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Unit 10: Women's Empowerment

occupational aspirations while simultaneously living up to their domestic responsibilities. Though Notes
the working women spend their income mostly on raising the living standards, though they are
accused of becoming proud, self-centered, arrogant and negligent, yet they manage to break
through the shell of narrow domestic existence and participate in the larger life of the nation and
even humanity.

The ‘home adjustment’ and ‘job adjustment’ include different criteria of evaluation.
In the case of working women, generally it is found that the degree of high adjustment
is higher in case of job adjustment as compared to home adjustment.

Rights of Women
In a society where about half of the total population and three-fifths of the females are illiterate
(1991 Census), orthodox and tradition-bound beliefs and practices cannot be stuffed overnight.
Nor it is easy to create a strong public opinion against these practices. Legislation, of course, does
make some impact but it can only be introduced very cautiously and in stages. What are the
legislations on the statute book at present pertaining to women’s rights? To what extent have
these social laws revolutionized the Hindu society? To what extent have they tried to bring about
social change? We will briefly discuss the rights assured to women through these laws.
The important rights assured by the Constitution of India to women, like men, are :
1. Right to equality, that is, equality of opportunity, equality before law, equal protection of the
laws, not discriminating against any person on grounds of sex, and not discriminating against
in matters of public employment on the gender grounds.
2. Right to freedom, that is, freedom of speech, expression, residence, occupation, and mobility.
3. Right against exploitation, that is, against forced labour (begar).
4. Right to freedom of religion, that is, professing, practicing and propagating religion freely.
5. Right to property, that is, acquiring, holding and selling property.
6. Cultural and educational rights, that is, conserving one’s culture and seeking admission to
educational institutions.
7. Right to constitutional remedies, that is, approaching courts for enforcing fundamental rights.
Besides assuring these fundamental rights, the state has also been empowered to enact special
laws for protecting the interests of and giving preferential treatment to females (and weaker
sections). On this ground, the state has been taking legislative measures from time to time for
performing its obligations of bringing in a social order in which justice prevails.
During the last three to four decades, a number of laws have been enacted/amended to ensure
equality of status and opportunity for women. These laws may be examined at three levels : social,
economic, and political.

Social Laws
The major issues relevant to women and relating to social laws are: marriage, adoption,
guardianship, and abortion. The important issues pertaining to marriage are : (a) mate selection,
(b) age at marriage, (c) polygamy, (d) invalid marriage, (e) defective or void marriage, (f) divorce,
(g) restitution of conjugal rights, (h) alimony and maintenance, (i) custody of child, (j) dowry, and
(k) remarriage. The important laws, already referred to in earlier pages, pertaining to these issues
are : the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; the Special Marriage Act, 1954; and the Widow Remarriage
Act, 1856.

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