Haryana state.

Women Movements

• Pre-independence Women’s Movements
• Post-independence Women’s Movements

“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” – Melinda Gates

• Women’s movements are among the most important crusades of modern social movements. It started off with the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar to fight for women’s rights due to inhumane practices like Sati.
• The upper strata women faced these mostly, however, today Women of lower social strata belonging to lower castes, minority religion or economically backward regions continue to face hardships.

Instances leading to Women Movements

• The position of women in India has varied in different periods and in different classes, religions and ethnic groups. By nineteenth century there were several evil social practices like Sati, child marriage, ban on widow remarriage, polygamy etc.
• During British rule the spread of English education and Western liberal ideology among Indians and spread of Christianity and missionary activities, resulted in a number of movements for social change and religious reform in the nineteenth century.

Broad Objectives of Women Movements

• Caste reform,
• Improvement in the status of women,
• Promoting women’s education and
• An attack on social practices whose roots lay in social and legal inequalities and religious traditions of different communities

Pre-Independence Women’s Movements in India: A Glimpse into Reformative Endeavors

Brahmo Samaj

• It was founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1825 & attempted to abolish restrictions and prejudices against women, which included child marriage, polygamy, limited rights to inherit property.
• Education was seen as the major factor to improve the position of women.

Prarthana Samaj

• It was founded by MG Ranade & RG Bhandarkar in 1867. Its objectives were more or less similar to that of Brahmo Samaj but remained confined to western India.
• Justice Ranade criticized child marriage, polygamy, restriction on remarriage of widows and non-access to education.

Arya Samaj:

• It was founded by Dayanand Saraswati in 1875. Unlike the above two it was a religious revivalist movement, revitalizing the ancient Hindu traditions.
• It advocated reform in the caste system, compulsory education for men and women, prohibition of child marriage by law, remarriage of child widows. It was opposed to divorce & widow remarriage in general.
• Social reformers mentioned above eulogized the position of women in ancient India.
• However, radicals like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Jyotiba Phule and Gopal Hari Deshmukh (Lokhitwadi) accused the caste system responsible for the subjugation of women in society.
• Similar movements began in Islamic community as well. Begum of Bhopal, Syed Ahmad Khan & Sheikh Abdullah in Aligarh and Karamat Hussain in Lucknow spearheaded a movement to improve women’s education.

The Women’s India Association (WIA) (1917)

• The Women’s Indian Association (WIA)was founded at Adyar, Madras, in 1917 by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, Jeena Raja Dasa, and others to liberate women from the deplorable condition women suffered in socio-economic and political matters during the 19th and the early 20th century.
• The Association later developed into a potent force to fight against illiteracy, child marriage, the Devadasi system and other, social ills

All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) (1926),

• The All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Delhi. It was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tackle other women’s rights issues.
• The organization is one of the oldest women’s groups in India and has branches throughout the country.

National Council for Women in India (NCWI) (1925)

• Chaired by Durgabai Deshmukh, the National Council of Women was established in 1958. The organisation is set up to ensure the equal rights of women in society.
• This organisation primarily works to improve the condition of women all over the country. Their major emphasis so far has been on promoting women’s education in the country.

Post-Independence Women’s Movements in India: Toward Emancipation

• In the post-Independence period a series of institutional initiatives has been introduced for the emancipation of women in the society.
• The most important of these pertain to the constitutional provisions and social legislation for women and planned economic development.
• Women’s movement has been widely influenced by these broad socio-economic and political processes of this period.
• Economic hardships faced by women in the Himalayan region due to cutting down of forests resulted in spontaneous mobilization of women. They hugged the trees to prevent the contractors from felling them. This is popularly known as the Chipko movement. This is why we find that women are even now in the forefront of these ecological agitations.
• The earliest campaigns – the 2003 Blank Noise Project against eve-teasing, the 2009 Pink Chaddi (underwear) movement against moral policing and the 2011 Slut-Walk protest against victim-blaming – were limited in their scope but set the tone for this new mode of protest.
• The Campaigns such the 2011 Why Loiter project on women’s right to public spaces, the 2015 Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) movement against sexist curfew rules in student halls and the 2017 Bekhauf Azadi (Freedom without Fear) March resonated with a much larger number of women, turning this social media-led phenomenon into a true feminist movement.
• In the post-Independence period, two important Organisations for rural women were set up:
  • Kasturba Memorial Trust and Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh (Indian Rural Women’s Organisation). Their main objective was to assist the rural women in developing leadership potential.
  • The Department of Women and Child development (1985) was opened under the Ministry of Human Resource Development with the sole purpose of assisting women and child development to develop into their full potential.

WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE:

• According to Gandhi, the role of women in the political, economic and social emancipation of the country was of overriding importance.
• Gandhi had immense faith in the capability of women to carry on a non-violent crusade. Under his guidance and leadership, women shouldered critical responsibilities in India’s struggle for freedom.
• Women held public meetings, organized picketing of shops selling foreign alcohol and articles, sold Khadi and actively participated in National Movements.
• Women criticized their exclusion in the salt satyagraha led by Gandhi which subsequently led to Gandhi’s reconsideration of his view against women’s participation in 1930.
• Women’s organisations such as Desh Sevika Sangh, Nari Satyagraha Samiti, Mahila Rashtriya Sangh, Ladies Picketing Board, Stri Swarajya Sangh and Swayam Sevika Sangh began mushrooming at this time to organise the mass boycott of foreign cloth and liquor
• But the protest that women participated in was not always non-violent, although the ideas of individual freedom propagated by the reform and nationalist movements was accepted by women in their personal and organisational lives, they did meet with resistance from society and even their own families
• However, in the social realm, Gandhi envisaged a critical role for women in doing away with the forces of communalism, caste system and untouchability.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND SOCIAL LEGISLATION

• The Indian Constitution has embodied within itself grounds for gender equality. The Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles together work towards shaping policies and putting safeguards not just for women empowerment in India but also protection.

