(This paper was presented in the National Seminar at Kanya Kumari, Tamil Nadu)
-Dr. S. Vijay Kumar
Our Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan
Singh has rightly pointed out in the 57th National Development Council Meeting,
on 27th December, 2012 at New Delhi that “Gender inequality is
an important aspect which deserves special attention. Women and girls represent
half the population and our society has not been fair to this half. Their
socio-economic status is improving, but gaps persist….The emergence of women in
public spaces, which is an absolutely essential part of social emancipation, is
accompanied by growing threats to their safety and security…… the issue of
safety and security of women is of the highest concern to our Government. There can be no meaningful development
without the active participation of half the population and this participation
simply cannot take place if their security is not assured”. (1) Hence,
“Gender Inclusive Development” should be our main aim for the overall development
of our country. We have to find out the ways and means, how women could be
involved in the development process. In India,
despite several years of planed development, improvement observed in education
and, to a lesser extent, in health women’s
improved capabilities do not seem to have been translated into an equal
participation between men and women in economic and political activities.
The main message of the World
development report (2012) is gender equality and inclusive development. Greater
gender equality enhances productivity and improves other development outcomes,
including prospects for the next generation and for the quality of societal
policies and institutions. Economic development is not enough to shrink all
gender disparities-corrective policies that focus on persisting gender gaps are
essential. This report points to four priority areas for policy going forward.
First, reducing gender gaps in human capital-specifically those that address
female mortality and education. Second, closing gender gaps in access to
economic opportunities, earnings, and productivity. Third, shrinking gender
differences in voice and agency within society. Fourth, limiting the
reproduction of gender inequality across generations. (2) These are all areas
where higher incomes by themselves do little to reduce gender gaps, but focused
policies can have a real impact. Gender equality is at the heart of
development. It's the right development objective, and it's smart economic
policy.
Women still account for 70% of the world’s poorest and
yet they remain a potential driver for development and an untapped resource for
growth in many countries. Empowering women is a prerequisite for long- term and resilient growth and the
achievement of all the MDGs. Investment in gender equality yields the highest
returns of all actions for development. In
recent decades, economic and social inequalities have increased alongside high
growth rates, stemming from the nature of the growth process, embedded
pre-existing structural inequalities, and as an offshoot of globalization. This
has exacerbated regional inequalities depending upon their initial resource
endowments and social structures. It has also exacerbated the inequalities
between men and women.
In spite of claim of ‘gender inclusive growth’
by the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), the mass of Indian women
have not only been bypassed but also marginalized in the growth process.
Real wages of mass of women have
declined. Due to withdrawal of the state from social sector, women’s work
burden in unpaid care economy (cooking, cleaning, nursing, collecting
fuel-fodder-water, etc.) has increased many folds. Subordinate status of women
manifests in declining child sex ratio i.e., ‘missing girls phenomenon’,
deteriorating reproductive and child health, feminization of poverty, increased
violence against women,
enhanced mortality and morbidity among girls and women and deplorable condition
of elderly women and women in difficult circumstances. Government schemes such
as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Microfinance Movement
and Mid Day Meal Scheme have brought the poor women from the level of
starvation to subsistence but not to human development. Gender inequality holds back the growth of
individuals, the development of nations and the evolution of societies. Gender
issues are not women’s issues but understanding opportunities, constraints and
the impact of change as they affect both men and women. For gender
inclusive growth, the state needs to play more proactive role through gender
budgeting and gender mainstreaming in the Indian economy.
Women
in India: Brief Historical Overview
Vedic Age: “Yathra nariyasthu pujyathe ramanthe thathra devathaha”,
the meaning of this Sanskrit Sloka is, where women are respected, there angels
will reside. This shows that in the Vedic Age (1500-1000 BC), women
enjoyed great respect and freedom in the society. In fact far superior position
to the men of that time.
"Sakthi" a feminine term means "power" and
"strength". It is evident from the ancient scripts that the women
like Vishwavara, Gosa, Gaargi and Mythreya learnt and chanted Vedaas. They
participated in Vedhantha discussions. In the later period the position of women gradually
weakened.
In the past:
Culture outlook and historical
perspective of society always reflects in present-day behavioral pattern of a
society. In the past, 6th -7th century onwards, due
to continuous foreign invasions on the country, women’s position in the society
had worsened.
Basic
human rights denied – Slave
like condition and inhuman treatment to women had become a common practice.
Basic human rights were denied to women during this period. Seventh century
onwards, Muslim and British attacks had given birth to many social evils like
child-marriage, Sati, ‘Purdah-system, complete segregation of women from
outside world. Restrictions were imposed on women-movements. (3)
Post Independence:
Constitution of India has guaranteed
equal protection for all its citizens irrespective of gender. Several
legislative interventions to protect and deal with special crimes against women
have also been framed over the years. Domestic violence and collective forms of
violence like communal or caste violence, targeting women have also been acknowledged
as serious crimes. Many institutional mechanisms have been created like
National and State Commissions for women. Government and NGO’s are continuously
working for empowerment and emancipation of women. India is also a signatory to
several international conventions that protect the rights of women.
Slow but steady Progress: Modern women have come out of their
protective shell – four-walls of the house. They are trying their best to
restore lost prestige and secure due place in modern world. They have marched
ahead, though slowly but steadily with tremendous self-confidence and inner
strength. They are actively participating in nation-building activities and
have paved way even into the precincts, which have been considered as an
exclusive male preserve. Their entry is resented by some persons, but women are
facing it bravely. They work very hard to prove their worth and make their
presence felt.
