Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Submitted to-
Submitted by
Gurpreet Singh
A11911111029,
Section A
Semester
Acknowledgment
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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8.
INTRODUCTION
GENDER INEQUITIES: SOME PERSISTENT ISSUES
1. Introduction
Gender inequalities throughout the world are among the most all-pervasive
forms of inequality. Gender equality concerns each and every member of the
society and forms the very basis of a just society and hence, the issue of gender
justice is of enormous magnitude and of mammoth ramification engulfing in
all-embracing and illimitable canvas.
Undoubtedly, it is rightly described that human rights are sure and sound
guarantee of democracy. Every person should know that they have rights and
that they are protected by the State. A supplementary recognition and human
rights respecting guarantee is the harmonisation of the juridical frame of the
republic and the international normative acts to which the democratic republic
has adhered to. Human rights and respecting laws obviously and evidently
confirm the degree and the status of civilisation of a nation. It is easy to
understand the universal truth that all the people are born equal, that their
Creator invests them with some inherent, indivisible, inalienable, nonnegotiable and non-derogable natural and basic rights and through this we can
count the effort to decent life, liberty, freedom, happiness and harmony.
Human rights, broadly speaking, may be regarded as those fundamental and
natural rights which are essential for a decent life as human being. They are the
rights which are possessed by every human being irrespective of his or her
nationality, race, religion, sex, colour, simply and only because he or she is a
human being. Human rights and fundamental freedom allow us to fully develop
and use our human qualities, our intelligence, our talents and our conscience
and to satisfy our physical, spiritual and other needs as human beings. They are
founded upon mankinds's increasing demand for normal but decent life in which
the inherent dignity and worth of each human being will receive regard and
respect, protection and parental care. Human rights are sometimes characterised
as fundamental rights or natural rights or basic rights.
Gender-based discrimination reveals ugly face of the society. This issue is very
old and is global as well with varying degree. Really, it is a travesty of all
canons of social justice and equity for women who constitute half of the world's
population and work for two-third of the world's working hours and who earn
just one-tenth of the world's property and remain victim of inequality and
injustice. This anomaly is, now, being openly questioned and the underlying
discrimination is seriously challenged. As human development occupies centre
stage in the global development debate, gender equality and gender equity are
emerging as major challenges. Gender discrimination, though amongst the most
subtle, is one of the most all-pervading forms of institutionalised deprivation.
confidence they require for participating on an equal footing with men in public
life. Practices like female foeticide, infanticide and the constant if not increasing
incidence of violence on women also constitute consistent assaults on women's
right to life and personal liberty.
One of the fundamental obstacles in promoting gender equality in development
remains at the community level where attitudinal biases often prevent women
from realising their rights. The Government has done little to take on board
these obstacles, apart from occasional and irregular campaigns around single
issues like dowry, girl child education, amniocentesis and so on. Police
education campaigns are restricted to occasional posters and TV spots, but are
not consistent or backed up by strong and clear action by the State. Their impact
remains less than effective, particularly, since there is little action taken against
advertising or campaigns that are gender discriminatory.
The causes of persistent disparity and inequality between men and women are
only partially examined, explored and understood. In recent years attention has
been focused on inequalities in the allocation of resources at the household
level, as seen in the higher share of education, health and food expenditures,
boys receive in comparison with girls. The decision-making process within
households is complex and is influenced by social and cultural norms, market
opportunities and institutional factors. There is considerable proof that the
infrahousehold allocation of resources is a key factor in determining the levels
of schooling, health and nutrition accorded to household members. Regional
factors also have contributed in gender equalities.
Apart from the equality jurisprudence, an activism, the role of the Supreme
Court of India on human rights jurisprudence, especially, with reference to the
constitutional mandate enshrined in Article 21, in the Constitution has been
excellent and globally enviable. The commandment of Article 21 is, that no
person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the
procedure established by law. The concept and philosophy of personal liberty
under Article 21 has been expanded by innovative construction and
interpretation, whereby, in the larger interest and for public policy, many
aspects covering a wide array of rights that go to constitute a life lived, in
freedom and dignity and not just bare existence, but with decency, have been
highlighted.
The contribution of the Supreme Court, thus, in projecting, proliferating and
popularising the human rights jurisprudence, is outstanding and yeomen. The
human rights jurisprudence covers enforcement of fundamental rights and
fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Articles 19 to 30 of the Constitution and
which has, as such, provided substantial and useful material for a better vision
for the 21st century in relation to human rights, and particularly, human rights
of workers, women and weaker segments.
not only part of the most national judicial education systems, but it has also
received national and international recognition. Pervasive gender bias in the
courts, which was virtually invisible as recently as the 1980s, has become
apparent and is plainly visible on record and one cannot miss it even with a
casual glance. Research conducted into this matter, by social scientists and
researchers in the legal field, have documented a judicial gender bias and its
profound effect on judicial fact-finding and decision-making. Originally, such
progressive empirical studies were uncoordinated. In numerous areas of the law,
a disquieting picture emerged which shows that gender bias existed in all areas,
operating sometimes to the advantage of men and more often and more
seriously to the disadvantage of women.
