ABSTRACT
The paper intends to reflect on India’s
journey towards a gender neutral society which has taken roots from the post-independence
period. The initiatives put forth by both the central government and the
state governments only form an edifice for women empowerment, but the real
solution lie beyond these statutes. The quest for women emancipation requires
a sound socio-economic and psychological approach and a staunch support from
all sections of the society. The paper also creates a possible roadmap in the
Indian journey towards women emancipation that the lawmakers must keep in
mind and a message to the citizens that gender disparity is not just a women
issue, but rather a human issue.
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The
entrenchment of gender and the existence of patriarchy are global phenomena
that existed from time immemorial. From Aristotle’s exclusion of all women from
political activity to Rousseau’s argument for women to be educated differently
from men and excluded from citizenship provide us ample space to keep us from
the fallacy of observing women subjugation as India’s malice alone. The first,
second and third waves of feminism have promoted significant progress of women
emancipation in the global arena. But somehow, the ideals of feminism have just
remained within the walls of India’s intellectual elite keeping the vast
majority in ambiguity. To analyse the gender question, one has to begin with
the role of our welfare state. India
began to make a marked shift in women emancipation from the Fifth Five Year
Plan. The National Commission for Women was setup in 1990 to safeguard the
rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th
constitutional amendments have provided reservation of seats for women in the
local bodies. There was a flow of various schemes for the upliftment of women.
In the health sector, The Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) under the
Janaani Suraksha Yojana was introduced to track every pregnant woman for timely
prenatal care, institutional delivery and post-natal care. The Janaani Shishu
Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) provides entitlements to absolutely free expense
including transportation charges for those women delivering at the public
health institutions. The National Food Security Act 2013 provides food
subsidies for mothers and pregnant women through Anganawadis. Education was
another area of consideration for the Government. The Sakshar Bharat Scheme was
introduced to eliminate the literacy gap of 16.2% between men and women. The
Kanyasree Prakalpa programme adopted by the West Bengal Government to provide
economic support to girls pursuing education got international recognition. The
Bharatiya Mahila Bank, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ajeevika, Kudumbashree units
and she taxis of Kerala are some of the many schemes taken up by the central
and various state governments. The above said activities of the state provide
us ample space to believe that our journey towards women emancipation and a
gender neutral society has already begun. But how far we have reached and how
we should go about to realize this goal form the crux of this essay.
The lethal
mixture of patriarchy and misogyny has taken our society far from normal to
witness atrocious acts like the Delhi rape, lynching and hanging of the Badaun
girls on a tree in Haryana, the Mumbai rape, thousands of unreported marital
rapes and egregious acts against women. There was a decline in the sex ratio
from 945 in 1991 to 918 in 2011 with Haryana being the worst performer with 834
women to 1000 men. Even in a developed state like Punjab more than 154 women
are missing. Why is it that India is facing vehement international flak when it
comes to the treatment of its women? The answer is quite simple and obvious.
The patriarchal mindset and misogyny has become so deep rooted that their
cleansing demands the arduous efforts of every social group irrespective of
religion, caste and politics. The social acceptance of Khap Panchayats, honour
killings and domestic violence has not only affected the mindset of the male
population, but it has also made women the passive perpetrators even though
they do not actively support them. We
may not be able to change it fortnight, but we can slowly but definitely fill
up the lacunae with generations ahead. Therefore, it is essential for our
educational system to develop the potential to create a new generation
completely free from gender bias. The Justice Verma Committee report on gender
violence reiterates the need to restructure the edifice of our educational
system which must focus on gender mainstreaming. Promoting effective sex
education in high schools and colleges would help students to abjure the dogma
regarding the sexuality of the opposite gender. It will also help them to be
more realistic in their attitude which is far beyond the fantasies created by
pornography. Equality of gender would be achievable only if one treats the
other gender with equal respect. Our society has itself drawn a psychological
redline that separates gender. Our minds tend to assign jobs, activities and
platforms differently for men and women. The students often become passive
perpetrators of these delusions. It could be resolved carefully by training our
teachers to be liberal and morally upright while engaging students in
activities. The camaraderie thus developed between boys and girls can transform
the way they look upon the society. Similarly,
it may be this psychological redline that has given way to excessive sexual
frustrations. It is often the ultimate breakdown of these frustrations that
contribute to crime against women. Globalisation has brought about a cultural
mix which has made an irreversible shift in the society. A globalised culture
along with frustrated sexuality will lead into an egregious addiction to
pornography which when exacerbated would result in crimes. Dealing with this
requires a planned and pragmatic approach. Simply banning pornography and
brothels would do more harm. On the other hand, promoting brothels is futile as
they just provide another platform for exploitation and harassment of women by
men. But prostitution has remained as the oldest profession in the world and
will continue to be so. These contradicting arguments made me continue my
search for an amicable solution. I was inspired by a novel idea put forward by
an article in ‘The Economist’ magazine. It insisted on creating an internet
platform where buyers and sellers could meet without the influence of any
middlemen. Thus, banning brothels but legalising consensual sex could help
reduce frustrations of the community.
