GENDER EQUITY AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

LECTURE NOTE -2

Contents

1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Status of Women: Issue of girl child (Infanticide and foeticide)
1.3 Health conditions
1.4 Sex ratio
1.5 Family planning and Welfare
2.0 Education
2.1 Equality of opportunities
2.2 Drop outs
2.3 Literacy and gender bias
2.4 Education for achieving quality of life and women’s empowerment
2.5 Vocational education
3.0 Social conditions: Restriction on rights of women
3.1 Dowry
3.2 Property rights
3.3 Notion of honor and honor killings from religious and caste perspective
3.4 Eve teasing
3.5 Child abuse
3.6 Divorce
3.7 Rape
3.8 Domestic Violence
3.9 Psychological impact
4.0 Work related issues
4.1 Existing Prejudices
4.2 Sexual Harassment

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 4.3 Gender Discrimination
5.0 Political participation
5.1 Lack of women’s representation
5.2 Reservation of women representation in political parties and government

1.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading these notes you will learn about :
• Status of women, their social conditions in society and various issues which directly
affect their lives.
• Work related issues based on gender Discrimination and;
• Political participation of women

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past
few millennia. With a decline in their status from the ancient to medieval times, to the
promotion of equal rights by many reformers, their history has been eventful.

Women's rights under the Constitution of India mainly include equality, dignity, and freedom
from discrimination; additionally, India has various statutes governing the rights of women.

As of 2018, women have served at several top posts in the Indian government, including that of
the President of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Speaker of the LokSabha. However,
women in India continue to face numerous problems such as sexual assault, gender inequality
and dowry.

Women make up 48 percent of the Indian population but have not benefitted equally from India's
rapid economic growth. Female child mortality is still a grave concern, with over 239,000 girls
under the age of 5 dying each year. Sixty-five percent of women are literate as compared to 80
percent of men. India has amongst the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world.
Less than a third of women – 15 years or older – are working or actively looking for a job.

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1.2 STATUS OF WOMEN

Female foeticide is the process of finding out the sex of the foetus and undergoing abortion if it
is a girl. Although it is illegal, many people continue to practice it. Besides this, there are some
communities which practice female infanticide - the practice of killing the girl child once she is
born.

The issue of girl infanticide, or the murder of children because they are female, is of growing
concern in contemporary society worldwide. This violation of a girl’s basic right to life requires
urgent attention and action. The following report, drafted by members of the Working Group on
the Girl Child (part of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in Geneva), focuses on two
main areas: the right to be born (female foeticide) and the right to live (girl infanticide). The
Working Group recognizes these two areas as being of particular importance in the education of
the concerned societies. This report also identifies many of the root causes of girl infanticide in
the private and public sphere of society, thus identifying specific actions to be taken.

Girl Infanticide

Discrimination does not end with the sex-selective abortion of female foetus. In most cases, it
continues beyond birth. Despite the progress made due to government-run programmes for
instance in India, the girl child continues to lack adequate nutrition, healthcare, education and
maternal care. The child mortality data indicates that a larger number of female children do not
reach the age of five. And India and China are among the countries where boys far outnumber
girls at age five, as reported by UNICEF.

In Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, daughters are born to die

According to unofficial estimates, nearly 2500 cases of female foeticide or female infanticide
take place in the state of Rajasthan everyday and it does seem that an apathetic government is
standing by and watching the story of this silent genocide.

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1.3 HEALTH CONDITIONS

Gender inequality can express as inequalities in several dimensions – survival, natality (Birth
rate), facilities, ownership, sharing of household benefits and chores, and domestic violence.
Inequality in gender of one type may lead to gender inequality of many other types. Gender
inequality in health is evident as asymmetry in mortality(Death), sex-selective abortions, and
differential care-seeking. Sex selection before birth and neglect of the female child after birth
leads to an altered sex ratio. There are 1076 women per 1000 men in Europe and 1029 women
per 1000 men in North America, but there are only 914 women per 1000 men in India. This is
a further decline from the figure of 927 females per 1000 males in 2001 Indian census. During
the last decade, the number of female children to male children in the younger age group
dropped from 945 per 1000 males to 927 per 1000 males. There are now 48 fewer girls per 1000
boys than there were in 1981. This is despite the fact that the survival rate for girls is often more
than that of boys in the younger age groups. These numbers reflect neglect and mistreatment of
the girl child in India. The female child’s status in India indicates the general attitude of the
society towards women. Girls in the country are at a higher risk of malnutrition and growth
retardation. Many reports highlight that girls are offered less food – both in terms of quantity and
quality – than boys, especially in Northern India. This in turn leads to anemia and poor weight
gain during pregnancy, perpetuating(spreading) the cycle of intrauterine growth retardation and
malnutrition. Status report brought out by ‘Save the Children’ highlighted that India has the
largest gender survival gap in the World . Indian girls are 61% more likely than boys to die
between the ages of 1 and 5. Gender-based discrimination has also been documented in care-
seeking during common illnesses, including diarrhea and acute respiratory infections . Youth
(15- 24 years) literacy rate for males and females are 88.4% and 74.4%, respectively. Many girls
drop out of schools. Lack of basic facilities for sanitation at school exposes girls to the risk of
assault, drop their attendance at schools, questions their dignity, and even leads to genitourinary
infections. Reducing gender inequality in health may lead to reduction in gender disparity in
many other dimensions, and the benefits of doing the same may also extend to future
generations. Girls’ education and women’s empowerment also have major roles in reducing
gender disparity in child health. Synergistic efforts incorporating a number of sectors like health,

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education, welfare, industry, labour, information and environment are needed to reduce the
gender gap in child health.