Position still not very satisfactory: Position of women remains pathetic
despite all efforts of governmental and non-governmental agencies after the
independence. Only a small number of women could come up, that too in big towns
with access to modern education and limited employment opportunities.
Conceptualization of man-woman relationships and their representation in
institutions like family, community, religious agencies, state, educational
institutions etc. are still focused on physical weakness of woman.
Secondary position in the society: Women are still accorded secondary
position in the society. Credit of their contributions goes to society, nation
or to their male counter-parts, who have retained power, prestige and pleasures
of the world leaving women remain ignorant, illiterate and ill-informed,
invisible and unrewarded.
Facts and Figures about Women:
Women make up half of the world's
population and yet represent of the world's poor of illiterate adults are 70%
·
64% of illiterate adults are women.( That’s 2 out of 3)
·
Women work 2/3 of the world’s hours yet earn 1/10 of the world’s
income.
Violence
·
One in four women is physically or sexually abused during
pregnancy
·
Globally, nearly 40% of murders of women are committed by an intimate
partner.
·
Every day, 39,000 girls are forced into early marriage. That’s
27 girls a minute
Inclusion & participation
·
Women make up only 21.9% of parliamentarian seats, and 8% of the
world’s executives.
·
95% of countries have a male head of state.
·
More than 100 countries have laws on the books that restrict
women's participation in the economy.
Women in power=greater opportunities for girls’ education,
health, and equality.
According
to the gender-based research carried out by Anupriya Singh of Delhi-based Lal
Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management ((The Times of India: Dated:
20-09-2014). Only 5% of working women in
India make it to senior leadership positions in the corporate sector, compared
to the global average of 20 percent. In
India, women's representation at the board level was lesser at just two
percent.
Women’s
strength in the labour force stands at 28 percent at the junior level, 14.91 at
the middle level and 9.32 percent at the senior level.
India ranks at the top in the dropout rate with 48 percent of women dropping out between the junior and
middle level. "Indian women drop out of the workforce much early in
their career compared to their counterparts in other Asian countries.
"The primary reasons often mentioned for the high dropout
rate have been child care and family responsibilities, including care for the
elderly.
Percentage of total women workers to total
persons employed in India was 30.90% (rural) and 19.80% (urban), aggregate
percentage being 25.56.
Though
Punjab a developed state, as per the provisional results of the sixth Economic
Census, the percentage of female (hired and non-hired) workers in the total
persons employed is 18.21%, though it is 25.56% at the national level. (The
Times of India: Dated: 27-08-2014)
Human Development Report 2014 – Gender Development Index
(GDI)
The latest Human Development Report released by
the United Nations Development Programme in Tokyo on July 24 has ranked India
135 in a list of 187 countries. India’s position is the same as it was in
2012. Gender Development Index (GDI),
introduced this year for the first time to measure the gender gap in human
development achievements. (4) GDI measures gender gap in human development achievements
in three basic dimensions of human development: health, measured by female and
male life expectancy at birth; education, measured by female and male expected
years of schooling for children and female and male mean years of schooling for
adults ages 25 and older; and command over economic resources, measured by
female and male estimated earned income.
UNDP - HDI Report,
2014 – GDI Rank among BRIC Countries
Sl. No.
|
Country
|
GDI Rank
|
1
|
Brazil
|
57
|
2
|
Russia
|
79
|
3
|
India
|
132
|
4
|
China
|
79
|
Source: UNDP Report 2014
Inequality
adjusted HDI
HDI ranking compares different countries on three parameters:
health, education and income. But, for internal inequality within same country
another rank created is inequality adjusted HDI. For this, India Rank same for
both HDI and inequality adjusted HDI =135. The “Absolute figure” tell us how
much human development lost due to inequality within a country. For India, it is calculated that 29% of Human development is lost due to
inequality. (5)
India’s
Inequality adjusted HDI Table
India’ Performance
|
Absolute Figure
|
HDI
|
0.586
|
Inequality adjusted
|
0.418
|
% of difference over HDI
|
29%
|
Source: UNDP Report 2014
The Global Gender Gap Report (2013) - India 101st among 136 nations
The Global Gender Gap
Report, introduced by the World Economic
Forum in 2006, provides a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of
gender-based disparities around the world. The
index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education- and
health-based criteria and provides country rankings that allow for
effective comparison across regions and income groups and over time. India
has a long way to go is evident from the fact that it has the widest gender
gaps among similar economies. It is the
laggard in the BRICS bloc. The only sign of optimism lay in political
empowerment of women. Despite Parliament dithering over passage of a women's
reservation bill for equal representation in the legislature, India bagged a healthy ninth rank when it
came to political empowerment of its women. (6)
The Global Gender Gap Report (2013): BRIC Countries
Sl. No.
|
Country
|
GDI Rank
|
1
|
Brazil
|
62
|
2
|
Russia
|
61
|
3
|
India
|
101
|
4
|
China
|
69
|
Source: Global Gender Gap Report, 2013
Advancement
of Women through Five Year Plans (7)
First Five Year Plan (1951-56)
Welfare
oriented concerning women’s issues. The programmes for women were implemented
through the National Extension Service Programmes through Community Development
Blocks.
Second Five Year (1956-61)
Efforts
were geared to organize “Mahila Mandals” (women’s Plan groups) at grass-roots
levels to ensure better implementation of welfare schemes.
