New Delhi, March 5
Despite several success
stories, Indian women continue to be bogged down by the dual problems of
violence and denial of access to resources, remaining largely deprived
of the coveted status of "equality", activists say.
Some of these
activists feel that women in the country remain "second-grade" citizens
who have made little progress despite constitutional guarantees of
equality.
Apart from brutal crimes like the horrific December 16
gang-rape of a young woman in 2012, women face some kind of violence
every day of their lives in India.
According to the National
Crime Records Bureau, a staggering 309,546 crimes against women were
reported in 2013, which included 33,707 rapes and 5,188 cases of
kidnapping and abduction.
"Whether it is the declining child-sex
ratio or increased incidents of rape and domestic violence, Indian women
are facing the brunt of violence unleashed by a patriarchal society
which has refused to attune itself to changing times," Shonali Khan, CEO
of NGO Breakthrough, which works on women issues, told IANS.
"Indian
women today are both looking forward and backward. We might have had
women presidents, prime ministers and top corporate honchos, but as far
as the masses are concerned, their lot remains the same," she said.
Khan
singled out violence against women as the biggest factor holding them
back."Rape, domestic violence, female foeticide...are all forms of
violence unleashed against women," she said.
Renu Mishra, a
woman's rights activist and lawyer based in Lucknow, told IANS: "There
has been a change in women's status, but the change has not been in
accordance with the rights enshrined for us in the constitution."
She
contended that "women in India have remained second-grade citizens",
adding: "Though women are more visible, there is no equality."
All
activists singled out gender-based sex selection as a manifestation of
all that is fundamentally wrong with Indian society when it comes to
women.
Said Mishra: "Without a change in the mindset of a
patriarchal society, where dowry is very much in vogue, we as a country
have veered towards liberalisation. This is providing people with
increased access to technology."
As per census 2011, the
child-sex ratio has shown a decline from 927 females per 1,000 males in
2001 to 918 females per 1,000 males in 2011.
Rakhi Badhwar, an
activist who works with Jaipur's Centre for Advocacy and Research, told
IANS: "The first issue which we have to discuss is the declining
sex-ratio. If they (the girls) can't survive, then the other issues come
much later."
Asha Ramesh, a women's rights activist based in
Bangalore, said though there is enough legislation, it is the mindset of
people which is to blame.
"The incentives being given by the
government for the girl child are very cosmetic in nature and do not
address fundamental issues," Ramesh told IANS.
Flagging rape as another manifestation of violence against women, she said violence like this has been increasing.
"This
I will categorize as backlash violence. As women are getting more
assertive, they are being meted out this kind of violence to stop them."
The
activist said though the government has brought in enough legislation
to address the issue, it is the mindset that has to change.
"More
and more women joining the work force has made them a source of cheap
labour," Ramesh said, adding that the end result of economic empowerment
has been that women have got jobs in places like the garment industry,
where there are not even enough toilets.
According to the
International Labour Organization (ILO), around 58 percent of female
children in India go without any medical aid as against 31 percent of
male children.
Incidence of disease morbidity based on deficiencies and infection are generally more for the female child.
The mortality percentage of females is always higher than that of males in both rural and urban areas.
Even
the nutritional status of the children in Punjab, the richest Indian
state, clearly indicates that only 20 percent of female children,
against 40 percent of male children, could acquire normal nutritional
status.
Similarly 35 percent of female children have been found with moderate malnutrition as against 20 percent of the male children.
According to Shonali Khan, the only way to give women some power was to make resources available to them.
"Women
should be given right to property and land. This will empower them and
include them in the decision making process," she said.
(Sreeparna Chakrabarty can be contacted on [email protected])
