Indian Women’s Economic Empowerment: A bleak future

Women empowerment may have become a buzzword of today but as the world strives to achieve gender equality in all spheres, the latest report of the Central Statistical Office (department of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) on the participation of women in economic sphere gives a jolt to your high hopes. If you think India has many Indira Nooyis and Sumitra Mahajans in the making, you are wrong, atleast what the report data tends to suggest.

            Titled as "Women and Men in India 2014", the report analyses the participation rate of women in various sectors. To begin with, women constitute a little more than 15 percent in the present Central Council of Ministers of the NDA regime, as against 10 percent in 2004.Among the women MPs only 44 percent of them are post-graduates. The report further points out that only 11 percent of current Lok Sabha members are women. The states present even more dismal picture with only four percent of State Council comprising women and eight percent share commanded by women in the State Assemblies.

If that is not enough to shock you, there is more to follow. The report shows that administrative and judicial services continue to be dominated by men. There are only 2 women judges out of 30 judges in the Supreme Court and only 58 women judges out of 609 judges in different High Courts. Six High Courts have no women judge at all. The share of women in Administrative and Foreign Service too remains dismal at 14 and 19 percent respectively.

However there is a silver lining too. The report shows that the women’s share in panchayats is pegged at 46.7 percent and women participation in sixteenth general election has jumped by 10 percentage points since the last election to 66 percent.

You may be aware that there is a direct link between economic participation and women empowerment. The participation of women in economic sphere is a key indicator of gender empowerment and equality. It enhances self-confidence of the woman and makes her an active contributing factor in society rather than just being passive agent. Swami Vivekanand had rightly said:-

“There is no chance of the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing.”

Having presented the above figures, it is important to analyze why this trend continues. This bleak performance stems from patriarchal mindset that still views women as a ‘second class citizen’ and considers household as her primary domain of activity. We may have entered an era of nanotechnology but on the social front, we continue to lag behind many countries. Three months back, India may have celebrated 67 years of independence yet it is a shame that our women continue to be enslaved by orthodox and stereotypical notions. The progress and success of Indian women is still adjudged by her looks and her role in family rather than in economic sphere. Perhaps which why many families still don’t bother to educate their daughters and let them be financially independent. Dowry is another reason. Most girls even though educated, are so for the sake of happy and successful marriage rather than for making a successful career. Coming to politics, it is still viewed by many as a ‘dirty game’ of men. As a woman starts getting older, she has to face an irresistible pressure of getting married which perhaps explains why women are meagerly represented in Administrative and Judicial Services, both of whom require years of patience and effort. What is even more distressing is the fact that women sometimes themselves do not bother to invest their time and efforts in carving their own identity and do not realize the importance of being financially independent in today’s world.

So what do you think is the solution? Take action against all wrongs against women and also expect to things take their own course. Perhaps no. What we need is a paradigm shift from reactive to a more proactive approach in boosting gender empowerment. We need to understand that women are not merely passive agents but vibrant, dynamic players who can contribute to the nation’s progress. Disseminating awareness about the significance of the girl child is a possible solution for the latter’s birth is still unwelcomed today in many homes. But we cannot expect government to take all the initiative. An Indian citizen is as much bound to work for society as the government. It is commendable that in the recent past, non- governmental organizations and media have stepped up their campaign for gender equality and empowerment. But lot more needs to be done. Each and every one of us especially women must try to be aware of gender issues for we are significant stakeholders in the legislative process. We got to understand that everyone needs to be financially independant in today’s era of uncertainty. Giving reservation to women in jobs has shown positive results in case of panchayats but that should be accompanied by other concrete steps rather than being a solo, ‘vote bank politics’ measure. Every woman should realize that unless we are united, nothing can be done for our welfare. So we must also assume the responsibility of educating every other woman on the need of economic empowerment. A liberal education focusing on gender issues is also the answer to our woes. It is high time that politicians behave as more responsible citizens and media assume a more credible role in fulfilling their promises towards gender equality. Last but not the least, appropriate policies should be framed to enhance women participation in economic sphere. Special assistance in education and vocational training should be given to women of weak economic background to help them carve their niche. It is only through the conscious effort of each one of us that we can dream of a truly progressive nation!