Recent Developments in Women’s Rights in India: A Stride towards Equality

Abolition of Triple Talaq:

• Triple Talaq goes against the constitutional principles of gender equality, secularism, right to life of dignity, etc.
• It gave men the right to arbitrarily divorce their wives without any valid reason.
• It has led to the subjugation of Muslim women even after 72 years of independence but its solution must come through coexistence rather than coercion.
• It goes against Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 15(1) which states that there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the basis of gender, race, etc. and this kind of talaq is biased against the interests of women
• Terming Triple Talaq as unconstitutional as a step towards establishing uniform civil code (Enshrined in Article 44 of directive principle of state policy), but criminalising it goes against the ethos of Fundamental rights i.e. article 25 and 26 the freedom of religion.

Women’s entry to Religious places:

SABARIMALA ISSUE

The Supreme Court, in a recent judgement, allowed women, irrespective of their age, to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. 

Background

• The Supreme Court in Indian Young Lawyers’ Association v/s State of Kerala Case declared Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorization of Entry) Act of 1965, which authorizes restriction on women “of menstruating age”, as ultra vires the Constitution.
• The Supreme Court set aside a Kerala High Court judgment of 1991 that upheld the prohibition, pointing that the celibate nature of the deity was “a vital reason for imposing this restriction on young women”.

Arguments in favor of women’s entry into the temple:

• Banning entry was derogatory for women – Morality must not be viewed narrowly from the perspective of an individual, a section or religious sect. Individual dignity of women could not be at the mercy of a mob.
• Right to worship is equally available to men and women – Woman’s right to pray was not dependent on any law but it is a constitutional right. Religion cannot become a cover to exclude and deny this basic right to worship to women.
• Patriarchy in religion cannot trump the freedom to practice religion.
• Prohibition was not an essential practice of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution thus it was not covered under the right to freedom of religion.
• The Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution recognizes the individuals as a basic unit. The argument that the right to preserve the celibacy of the deity is a protected constitutional right does not apply.

Arguments against women’s entry into the temple:

• Religious denominations should decide what constitutes an essential religious practice and it should not be decided by judges on the basis of their personal viewpoints.
• By determining whether a particular practice or custom is essential or integral to a religion, the court leaves the rational world of laws and constitutional rights and enters into the realm of theology, thus leading to judicial overreach.
• It ignores the ground social realities of India and immense diversities. Also, judges must take special care while dealing with a sensitive issue like religion.
• India being a pluralistic society with diverse faiths, constitutional morality gave freedom to practice even irrational or illogical customs and usages. Constitutional morality required harmonization of rights of all persons, religious denominations or sects, to ensure that the religious beliefs of none were undermined.
• Ayappa devotees had attributes of a religious denomination such as distinct names, properties, etc. Also, Sabarimala temple was not funded out of the Consolidated Fund. Temple Management thus contends that they were allowed to frame rules for the shrine without State’s interference.
• The pilgrimages require tough processes of penance to be carried out for 41 days which would be difficult for women.
• In a pluralistic society composed of people with diverse faith, belief and traditions, to entertain PILs challenging religious practices followed by any group, sect or denominations, could cause serious damage to the constitutional and secular fabric of the country.

Way Forward for Women’s Rights in Places of Worship: A Call for Equality

• The ruling will have wider impacts on other similar customs and practices at other places of worship too. The Temple management must provide adequate amenities for women devotees to smoothly implement the SC order
• Haji Ali: The Bombay High Court lifted the ban saying it contravenes the Constitution and women should be allowed entry “at par with men”. HC held that the Trust cannot enforce a ban “contrary to the fundamental rights” (i.e. Art 14, 15 and 25) enshrined in the Constitution.

Conclusion: Paving the Way for Gender Empowerment in India

• The path towards gender empowerment is full of potholes. Over the year’s women have made great strides in many areas with notable progress in reducing gender gaps.
• Today Indian women have excelled in each and every field being self – sufficient.
• Amidst of all this the status of Indian women is still not satisfactory.
• A need for transformation in the Thoughts of man and society as a whole has to be brought towards women and accept them as equal participants in the country’s progress.

“Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.” – Hillary Clinton

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS:

• “Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata. ‘Substantiate your view. (2018) – 15 Marks
• Discuss the role of women in the freedom struggle especially during the Gandhian phase. (2016) 5 Marks
• Women empowerment in India needs gender budgeting. What are the requirements and status of gender budgeting in the Indian context (2016) 5 Marks / GS – III
• Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India. (2015) 5 Marks
• How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes? (2015) 5 Marks
• How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle class working woman in India? (2014) 10 Marks
• Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of
• agriculture in India. (2014) 10 Marks
• Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments. (2014) 10 Marks
• Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free from gender bias. Comment. (2013) 10 Marks

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS:

• Discuss the role of women in India’s Freedom Struggle.
• Examine various initiatives taken by the Government of India in empowering women in the society. Discuss with recent happenings to justify your stand.
• “The participation of women in the workforce in India is one of the lowest globally”. Comment and also suggest some measures to address this issue.
• Give an account of present situation of women in the Indian Society

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