Third, Fourth, Fifth Year Plans (1961-74)
High
priority to women’s education. Measures to and other Interim improve maternal
and child health services, and supplementary
Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85)
The
Plan adopted a multidisciplinary approach with a three-pronged thrust on health,
education and employment of women.
Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90)
Development
programmes with objective of raising economic and social status and bring them
into the mainstream of national development. Promotion of “beneficiary-oriented
programmes” which extended direct benefits to women.
Eighth Five Year (1992-97)
Enabled
to function as equal partners and participants in the developmental process
with reservation in the membership of local bodies. Marks a definite shift from ‘development’ to
empowerment’ of women.
Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002)
Envisaged: a) Empowerment of women and socially
disadvantaged as agents of socio-economic change and development. b) Promoting
and developing people’s participatory institutions like Panchayati Raj institutions,
cooperatives and self-help groups. c) Strengthening efforts to build
self-reliance. d) A women’s component plan at the Central and State levels.
Tenth Five Year (2002-2007)
Ensure
requisite access of women to information, resources and services, and advance
gender equality goals.
Eleventh Five Year (2007-2012
Special
measures for gender empowerment and equity. The Ministry of Women and Child
Development would make synergistic use of gender budget and gender
mainstreaming process.
Twelfth Five Year (2012 – 2017)
The key strategies for women identified are; 1- Economic
Empowerment 2- Social and Physical Infrastructure 3- Enabling legislations 4-
Women’s Participation in Governance 5- Inclusiveness of all categories of
vulnerable women and 6- Engendering National Policies/Programmes. The key
strategy for children is to fulfill the rights of children to survival,
protection, participation and development.
Gender Equity Issues in India:
The origin of the
Indian idea of appropriate female behavior can be traced back to the rules laid
down by Manu in 200 BC: “In childhood a female must be subject to her father,
in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never
be independent.”They are not well aware of economical and political systems. So
they cannot participate in such fields without proper training. It requires a
long time. They are not aware of legal provisions favoring and protecting them.
Female are regarded as machines to produce children. This attitude is yet to be
changed.
Gender discrimination continues to be an enormous problem within Indian
society. Traditional patriarchal norms have relegated women to secondary status
within the household and workplace. This drastically affects women's health,
financial status, education, and political involvement. Women are commonly
married young, quickly become mothers, and are then burdened by stringent
domestic and financial responsibilities. India
has traditionally been schizophrenic in its treatment of women, worshipping
them on the one hand and neglecting the girl child on the other. "While
countries like China too have a male preference among children, but they have
less discrimination in healthcare services made available to children. India
has traditionally been "very backward" when it comes to social
development and gender parameters. "We
don't lack government programmes, but the challenge lies in half-hearted
implementation and corruption".
The Constitution of India ensures
gender equality in its preamble as a fundamental right but also empowers the
state to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women by ways of
legislation and policies. India has also ratified various international
conventions and human rights forums to secure equal rights of women,” such as
the ratification of Convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination
against women (CEDAW) in 1993. Women have been finding place in local
governance structures, overcoming gender biases. Over one million women have
been elected to local Panchayats as a result of 1993 amendment to the Indian
Constitution. The passing of Pre-natal Diagnostic Tech Act in 1994 also is a
step in removing gender discrimination. This Act seeks to end sex-
determination tests and female foeticide and prohibits doctors from conducting
such procedures for the specific purpose of determining the sex of the fetus.
The Government also announced the National policy for empowerment of women in 2001
to bring out advancement, development and empowerment of women. As persistent
gender inequalities continue, we need to rethink concepts and strategies for
promoting women’s dignity and rights.
Gender
Pairity can Boost India’s GDP by 27% - IMF:
IMF’s
Chief Cristina Lagarde speaking in her key note address at the launch of
World’s 20 largest economies said today
(6 - 09 – 2015) at Ankara( Capital of Turkey) that “we have esimates
that,if the number of female wokers were to increase to the same level as the
number of men, GDP in the US would expand by 5%, by 9% in Japan, and by 27% in
India.
Impressive
Gender Equality Results are achieved through:
·
Better employment opportunities for women
·
Women’s increased access to economic resources
·
Women’s participation in all project elements
·
Practical benefits to women
Women and Children constitute 70
per cent of India’s population. According to 2011census, women (including
girls) account for 48.5 % and children about 35% of the population. High
prevalence of anemia among women 55 % (in 15-49 age group). Overall sex ratio
is 940. A decline in the child sex ratio (0-6 years) was observed with India’s
2011 census reporting that it stands at 914 females against 1,000 males,
dropping from 927 in 2001 - the lowest since India’s independence. Gender
differential in under 5 child mortality- 64 for girls against 55 for boys.
Gender inequalities in India:
Gandhiji described discrimination against women
as an anachronism, he said: "I fail to see any reason for jubilation over
the birth of a son and for mourning over the birth of a daughter. Both are
God's gifts. They have an equal right to live and are equally necessary to keep
the world going.” Gender inequalities in
India, refers to health, education, economic and
political inequalities between men and women. Gender inequalities, and its
social causes, impact India's sex ratio, women's health over their lifetimes,
their educational attainment, and economic conditions. When India’s population
is examined as a whole, women are placed at a disadvantage in several ways. Gender inequality holds back the growth of
individuals, the development of nations and the evolution of societies.