Uber Rape Case: A shame on India

Long before Indian minds could recover fully from the horrors of the 2012 brutal gangrape case yet another one has send shockwaves throughout the nation. This time the crime is alleged to have been committed by a radio taxi driver on a young girl who fell asleep in the cab. Once again, the incident has sparked off the debate on the safety of public transport. The case brings to the fore tardy progress in the implementation of women’s public safety measures, as pointed out by the mother of the 2012 deceased gangrape victim.

The government has stepped up its public safety reform in the aftermath of the incident banning the radio taxis and making registration mandatory for them. But a question arises: how far the measure would be effective? Even drivers of registered taxis have been found guilty of sexual assault in the past. The government and radio taxi companies need to undertake a rigorous verification process of drivers. Uber, as alleged by transport department does not have the required taxi-operating permits for Delhi then how was it allowed to ply thus far? Also, the fact that the Uber cab driver had criminal charges pending against him and had the audacity to commit the crime again shows the laxity of Indian criminal justice system. Also, despite setting up the fast track courts, Indian courts are still very slow in deciding the cases and bringing the culprits to book.

Banning radio taxis is not a viable solution for they offer a good alternative for means of transport. Making mandatory installing of state of the art security features like CCTV and GPS tracking system and women cab drivers are a solution to the problem.

The national database on criminals which is on agenda of the government needs to be sped up and be made comprehensive. Another problem that needs to be addressed is under policing. A Hindi newspaper reported that no policewoman was deployed in my city on the night of 16 December, two years after the gangrape case. This clearly shows the indifference on the part of authorities in curbing the rape epidemic.

Also, the need of the hour is a proactive and sensitive approach in handling such crimes. The fact that most of crimes of sexual assault are committed by people known to the victims and people thrusting blame on victims highlights the failing values of moral education. Time and again, I have written in my articles that we have toiled to instill etiquettes among women, have we bothered to teach men to respect their counterparts? No and the results are before us. Revamping education system incorporating sex education and gender issues is a much needed remedy. We have to act fast lest this “rape epidemic” wipes out the entire female population and India earns the notorious tag of “the country of rapists.”

Criminalizing Marital Rapes

“For many years after her marriage, Rashmi believed that frequent vaginal bleeding after intercourse was a normal phenomenon. Married at the age of 17, her husband would assault her six to seven times a day.

At 19, when she conceived her first child, she was forced to have intercourse till the eighth month of her pregnancy. However, things took a turn for the worse when barely 15 days after she had a C-section surgery, her husband assaulted her so badly that it led to the rupture of her stitches.

She wanted to raise her voice against her husband but was mocked by her mother. "This is normal. Husbands don't rape you? They are allowed to do all that," she was told.  (Source: Times of India report)

The above case, which is quite typical of developing countries like India, represents a gruesome evidence of marital rape. Before discussing the matter in detail, let us try to understand the meaning of marital rape. Marital rape refers to an unwanted intercourse by a spouse with his wife obtained by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to give consent. It is a non-consensual intercourse usually accompanied by physical violence. Once widely condoned or ignored by law and society, marital rape is now repudiated by international conventions and is criminalized in around 52 countries of the world. The main factor which led to it being outlawed in developed countries was a wave of 19^th century feminist movement demanding a right of a woman to have control over her own body. Unfortunately, marital rape still remains legal in many countries like India. The issue was recently in limelight when a man accused of administering drugs to his wife and then having forced sexual intercourse was acquitted by an Indian court on the ground of married couple being outside the ambit of rape laws. According to UN Population Fund, more than 2/3rds of married women in India, aged between 15 and 49 have been beaten, raped or forced to provide sex. This is because the Indian laws do not penalize rape within marriages. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code explicitly states that: “Sexual intercourse by man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.”