1.4 SEX RATIO

Sex ratios are among the most basic of demographic parameters and provide an
indication of both the relative survival of females and males and the future
breeding potential of a population. The observed sex ratio is a consequence of
natural selection on the sexes and any anthropogenic effects of harvest. This
allows wildlife managers to regulate animal harvests to try to maintain
desired sex ratios. Conversely(on the other hand), by monitoring sex ratios,
wildlife managers can assess how harvest regulations may be influencing the
relative mortality rates of the male and female segments of a population.

Sex ratio of girl child in India

In India, the Child Sex Ratio is defined as the number of females per thousand males in the age
group 0–6 years in a human population. Thus it is equal to 1000 x the reciprocal of the sex
ratio (ratio of males to females in a population) in the same age group, i.e. under age seven. An
imbalance in this age group will extend to older age groups in future years. Currently, the ratio of
males to females is generally significantly greater than 1, i.e. there are more boys than girls.

As per Census 2011, Gender ratio of India is 943 females per 1000 males. In
rural area, there are 949 females to 1000 men, while in urban area there are 929
females to 1000 males. Rural India has 21,813,264 more males and urban India
has 13,872,275 more males than females. India's Sex Ratio has improved by
number 10 from 933 in 2001 to 943 in 2011. In rural and urban India, Sex ratio
has improved by number 3 and 29, respectively. In 1901, India had the highest
sex ratio of 972.

As of 2020, Below 65-69 age group India has more males than females. Below
24 year population, there are 11 more males per 100 females. Females
population is almost double above 100 year.

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Among states, Kerala has highest sex ratio of 1084 females to 1000 males and
Haryana has the lowest sex ratio of 879 females per 1000 males. Among union
territories, Pondicherry has highest sex ratio of 1037 and Daman & Diu has
lowest sex ratio of 618.

1.5 FAMILY PLANNING AND WELFARE

Family planning means planning by individual or couples to have only the

children they want, when they want them, this is responsible parenthood.
Family welfare includes not only planning of birth, but they welfare of whole
family by means of total family health care. The family welfare programme has
high priority in India because its success depends upon the quality of life of all
citizens.

India’s population has already reached 1.26 billion in the current year and
considering the present growth rate, by 2028, the country’s population will be
more than China, according to a recent report from the UN. Though, the report
has clearly mentioned that the rate of population growth has slowed down in
recent years, due to effective implementation of family planning and family
welfare programmes, yet the rate is growing at a much faster rate compared to
China. The national fertility rate is still high which is leading to long-term
population growth in India.

Family Planning / Family Welfare Programme (FWP) by the Government

in India

This is a centrally sponsored programme, for which 100% help is provided by

the Central to all the states of the country. The main strategies for the successful
implementation of the FWP programme are:

• FWP is integrated with other health services and Emphasis is in the rural
areas

• 2-child family norm to be practiced and encouraging education for both

boys and girls

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 • Adopting terminal methods to create a gap between the birth of 2 children

• Door-to-door campaigns to encourage families to accept the small family

norm

• Encouragement of breast feeding

• Proper marriageable adopted (21 years for men and 18 years for women)

• Minimum Needs Programme launched to raise the standard of living of

the people.

• Monetary incentives given to poor people to adopt family planning

measures.

• Creating widespread awareness of family planning through television,

radio, news papers, puppet shows etc.

Importance of Family Planning in India

Family planning is not confined to only birth control or contraception. It is

important as whole for the improvement of the family’s economic condition and
for better health of the mother and her children. First of all, family planning
highlights the importance of spacing births, at least 2 years apart from one
another. According to medical science, giving birth within a gap of more than 5
years or less than 2 years has a seriously affect the health of both the mother and
the child.

Giving birth involves costs and with an increase in the number of children in a
family, more medical costs of pregnancy and birth are involved, along with
incurring high costs of bringing up and rearing the children. It’s the duty of the
parents to provide food, clothing, shelter, education to their children. Family
planning, if adopted, has an effective impact on stabilizing the financial
condition of any family.

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2.0 EDUCATION

2.1 EQUALITY OF OPPERTUNITIES

Gender can be a key determinant of who does what, who has what, who decides,
who has power, and even who gets an education or not. In many societies, boys
are seen as the ones who should be educated, while girls are not.

UNICEF states that Gender equality means that women and men, and girls and
boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections. Gender
inequality arises when one group is seen in a society as having more rights than
the other. International declarations such as CEDAW promote and defend
women’s rights, and therefore, today, gender equality promoted as a
fundamental condition for the full enjoyment of human rights by women and
men. This right is recognized as a condition for growth and development and
global organizations promote gender equality in their work.

Nevertheless, gender inequalities persist in a wide range of areas. Overcoming

gender inequalities requires profound transformations in social structures and
relationships between men and women.

Why do gender practices act as a barrier to enrollment and participation?

An analysis by UNICEF shows that why girls usually loose out to boys when
barriers require family and community decisions on the participation of children
in school.

Household and The gender dimension

community-level
barriers

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Direct costs of education If a choice has to be made between
such as fees, clothing, sending a boy or a girl to school, the
shoes, books and supplies boy will usually be given preference.

