Page 217 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes • Voting behaviour of women is neither linked with political mobilization nor with political
socialization but with their husbands’ political beliefs and attitudes.
• The liberal theory of elections emphasizing the rational choice or preference of the candidate
or the party for which an individual voter votes is not valid in describing the voting behaviour
of women.
• Women generally are not the active members of any political party; only a few women
support some party.
From the above findings, the conclusion seems to be that the awareness of rights does not ipso facto
raises women’s status, nor unawareness lowers their feeling of satisfaction (with their status). The
main barriers in the awareness of rights are : illiteracy, excessive involvement in domestic chores,
household constraints (that is, attitudes of husband and in-laws), and economic dependence on
males.
Plan of Action
If males deny due rights to women in the family either because it is culturally approved, or
because the women themselves tolerate it and do not revolt, or because no punishment is given to
the violators of the social laws, or because the advantages of denying rights outweigh the costs,
how do we break this cycle of injustice on the part of males? How do we protect the interests of
women? What programmes and policies will make males liberal and just? The remedies appear to
be legal, social and economic.
Legal Remedies
Justice to women has to be recognized publicly so that human service professionals could respond
with proper action. In the first decade after independence, gender equality was recognized as a
significant problem and a greater amount of effort went into assuring that exploitation of women
would be identified and responded to with proper measures. Between 1952 and 1962, several laws
were designed to bring about equality to women. Prior to the enactment of these laws, professionals
and politicians were extremely reluctant to identify the necessary legal measures needed to boost
equality of the sexes. But after India became a republic, our new power-holders came to believe
that woman’s equality was no longer a ‘family matter’ but a social problem. Several state laws
were, therefore, drafted with the aim to treat women on par with men. But as expected, social laws
have not been fully implemented. The courts continue to be traditional in perspective while
interpreting social laws. The criminal justice system has to approach woman’s exploitation from a
sociological perspective, instead of remaining bogged down to legal technicalities. Some laws
have also to be amended so that the police need not wait for surgical sutures for arresting a man
for ‘hurting’ a woman. Many police officials point out numerous instances where women fail to
press charges and actually drop charges at the trial. Consequently, the police and the prosecutors
cannot advise women victims for taking legal action against their brothers who refuse to give
them a share in paternal property or against their fathers who marry them against their wishes, or
against husbands who compel them to go for abortion. Women’s co-operation with the law is
extremely necessary. Organized women’s groups or voluntary organizations have to help women
seeking protection through legal measures.
Social Remedies

Social remedies include women welfare services, encouraging the establishment of voluntary
organizations, and legal literacy of women through mass media. The voluntary organizations
have to identify women in need of services. The help of the neighbours has to be sought in
reporting cases of ‘abused’ women to human service agencies. The public education and awareness
programmes will help women in taking injustice to them seriously and seeking the help of social
workers and women’s organizations in getting their due rights. The optimal situation for women

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