Is It a Women’s World?

The status of women in a complex society is uniform. Because of socio-economic requirements, women’s customary roles have changed recently, and attempts have been made to increase exposure and mainstream women’s participation in society’s entire development and progress. This paper describes whether Indian women have the same liberties and privileges as we have in terms of Fairness, Employment, Work, Education and Family Life, Social class, and other issues. If not, who is liable or a sufferer of such a situation is women themselves or males controlling culture or current legislation or governmental policies who is accountable? The research indicates that, despite the fact that the nation’s environment are constantly developing, women are still regarded in certain ways in the same old way. The idea that women are second-class citizens has not been eliminated, and there has been an increase in violence against women. New policies and public awareness are still needed.

According to a member of the Uttar Pradesh Women’s Commission, giving cell phones to females leads to rape.

Introduction

Women comprise over half of the world’s population, however, there has been evidence of a disproportionate sex ratio, with women having a relatively low population than men. They are not regarded equally to males in all areas when it comes to the social prominence. Females in developed nations enjoy equal rights and status to males in all aspects of life. However, gender inequalities and prejudice still exist in India today. Because of the contradictory position, women are often treated like a Goddess and other times as a servant.

Women moved from being treated as an estate by their husbands and having limited basic rights to having the same economic and political power as men. Over the centuries, the position of women has seen numerous significant changes. Women’s history has been dramatic, from equal standing with males in ancient times to the low periods of the medieval period to the support of equal treatment by many. Females have held powerful positions in India in the present society, including Head of state, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Opposition leader, and so on. Women having fair and equal involvement in political life is key to the whole journey of women’s progress. It is not simply a need for basic equality or freedom, but it is also an essential prerequisite for women’s issues to be considered.

History 

Historians say that women in ancient India were treated equally to males in all aspects of life. However, some people have opposing viewpoints. According to Hindu Mythology academics such as Patanjali and Katyayana, girls were given education in the Vedic Times. According to Rigvedic poems, women married at a mature age and were likely liberated to choose their spouses. Ceremonies such as “nagarvadhu” (bride of the city) existed in certain ancient Indian empires. Unfortunately, with both the Smritis (Manu Smriti) and the Islamic conquest of Babur and the Mughal empire, as well as subsequently Christianity, women’s independence and privileges began to dwindle.

The status of Hindu women in the social system declined further across the whole medieval era, when Sati, child brides, and a restriction on widow remarriages were elements of the social system in various Indian societies. Purdah was adapted into Vedic tradition after the Muslim colonization of the Indian empire. Among Rajasthan’s Rajput community, the Jauhar was quite prominent. The Devadasis or the temple were physically abused in various regions of India. Polygamy was common among the Ancient Kshatriya kings. Despite this, some women gained prominence in sectors like politics, writing, education, and religion. Razia sultan became the only women monarch to have ever ruled Delhi. 

Women in India are “typically pure” and “particularly virtuous” than other females, according to 19th-century European researchers. During British rule, numerous socialists such as Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Jyoti Rao Phule, and others struggled for empowering women. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was commanded by the Rani of Jhansi, who is today generally recognised as a freedom fighter. Sarojini Naidu, a writer and independence warrior, was India’s first female president and the first female ruler of a state. Women were involved in all aspects of life in independent India, including academics, entertainment, politics, journalism, art and music, research, and the financial sector. Indira Gandhi is the nation ‘s lengthiest female Prime Minister, did represent for a total of 15 years as India’s leader.

Current Scenario

Indian women began to recognize their real potential with the aid of social reformers. She began to question the norms that society had imposed on her. As a consequence, they started to break down the boundaries and started gaining worldwide significance. Indian women have succeeded in every sector today, from social work to visit the International Space Station. There isn’t a single arena that women haven’t excelled. Women are applauded worldwide, whether in politics, sport, music, art, or innovative technologies. In today’s world, Indian women are quite engaged in politics. India now contains the world’s biggest population of female workers and the world’s greatest number of professionally qualified women.  Indian has a higher percentage of professionals, lawyers, researchers, and academicians women achievers than the U.S.

Sports

In every sport, Women have won significant honors for the country. India has national women’s teams for every sport, including cricket and hockey. In 2004 and 2005, the Indian women’s cricket team won the Asia Cup, giving glory to the nation.

Entertainment and Art

There are a lot of Indian females in this domain. As famous musicians, we can speak of M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar, and Asha Bhosle. Madhu Bala, Rekha, and Aishwarya Rai are Hindi Cinema queens. Women in India nowadays include painters, actresses, singers, and beauty queens, to name a few.

Literature

Women in India used to write in the past, but their efforts were rarely recognized. They are receiving their dues today. In Indian literature, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, and Shobha De are well-known names. These ladies are now known all around the world, not only in India. Arundhati Roy won the Book Award in 1997, for her work “God of Small Things.”

Divas in Business

Kiran Majumdar Shaw is India’s indisputable business queen. She is India’s wealthiest lady and also the Managing Director of Biocon India. Vidya Mohan Chhabria, Chairman of Jumbo Group, Sullaijja Firodia Motwani, and Mallika Srinivasan are among the others on the list.

