CHAPTER-IV

GENDER JUSTICE AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS

4.1 Introduction

'Gender Justice' is a wide term that takes in its sweep every facet of life.
For centuries, in fact ever since known history, we have been living in a
patriarchal (with some notable exceptions) and feudal society which assigns to
women a subordinate position in the social hierarchy. "Women may be respected
and loved, but they have been confined to home and home-making, and looking
after the children, the sick and the elderly in the family, most of the unpaid work
in the world is done by women. Their lack of socio-economic independence has
led to their exploitation. But a new awareness of this exploitation and the need to
restructure society on a more just basis has led to serious attempts to reform and
transform our social, moral, economic and political structure, including our legal
and constitutional framework."'

Equality of sexes and gender justice have indeed made very slow progress. The
subordination of women to men has subsisted through the millennia in all societies and
countries without exception. It is only now at the beginning of 21^ century that these
twin factors are being increasingly recognised and rectified. In the views of Prof
Amartya Sen, "Empirical research in recent years has brought out clearly the extent to
which women occupy disadvantaged positions in traditional economic and social
arrangements. While gender inequalities can be observed in Europe and North
America (and in Japan), nevertheless to some fields women's relative deprivation is
much more acute in many parts of the 'Third World'.'

Manohar, Sujata V., "Judiciary and Gender Justice", in Bhandare, Murlidhar, C. (ed.).
Struggle for Gender Justice, Penguin Books India, New Delhi, 2010, pp. 20-21.
Sen, Amartya, Gender Inequality and Theories ofJustice, p. 420.
Also see. Sen, Amartya, "Women and Men", in The Argumentative Indian: Writings on
Indian Culture, History and Identity, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2005, pp. 220-250.

127
 Naila Kabeer explained injustice with women, as "Gender, for instance,
can be seen to have a poHtical-economy dimension in that, it is key structuring
principle in the distribution of labour, property and other valued resources in a
society. It structures the division between productive and reproductive labour,
giving women the primary responsibility for the latter. It structures an unequal
distribution of land and property in many societies so that women either receive
no rights to property, few rights than men or else their entitlements are mediated
by male family members. It also structures the labour market, generally assigning
men to higher-paid, formal sector and managerial positions and women to lower-
paid, casual work, often in various forms of self-employment."^

According to Professor Anne Philips, "Sexual differences has almost

always been associated with inequality: what marks women as different from men
is also taken to mark them as of lesser value. The history of cultural difference is
in some ways less depressing, already throwing up occasional examples of that
more egalitarian respect for difference that has mostly evaded the relationship
between the sexes."'' "There is widespread and deeping attention to the promotion
of democracy and the fulfilment of human rights in ways that recognize the
importance of gender justice."^ From women's point of view, there is a fiirther
disadvantage with markets. "Since markets cannot recognize the value of goods
and services which have no price, they cannot take into account the unpaid work
that is mainly done by women in caring for families and reproducing the labour
force market-based entitlements are thus inherently male-biased and women are
penalized because much of their work is non-market work."^ According to

^ Kabeer, Naila, Social Exclusion, Poverty and Discrimination, Critical Quest, New Delhi,
2008, p. 22.
* Philips, Anne, "Multiculturalism, Universalism, and the Claims of Democracy", in
Molymeux, Maxine and Razavi, Shahra (ed.). Gender Justice, Development and Rights,
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002, p. 119.
^ Elson, Diane, Gender Justice, Human Rights, and Neo-Liberal Economic Policies, in
op. cit., p. 78.
* Ibid.,ip.\05.

128
UNIFEM report, "In industry and services, women on average typically only
earned about 78 percent of what men earned in the late 1990s."^

4.2 Discrimination and Oppression against Women

Women has been oppressed due to the social structure known as patriarchy.
They are suffered in every part of the world including advanced countries like
U.S.A. and Japan. Women face discrimination everywhere and it begins from
birth or even before. They are aborted or killed as infants and if they manage to
survive then they grow up in an environment of neglect and abuse, fed less than
their brothers, made to work harder, provided with little or no schooling and
denied equal access to medical care. And if they make it into their teens, they are
forced into early marriages and face the risk of death due to early and too close
pregnancies. They face discrimination from birth to death. In the words of
Ruchira Gupta, "In India, women are unequal in more stark ways. A women is
not safe from birth to death. She could be the victims of amniocentesis when is
conceived; of feticide when she is bom, kept at home and given food last, while
her brother gets the best education and food; be married off as a child; might die
of maternal mortality from early pregnancy; to be widowed and thrown out of the
house so that she would not inherit property; end up begging in our pilgrim towns
and then simply fade away and die.