Indirect costs of education, Traditional division of labor often

such as the opportunity disadvantages girls (more likely to
cost of not using child have to work in the home, care for
labor siblings etc.).

Attitudes and cultural Early marriage, low status of women,

practices, such as and intractable(Stubborn) patriarchal
traditional beliefs, gender societies often result in lower priority
stereotyping, lack of on education of girls. Content of
knowledge on benefits of education may reinforce gender
education, gender- stereotypes and, thus, discrimination
differentiated child-rearing is disseminated.
practices

Health-related issues, Girls often more likely to care for

including poor nutrition family and work. Girls without family
and HIV and AIDS stability more vulnerable to
exploitation. Boys often receive more
food than girls.

Situations of crisis and Girls more frequently required to

instability head households; boys more
frequently recruited into military
service.

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 How pervasive is it?

The state of girls' education has improved significantly. However, girls continue
to lag behind boys, in many areas of the world, in terms of access to education,
completion of education, and acquisition of basic skills such as literacy. In
2009, around 35 million girls were out of school compared to 31 million boys.

Globally, there is still a large gender gap in youth literacy rates, although the gap
has been shrinking over time.

2.2 DROP OUTS

There are many reasons why a child might drop out from school, which range from migration
of families and child marriage, to lack of school infrastructure such as drinking water and
toilets. Indeed, while Karnataka has a dropout rate of 2.3 per cent, which is below the national
average, Rajasthan’s, at 8.39 per cent, is double the national rate, and Manipur’s is four times,
at 18 per cent.

According to a recent report in THE TELEGRAPH, the MHRD has already initiated a new
system of tracking drop- out rates by students Aadhar IDs, so that early intervention can be
made to bring the child back to school. The data will be maintained by the National University
for Education Planning and Administration.(NUEPA)

With its high tribal population, Jharkhand has the highest drop-out rate for school children in
India (only 30 out of 100 finish school).

Drop-out rates among Adivasis are the highest among all communities. Of an initial enrolment
of 100 students, on an average, only 70 finish school in India. While the number of students in
elementary education level is high (94), many drop out during the secondary level (with 75
left). Only 61 of 100 ST students finish secondary school, the lowest among all communities.

There is no gender disparity in dropouts. Boys and girls quit school in equal measure.

2.3 LITERACY AND GENDER BIAS

The vision of education set out in the Constitution of India in 1951 was: "the State shall endeavor
to provide , within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution(Article
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45), for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of
fourteen years."

But, even half a century later, this dream has yet to turn into a reality as half of India’s
population is still illiterate and nearly 35 million children between the age of 6 to 10 do not go to
school. The statistics for female education make even more dismal reading. In 1995, the female
literacy rate was 38 percent as against 66 per cent for males.

The empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of their political, social,
economic and health status is a highly important end in itself. In addition, it is essential for the
achievement of sustainable development. The full participation and partnership of both women
and men is required in productive and reproductive life, including shared responsibilities for the
care and nurturing of children and maintenance of the household. In all parts of the world,
women are facing threats to their lives, health and well- being as a result of being overburdened
with work and of their lack of power and influence. In most regions of the world, women receive
less formal education than men, and at the same time, women's own knowledge, abilities and
coping mechanisms often go unrecognized.

2.4 EDUCATION FOR ACHIEVING QUALITY OF LIFE AND WOMEN’S

EMPOWERMENT

Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills
and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. More than 40
years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserted that "everyone has the right to
education". In 1990, Governments meeting at the World Conference on Education for All in
Jomtien, Thailand, committed themselves to the goal of universal access to basic education. But
despite notable efforts by countries around the globe that have appreciably expanded access to
basic education, there are approximately 960 million illiterate adults in the world, of whom
two thirds are women. More than one third of the world's adults, most of them women, have no
access to printed knowledge, to new skills or to technologies that would improve the quality of
their lives and help them shape and adapt to social and economic change. There are 130 million
children who are not enrolled in primary school and 70 per cent of them are girls.

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2.5 VOCATIONAL EDUCTION

Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or in various jobs
such as a trade or a craft. Vocational education is sometimes referred to as career
education or technical education. A vocational school is a type of educational institution
specifically designed to provide vocational education.

• Vocational education can take place at the post-secondary, further education, and higher
education level; and can interact with the apprenticeship system. At the post-secondary
level vocational education is often provided by highly specialized trade Technical
schools, community colleges, colleges of further education (UK), universities, as well
as Polytechnic Institutes (Institutes of technology).

• Historically, almost all vocational education took place in the classroom, or on the job
site, with students learning trade skills and trade theory from accredited professors or
established professionals. However, in recent year, online vocational education has
grown in popularity, making learning various trade skills and soft skills from established
professionals easier than ever for students, even those who may live far away from a
traditional vocational education program.

The World Bank's 2019 World Development Report on the future of work suggests that
flexibility between general and vocational education particularly in higher education is
imperative to enable workers to compete in changing labor markets where technology plays an
increasingly important role.

3.0 SOCIAL CONDITIONS : RESTRICTIONS ON RIGHTS OF WOMEN

3.1 DOWRY

What is the meaning of Dowry?

Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act (DPA), 1961 defines ―dowry as any cash, jewelry, valuables,
or property which the husband or his family members demand from the bride‘s parents at the time
of marriage, as a consideration of marriage. This term also includes demands made subsequent to the
marriage from the bride or her parents.

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Is demanding dowry an offence?