Amartya Sen highlighted
the need to consider the socio-cultural influences that promote gender
inequalities. In India, cultural influences favour the preference
for sons for reasons related to kinship, lineage,
inheritance, identity, status, and economic security. In extreme cases, the
discrimination takes the form of honour killings where families kill daughters or daughter in laws who fail to conform to
gender expectations about marriage and sexuality. The causes of
gender inequalities in India are complex, but some of them are:
Economic Inequalities:
Labor participation and wages:
Over 50% of Indian labor is employed
in agriculture. A majority of rural men work as cultivators, while a majority
of women work in livestock maintenance, egg and milk production. Rao (8) states that about 78 per cent of
rural women are engaged in agriculture, compared to 63 per cent men. About 37%
of women are cultivators, but they are more active in the irrigation, weeding,
winnowing, transplating and harvesting stages of agriculture. About 70 per cent
of farm work was performed by women in India in 2004. (8) There is wage
inequality between men and women in India. The largest wage gap was in manual
ploughing operations in 2009, where men were paid
103 per day, while women were
paid
55, a wage gap ratio of 1.87.
For sowing the wage gap ratio reduced to 1.38 and for weeding 1.18. (9) For
other agriculture operations such as winnowing, threshing and transplanting,
the men to female wage ratio varied from 1.16 to 1.28. For sweeping, the 2009
wages were statistically same for men and women in all states of India. (9)
Access to credit:
Although laws are supportive of
lending to women and micro credit programs
targeted to women are prolific, women often lack collateral for bank loans due
to low levels of property ownership and microcredit schemes have come under
scrutiny for coercive lending practices. Although many microcredit programs have
been successful and prompted community-based women's self-help groups, a 2012
review of microcredit practices found that women are contacted by multiple
lenders and as a result, take on too many loans and overextend their credit.
The report found that financial incentives for the recruiters of these programs
were not in the best interest of the women they purported to serve. (10) The
result was a spate of suicides by women who were unable to pay their debts.
(11)
Property ownership Inequalities:
When compared with men, women have low levels of property ownership.
Education
Inequalities:
According to Mahatma
Gandhi, “If you educate a man you
educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family.” Our predominant
patriarchal system doesn’t provide enough chances for women to have higher
education even if they wish. Education of women would mean narrowing down of social
disparities and inequities. This would
automatically lead to sustainable and inclusive development. India is on target to meet its Millennium Development Goal of gender parity in education by 2015. (12) In rural India girls continue to be less educated than the boys. (13) According to a 1998 report by U.S. Department of Commerce,
the chief barrier to female education in India are inadequate school facilities
(such as sanitary facilities), shortage of female teachers and gender bias in
curriculum (majority of the female characters being depicted as weak and
helpless vs. strong, adventurous, and intelligent men with high prestige jobs) (13)
Why do girls drop out?
·
Child marriage
·
School fees
·
Sexual violence
·
Lack of sanitary facilities
But ... If we could keep girls in school beyond grade 7, they
would be:
·
More likely to marry 4 years later
·
Less likely to die in
pregnancy/childbirth
·
More likely to have an average of 2.2
fewer children
·
More likely to have healthier children
·
More likely to send their children to
school
Literacy Inequalities:
Though it is gradually rising, the
female literacy rate in India is lower than the male literacy rate. (14) According
to Census of India 2011, literacy rate of females is 65.46% compared to males
which are 82.14%. Compared to boys, far fewer girls are enrolled in the
schools, and many of them drop out. (14) According to majority of the scholars, the major factor
behind the improved social and economic status of women in Kerala is literacy. (14) In rural Punjab, the gap between
girls and boys in school enrollment increases dramatically with age as
demonstrated in National Family Health Survey-3 where girls age 15-17 in Punjab
are 10% more likely than boys to drop out of school. (15) Although this
gap has been reduced significantly, problems still remain in the quality of
education for girls where boys in the same family will be sent to higher
quality private schools and girls sent to the government school in the village. (16)
Health Inequalities:
Immunization rates for 2 year olds were 41.7% for girls
and 45.3% for boys according to the National Family Health Survey-3, indicating
a slight disadvantage for girls. Some studies in
south India have found that gender disadvantages, such as negative attitudes
towards women’s empowerment are risk factors for suicidal behavior and common
mental disorders like anxiety and depression. (17)
Violence against
women:
Domestic violence, (18) rape and dowry-related violence
are sources of gender violence. (19) (20) According to the National Crime Records
Bureau 2013 annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012. (21) Out of these, 24,470 were
committed by relative or neighbor; in other words, the victim knew the alleged
rapist in 98 per cent of the cases. (22) India records a rape rate of 2 per 100,000 people, (23)
(24) compared to 8.1 rapes per 100,000 people in Western
Europe, 14.7 per 100,000 in Latin America, 28.6 in the United States, and 40.2
per 100,000 in Southern African region. (25)
Political Inequalities:
This measure of gender inequality
considers the gap between men and women in political decision making at the
highest levels. (26)
On this measure, India has ranked in top 20 countries worldwide for many years,
with 9th best in 2013 - a score reflecting less gender inequality in India's
political empowerment than Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, France and United
Kingdom (27) (28). From the prime
minister to chief ministers of various states, Indian voters have elected women
to its state legislative assemblies and national parliament in large numbers
for many decades. Women turnout during India's 2014 parliamentary general
elections was 65.63%, compared to 67.09% turnout for men. (29) In 16 states of India, more
women voted than men. A total of 260.6 million women exercised their right to
vote in April-May 2014 elections for India's parliament. (29) India passed 73rd and 74th
Constitutional Amendments in 1993, which provides for 33 per cent quotas for
women's representation in the local self-government institutions. These
Amendments were implemented in 1993. This, suggest Ghani et al., has had strong
effects for empowering women in India in many spheres. (30)
However, Women's Reservation Bill or the the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, which provides for 33
per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies is still pending.