Keeping marital rape out of the ambit of rape laws reflects the parochial, archaic notion of marriage and sexuality that men have more intense sexual desire as compared to a woman, that he has a right to demand sex from his wife and the latter is expected to be submissive to him in all respects. Marital rape can have adverse consequences on the victim. Often, the marital rape characterized by physical violence, which can lead to injuries to the vaginal and anal areas, lacerations, soreness, bruising, torn muscles, fatigue, and vomiting. The psychological effects can be severe leading to low self esteem and emotional trauma for the wife. Unlike in other cases of rape, where a victim can dissociate from her rapist, in case of marital rape, the victim has no option but to continue living with her husband and be subjected to traumatic experiences repeatedly.

The Verma Committee formed to suggest amendments to rape laws in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya rape case had recommended the marital rapes to be brought within the ambit of rape laws. The 246^th Law Commission report had made similar observations. But the government retracted perhaps fearing that it would damage the institution of arranged marriages, most of them being based on financial deals. How foolish it was of the government to let arranged marriages sustain by force? Perhaps it failed to understand the true meaning of marriage in line with contemporary times. Marriage, in the context of today’s world, means a sacrosanct bond between spouses based on mutual trust, love and respect towards one another. Truly we are hypocrites if we do not give women, a fundamental right of decision making regarding intercourse and control over their own bodies, even though we keep harping on women empowerment.

            Criminalizing marital rapes is the need of the hour especially to keep pace with the changing times and considering the fact that it is being increasingly outlawed in many developed countries. The UN has already taken cognizance of this crime way back in 1993 when High Commissioner for Human Rights published the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which recognizes marital rape as a human rights violation.

Around the globe, the right to self sexual determination of women is increasingly being recognized within the ambit of women rights. In 2012, the then High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated that:

"Violations of women's human rights are often linked to their sexuality and reproductive role. (...) In many countries, married women may not refuse to have sexual relations with their husbands, and often have no say in whether they use contraception. (...) Ensuring that women have full autonomy over their bodies is the first crucial step towards achieving substantive equality between women and men. Personal issues - such as when, how and with whom they choose to have sex, and when, how and with whom they choose to have children - are at the heart of living a life in dignity."

It is time for India to follow suit. But we need to also remember that any law can only be successfully implemented if it is preceded by awareness campaigns building public opinion for it. It would be a cumbersome task to root out age-old cultural notions of women submissiveness before enacting the law against marital rapes, as most wives do not mind of being subjected to marital rapes by mistakenly assuming it as their husband’s right. For this, we need to educate people especially women in the rural areas of their rights and privileges. Indian education system also needs to be revamped incorporating gender issues and imparting the notion of quality between both sexes. It would be a long way to go but we should let pessimism overpower us if we want to be hailed as a truly progressive nation.

Eve teasing: A blot on women’s dignity

Rashmi was walking on the road on a bright sunny day. Suddenly two goons on a motorbike came near her with one of them singing “Gore Gore mukhre pe kala kala chashma.” The other person also passed some lewd remark.

Rashmi is not the only one to face this. We women have confronted this situation at some point of time in our daily lives. It is perhaps one thing that bridges gap between the rich and poor. I may belong to affluent and educated family yet I am vulnerable to same risk that every girl faces. Eve teasing as this molestation is known as, may take various forms from sexually coloured remarks, singing, making fun of the victim or even touching physically. It is a common phenomenon not only in metro cities (where it gets highlighted more) but in small towns as well.

It is difficult to say where this word ‘eve teasing’ originated. Perhaps eve refers to the tempting nature of the first woman on earth thus putting the blame of eve teasing on women themselves.

