The Place of Women in India
We have come a long way, and yet
women have a long journey to walk to get equal rights. The present situation in the 21st century, it is better than the worst, however, we are not there
yet where we can say that women have equal rights.
Photo by Jose Aragones: |
Suggestion : Womenomics in Indian Context
The place of women in India
remains debatable and always in discussion. There are people who have opinions
and instead of addressing the various issues women face in daily life, they say
that India has been improving, and now women have a better position.
True, indeed. However, better
than what and improved – how?
What Indian women face in day-to-day life, can differ. For example, the woman who gets a modern family may have more rights than a family who is more traditional. India is a land where people take pride in being traditional. So, it does not matter how much development is done, every family has a different time zone for women.
Not only those women face many
other problems which are following.
Women: A second-class citizen
Women are still not desirable,
but yes somehow people/parents have started accepting the girl child due to
multiple campaigns ran by the government and progressive people.
There is evidence supporting
the arguments that women are still treated as a second-class citizen –
The Son Meta Preference-
This term made a highlighted in January 2018 when the economic survey published
by the government of India mentioned that there are twenty-one million
unwanted girls born in India.
Why unwanted girls were born?
Because parents wanted a male child, and in trying to conceive the male child-
they produced several children, and they were girls.
Can we ever imagine the life of
someone who is already treated as a second-class citizen, above that she
is born undesirable and unwanted?
This showed the exact picture of
Indian/ Asian society, and how unfair their pride is.
These women must go through a
series of hurtful events which starts with being neglected by their own
parents.
As per scientific data, the
emotional neglect from the parents can do-
‘For children, affectional neglect may have devastating consequences,
including failure to thrive, developmental delay, hyperactivity,
aggression, depression, low self-esteem, running away from home, substance
abuse, and a host of other emotional disorders. These children feel unloved
and unwanted.’
These girls also suffer from the disease,
but they don’t come under the priority list. Not only that but they also are not
fed well. In India, mostly in villages – the common practice is- if there is
good food like fruits and the food which holds the nutritional value; the mother
keeps that food for the male child.
The Male child often gets more
attention, privileged, and food. So, technically, our society contributes to an unhealthy female population- who is not emotionally and physically given a
chance to reach their full potential.
Does income affect women's
rights?
Can we blame money for the
pathetic conditions of women? In some cases, maybe. But not when it comes to
family.
Income rose across the different
states of India as per the data from 1991 to 2001. But the sex ratio declined.
So, money and economic condition might impact some families, but this is not
true. Higher-income families might still be biased
Villagers were blamed to kill
the girl child (female infanticide) , but as per the data of the economic
survey, it was heartbreaking that the population in urban areas also identified
the gender and aborted the child.
Women are considered a social
liability:
Due to the ill perception of girls
being the weak gender, parents are not able to accept that a girl can sustain
and be self-sufficient in her life.
It is a common misconception
that only a husband can take care of a woman, and to find a suitable husband,
most parents must pay dowry.
This is applicable to the bureaucrats,
government officials, and political leaders, yes the people who are supposed to stop
such practices. In fact, if a boy is able to save the government job, the
higher dowry he gets.
Therefore, women are always
considered a social liability.
Education and Career for a woman:
Women are raised since childhood
for keeping their career and education a secondary place. The first priority is
always their family. So, if something goes wrong in the family, the woman is
expected to sacrifice the first.
If she is married, she is supposed to leave the job, if the husband does not want her to work.
Indian women face this
challenge, where they need the approval of their in-laws and husbands to work or
to make choices for their career.
This is understood that the
decision includes two partners when it comes to marriage, but Indian women
don’t have much voice to keep.
If they show their interest in
the career more, mostly men feel threatened and their marriage often comes in a bad phase or in some cases might end in an abused relationship, where everyone
leaves the side of the suffering woman and supports the husband.
Therefore, to be accepted, women
do not want to feel abandoned, and as they are raised, they compromise their careers and education.
Women, inheritance, and
financial security:
Parents always consider that the
girl child must get married so, they save money for dowry instead of spending
in quality education or supporting the career.
Women often do not get
inherited property, as well as most properties, are given to the male child.
When the court tried to support
and mentioned that women can also claim the property of their parents.
Socially, women are still forced to leave their properties and claim.
The rule benefitted but there is
a long way to go.
Women do not have financial
security from their parents, also from their husband side. She is often controlled. Families with money consider that women
should not work, and they consider this thinking as a symbol of care and
affection. Also, somewhere it is related to social status.
Men
decide about the women of their house.
When
the government tried to implement the Maternity Bill to favor the women workforce, the company discouraged the hiring of female employees.
Women,
when they join the offices, they are discriminated against. They are not paid equally.
Also, they have often considered sex objects and if they get success in the
project – mostly they are not appreciated.
Somehow
the world seems against women, as men don’t support women even in household
chores, even if both are working.
Somehow
the house-related work is associated with women and she has to compromise at
so many levels.