In both India and the West, women are severely under-represented in

political parties, in state assemblies and in Senate, Congress or Parliament.
Women get power in spite of their sex, not because of it, by de-sexualizing
themselves, dorming the mantle of daughterhood/widowhood or simply by serving
their husbands. In India, Mayawati represent the first category, Indira Gandhi the
second, and Rabri Devi the third. Hillary Clinton, Angela Merket and Margaret
Thatcher have faced similar challenges in the US and Europe. There are hundreds

UNIFEM, Progress of World's Women 2000, UNIFEM, New York, 2000, p. 92.

129
of women who do not want to play this role but take this road to power as the
winning formula. It's a moot point that while this may get more women in
decision-making positions on one hand, it may also entrench patriarchy on the
other." Generally women in the west or India and elsewhere are asked to
sacrifice their own desire for equality in the interest of ending class, race, religion
or caste inequality.

Women are not discriminated in the field of education, employment,

health care, political representation, but "How the female world is treated
atrociously by the male world within what is called the Hindu religion... Earlier,
it was the tradition to bum up the women along with their dead husbands. In
those days, the British Company Director Warren Hastings together with the
learned men of this country such as Dayananda Saraswati with great difficult
abolished this horrendous tradition. During the struggle for abolition of Sati,
hue and cry was raised that the entire Hindu tradition was being destroyed and
that religion itself had fallen on bad times."^ Even today one comes across stray
incidences of this heinous practice. "However, the current prohibition of widow
remarriage appears to be more cruel than that of Sati itself. Sati is a torture of a
single day; but to live as a widow is a life-long, protracted and unbearable
torture. An old man, losing his wife could remarry, but a young woman, on the
death of her husband, should not marry again, even if she not know the pleasure
of family life and not having given birth to a child. Is this fair-minded
justice?"'" 'The first census, that of 1881, showed that one-fifth of the women of
all castes were widows.'" Now, widows is allowed to remarry, but they face
many difficulties.

* Gupta, Ruchira, "Gender and Modernity" in Seminar (621), New Delhi, May 2011, p. 48.
' Ramaswami, Periyar E.V., Women Enslaved, Critical Quest, New Delhi, 2009 (appeared
earlier in the book-form in the year 1934).
'° /6;^.,p. 34. Alsosee,
'' Stein, Burton, A History of India, Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 395.

130
4.3 Violence Against Women

Feminist scholars and activists in the women's movement in India have

been engaged in a debate with the state and in society over the forms and nature of
violence against women. They have made important contributions to our
understanding of the problem. A reconceptualization of the issue of violence
against women has emerged, particularly in relation to intra- and extra-family/
household gender relations, and the role of the state in reinforcing patriarchal
oppression. Violence against women is all-pervasive and cuts across classes,
races or castes, irrespective of education and economic status. Even new forms of
violence against women are also coming to light. Violence has penetrated all
aspects of women's life.

The problem of violence against women has its roots in a socio-economic

order that is heavily biased against women. The analysis of violence,
demonstrates some of the mechanisms through which that domination and
subordination is maintained and reproduced. The fear of violence limits women's
freedom of movement. It constrains what they can do, where they can go and
with whom they can go. In other words, both the reality and the threat of violence
act as a form of social control. Recent studies and news reveal the fact that
gender violence is increasing and it cuts across classes, castes, status and
background. More and more women become victims of violence both within and
outside the family, with rape, molestation, forced prostitution, blackmailing etc.
"Women have always been an object of fury and severe violence at the hands of
men. The biological weakness of a woman makes her an easy prey particularly to
physical domination. She is often a victim of physical violence not only outside
her home but inside her home also."'^ According to Prof Amartya Sen, "Despite
the biological advantages that women have in survival compared with men (the

'^ Justice Sunanda Bhandare, "Society, Law and Gender Justice", in Bhandare, Murlidhar
C. (ed.), The World of Gender Justice, Har-Anand Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi,
1999, p. 36.

