User:Berneey/Sexism in India

The status of Indian women today is definitely much better than those of the medieval times. They have come up a long way and proved themselves to be no less than men in various fields. But no matter what, they are still victims of what we all know as discrimination. This is seen especially in the rural parts of our country. The reason to these being-women was and even today seen as fragile, sensitive beings in the eyes of men. Men being considered the head of the house make most of the decisions leaving the wife to blindly follow the rules, without having her opinion voiced out. Therefore women of rural household face a lot of gender discrimination not only outside their homes but even within their own household.

Any of the following unethical behaviour against women can be defined as sexual harassment-screening of pornography, an offer made for sexual favours in order to get an increment in salary/promotion, molesting a woman, etc. are all instances of torture against women which affect them physically and mentally. The year 2007 has seen a lot of women who had been victims of various crimes as compared to previous years. In 2003, there was a total of 1,40,601 cases of women being victims of various crimes , 2004 had a record of 1,55,333 cases , 1,55,533 was the number in 2005,and in 2006 this number rose by 9,212. Thus we see that the figure in 2007 has increased by 12.5% as compared to 2006. In 2007 the number of cases regarding sexual harassment against women was 10,950. The above statistical data were provided by NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau). Example of one of the states in India where women have been victims to various crimes is, Andhra Pradesh. According to reports under Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, there is a record of 83.5 per cent of sexual harassment cases in the state. It is alarming to know that among rape cases, 10% of the rapists were the relatives of victims. 75 % of the rapists were people that the victims knew. The data provided by National Crime Records Bureau stated that among the victims who were raped, quarter of them were minors. Female infanticide which is referred to as, the killing of a girl child due to the preference of a male child is quite common in backward areas of developing countries, India being one of the examples. The number of women for every 100 men population in the country is less than 93. The reason why a girl child is not preferred is due to the large sum of dowry that will have to be paid to her husband’s family at the time of her marriage. In Tamil Nadu, the act of female infanticide is quite common. The analysis made by The Community Service Guild of Madras states that out of a total of 1,250 families who were interviewed, 249 of them had killed the girl child at the time of birth. And 740 families had one girl child in the family. Science has provided the innovation of so many technologies, and nowadays due to scientific improvement it is easy to detect the sex of a baby, says UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). As per the study done by a medical college, there were 3,500 babies who were aborted in Jaipur, the reason being they were found to be female foetuses. In the year 1994, the leaders of Tamil Nadu initiated a programme to put an end to killing of the girl child at birth. They had promised to provide a sum of U.S. $ 160 per child to the family who had one or two daughters and no sons and if one parent undergoes sterilization. They even volunteered to finance the girl’s education in school, the money being payed in instalments. An amount of $650 would be paid as dowry and a small gold ring would be gifted to her on her 20th birthday. Infanticide and sex abortions in India have caused the gender ratio of females to be as low as 927 females to 1000 males. Therefore programmes such as the above mentioned example should be initiated, to stop killing of girl child at birth. Dowry is referred to an amount given by the bride’s family to the groom’s family at the time of marriage. The amount presented can be either in the form of cash or kind. From 1961 this system has been banned in India. But despite this prohibition, dowry system is still practiced by many families in India. Many women are tortured due to insufficient money or dowry given by their family. This has resulted in ‘bride burning’ which is usually denied by the groom’s family and reported as suicidal cases. This is quite common in Delhi, where every 12 hours a woman is burnt to death. Statistical records show that the deaths of women in the year 1990 were about 4,835 which had drastically increased from 1988 where 2,209 women were killed due to insufficient dowry provided by the girl’s family. In 1986, the Indian Penal Code formed laws to try and put and end to deaths caused due to dowry deaths. Despite this there has hardly been any improvement. From 1992 to 1993 the number of women dying due to the harassment because of dowry related issues is 5,397. When compared to the other Asian countries, the female literacy rate of India is very low. As per The National Policy on Education which was formed in 1992 the government has been trying its best to implement rules pertaining to girl and female education. According to the data provided by Register General and Census Commissioner in 1997, 22 % of women were literate and this figure increased to 39 % in 1991. There has definitely been an improvement in the literacy levels of women. But it is not as high as that of men, the reasons being-high levels of fertility and mortality, poor nutritional status and low earnings in household. In urban areas women are definitely much literate than the women belonging to rural areas. As per records of Register General and Census Commissioner, urban literacy rate was twice than that of rural areas.

Like in every other field, women of India have proved themselves to be capable as men in the field of military service as well. Eminent female soldiers of the past were Razia Sultan and Rani of Jhansi. Subash Chandra Bose had appointed women along with male soldiers when the Indian National Army had to fight the British. Army Medical Corps, army Dental Corps and Military services are some of the Military branches that women have been serving post independence. In 1993, for the first time Short Service Commission women officers were introduced in the Indian Army. Women officers in the Indian Army are about 2.44 % of the total strength of the army. Thus the Indian Constitution is definitely a source of motivation for women since it speaks about everybody, whether male or female getting a fair chance.