            The question is why does it continue to exist despite society taking giant leaps in education? Perhaps answer can be found in the nature of education system itself. Our education system does not motivate us to question stereotypes rather it reinforces them. Women have been portrayed as meek, submissive and weak subjects in textbooks. It is common to associate terms like ‘beautiful, attractive, pink’ with women. Thus our education system should be revamped to include gender sensitization as one of its aspects. The second reason is the parochial mindset that still regard woman as a sex object. Such mindset owes to illiteracy and defective education system. Also, our culture teaches women to bear insult rather than offer resistance. This mindset aggravates the situation. Since times immemorial, society has taken care to impart etiquette training to women. But have we bothered to educate boys to respect women? Perhaps no and the consequences are before us. We often find that rules are lax for sons as compared to daughters and parents never try to find out what kind of company their son has and who his friends are. The lax security measures also contributes to eve-teasing.

            The 2012 Nirbhaya case has once again provoked the issue of safety of women. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the government has passed the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. The Act defines “sexual harassment at the workplace” in a comprehensive manner, in keeping with the definition laid down in the Vishaka judgment, and broadening it further to cover circumstances of implied or explicit promise or threat to a woman’s employment prospects or creation of hostile work environment or humiliating treatment, which can affect her health or safety. While the “workplace” in the Vishaka guidelines is confined to the traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee relationship, the Act goes much further to include organisations, department, office, branch unit in the public and private sector, organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the employee during the course of employment including the transportation. The definition of employee covers regular/temporary/ad hoc/daily wage employees, whether for remuneration or not and can also include volunteers. The Act casts a responsibility on every employer, central and State government to create an environment which is free from sexual harassment.

            Another landmark legislation is the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act passed in 2013. This Act expressly recognizes certain acts as offences like, acid attack, sexual harassment, voyeurism, stalking and prescribes stringent punishments for them. According to the Act, an acid attack can lead to imprisonment not less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life and with fine. Sexual harassment can lead to rigorous imprisonment up to five years, or with fine.

The Act has replaced Section 370 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) with new sections, 370 and 370A which deals with trafficking of person for exploitation, which is punishable with at least seven years to imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life depending on the number or category of persons trafficked.

The most important change that has been made is the change in definition of rape the under IPC. The word 'rape' has been extended to include acts in addition to vaginal penetration. The definition explicitly describes rape with words like penetration of penis, or any object or any part of body to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of another person or making another person do so, apply of mouth or touching private parts constitutes the offence of sexual assault. The section has also clarified that penetration means penetration to any extent, which is punishable with imprisonment not less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and the perpetrator shall also be liable to a fine.

            The government has also taken steps to enhance safety of public transport like installing GPS tracking system and CCTVs. One stop crisis centre and women helplines have also been set up to help victims in distress. Though these measures will go a long way in enhancing the safety of women, how strictly they are implemented remains to be seen. For our part, we women should be alert while walking on the streets and should be aware of the recourse measures available to us. Training in self defence is also a viable solution. Sadly it does not have many takers. We as women are more interested in enrolling for bharatnatyam or cookery classes rather than self defence. This attitude needs to change. We must remember that government can only take measures to enhance our safety but their effective implementation also depends on us. Nothing will change unless we decide to bring it about.

Beti..!!

यह कविता मैं इस देश की हर लड़की को स्मर्पित करना चाहती हूँ।

इस जगत में सुकून का आधार है बेटी,
सृष्टि का  एक अनमोल पुरस्कार है बेटी।
तेरी इक किलकारी मुस्काए जहान को ,
सिसकी तेरी जो निकले, रुलाए आसमान को।
थक जाएं इस जहान  के  अमलो अमाल से,
आँखों में नींद बन के, समा जाए है बेटी।
बेटा तो बनता  है केवल एक कुल का दीपक,
बेटी करे  है  रोशन दोनों जहान को।
क्यों करते हो सर्वनाश अपनी ही कोख का ,
बचा लो कुदरत के इस  वरदान को।
परिवार के विकास का आधार है बेटी,
कुपथित इस समाज का सुधार है बेटी।
ना आंच आए बेटी पे ,करना इक संग्राम है,
जननी तू जन्म से है,'' नागर " का  सलाम है।
                                           - अनुप्रिया नागर 

One Step Towards Humanity.. !!