Yes, it is a serious offence under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. It is punishable with a minimum of
five years‘ imprisonment and a fine of Rs.15, 000/- or equal to the value of the dowry demanded or paid.
Who can register a complaint under this Act?

The woman herself, her parents, the police, Dowry Prohibition Officer appointed under S.8-B of the Act,
or even a non-governmental organization on behalf of the woman, can register a complaint.

Which are the Provisions Related to Dowry Related Violence in the Indian Penal Code (IPC)?

After the anti-dowry in early 1980 several women‘s organizations demanded stringent punishment for
husbands and their family members if they caused any dowry related violence to a newly married bride. If
a woman died in her matrimonial home within seven years under unnatural or suspicious circumstanced, a
special legal provision was incorporated.

Which is termed as S.304B – Where the death of a women is caused by any burns or bodily injury or
occur otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that
soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her
husband for,or in connection with,any demand for dowry, such death shall be called ‘Dowry Death ’.

CASES OF DOWRY DEATHS

In 2012, 8,233 dowry death cases were reported across India, while in 2013, 8,083 dowry deaths
were reported. This means a dowry-related crime causes the death of a woman every 90 minutes,
or 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.

3.2 PROPERTY RIGHTS OF INDIAN WOMEN

Property rights are the legal rights that entities have on a thing or creature they own. The owners
(entities) may be people, companies, charities, governments, trusts, etc. Property rights are
among the most basic rights in a free society. In today’s Western democracies, property rights
are taken for granted.

Much like those of women of any other country, property rights of Indian women have
evolved out a continuing struggle between the status quoist and the progressive forces.

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And pretty much like the property rights of women elsewhere, property rights of Indian
women too are unequal and unfair: while they have come a long way ahead in the last
century, Indian women still continue to get less rights in property than the men, both in
terms of quality and quantity. What may be slightly different about the property rights of
Indian women is that, along with many other personal rights, in the matter of property
rights too the Indian women are highly divided within themselves. Home to diverse
religions, till date, India has failed to bring in a uniform civil code. Therefore every
religious community continues to be governed by its respective personal laws in several
matters – property rights are one of them. In fact even within the different religious
groups, there are sub-groups and local customs and norms with their respective property
rights. Thus Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains are governed by one code of property
rights codified only as recently as the year 1956, while Christians are governed by
another code and the Muslims have not codified their property rights, neither the Shias
nor the Sunnis. Also, the tribal women of various religions and states continue to be
governed for their property rights by the customs and norms of their tribes. To complicate
it further, under the Indian Constitution, both the central and the state governments are
competent to enact laws on matters of succession and hence the states can, and some
have, enacted their own variations of property laws within each personal law. There is
therefore no single body of property rights of Indian women. The property rights of the
Indian woman get determined depending on which religion and religious school she
follows, if she is married or unmarried, which part of the country she comes from, if she
is a tribal or non-tribal and so on. Ironically, what unifies them is the fact that cutting
across all those divisions, the property rights of the Indian women are immune from
Constitutional protection; the various property rights could be, as they indeed are in
several ways, discriminatory and arbitrary, notwithstanding the Constitutional guarantee
of equality and fairness. For by and large, with a few exceptions, the Indian courts have
refused to test the personal laws on the touchstone of Constitution to strike down those
that are clearly unconstitutional and have left it to the wisdom of legislature to choose the
time to frame the uniform civil code as per the mandate of a Directive Principle in Article
44 of the Constitution.

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3.3 NOTION OF HONOR AND HONOR KILLING FROM RELIGIOUS
AND CASTE PERSPECTIVE

An honor killing or shame killing is the murder of a member of a family, due to the
perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family, or
has violated the principles of a community or a religion, usually for reasons such
as divorcing or separating from their spouse, refusing to enter an arranged marriage,
being in a relationship that is disapproved by their family,
having premarital or extramarital sex, becoming the victim of rape or sexual assault,
dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, engaging in non-heterosexual
relations or renouncing a faith.

Concern for women’s and girls’ safety and “purity” constrains their physical mobility in many
developing countries. It is difficult to say how much of the limited mobility is out of genuine
concern for women’s welfare, aimed at protecting them from harassment and sexual violence,
and how much is simply a way to stifle female autonomy. In a cross-country study of mate
preferences, men put more weight on their spouse’s sexual inexperience at marriage than on
physical appearance in India, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Iran, while the opposite.

THE MANOJ BABLI HONOR KILLING CASE

The Manoj–Babli honor killing case was the honor of Indian newlyweds Manoj Banwala and
Babli in June 2007 and the subsequent court case which historically convicted defendants for an
honor killing. The accused in the murder included relatives of Babli (grandfather Gangaraj, who
is said to have been a Khap leader, brother, maternal and paternal uncles and two cousins).
Relatives of Manoj, especially his mother, defended the relationship. The killing was ordered by
a khap panchayat (khap), a religious caste-based council among Jats, in their Karora village
in Kaithal district, Haryana. The khap passed a decree prohibiting marriage against societal
norms. Such caste-based councils are common in the inner regions of several Indian states,
including Haryana, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan, and have been
operating with government approval for years. In any event, the state government expressed no
concern about the ruling of the khap panchayat.

The Khap panchayat's ruling was based on the assumption that Manoj and Babli belonged to the
Banwala gotra, a Jat community, and were therefore considered to be siblings despite not being

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directly related and any union between them would be invalid and incestuous. Nevertheless, the
couple went ahead with their marriage, following which they were abducted and killed by Babli's
relatives.