Other Inequalities:
Natality inequality: Given a
preference for boys over girls that many male-dominated societies have, gender
inequality can manifest itself in the form of the parents wanting the newborn
to be a boy rather than a girl.
Opportunities of higher education inequality: The opportunities of
higher education may be far fewer for young women than for young men. Indeed,
gender bias in higher education and professional training can be observed even
in some of the richest countries in the world, in Europe and North America.
Mortality inequality: In some
regions in the world, inequality between women and men directly involves
matters of life and death, and takes the brutal form of unusually high
mortality rates of women and a consequent preponderance of men in the total
population. Mortality inequality
has been observed extensively in North Africa and in Asia, including China and
South Asia.
Household inequality: There are
often enough basic inequalities in case of girls and women within the family or
the household, which can take many different forms – food, health and schooling
and unequally shared household duties.
Professional inequality: In terms of
employment as well as promotion in work and occupation, women often face
greater handicap than men.
Reasons for Gender
Inequalities in India:
Patriarchal
Society:
Most of India, with some exceptions,
has strong patriarchal and patrilineal customs,
where men hold authority over female family members and inherit family property
and title. Examples of patriarchy in India include prevailing customs where
inheritance passes from father to son, women move in with the husband and his
family upon marriage, and marriages include a bride price or dowry. This
'inter-generational contract' provides strong social and economic incentives
for raising sons and disincentives for raising daughters. (31) The parents of the woman
essentially lose all they have invested in their daughter to her husband's
family, which is a disincentive for investing in their girls during youth.
Furthermore, sons are expected to support their parents in old age and women
have very limited ability to assist their own parents. (32)
Son Preference:
A key factor driving gender
inequality is the preference for sons, as they are deemed more useful than
girls. Boys are given the exclusive rights to inherit the family name and
properties and they are viewed as additional status for their family. They are
also believed to have a higher economic utility as they can provide additional
labour in agriculture. Another factor is that of religious practices, which can
only be performed by males for their parents' afterlife and save them from
punaama naraka. All these factors make sons more desirable. Thus, a combination
of factors has shaped the imbalanced view of sexes in India. A 2005 study in
Madurai, India, found that old age security, economic motivation, and to a
lesser extent, religious obligations, continuation of the family name, and help
in business or farm, were key reasons for son preference. (33)
Discrimination
against girl child: The
girl child is subjected to discrimination with all respects – Education,
marriage, employment etc. Sex determination continues to be practiced robustly
and rampantly. As is sex discrimination — girls are given less food, less
health care, less education and even less affection. Also, it seems policies
for the girl child haven’t done much to improve the situation.
Dowry: The evil practice of dowry is widely prevalent in
India. As a result, daughters are considered to be an economic liability.
Pressing Issues:
·As
the opportunities in cities improve, it is observed that more women are
migrating to the urban areas in search of work and a better quality of life.
·
Women
and Poverty
·
Education
and Training of Women
·
The
attitudes towards women in the society
·
Non-flexible
working hours and discriminatory working condition
·
Sexual
harassment and a safety-oriented workplace design.
·
Fear
of Transit
The Implications of Gender Disparities in
India:
·
Declining Female Sex-Ratio: India has yet a long way to go in
her fight against declining female sex ratio, pre-birth elimination of females.
Time is quickly ticking away. A shortage of girls would lead to a shortage of
eligible brides thus making the girl a "scarce commodity". A
concerted effort by the government, the law, political leaders, NGOs, media,
teachers and the community itself is the need of the hour.
·
Gender
inequality has adverse impact on development goals as
it reduces economic growth.
·
It
hampers the overall well being, because blocking women from
participation in social, political and economic activities can adversely affect
the whole society. Many developing countries including India, have displayed
gender inequality in education, employment and health.
·
It is common to find girls and women suffering from high
mortality rates. There are vast differences in education level of the two
sexes. India has witnessed gender inequality from its early history due to its socio-economic and religious
practices that resulted in a wide
gap between the position of men and women in the society.
·
In fact, gender has been the most statistically significant
determinant of malnutrition among
young children and malnutrition is a frequent, direct or underlying, cause of
death among girls below age 5. Girls are breast-fed less frequently and for a
shorter duration in infancy. In childhood and adulthood, males are fed first
and better. Adult women consume approximately 1,000 fewer calories per day than
men according to one estimate.
·
Higher
mortality of females (young girls, maternal mortality, and female infanticide): The main factor responsible for the numerical deficit
of females was excess female mortality. The
numerical impact of the higher female mortality was expressed in terms of "missing women" was devised
by Amartya Sen to give some rough idea of the enormity of the problem.
According to more recent estimates 50 million women are missing in India
alone. Due to Delivery deaths (maternal
deaths) also the number of females is decreasing. It came to know that in India
for every 14 minutes a woman dies from pregnancy and complications
of child birth.
·
Marriage squeeze: ‘Marriage squeeze’
characterized by inability of men in marriageable age to find suitable
partners. Marriage is universal in India and men typically marry younger women
with age gap of normally not exceeding five years. Already declining child sex
ratio plummets further; there is a probability that each successive cohort will
contain lesser and lesser women relative to men. As (in and out) migration do
not substantially alter the cohort sex composition, it is likely that more men compete for comparatively lesser
number of women in the marriage market.