131
ratio of women to men averages around 1.05 or so on in Europe and North Africa,
partly due to biological differences in mortality rates), the number of women falls
far short of men in Asia and North Africa, though not in sub-Saharan Africa. If
we took the European and North American ratios as the standard, the total number
of "missing women " in Asia and North Africa would be astonishingly large (more
than 50 million in China alone). Even if the sub-Saharan African ratio of females
to males is taken as the standard, the number of "missing women " would be more
than 44 million in China, 37 million in India, and a total exceeding 100 million
worldwide.'^ "While looking at female-male ratios in the population is only one
way of examining the relative position of women, this approach does give some
insight into the acuteness of the problem of gender inequality in matters of life
and death.""*

Gender bias and deep rooted prejudice and discrimination against girl
children and preference for male children have led to female foeticide and female
infanticide. To eliminate a new born or yet to bom life, just because it happens to
be a girl, is the worst kind of gender bias practised by parents and society. As a
result sex determination centres and abortion centres are flourishing and
expanding in spite of a Government ban. The point to note is that the people
demanding foeticide include not only the poorer sections but members of the
upper and middle classes as well.

13
See, Sen, Amartya, "Women's Survival as a Developmental Problem", Bulletin of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 43, 1989.
Coale, Ansley J., "Excess Female Mortality and Balance of the Sexes in the Population:
An Estimate of the Number of 'Missing Females', Population and Development Review,
17(3), 1991, pp. 517-24.
Harriss, Barbara and Elizabeth Watson, "The Sex-ratio in South Asia", in Janet Henshall
Momson and Janet Townsend (eds.), "Geography of Gender in Third World, Butler and
Tanner, London, 1987.
14
Sen, Amartya, Gender Inequality and Theories of Justice in 'Women, Culture and
Development : A study of Human capabilities, by Nussbaum, Martha and Glover,
Jonathan, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995, pp. 259-260.

132
 Thus, there are various types of atrocities, violence and discrimination
against women. "Violence against women is a grave area needing immediate
attention. Violence is not limited to domestic violence. Women at all times are
exposed to abuse, mental and sexual harassment and even rape. Apart from
individual violence, women and children continue to be the natural targets and
worst sufferers of both in the man-made and natural calamities."'^

Women are tortured, imprisoned, killed for raising their voices against
brutal governments and defending the rights of women. Government-
perpetrated, gender-based violence against women in custody includes rape (a
form of torture) and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments
such as stoning to death. The attack on peopleful Yoga Camp at Ram Leela
ground on 4'*^ June, 2011 by Delhi Police, in which many women are injured
including Raj Bala, who is serious at Dr. G.B. Pant Hospital at New Delhi,
shows the attitude of democratic elected U.P.A.-II towards innocent women.
This type of atrocities are unacceptable in any society. "Rape, threats of rape,
and sexual humiliation are often used to elicit information or a confession during
interrogation, or to humiliate and intimidate women, thus weakening their
resistance to interrogation, and to punish them for their activism or for perceived
transgressions of social roles and more. Often police and jailors rape women in
their custody because they know they can get away it. Rape and sexual abuse by
state agents continue to be a global problem."'^ In 1991 and again in 1992,
Amnesty International (AI) published reports about "Gender-specific human
rights violations against women that identified rape in custody as a form of
torture."'^ Discussions on violence against women in the human rights frame

'^ Bhandare, Muriidhar C. (eds.), The World of Gender Justice, Har-Anand Publications
Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1999, p. 18.
'* Daver, Sheila, "Indivisible or Invisible: Women's Human Rights in the Public and
Private Sphere", in Agosin, Marjorie (ed.), Women, Gender and Human Rights: A Global
Perspective, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2003, p. 70.
'^ See also. Amnesty International, Human Rights are Women's Rights, Lx)ndon, 1995, p. 2.