3.4 EVE TEASING

Eve teasing is a euphemism used throughout South Asia, which includes (but is not limited
to) India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, for public sexual harassment or sexual assault of
women by men. The name "Eve" alludes to the Bible's creation story concerning Adam and Eve.
Considered a problem related to delinquency in youth, it is a form of sexual aggression that
ranges in severity from sexually suggestive remarks, brushing in public places and catcalls,
to groping. The Indian National Commission for Women has suggested that the expression be
replaced by a more appropriate term. According to them, considering the semantic roots of the
term in Indian English, Eve teasing refers to the temptress nature of Eve, placing responsibility
on the woman as a tease. Teasing the girls, passing comment on them, harassing them, troubling
them purposely is called 'eve teasing.'

As with most forms of harassment, sexual harassment is notoriously difficult to prove as

perpetrators often devise discreet ways to harass women, although Eve teasing usually occurs
in public spaces and streets and on public transport. Some guidebooks to the region warn female
tourists to avoid attracting the attention of these kinds of men by wearing conservative
clothing. However, this form of harassment has been reported both by Indian women and by
conservatively dressed foreign women.

3.5 CHILD ABUSE

Child abuse or child maltreatment is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment

or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include
any act or failure to act by a parent or a caregiver that results in actual or potential harm to a
child, and can occur in a child's home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child
interacts with.

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The terms child abuse and child maltreatment are often used interchangeably, although some
researchers make a distinction between them, treating child maltreatment as an umbrella term to
cover neglect, exploitation, and trafficking.

Different jurisdictions have developed their own definitions of what constitutes child abuse for
the purposes of removing children from their families or prosecuting a criminal charge.

3.6 DIVORCE

Divorce, also known as dissolution of marriage, is the process of terminating a marriage or

marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and
responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple
under the rule of law of the particular country or state. Divorce laws vary considerably around
the world, but in most countries divorce requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a
legal process, which may involve issues of distribution of property, child custody,
alimony (spousal support), child visitation / access, parenting time, child support, and division of
debt. In most countries, monogamy is required by law, so divorce allows each former partner to
marry another person.

Divorce is different from annulment, which declares the marriage null and void, with legal
separation or de jure separation (a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de
facto separation while remaining legally married) or with de facto separation (a process where
the spouses informally stop cohabiting). Reasons for divorce vary, from sexual incompatibility or
lack of independence for one or both spouses to a personality clash.

3.7 RAPE

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual
penetration carried out against a person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out
by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving
valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability or is
below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the
term sexual assault.

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The rate of reporting, prosecuting and convicting for rape varies between jurisdictions.
Internationally, the incidence of rapes recorded by the police during 2008 ranged, per 100,000
people, from 0.2 in Azerbaijan to 92.9 in Botswana with 6.3 in Lithuania as
the median. Worldwide, rape is primarily committed by males. Rape by strangers is usually less
common than rape by people the victim knows, and male-on-male and female-on-female prison
rapes are common and may be the least reported forms of rape.

Widespread and systematic rape (e.g., war rape) and sexual slavery can occur during
international conflict. These practices are crimes against humanity and war crimes. Rape is also
recognized as an element of the crime of genocide when committed with the intent to destroy, in
whole or in part, a targeted ethnic group.

The Kathua rape case refers to the abduction, rape, and murder of an 8-year-old girl, Asifa Bano,
in Rasana village near Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, India, in January 2018.

Location: Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir

Attack type: Abduction, rape, and murder

Victim: Asifa Bano

Injuries: Sexual assault (rape)

Kotkhai rape case of Gudiya

According to police, 16-year-old Gudiya (the name given to the victim by locals) was allegedly
waylaid by six people while she was returning home from school. They injected the girl with
intoxicants before taking turns to rape her, strangling her at the same time. The marks on her
body bear witness to the fact that she was bitten savagely by her captors. Then the six dragged
her body away from the road and dumped it in a forested area near her home at Kotkhai tehsil’s
Halaila village. When Gudiya’s body was finally discovered on July 6, two days after she went
missing, it was crawling with maggots.

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The Unnao rape case refers to the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl on 4
June 2017. Two separate chargesheets have been filed in the case so far. The first
chargesheet was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on 11 July 2018,
naming Kuldeep Singh Sengar, an expelled and former BJP leader and MLA
from Uttar Pradesh, as an accused in the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl. The
second chargesheet was filed on 13 July 2018 and named Kuldeep Singh Sengar
and his brother, three policemen and five other people for allegedly framing the
Unnao rape survivor’s father.

The rape survivor attempted to immolate herself in front of the residence of Yogi
Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on 8 April 2018. Her father died
in judicial custody shortly afterwards. These incidents led to the rape being widely
reported in the national media in April 2018. The Kathua rape case received national
attention during the same period, leading to joint protests seeking justice for both
victims.

Following a truck collision on 28 July 2019 in which the rape victim was seriously
injured and two family members killed, it was revealed that the family had been
threatened, and had even written to the Chief Justice of India for help. On 31 July
2019, the Supreme Court and Chief Justice acknowledged the case.