The argument is supported with an example of Rhode Island in the United
States. When the government unintentionally decriminalised indoor prostitution
between 2003 and 2009, the state showed a steep decline in reported rape cases.
Similarly, the
role played by women themselves in the man centric society is significant to
achieve the goal of complete emancipation. Unfortunately, many abuses on women
in day to day life (including verbal, physical and emotional) are seen as
ordinary business in life. Often those women who complain of harassment at home
or at the workplace find themselves isolated. Very few women encourage the
victim to speak up and support her. Standing up to a husband or a son who
opposes a girl to marry outside her caste, helping a woman who is publicly
humiliated, reporting a case of domestic violence or forming pressure groups in
villages to say no to violence are ways ahead for women in fighting for their
rights rather than remain passive and put the blame on the man world. The women
in power should come out beyond their party lines and come together to form
advocacy groups. The onus is on the educated and empowered women to take up the
leadership to transform the society which is free from gender bias. As
Madeleine Albright said, ‘there is a special place in hell for women who do not
help other women’. Interestingly,
good educational system and a sanguine social environment will only form an
edifice for women empowerment. There is also a need for an employment
diversification for women. Women must break away from the bait of traditional
soft jobs like secretaries, teachers, nurses and receptionists to participate
more openly in the men dominated professions like entrepreneurs, scientists, chief
executive officers, engineers in heavy equipment manufacturing, pioneers in
innovation etc. This will help in the inadvertent elimination of the
psychological redline. The greatest strength of democracy is that opportunities
are laid equally before everyone. It is an individual’s duty to make use of
them. Surprisingly, one could notice
these changes though in smaller proportions around us. Support them and bring
them to limelight so that they become an inspiration for others to follow.
Women employment has its own merits. Firstly, women enjoy the benefits of
financial independence which make them less vulnerable. Secondly, being bread
winners elevate their status and respect in a family. Thirdly, working outside
the home provides them with experience of the outside world which would make
them proactive and self-aware of their rights and opportunities. We
can draw a parallel of India’s quest for women emancipation to USA’s fight
against slavery. Even though President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery
through the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it took long years for Americans
to abjure the inexorable evil from their society. Soon after slavery was
abolished, the masters of the slave society were determined to crush the
liberation of the slaves. The dark humans were lynched and even hung on trees
to prove the white psychological superiority. But today, USA has gone a long
way giving esteem to the Afro-American community. This success history of the struggle against
a deep rooted social lacuna could extend both hopes and lessons for India. One
must realize the fact that the fortunes of democratic India are favourable not
only to the wives and daughters of affluent politicians and millionaires but
also to the women of every aspiring family irrespective of their financial
status. Women like Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Arundhati Battacharya have taken the
road less travelled and have in fact set the path for others to follow. The
birth of a baby girl must not be seen as the beginning of a treacherous and
burdened life but rather a girl child like her counterpart must equally become
the hope and aspiration of the middle class family. It is our individual duty
as citizens to create the roadmap and open up the horizon for others to follow.
India’s journey towards women emancipation has already begun. But the
predicament of our journey can be likened to a society caught up in the middle
of an ocean. The choices to the Indian society are to swim to the shore of
emancipation or to drown in the ocean of scepticism.
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