133
typically call for reforms of cultural practices such as dowry deaths, son
preference, female in infanticide, honour killings and female genital mutilation.
The 1995 Platform for Action from the Beijing Fourth World Conference on
Women states: "Violence against women throughout the life cycle derives
essentially from cultural patterns, in particular the harmful effects of certain
traditional or customary practices and all acts of extremism linked to race, sex,
language or religion that perpetuate the lower status accorded to women in the
family, the workplace, the community and society."'*

4.4 Need for Gender Justice and Equality

There is need to strengthen the capabilities of the women to achieve gender

justice and equality. "The problems of women in developing countries call urgently
for new forms of analysis and for an approach that moves beyond utilitarian
economics to identify a number of distinct components of human being's quantity of
life, including life-expectancy, maternal mortality, access to education, access to
employment, and the meaningful exercise of political rights. Even when a nation
seems to be doing well in terms of GNP per capita, its people may be doing poorly in
one or more of these areas. This is especially likely to be the case for women, who
have been treated unequally in many traditional societies, and who nowhere enjoy, on
average, or 'quality of life' equal to that of men, then this is measured by the complex
standard recommended by the 'capabilities' approach.

The influence and value of this approach to development in general and to

sex inequality in particular can be already seen in 1993 and 1994 volumes of the
UNDP Human Development Report."^^

Beijing Conference, "The 1995 Platform for Action from the Beijing Fourth World
Conference on Women", Beijing, 1995. Quoted from Agosin, Marjorie (ed.), Women,
Gender and Human Rights, Rawat Publishers, Jaipur, 2003, p. 91.
19
Lai Jayawardena, "Forward" in Nassbaum, Martha and Glover, Jonathan (ed.), Women,
Culture and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, Oxford University Press,
New York, 1995, p. ii.

134
 Many feminists have discussed 'the issue of law and its impact on
women's quaHty of live', asking how law has sustained and supported
discrimination against women and how, on the other hand, it might embody a
commitment to sex equality. "American law in the area of sex discrimination,
makes proposals for national and international legal change, and comments on the
limitations of market mechanisms in ending discrimination."

Prof Martha Nussbaum quoted from 'The Hindu Magazine Reports' (24
April 1994): "The importance of many laws meant to secure gender justice is,
once again, established by the study. For example, although widows in virtually
all communities are legally entitled to inherit at least part of their decreased
husband's property (if any), Chen found that less than half exercise even use
rights over what ought to be their land. Disputes over property often lead to
violence against widows - sometimes in the form of fatal witch-hunts, which
provide a convient cover for physical elimination of women who attempted to
claim their rights. ...As women who have experienced the worst that the
patriarchal order has to offer their gender, widows could well become the
vanguard of the women's movement once they are enabled to break out of their
isolation and fragmentation, scattered as they are in separate households across
the country. Once they are empowered to become an organised political force,
they will surely be potent agents of change who simply cannot be ignored by
society or the state."^'

Meanwhile, public awareness of the condition of widows and public action

both to prod the state into positive action and to encourage the full participation of
widows in public life can pave the way towards gender justice for women with
and without men.

^° Nussbaum, Martha C, 'Introduction', Ibid, p. 11.

^' Ibid.

135
 "The struggle for human capabilities is not just a theoretical construct. For
women all over the world, and for everyone who cares about women's well-being,
itisaway oflife."^^
Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote in Emile, Book IV, "Human beings are not
by nature kings or nobles, or courtiers, or rich. All are bom naked and poor. All
are subject to the miseries of life, to frustrations, to ills, to needs, to pains of every
kind. Finally, all are condemned to death. That is what is really the human being;
that is what no mortal can avoid. 'Begin, then, by studying what is the most
inseparable human nature, that which most constitutes."^^
Being a women in not yet a way of being a human being. I note the concept
of human being has already been central to much of the best feminist been central to
much of the best feminist and internationalist thinking. Consider, for example, J.S.
Mill's remarks on 'human improvement' in The Subjection of Women; Amartya
Sen's use of a notion of 'human capacity' to conjfront gender-based inequalities, the
Sen-inspired use of a notion of 'human development' in the UN Report to describe
and criticize gender-based inequalities; Susan Moller Okin's proposal for a 'humanist
justice' in her recent major work of feminist political theory, Catherine Mackinnon's
geographic description of women's current situation, quoted as my epigraph; and, of
course, the role that various accounts of'human rights', or even 'The Rights of Man'
have played in claiming justice for women.^'*