3.8 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence (also named domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or

other abuse by one person against another in a domestic setting, such as
in marriage or cohabitation. It may be termed intimate partner violence when committed by
a spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner, and can take
place in heterosexual or same-sex relationships, or between former spouses or partners. Domestic
violence can also involve violence against children, parents, or the elderly. It takes a number of
forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, and sexual
abuse, which can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and to violent physical abuse
such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that results

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 in disfigurement or death. Domestic murders include stoning, bride burning, honor killings,
and dowry deaths.

Globally, the victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women, and women tend to
experience more severe forms of violence. They are also likelier than men to use intimate partner
violence in self-defense. In some countries, domestic violence is often seen as justified,
particularly in cases of actual or suspected infidelity on the part of the woman, and is legally
permitted. Research has established that there exists a direct and significant correlation between
a country's level of gender equality and rates of domestic violence, where countries with less
gender equality experience higher rates of domestic violence. Domestic violence is among the
most underreported crimes worldwide for both men and women. Due to social stigmas regarding
male victimization, men who are victims of domestic violence face an increased likelihood of
being overlooked by healthcare providers.

High-profile relationships shattered due to domestic violence

In a movie-crazy nation, where people look up to celebrities for their

passionate and enduring love stories, it is quite shocking to hear stories about
domestic violence and abuse. With cases of former ‘Bigg Boss’ contestants
Mandana Karimi and Bobby Darling, now known as Pakhi Sharma, filing
cases against their spouse for domestic violence, it shows us that there can be
trouble in paradise. Here are some celebrities who have been victims of
domestic violence and physical abuse.

Kangana Ranaut

Kangana Ranaut recently made a confession about being in an abusive

relationship. It isn’t unknown that Kangana was in a relationship with Aditya
Pancholi during her struggling days. However, this time, Kangana spoke
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about how Aditya held her under house arrest and exploited her. She also
alleged that she asked for help from his wife Zarina Wahab but she refused to
help her and added that she was happy that Aditya was out of the house as he
used to torment people around him. Changing sides from a victim to an
abuser, another former boyfriend Adhyayan Suman had also accused
Kangana of practising black magic and had even physically hit him.

Aishwarya Rai

As we all know, the Aishwarya-Salman affair had generated a big storm when
their break-up story hit newspapers and tabloids. It was alleged that Salman
became an alcoholic and would become abusive when drunk. Though the
actress did not speak up immediately after the break-up, she openly admitted
at the Cannes Festival before the screening of her film ‘Provoked’, a few years
later that she was physically abused and stalked by the actor.

Preity Zinta

She was the quintessential bubbly girl of Bollywood and, on the peak of her
career the actress decided to buy an IPL team with then businessman beau
Ness Wadia. Soon, crack developed in their relationship, Preity lodged a
complaint against Ness accusing him of physically assaulting her and
threatening to make her disappear. People have alleged that he has even
slapped Preity at a party in 2009.

Karisma Kapoor

Even the first family of Bollywood has been a victim of the horror of domestic
violence. Karisma Kapoor had a very turbulent relationship with husband,
Sunjay Kapur. Karisma filed a complaint against her then estranged husband
claiming that he asked his mother to slap her because she was unable to fit in
a particular dress post her pregnancy. She also alleged that before their
honeymoon, Sunjay and his brother did calculations to figure out how much
she would be worth in terms of her wealth.

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Shweta Tiwari

It took her a lot of time for Shweta to vent her pent-up anger against her
abusive husband Raja Chaudhary. The couple wed in 1998 and has a
daughter, Palak. Shweta was living a happy life until Raja became insecure
about her growing popularity. It is said that he would often create a scene on
the set of her shows and forcibly manage her money. Sources say she initially
decided to bear the torture for the sake of their daughter but finally filed for a
divorce in 2007, accusing Raja of domestic violence.

3.9 Psychological Impact

Violence of any kind against women can cause long-term physical and mental health
problems. Violence and abuse affect not just the women involved but also their children,
families, and communities. These effects include harm to an individual’s health, possibly long-
term harm to children, and harm to communities such as lost work and homelessness.

4.0 WORK RELATED ISSUES

4.1 EXISTING PREJUDICES

Gender Prejudice

Each society throughout history has distinguished differences in the social roles of its males and
females. These gender role differences reflect biases, also known as prejudices (a negative
attitude towards others based on a prejudgment about those individuals with no prior knowledge

22
or experience), held by members of a society. Gender prejudice is also referred to as sexism and
is based on stereotypes (an oversimplified prejudgment of others, often leading to negative
prejudices) held about women and men. Stereotypes of men are usually more positive in
societies than stereotypes of women as the males are considered more independent and posing
greater physical stamina. Negative stereotypes of women are usually held by both men and
women in a society owing to the lack of self-respect and self-confidence imparted to females by
societies' prejudices.

Changes in gender prejudice through time have been evident in some regions of the world. By
the early twenty-first century, the differences in social roles of males and females in some
societies, such as those of the United States and Europe, had narrowed. Opportunities for
education and employment in addition to simply participation in society as a whole, such
political activities and a broad range of social events, became more equal. However, in other
societies—such as those in the Middle East—long-held prejudices remained firmly in place.
Behavior based on these prejudices normally placed the female role at considerable disadvantage
in terms of freedoms and civil rights. These freedoms and rights include the right to vote in
elections, associate with others freely, and various legal protections.

The long struggle against entrenched gender prejudices to establish social equality for women
has led in many directions. Besides the right to vote (suffrage), other concerns include
reproductive rights such as access to birth control and right to have abortions (to artificially
terminate a pregnancy), freedom from domestic violence, freedom from sexual harassment in the
workplace and public, and freedom from overall male dominance, a concept known as
patriarchy.