·
Mental Distress among Women: In this modern age also women are
often blamed for their no fault of giving birth to a mail child. Actually women
can release XX chromosomes only, while men can release both X & Y
chromosomes. If X chromosome released from a woman and X chromosome released
from a man is joined during sexual inter course , a female child is born, other
– wise if Y chromosome released from a man is joined with X chromosome released
from a woman a male child is born. Thus, it is clear from scientific evidence
that men can only play a vital role in sex determination. But, knowingly or
unknowingly women are blamed for sex determination. The result of distress
among some women has lead to their suicides.
·
Postponing the marriages: Postponing the marriage longer by
marrying late, looking for brides who may be younger than usual or even older,
etc. In any case these options are not desirable. The
age at marriage, when involuntarily pushed upward as a result of inability in
finding a match will result in longer spousal gaps.
·
Re-emergence
of “bride price”: There are reports that scarcity of women
in an environment of poverty and lack of development has led to re-emergence of
“bride price”, the system of paying
money to obtain a wife, and sharing of wives in some communities in Rajasthan, who are in the lower echelons of the
society in terms of caste hierarchies and economic position (India Today,
September 1, 2001). If this continues in a wider scale, it is
the rich and powerful who are better poised for matrimony than others.
·
Glass Ceiling Effect: This term
symbolizes a number of barriers that prevent qualified individuals, especially
women from advancing higher in their organizations. Although many women hold
management positions, few have made the breakthrough to top-level positions. It was estimated that only one to five
percent of the top executive officials are women. Hymowitz & Schelhardt
(1986) used this term for the first time in the Wall Street Journal special
report on corporate women.
·
Crime against women: Difficulties and inability in
finding a female partner would lead to social tensions, particularly manifested
in crime against women.
·
Sex
Determination Tests: The increasing and widespread incidence
of “Boy-Girl tests" in urban centers will have serious consequences. In Mumbai and Delhi, the child sex ratio is
far below the national average and the girl population has dropped in 23
cities.
·
Deterioration
of ethics: If the situation of decline in sex ratio
becomes serious, ethics will deteriorate in the society, as a consequence, for
biological need prostitution will increase, and family taboos will also
deteriorate.
Suggestions:
·
Globalization: Globalization
has presented new challenges for the realization of the goal of women’s
equality. Strategies should be designed
to enhance
the capacity of women and empower them to meet the negative social and economic
impacts, which may flow from the globalization process.
·
Change
in attitude of men: Men should
change their attitude towards women. Unless men start regarding women as their
equal partners, in the growth of humanity this differentiation between men and
women shall continue unabated. No single item of achievement like education,
profession, legal rights or even the mixture of all these will work out a
solution - the only feasible solution is
the change in the mindset of men towards women. Till this is done, no amount of
teaching, preaching or bargaining will help the girl child.
·
Change
in attitude of women: There is a proverb in Telugu that “A
woman is enemy to another woman”. Eeven
women have to change their attitude towards the girl child/ women. At least
partly women are themselves responsible for their position. They prefer for sons.
·
Gender discrimination: There should be full stop for gender
discrimination and an end to son preference. Both and boys and girls should be
treated equal in all aspects. According to United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) projection,
by the year 2025 a significant share of men above 30 would still be single and
that many will never be able to marry at all. Men in the states of
Haryana and Punjab are already experiencing a nearly 20% deficit of
marriageable women.
·
Intensive Information, Education and
Communication (IEC) Campaigns: Intensive
Information, Education and Communication campaigns should be organized for
raising awareness among the public regarding the serious consequences of
decline in female sex ratio. In this context it right to quote, the statement
of GK Pillai, Union Home Secretary that “Whatever major steps that have been put
in the last 40 years have not had any impact in the child sex ratio and
therefore it requires complete review. Every policy measure has to be looked
into at the central government, state government and at the panchayat
level".
·
MTP: Amartya Sen refers to the abortions of the female fetus after
determination of the sex of the fetus as "natality inequality." He
designates the use of ultrasound as "high-tech sexism." MTP
providers need to be more vigilant when performing second-trimester abortions.
While the feminist discourse on abortion advocates that abortion is a right
over one's body, sex-selective abortion
in itself is a form of female violence. Effective implementation of the
Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act (1994) so that families find it
difficult to undertake sex determination and selective abortion.
·
Women empowerment: In the simplest of words, basically women empowerment means the creation
of an environment where women can make independent decisions on their personal
development as well as shine as equals in society. Education of women is a powerful
tool for improving nutrition levels, raising the age at marriage, acceptance of
family planning, improvement in self-image, and their empowerment. Hence, this
should be given top priority.
·
Recognizing unpaid care work as a
major human rights issue: As unpaid care work is a major
human rights issue this needs to change. Policies must recognize the role of
women and girls in the provision of unpaid care; reduce the drudgery of unpaid
care; and redistribute unpaid care work (from women to men, and from the family
to communities and the state), thus laying the basis for true gender equality.
·
Decision-making: Enhancing women’s decision-making
power in the household and society.
·
Resources: Ensuring that
resources allocated for gender equality match the genuine objectives and commitments.
·
Financial Management:
Making sure that public financial management systems are gender-responsive,
including by more rigorous tracking of expenditures.
·
Accountability:
Strengthening accountability framework for measuring progress on gender
equality and Women’s empowerment commitments at the country level.
·
Economic
and Financial assets: Enhancing women’s access to and
control over economic and financial assets.
·
Reducing the gender gap: Reducing the gender gap in secondary
and higher education would be a focus area, with a special focus on girls and
women, particularly those belonging to weaker sections including the
SC/ST/BC/Minorities.