22
Ibid, p. 15.
See also, Okin, S.M., Justice, Gender and Family, Basic Books, New York, 1989.
Dreze, Jeans, and Sen, Amartya, Hunger and Public Action, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989.
Fuchs, Victor, Women's Quest for Economic Equality, Harvard University Press, Mass, Cambridge.
23
Rousseau, Emile, Book IV, quoted in Ibid., p. 61.
24
See also, J.S. Mill, The Subjection of Women, Indianapolis; Bobbs Merrill, 1988; See
also, Amartya Sen, "Gender and Cooperative Conflicts", in I. Tinker (ed.), Persistent
Inequalities, Oxford University Press, New York, 1990; 'Gender Inequality and Theories of
Justice" in this volume and "More Than a Million Women are Missing", New York Review of
Books: Human Development Report 1993, for the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford; See also, Moller Okin, Susan,
Justice, Gender, and the Family, Basic Books, New Yori<, 1989; See also, Catharine
MacKinnon, remark cited by Richard Rorty in "Feminism and Pragmatism", Michigan
Quarterly Review, 30 (1989), 263. MacKinnon has since acknowledged the remark.

136
 Being a women is indeed not yet a way of being a human being. Women
lack support for the most central human functions, and this denial of support is
frequently caused by their being women. "But women, unlike rocks and plants
and even dogs and horses, are human beings, have the potential to become
capable of these human functions, given sufficient nutrition, education and other
support. That is why their unequal failure in capability is a problem of justice. It
is up to us to solve this problem. I claim "that a conception of human functioning
rye

gives us valuable assistance as we undertake this task."

Prof Susan Moller Okin has extensive written about inequalities between
sexes. In her opinion, "Discrimination against women in access to jobs, pay,
retention, and promotion are common to most countries, with obviously
deleterious effects on female-supported families. Many such women in both
rich and poor countries also suffer from severe 'time-poverty', since they are
carrying the double burden of domestic and bread-winning responsibilities.
However, as Chen's paper in this volume shows, the situation of some poor
women in poor countries is more like that of western women in the nineteenth
century than that of contemporary western women: even though they have no
other means of support, they are actually prohibited (by religious laws or
oppressive cultural norms) from engaging in paid labour. For such women, it
can indeed be liberating to be helped (as they have in some cases been by
outsiders like Chen) to resist the sanctions invoked against them by family
elders, neighbours, or powerful social leaders. Though many forms of wage-
work, especially those available to women, are hardly 'liberating', except in the
most basic sense, women are surely distinctly less free if they are not allowed to
engage in it, especially if they have no other means of support. Many employed
women in western, industrialized countries still face quite serious disapproval if

25
Nussbaum, Mand Glover, J. (ed.), op. cit., p. 104.

137
they are mothers of young children or if the family's need for their wages is not
perceived as significant."

According to World Bank report, "Gender Discrimination remains

pervasive in many dimensions of life-worldwide. This is so despite considerable
advances in gender equality in recent decades. The nature and extent of the
discrimination vary considerably across countries and regions. But the patterns
are striking. In no region of the developing world are women equal to men in
legal, social, and economic rights. Gender gaps are widespread in access to and
control of resources, in economic opportunities, in power, and political voice.
Women and girls bear the largest and most direct costs of these inequalities - but
the costs cut more broadly across society, ultimately harming everyone."