The struggle for equality led to the growth of feminism. Feminism is both a belief in the social
equality of women including legal, political, and economic equality, and a social movement
promoting feminist beliefs, known as a feminist movement. The feminist movement began as an
organized movement in 1848. Many leaders of the feminist movement have been women. They
view gender prejudice as much like social class prejudice (classism), and racial prejudice
(racism). Sexism was just one more form of discrimination (treating some people differently than
others or favoring one social group over another based on prejudices) to keep political power in
the hands of only a few—primarily white males in the Western world.

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In many societies, the role of the male is seen as the norm (standard), and females are measured
against that norm in terms of abilities. Women who behave as men, such as those who act more
direct in business relations, are often viewed negatively as being overly aggressive. Men who
exhibit those same behaviors are often valued as good leaders.

4.2 SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The EEOC has defined sexual harassment in its guidelines as: Unwelcome sexual advances,
requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when :
Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an
individual's employment, or · Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used
as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or · Such conduct has the purpose
or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

Unwelcome Behavior is the critical word. Unwelcome does not mean "involuntary." A victim
may consent or agree to certain conduct and actively participate in it even though it is offensive
and objectionable. Therefore, sexual conduct is unwelcome whenever the person subjected to it
considers it unwelcome. Whether the person in fact welcomed a request for a date, sex-oriented
comment, or joke depends on all the circumstances.

Sexual harassment includes many things-

• Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault.

• Unwanted pressure for sexual favors.

• Unwanted deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching.

• Unwanted sexual looks or gestures.

• Unwanted letters, telephone calls, or materials of a sexual nature.

• Unwanted pressure for dates.

• Unwanted sexual teasing, jokes, remarks, or questions.

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• Referring to an adult as a girl, hunk, doll, babe, or honey.

• Whistling at someone.

• Cat calls.

• Sexual comments.

• Turning work discussions to sexual topics.

• Sexual innuendos or stories.

• Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences, or history.

• Personal questions about social or sexual life.

• Sexual comments about a person's clothing, anatomy, or looks.

• Kissing sounds, howling, and smacking lips.

• Telling lies or spreading rumors about a person's personal sex life.

• Neck massage.

• Touching an employee's clothing, hair, or body.

• Giving personal gifts.

• Hanging around a person.

• Hugging, kissing, patting, or stroking.

• Touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person.

• Standing close or brushing up against a person.

• Looking a person up and down (elevator eyes).

• Staring at someone.

• Sexually suggestive signals.

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 • Facial expressions, winking, throwing kisses, or licking lips.

• Making sexual gestures with hands or through body movements.

Examples

Verbal

• Referring to an adult as a girl, hunk, doll, babe, or honey

• Whistling at someone, cat calls

• Making sexual comments about a person's body

• Making sexual comments or innuendos

• Turning work discussions to sexual topics

• Telling sexual jokes or stories

• Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences, or history

• Asking personal questions about social or sexual life

• Making kissing sounds, howling, and smacking lips

• Making sexual comments about a person's clothing, anatomy, or looks

Non-Verbal

• Staring at someone

• Blocking a person's path

• Following the person

• Giving personal gifts

• Displaying sexually suggestive visuals

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Physical

• Touching the person's clothing, hair, or body

• Hugging, kissing, patting, or stroking

• Touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person

• Standing close or brushing up against another person

Sexual Harassment at work place

The Sexual Harassment in the work place is a form of discrimination and includes any
uninvited comments, conduct or behavior regarding sex, gender or sexual orientation
.Whether the offense is made by a manager, co- worker, or even a non employee like a client,
contractor or vendor, if the conduct creates a hostile work environment or interrupts an
employee’s success. It is considered unlawful sexual harassment.

4.3 GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Gender discrimination involves treating employees or prospective employees differently due

to their gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The different treatment may occur in the
context of hiring, firing, promotion, pay, benefits, or job classifications.

Employment discrimination is a form of discrimination based

on race, gender, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, sexual orientation,
and gender identity by employers. Earnings differentials or occupational differentiation—where
differences in pay come from differences in qualifications or responsibilities—should not be
confused with employment discrimination. Discrimination can be intended and involve disparate
treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group.

5.0 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Political participation simply means is an activity by citizens which is intended to know who
governs (or) how they do so. Political participation refers to a variety of actions by which the

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citizens take part in the functioning of state machinery. J.S Mill states that participation
represents a process by which goals are set under the means chosen in relation to all kinds of
social institutes.

5.1 LACK OF WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION

From the local to the global level, women’s leadership and political participation are restricted.
Women are underrepresented as voters, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected office,
the civil service, the private sector or academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as
leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic governance.

Women face several obstacles to participating in political life. Structural barriers through
discriminatory laws and institutions still limit women’s options to run for office. Capacity gaps
mean women are less likely than men to have the education, contacts and resources needed to
become effective leaders.

As the 2011 UN General Assembly resolution on women’s political participation notes, “Women
in every part of the world continue to be largely marginalized from the political sphere, often as a
result of discriminatory laws, practices, attitudes and gender stereotypes, low levels of education,
lack of access to health care and the disproportionate effect of poverty on women.”

Individual women have overcome these obstacles with great acclaim, and often to the benefit of
society at large. But for women as a whole, the playing field needs to be level, opening
opportunities for all.