·
NGOs Role: NGOs may be encouraged to promote
formation of self-help groups, organize non-formal education for adult females
and school dropouts, create employment opportunities for women as well as
provide counseling and support services to newly married and pregnant women to
discourage them from undergoing sex-selective abortion.
·
Warning Signals: "It (the decline in child sex
ratio) was expected, but it is a warning signal for the nation to wake
up," Ranjana Kumari, Director of Centre for Social Research, said. She
said the law banning sex-based abortion "is not stringently implemented".
"The caution should be taken seriously. We are leading to a crisis
situation," she said. Social activist Dr Sabu George said the larger cause
for concern was the fact that previously unaffected states were also indulging
in sex determination because of aggressive promotion of the sex selection tests
by doctors.
·
Regular check and serious
punishment: There
should be regular check and serious punishment for sex determination tests,
female feticide, infanticide and illegal abortions.
·
Save the Girl Child Campaign: "Save the Girl Child
campaign" launched by Government of India must be intensified. One of its
main objectives is to lessen the preference for a son by highlighting the
achievements of young girls. To achieve the long-term vision, efforts are
afloat to create an environment where sons and daughters are equally valued.
Boys need to be educated at an early level with regard to giving respect and
equal rights to girls.
·
Dowry: The evil practice of dowry is widely prevalent in
India. This should be curbed by implementing stringent laws and punishment.
Malnutrition: In view of the high
risk of malnutrition and disease that women face at all the three critical
stages viz., infancy, childhood, adolescent and reproductive phase, focused
attention should be paid to meeting the nutritional needs of women at all
stages of life cycle.
·
Positive Economic and Social
policies: Creating
an environment through positive economic and social policies for full
development of women to enable them to realize their full potential.
·
Equal Rights: The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment
of all human rights and fundamental freedom by women on equal basis with men in
all spheres-political, economic, social cultural and civil should be given.
·
Equal Access: Equal access to participation,
decision making of women in social, political and economic life of the nation,
equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security and public
office etc. is essential.
·
Strengthening legal systems: Strengthening the legal systems
aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women is the need
of the hour.
·
Priorities for domestic policy action: Addressing excess deaths of girls and
women and eliminating gender disadvantage in education where these remain
entrenched.
·
Closing differences in access to economic opportunities and
the ensuing earnings and productivity gaps between women and men.
- Shrinking
gender differences in
voice within households and societies.
- Limiting the reproduction of gender inequality across generations.
- Stringent
laws: Laws
related to SDTs and MTPs should be implemented strictly.
Safety of Women is ensured:
·
Where women girls can enjoy public spaces and public
life without fear of being assaulted
·
Where violence do not exist against women and girls
in their home, street and at work place
·
Where women and girls participate in making
decisions that affect the community in which they live
·
Where women and girls are discriminated against
where their economic, social, Political and Cultural rights are guaranteed.
·
Where safety guarantees human rights of all people
without excluding women and girls
·
Where the state and local government take actions
against to provide attention, prevention and punishment for violence against
women and girls
·
Where the state and local government gaurentee women
and girls access to justice
·
Insecurity
and the threat of violence prevent women from participating as full and equal
citizens in community life.
Sharing Responsibilities:
Women:
·
Speak out on issues of violence and insecurity
·
Support in the efforts to attain gender equality in
decision-making positions
·
Support women in positions of power to remain
accountable and promote equality.
Men:
·
Listen, accompany, and support women in their drive
for autonomy and empowerment
·
Mobilize men and boys to challenge traditional
gender roles in order to prevent violence against women and girls
·
To Women's groups, grassroots and community
organizations:
·
Special efforts should be given to outreach isolated
communities
·
Act for a local safety policy, planning, and practices
which integrate a gender approach, and which support women's safety
initiatives.
·
Provide greater opportunities for women's
involvement
·
Allocate municipal and Panchayat funds to gender
equality, community development and poverty reduction programs
To police services:
·
Preventive rather than a repressive approach to
violence and insecurity
·
The provision of adequate training on the causes and
impacts of violence and insecurity on women
·
Development of strategies to promote women's safety
and empowerment. Increase women power in police force
Education sector:
·
Integrate gender awareness, anti-violence, and human
rights teaching into the curriculum, and to challenge stereotypes and attitudes
on gender-based violence.
·
Mobilize children through empowerment strategies,
including self-defense, aimed at ensuring a safer city for all.
·
Girls should be motivated to take up higher education. Universal
education for all below 14 years should be strictly implemented. Gender
sensitive curricula should be framed to address sex-stereotyping menace.
The Role of Media:
·
Contribute to community mobilization, and facilitate
access to services aimed at ensuring women's safety.
·
Challenge gender stereotypes and inequalities
through information and awareness campaigns.
·
Reduce sensationalized reporting.
·
The
mass media must be involved in promoting a positive image of women. School and
college girls should be the target audience. However, this should be combined
with highlighting the issue and dangers of female feticide and skewed gender
ratio.
Research community:
·
Encourage research on women's safety and the
integration of gender in crime prevention
·
Provide research assistance and support to
community-based project implementation and evaluation
To private sector:
·
Partner with local organizations and municipalities,
and financially support initiatives promoting women's safety.
·
Audit the impacts of all decisions on the safety and
security of women employees, clients, and consumers, by working with unions,
women's groups and community organizations to include these issues in
workplaces.