Life seems to be unpredictable,we never know what will going to happen.. As everyone most probably know the word "KARMA" It means as people say "what goes around comes around".

Sometimes I feel that children who has taken birth in poor family and crying for food.. Their innocent face force me to think that what bad deeds he/she had done that they are starving for food even.. Its not only about their previous birth Karma..Its about Parents Karma too how they perform in their life (my mom dad always try to make me understand that parents ne jaise karm kiye honge unka asar jarur bachon(children) par thoda bahut padhta hi hai).
And some what its right too.. If Parents want that their children should become an educate and successful person.. They will definitely make them study anyhow by hook or by crook. If child's parents want like them their 3-4 children will also do the same thing by begging here and there and will get more money. This thinking of illiterate people is really vexatious and always makes me sad why people are not at all aware of anything. If anyone try to make them aware they don't want to listen. They can do hard work for begging money for whole day in city and anywhere in the society,why they cant do hard work to study well and live well  reputed life in the society. They are just under developing the nation instead of developing it..
One day I was thinking that how can I contribute for poor and needy people who really want to study but they don't have enough resources and suffer from financial problems to study further..
Randomly on Internet I read about Sparsh NGO. I really appreciate that how they are working for the welfare of  poor children and also contributing in the empowerment of women who have skill and talent for making the creative household things like stitching and eco- friendly things. If we encourage them, they will definitely try their best to prove themselves they can do something and can make their life better.
As struggle is a part of life. Everyone do struggle in a different way some people live luxurious life then also they struggle when skill and talent comes first not money,even poor can win at this moment..
At Last I will say Its on us how we tackle and face the problems to make future better if we keep on making efforts one day poor can also become rich as we are surrounded with many great personalities in our country who carve a niche that how to become successful in life..
And AWARENESS is the only mantra FOR ENLIGHTENING THE DIYA OF KNOWLEDGE.
                                                                                               - Anupriya Nagar 

MAKING KIDS MONEY SMART

"If you would know the value of money, go try to borrow some, for he that goes a- borrowing goes a-sorrowing"- Benjamin Franklin.

Now that I look back at my childhood, I realise how lucky we are to be blessed with the family we have. Knowing what I know now, I have come to understand that not every kid had the same life that we have. Not every kid had a room full of gifts on festive mornings or a family to share a birthday with.We are lucky to have all the luxuries which so many kids yearn for. So many kids take for granted the fact that they eat three meals a day, while so many others are lucky to find a scrap of bread in the dustbin.

 It is noble and good to teach your child about the value of money to empower them to succeed at whatever they choose to do in life. Our attitude toward money -- the way we handle it and discuss it -- makes an impression on our children. It's unrealistic to expect our children to develop an attitude toward money that's more mature than our own. It’s one thing to tell your kids something, but if you are doing the complete opposite, they’ll learn more from your actions than your words. To teach them about controlling spending, you have to do so yourself. Lead by example. Your kids are not going to become skilled financial planners overnight, or in one month, or even in a year. Your goal should be to teach them these lessons over the course of their childhood and adolescence. So teach one thing at a time, until they’ve learnt the skill, and then move on to the next. There’s no hurry. You can’t teach by telling. You have to tell, then show, then let them do and make mistakes. And then talk about those mistakes. Soon enough, they’ll learn why those mistakes were actually mistakes, and if you set it up right, they’ll learn better habits on their own, by doing. Only if you expose your children to genuine poverty and help them see how a small amount of their money can make a difference for someone who is struggling, it will help them not only appreciate the value of money, but adopt a kind and generous attitude. Because while educating the minds of our youth, we should not forget to educate their hearts.