WOMEN REPRESENTATION IN NUMBERS- INDIA

State/Union territory Women MLAs/ Total MLAs Percentage

Mizoram 0/40 0

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Nagaland 0/60 0

Karnataka 6/224 2.67

Arunachal Pradesh 2/60 3.33

Manipur 2/60 3.33

Jammu and Kashmir 3/89 3.37

Himachal Pradesh 3/68 4.41

Goa 2/40 5

Punjab 6/117 5.12

Kerala 8/140 5.71

Assam 8/126 6.34

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Meghalaya 4/60 6.66

Maharashtra 20/288 6.94

Uttarakhand 5/70 7.14

Odisha 11/147 7.48

Telangana 9/120 7.5

Tripura 5/60 8.33

Delhi 6/70 8.5

Gujarat 16/182 8.79

Tamil Nadu 21/235 8.93

Sikkim 3/32 9.37

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Jharkhand 8/81 9.87

Uttar Pradesh 42/403 10.42

Andhra Pradesh 19/176 10.79

Chhattisgarh 10/90 11.11

Bihar 28/243 11.5

Madhya Pradesh 30/230 13.04

Puducherry 4/30 13.33

Rajasthan 28/200 14

West Bengal 42/297 14.14

Haryana 13/90 14.44

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Total 364/4128 8.81

The figures on the representation of women in parliament reveal an appalling state of affairs.
According to a study conducted by Inter-Parliamentary Union, India ranks 149th in a list of 193
countries in terms of women’s representation in the lower or single house of parliament (Lok
Sabha, in the case of India) as of July 1, 2017. The average percentage of women’s
representation globally stands at about 22%, whereas in case of India it is a mere 11.8%.
Countries like Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Fiji and Ghana rank
higher than India. In South Asia, Nepal (48), Afghanistan (54), Pakistan (90) and Bangladesh
(92) rank much higher than India.

An empirical study of the members of legislative assemblies reveals how skewed the gender
representation is in state legislatures. Out of 4,128 legislative constituencies, only 364 are
represented by women legislators.

5.2 RESERVATION OF WOMEN REPRESENTATION IN POLITICAL PARTIES AND

GOVERNMENT

In order to ensure adequate representation of women in local bodies, parliament passed the
73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1993, reserving one-third of the seats in all local
bodies for women. In addition, some legislative bodies, like Bihar and Delhi, have reserved more
than one-third of the total seats for women. Notwithstanding the object and purpose of the above-
mentioned amendments, there has hardly been any improvement on the ground. This was
reflected in the recently-held local body elections in Mumbai and Delhi.

In the BMC elections, only 15 out of 113 unreserved constituencies were won by women.
Similarly, in Delhi’s municipal corporation election, 138 out of 272 constituencies were reserved
for women. Major political parties like AAP, Congress and BJP offered seven, six and two
tickets respectively to women in unreserved constituencies. Ironically, most of the tickets given
to women candidates in reserved constituencies were prompted not by their personal stature, but
for their husbands or other male relatives.

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This dismal state of affairs is replicated even at the national and state levels, where there is no
reservation for women candidates. During the 16th Lok Sabha elections, the largest party, the
BJP, gave only 38 of 428 tickets to women candidates, while the Congress gave 60 tickets.
Similarly, other national parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party fielded 21 women, Communist
Party of India fielded six, Communist Party of India (Marxist) fielded 11 and Nationalist
Congress Party fielded four.

Women in Parliament

The 16th Lok Sabha has had the highest number of women MPs – in all 63 women MPs
represent various parties and constituencies. A year-wise chart of womens’ representation in
Parliament shows that there has been a very small but consistent increase in the number of
women MPs. The chart looks like this:

Total number of women MPs stood at 11.58% in 2014. This is way less than the 33% reservation
promised in the unimplemented Women’s Reservations Bill. The female voters who formed
47.6% of voters in India in 2014 elections remain terribly under-represented at the Parliament.**

This brings us to the next question: Which party has more women at the parliament?

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Political parties led by woman leaders too have been guilty of continuing with the
underrepresentation of women. In the last legislative assembly elections in West Bengal, Mamata
Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress gave only 43 tickets to women out of a total of 293 seats; in UP,
Mayawati’s BSP gave 21 tickets to women out of 403; in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK then led by
J. Jayalalithaa gave 29 out of 234 seats to women. Given the centrality of political parties in
Indian politics, it becomes immensely difficult for candidates to contest independently. None of
the 206 women candidates who contested the 16th LokSabha elections independently were able
to win their seats.

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2. Choudhary, Reena (2011) Sexual Harassment :Threats to working women .Deep

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3. Clark, S. Son preference and sex composition of children: Evidence from India.
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4. Dreze J, Sen A. India: Economic Development and Social Opportunities. New

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5. Fred A, Kishor S, Roy TK. Sex-selective abortions in India. Population and

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7. Introduction to women’s Studies :Gender in a Transnational World; Inderpal

Grewal, Caren Kaplan ,McGraw Hill Education,2006.

8. Introduction to Women’s and gender studies: An interdisciplinary Approach,

Melssa J.gillis ,Andrew Jacobs, Oxford University Press,15-Nov 2016.

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12. Patel, Vibhuti (2002) .Women’s Challenges of the New Millennium, Delhi, Gyan
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13. Save the Children. State of the World’s Mothers. 2008 Available from:
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