As
India has strong family values traditionally, and it is not wrong to promote
the family. But In all these values, women leave their rights behind. To be a
part of the family, they have to agree with the decision.
Emotional
Abuse against women if they want to decide something
Women
are not getting the freedom to decide. They have a system to follow, and at every
step, they are reminded that they are women and they are supposed to follow the
code.
They
can not decide what to wear in the majority of cases in villages. They are publicly
shamed if they wear jeans in some parts of India. Not to forget to mention though,
some parents feel proud when they decide for themselves, yet the society is not
there yet.
In
schools, they are even commented on by the teacher, if they raise a question that
who would marry them if they ask so many questions.
They
can not choose the stream of education they like. Even the schools have discriminated against when it comes to uniforms in the name of modesty.
Therefore, their entire life even if they have at the occasion the illusion of deciding, at some
point in life they will be ignored and felt that they do not have the right to decide anything. If they try to stand out and decide. They are left abandoned and
isolated.
There
are some incidents – where men if they want to marry a girl and if a girl said
no, threw acid on the face of a female. The thinking behind it is a superiority
complex among men- who can not handle the rejection and want to claim the
women for having a crush or infatuation with them.
The
first women are restricted often to get married as per their choice in not all
the cases, but the number is higher. Secondly, if they suffer in bad marriages-
due to too much social pressure they can not even file the divorce. They have to
stay in bad marriages and compromise. The pressure from the family and
relatives is higher so- most of the time women have to be quiet. And after
marriage she has to follow the permission of the husband and if says that she
can not work. She has to stop the work. If this is not the control then what else is?
Legally,
women can reject a person, and opt for a career, but what about society?
Reaching
to the Legal help is also a problem
Even
though there are various organizations that are working for women’s rights
protection yet most of them only exist on paper.
Women
are not financially independent or emotionally raised strong that they can
approach the court. But if someone gets the courage and tries to approach the
court, they are discouraged even by the lawyers, and seeking for divorce and
asking for their rights is again not okay with the patriarchal system we
follow.
Steps
Taken to support the women
For
helping women the government initiated different laws- for example-
Til 2013 the Punishment for throwing
acid was 3 years of jail, later the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 was passed
and two news sections – 326A and 326 B were added in IPC (Indian Penal Code).
These sections lay down punishment for
attempted acid throwing which includes a minimum 5 to 7 years of Jail.
In the Laxmi Vs Union of India case, the
Supreme Court has laid down the clear guidelines on ‘Compensation to be
paid. Yet in states efforts are there to dilute such provisions.
The problem persists in a society where
victims are sometimes feeling difficult to get compensation, and medical
treatment, and in some cases their own families abandon them.
It is a governance failure for sure but
more than that it is a moral failure that exists in societies, where women are
treated as subordinates.
To gain control over her remains the
utmost priority, in such a society such heinous crimes will be occurring. To
bring the change more moral education should be spread with the help of NGOs
and adding these topics in the educational schedule. Bangladesh effectively tackled the menace of acid attacks, so certain lessons can be learned from
neighbors.
To provide more financial stability, the
Indian government introduced - The Maternity
Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which brought certain changes, and these changes
were ---
Women working in the organized sector will now
be entitled to paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12
weeks. According to law, this bill should have benefitted about 1.8 million
working women.
--The bill also provided for maternity leave of
12 weeks to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months as well as
to biological mothers.
--It also made it mandatory for every
establishment with more than so employees to provide, creche facilities within a prescribed
distance. Women will be allowed four visits to the creche in the day. this will
include her interval for rest.
--the bill had a provision under which an employer
can permit a woman to work from home,if the nature of work assigned, permit her
to do so. This option can be availed of after the period of maternity leave for
a duration that is mutually divided by the employer and the women.
A way Ahead
There should be comprehensive and gender-balanced measures as children should not be treated solely
as women's responsibility.
Matching paternity and maternity leave would
create a more level playing field for reducing potential employer discrimination.
Companies are less likely to discriminate against
women if the government pitches in the 2018 ILO report on care work and care jobs emphasize
the need for government support up to at least two-thirds of the cost of
maternity benefits, under ILO convention 183.
93.5 percent of Indian women work in the informal sector. The
act does not apply to them, nor is it clear how it can realistically cover
women working on family farms, doing home-based work, the urban self-employed,
or casual workers on contract, there should be mandatory provision for informal
sectors’ working women.
The most important measure that would benefit women across
all sectors formal and informal is providing good creche and children's centers.
and government expansion of high-quality children's centers has significantly
would increase women's work participation.
Stop Shaming women to Decide.
If a woman decides something for herself, legal support
must be available. Not on paper, but genuine legal support should be there.
Chapters about women's rights should be included in the education system where the concerns should be addressed.
Society needs to change, but change comes from individual efforts.
Everyone should participate in this journey to change the world, where equal
rights should be inbuilt in the system for women and for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment