Page 230 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Unit 10: Women's Empowerment

pension duly revised as per Supreme Court judgement dated 15 December, 1995 D.R. was also Notes
allowed on this restored and consolidated amount of pension. As a result of Supreme Court
judgement dated 26 April, 2000 the D.R, has now been allowed on full pension instead of l/3rd
commuted portion of pension. The Government have decided to issue Identity Cards to air civilian
Central Government pensioners.
Perhaps 2002 will be remembered, above all, for the violence inflicted on innocent women in
Gujarat during the communal carnage in March and April. Of the estimated 2000 victims of
killing, many were women. Of these, an unknown number were raped and then killed. Those who
survived were either afraid or intimidated by social attitudes to report the rapes. This highlights
the continuing vulnerability of women in India to violence of the most brutal kind. Women in
India continue to face violence outside their homes too - as victims of rape, sectarian, caste related
and communal violence and economic and sexual exploitation. India Book of the Year 2003, a joint
venture of Encyclopaedia Britannica and The Hindu in it’s study of ‘Gender and Society’ reports that
every 26 minutes, a woman is molested, every 34 minutes a woman is raped, every 42 minutes an
incident of sexual harassment takes place, every 43 minutes a women is kidnapped, and very 93
minutes a women is burnt to death over dowry.
The preference of a male child remains unchanged despite growing literacy and other changes
that have taken place in the Indian Society Kalpana Sharma (2003, ibid) reports on the basis of a
range of studies that a poor woman’s contribution to the family income, in terms of hours of work,
is far in excess of that of men. The burden of physical labour has a direct impact on women’s
health status. Traditionally, women eat last and least. An estimated 50 to 70 per cent of rural
women are anaemic. While the data on education shows an improvement with female literacy
rates now touching 45.4 per cent, there are huge variations within the country. However, the
concerted efforts at both adult literacy and enrolment of girl children in, school has begun to make
impact. It is expected that this will also affect the fertility rate as more and more women get
educated. Changes in economy have also affected women adversely. The closure of industries has
pushed men out of jobs. In turn, these men have taken the jobs that were accessible to women.
Women, then, are left with no choice but to survive on jobs or trades that provide even lower
returns. Displacement from large developmental projects such as dams, has also affected millions
of women. Despite laws and efforts to check flesh trade, thousands of young girls are being sold
and forced into prostitution. To compound the tragedy, it is these young girls who are contracting
and dying of HIV/AIDS which is spreading at a frightening rate in the country.
The most positive development in the last few years has been the growing involvement of women
in the Panchayat Raj Institutions. Though many of these women are just proxies for male politicians,
women are increasingly coming into their own. This is happening particularly in states where two
or more rounds of elections for Panchayats have been held or where non-governmental
organizations working in the area of health, literacy, or human rights have educated the women
about their rights. Studies have convincingly established that such woman are making a far more
positive contribution to development than their male counterparts. In sum, although some progress
has been made and the governmental and non-governmental efforts have borne some fruits, the
basic attitude of Indian society towards women has not changed much. Globalization, if allowed
unhindered, may also become counter-productive to women.
Self-Assessment

Fill in the blanks
1. As per special marriage Act ............. , any girl of 18 years of age or boy of 21 years can take
recource to this law.
2. Dowry prohibition Act was made in .............

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 225