If gender bias is identified in all its nuances and hues that would be a large step
in dealing with this dilemma. It is not special treatment for women or for men
that is called for, because such special treatment is not needed. Instead, what is
needed is sensitivity to the ways in which unexamined attitudes about men and
women lead to the unintended result of biased decision-making. Once this
sensitivity is achieved, and it is reinforced by inquisitiveness, analysis and
openness, then and only then will the litigants be able to explain their
circumstances to a court that is both willing to learn and to judge to achieve a
gender neutrality in its judicial system, which is both vital and important for the
ultimate achievement of justice in its purest and highest form.
Violence and its perpetuation are often related to conflicts of caste, class,
ethnicity, communalism, fundamentalism and terrorism; and all these factors
cumulatively have a negative impact on women. Other forms of violence are
trafficking in women and girls and custodial violence perpetrated by lawenforcement agencies. Violence is reprehensible in all contexts.
machines that run modern society. Women predominantly work in service jobsreflecting their traditional role of caring and cleaning. In 1985 women's wages
were consistently lower than men's, ranging from 73 per cent in the countries of
northern Europe to less than 50 per cent in Japan and Korea. Even in the United
States, the figures are alarming. There are also the numbers, statistics like
measured mile-makers, flashing along a dawn drive towards a still distant
reckoning. There were 301 women State Legislators in 1969, 908 in 1981; 5765
female elected officials in 1975, and yet those 908 legislators are only 12 per
cent of the members of the State Legislative bodies. Only 19 of the 435
members of the US House of Representatives are women, only two out of 100
senators.
perspective
In spite of series of actions, singular policies, new programmes and some
achievements, certain critical areas call for immediate attention. Some of them
could be highlighted as follows keeping in mind the regional factors and
perspectives:
(i) Inadequacy of institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women.
(ii) Persistent and institutionalised discrimination against the girl child.
(iii) Feminisation of poverty.
(iv) Gender blindness in macro-economic policies.
(v) Invisibility of women's contribution to the economy and environmental
sustenance.
the funeral pyre of their husbands was an atrocious practice. If this practice was
gradually discarded, it was not only because of the Sati Prohibition Act in
Bengal in 1829 at the behest of Bentinck, Governor-General, but mainly due to
the social reform movement against the sati system carried on by the eminent
social reformer, Raja Rammohan Roy. Though the sati system is banned under
law, in isolated cases, it is still implemented in a clandestine way due to both
remnants of orthodox beliefs, and to machinations by the relatives of the widow
to garner her wealth and property by forcing her to mount the funeral pyre of
her dead husband. Still, there are efforts to continue to build a halo of sanctity
around the sati system. This only amounts to a glorification of gender injustice
and has to be resisted through an awakened public opinion.
In different parts of the world, male chauvinism in different degrees has led to
gender injustice. In some developed countries too, women were accorded the
right to vote very late. They had to launch a determined struggle to secure the
right of adult franchise. Even when women secured the right to vote, initially,
they did not receive in the legislatures the recognition they deserved on the
basis of their merit and ability.
If the social reform programme is to be pursued vigorously, certain attitudinal
changes are urgently called for. These comprise change of context, change of
relations and change of values. Without such a comprehensive change in the
existing value judgments of the present consumerist culture, the battle for
gender justice cannot be won.
8. Conclusion
It is really surprising to think that if women paid each other to do their
housework, GNP would nearly double. It is not of course that we wish to value
all work and caring in monetary terms, but it does seem that because such work
is undervalued, women's abilities and contribution throughout the society and
the world also tend to be undervalued.
Through this project I do not want to put forward that women need to be given
preference over men. There are various ways in which women are given
preference over men, for example, in cases like dowry and rape, the law
changes. The men need to prove their innocence instead of proving their guilt.
The word of mouth of women is counted as evidence. In city areas, men and
women have almost equal rights; moreover, probably we can say that now is a
time where women are given preference over men. There are schools and
universities only for women. There are seats in public transport vehicles and
only women cabs and metro cars that are also allotted only for women.
But however, we cannot ignore the harsh reality that even though India has
developed to such a large extent in the city areas, the rural areas are still
backward and orthodox wherein women struggle for the freedom of speech in
their own household, they struggle for the right to own property, they cannot
raise their voice to be the karta in the house. Women are generally physically
weaker than men because of whom there are still various cases pending for
domestic violence, rape, sexual abuse, etc.
The Constitution and Fundamental Rights are for everyone within the territory
of India and must be executed for men and women both equally. There must be
no biasness on the ground of gender (men and women both) against any sort of
crime in India.