Social Saints

 The contemporary Indian monks Mother Teresa is a figure that every Indian, wealthy or needy, is aware of. She used to consider the smiles of her fellow citizens to be her fortune. She was always available anytime and anywhere she was required. She established a number of houses for these individuals, the most well-known of which is ‘Nirmal Hriday.’ Aruna Roy, who campaigned on the Safeguard RTI Initiative, and Medha Patekar, who is associated with the Narmada Bachao Andolan, are some more well-known figures working for the betterment of society.

Universal Queens

By venturing to space, Women have not only left their stamp on the land but have also left their mark on the entire universe. First Indian girl to reach the International Space Station was Kalpana Chawla. She was a participant of the Colombia Space Shuttle, which crashed while returning back. Sunita Williams, a woman of Indian ancestry, has become the second woman of Indian ancestry to join the International Space Station crew. Women in India have accomplished everything that a woman could ever desire. However, a woman still has a long way to go in terms of achieving equal value in the eyes of Indian males.

Crime against Women

In India, there is a high rate of crime against women, according to police statistics. In 1998, the National Crime Records Bureau predicted that by 2010, the amount of violence against women will outpace population growth. Due to the societal stigma connected to crimes like rape and molestation, much violence against women was formerly not reported to the authorities. According to government statistics, the percentage of reported crimes against women has increased significantly.

Acid Throwing

According to the Thomas Reuters Foundation report, India is the fourth most unsafe country for females to survive in. This heinous type of assault can target women of any class, caste, or religion. In India, women who reject a man’s marriage proposal or seek divorce are subjected to acid assaults as a form of retaliation.

The Consequences of Child Marriage

Child marriage has an ancient tradition in India and it is still performed today. Until they reached maturity, child brides used to live with their parents. Despite the fact that child marriage was declared illegal in 1860, it is still practised today. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1939 is the applicable statute in the nation.

According to the survey of UNICEF in 2009, 47 % of females aged 20-24 were wedded before turning 18, with remote areas accounts for 56 percent. As per the study, India is responsible for 40% of the overall child brides globally.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence in India is endemic. Marital cruelty affects around 70% of Indian women. The National Crime Bureau reports that every 3 minutes, a woman is raped, a dowry killing happens every 77 minutes, and every 9 minutes, a case of cruelty is perpetrated by either the husband or a relative of the spouse. Despite the fact that the Protection of Women from Domestic Abuse Act of 2005, which gives safeguards for Indian women from spousal abuse, it continues to remain in effect.

Dowry and Dowry Death

In 1961, the Indian government established the Dowry Prohibition Act, declaring dowry requests illegal at marriages. However, there have been several reports of dowry-related domestic violence, homicides, and killings.

According to a 1997 estimate, at least 5,000 women in India die each year as a result of dowry-related fatalities, with at least a dozen dying every day in allegedly deliberate “kitchen fires.” This is also termed as ‘bride burning as well as it is criticized within India itself. 

Female Infanticide and Sex-Selective Abortion

Due to a significant number of girls who die before reaching maturity, India’s male-female sex ratio is highly biased in favor of men.

Ultrasound scanning is a significant step forward in maternal and infant care; unfortunately, ultrasound scans frequently disclose the baby’s gender, allowing pregnant mothers to choose to abort a newborn girl and try for a male kid later. The major reason for the shift in the male-to-female baby birth ratio is widely recognized as this practice.

 Rape and its consequences

After a teenage student was gang-raped in December 2012, a protest erupted in Delhi.

Radha Kumar has called rape in India “one of the most prevalent crimes against women” and the UN’s human-rights director has called it a “national issue.” Women’s rights organizations have pressured for the criminalizing of marital rape since the 1980s, but the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013 maintains the marital exception, stating in its exception clause under Section 375 If a husband has sexual activity with his spouse who is not under the age of 15, it would not be called rape. A new incident is registered every 20 minutes, despite the fact that registered incidents per capita are lower in comparison to other regions particularly developed ones.

Offenses Associated with Sexual Harassment

Male sexual assault or abuse of females is called Eve Teasing. critics attribute the growth in incidents of sexual assault against women to the influence of “Western Culture.”

In 1990, molestation and harassment in the workplace accounted for half of all recorded offenses against women. India’s Supreme Court took severe action against workplace sexual harassment and assault in a landmark decision in 1997. The court set comprehensive rules for preventing and resolving grievances. The National Commission on Women eventually developed these principles into a code of conduct for employers. In 2013, India’s highest court looked into accusations that a recently departed Supreme Court judge had sexually abused a law graduate. To prohibit sexual harassment of women at work, the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 went into effect in December 2013.

Human Trafficking

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was enacted in 1956. However, there have been several reports of young girls and women being trafficked. Prostitution, domestic labor, or child labor are all prospects for these women.

Every day, thousands of Indian women and girls are transported to other places and forced to live as slaves. They live in brothels, industries, guesthouses, dance clubs, fields, and even wealthy Indians’ homes, with little control over their bodies or lives. Sadly, society continues to tolerate this heinous crime against women.

Conclusion

Women’s rights have changed dramatically as time has passed. Indian women have mastered everything a woman could ever desire. However, she still has a long way to go in terms of achieving equal status in the eyes of Indian women. Women have become more powerful in numerous fields as a result of policy changes, yet crimes against women have increased significantly as a result of the expansion of women’s rights. In certain ways, women are still regarded as the second members of society, and the notion that they are inferior to men has not changed. To provide women’s effective protection against discrimination, new courts, regulations, and public institutions should be established.

Author: Mansi Jain is a student at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University.

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