To governments:
·
Develop policies and programs to ensure women's
financial autonomy, including women's right to own property.
·
Allocate necessary resources for the development of
strategies and initiatives on women's safety and security.
·
Politically and financially support local
governments in their efforts to promote safety.
International networks and UN
agencies:
·
Increase the availability of electronic exchange,
and of technical assistance.
·
International, regional, national and local-to-local
exchanges and cooperation for sustainable development and inclusive development.
·
Support the evaluation of progress made by regular
international or regional conferences on women's safety.
By 2015, India is expected to achieve
the MDG target on gender parity in education; however, the targets on women’s
economic empowerment and representation in National Parliament will not be met.
In shaping the post 2015 development agenda, the attention of the world is
focused on India and the role of the Government in promoting gender equality
and women’s empowerment focused on women’s security, voice and empowerment.
(34)
To conclude, India has enacted
many constitutional and legislative provisions for empowerment of women. Many
development schemes especially for women have also been launched
for improving their fortune. Such measures have started giving positive
outcomes relating to women's problems. But the position of women in our country
still leaves much to be desired. Top priority should be given in
our developmental plans for improving female literacy and creating
skills and capability among women for enabling them to stand on their own feet.
Unless the process of development is properly engendered, it shall remain endangered.
One concurrent example of gender discrimination is glass ceiling
effect. (35) Empowerment of women could only be achieved
if their economic and social status is improved. This could be
possible only by adopting definite social and economic policies with
a view of total development of women and to make them realize
that they have the potential to be strong human beings. The first and
foremost priority should be given to the education of women, which is the grass
root problem. Swami Vivekananda had said
“That nation which doesn’t respect women
will never become great now and nor will ever in future. Arise away and stop not until the goal is
reached”. In pursuit of making India a
great nation, let us work towards giving women their much deserved
status. Thus, our country should be
catapulted into the horizon of empowerment and equity of girls/women in all spheres
to achieve the goal of “Gender Inclusive Development”.
References:
(1). 57th
Meeting of National Development Council on 27th December, 2012
Planning Commission, Government
of India
(2). World development report (2012)
(3). Sreenivas Murthy, H.
V. The position of women in Ancient India.
(4). Human Development Report 2014 – Gender Development Index (GDI) – UNDP
(5). Inequality adjusted HDI – UNDP Report (2014)
(6). Global Gender Gap
Report (2013) - World Economic Forum
(7). Women through Five Year Plans – FYPs – GOI
(8). Rao, E. Krishna (2006), "Role of Women in Agriculture: A Micro Level Study."Journal of Global Economy, Vol 2
(9). WAGE RATES IN RURAL INDIA (2008-09) Labor Bureau,
MINISTRY OF LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT, Govt. of India (2010)
(10). Wichterich,
Christa. "The Other Financial Crisis: Growth and crash of the microfinance
sector in India." Development 55.3 (2012): 406-412.
(11). Biswas, Soutik. "India’s micro-finance suicide
epidemic." BBC News 16 (2010).
(13). Victoria A. Velkoff (October 1998). "Women of the World: Women's Education in India". U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved 25 December 2006.
(14). Kalyani Menon-Sen, A. K. Shiva Kumar (2001). "Women in India: How Free? How Equal?" United Nations. Archived from the original on 2006-09-11. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
(15). "Millennium Development Goals: India
Country report 2011". Central Statistical Organization, Government of India.
(16). Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi. "The progress of school education in
India." Oxford Review of Economic Policy 23.2 (2007): 168-195.
(17). "Convention for the Elimination of All forms
of Discrimination Against Women". United
Nations. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
(19). Larsen, Mattias, Neelambar Hatti, and
Pernille Gooch. "Intergenerational Interests, Uncertainty and
Discrimination." (2006).
(21).
National Crimes Record Bureau, Crime in India 2012 -
Statistics Government of India (May 2013)
(22). Vasundhara
Sirnate (1 February 2014). Good
laws, bad implementation". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 1 February 2014. "
(23). National Crimes Record Bureau, Crime in India 2012 -
Statistics Government of India (May 2013)
(24). "Court sentences 4 men to death in New
Delhi gang rape case". CNN. 2013-09-14. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
(25). S.
Harrendorf, M. Heiskanen, S. Malby, INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS on CRIME AND JUSTICE United Nations Office on Drugs &
Crime (2012)
(27). The Global Gender Gap Report 2013, World Economic Forum, Switzerland,
Table 3b and 5, page 13 and 19
(30). Political Reservations and Women’s
Entrepreneurship in India Ghani et al. (2014), World Bank and Harvard University/NBER,
pages 6, 29
(31). Larsen, Mattias, ed. Vulnerable Daughters in India: Culture,
Development and Changing Contexts. Routledge, 2011 (pp. 11-12).
(32). Larsen, Mattias, Neelambar Hatti, and Pernille Gooch.
"Intergenerational Interests, Uncertainty and Discrimination."
(2006).
(33).
Begum and Singh; CH 7Sekher and Hatti, 2007 Unwanted Daughters: Gender
discrimination in modern India.
(35). Hymowitz, C. and Schellhardt, T.D. (1986) “The glass
ceiling: Why women can’t seem to break the invisible barrier that block them
from the top jobs” The Wall Street Journal, March 24
Sir plz write an essay on how to convert "demographic dividend" to "demographic advantage"
ReplyDeleteAs for your request, I have written an article entitled "Demographic Dividend in India - Challenges Ahead". Please go through it and post your comments.
DeleteProf. S. Vijay Kumar