For these reasons, women's rights is a core issue. In all the parts of the
world women are discriminated. "In no region do women and men have equal
social, economic, and legal rights. In a number of countries women still lack
independent rights to own land, manage property, conduct business, or even travel
without their husband's consent. In much of Sub-Saharan Africa, women obtain
land rights chiefly through their husband as long as the marriage endures, and they
often lose those rights when they are divorced or widowed. Gender disparities in
rights constrain the sets of choices available to women in many aspects of life-
often profoundly limiting their ability to participate in or benefit from
development."^^

Women continue to have systematically poorer control over a range of

productive resources, including education, land, information, health, employment,
and financial resources. "Such disparities, whether in education or productive
resources, hurt women's ability to participate in development and to contribute to

^^ Okin, Susan Moller, "Inequalities between the Sexes in Different Cultural Contexts", in
Nussbaum, M. and Glover, J. (eds.), op. cit., p. 285.
" Ibid, p. 4.

138
higher living standards for their families. Those disparities also translate into
greater risk and vulnerability in the face of personal or family crises, in old age,
and during economic shocks."^^

Despite recent increases in women's educational attainment, women

continue to earn less than men in the labor market - even when they have the
same education and years of work experience as men. Women are often limited
to certain occupations in developing countries and are largely excluded from
management positions in the formal sector. In industrial countries women in the
wage sector earn an average 77 percent of what men earn; in the developing
countries, 73 percent. And only about a fifth of the wage gap can be explained by
gender differences in education, work experience, or job characteristics."^^

Unequal rights and poor socio-economic and political status relative to men
also limit their ability to influence decisions in their societies and at the national
level. Gender disparities in education and health etc. are often greatest among the
poor. According to United Nations Development Programme's Human
Development Report, 1991, "This report focuses on three indicators that attempt
to measure gender equality in rights:

• Political and legal equality for women (question 21)

• Social and economic equality for women (question 22)
30
• Equality of the sexes in marriage and in divorce proceedings (question 37)."

In this report we use the values 1-4 to correspond to the 0-3 scale Humana
uses. A few other databases provide information on human rights, including the
Freedom House Country Ratings and the Women's Economic and Social Human
Rights (WESHR) indicator from Purdue University's Global Studies program.

2* Ibid, p. 5.
2' Ibid, p. 5.
^° UNDP Report (1991) quoted from Ibid, p. 38.

139
Every year Freedom House compiles ratings for a number of countries on both
political rights and civil liberties, but does not provide information on gender
equality. The WESHR Indicators exclusively on women's rights, but lacks time
series data for many countries. To enable comparison of the greatest number of
countries over time, this report uses the World Human Rights Guide."^'

Discrimination and atrocities against the women are violations of human

rights of women. It should be protected, only then, gender justice and equality
can be ensured.

There is the need for genuine equality among human beings where neither
man is superior nor woman is inferior. "Gender justice envisages the equality of
sexes in each and every sphere. However, it does not claim any preferential
treatment for women over men. Gender justice is not based on biological
differences. Its object is to eradicate man-made differences in areas economic,
social, cultural, political and civil... Discriminatory and derogatory practices take
their own time to leave society. Sex equality and gender justice have made very
slow progress. With apartheid and racial discrimination abolished and slavery
slaughtered, the time is ripe to eliminate sex discrimination and sex inequality and
to ensure gender justice in our society."

4.5 Women's Rights are Human Rights

Feminists all over the world are trying to focus on the human rights of
women. Their slogan is "Women's rights are human rights. " Women's rights are
Human Rights is a proclamation for gender justice. Women have the right to
food, shelter, property, education, reproductive choice, social security, health care
and employment. Women have the right to political and religious freedom of

^' Ibid,p.3S.
^^ Ibid,pp. lS-19.

140
expression, freedom from torture or slavery and the civil privileges of citizens.
Women have the right to a livelihood free from all forms of violence.

There are their inherent rights. Yet they are denied. So pervasive and
systemic are the human rights abuses against women that they are regarded as part
of the natural order.

National constitutions around the world affirm the principle of basic human
rights. At least in principle, many of them also contain an explicit reference to
nondiscrimination between women and men with respect to these rights. But
national constitutions are neither automatically nor necessarily effective. Many
constitutions including Indian, now give women and men the right to vote and to
be elected to public office - but gender discrimination in education, health and
access to information still limit women's participation in political forums. So,
failure to consider the impact of gender stratification and inequalities on the
practice of basic rights weakens the power of constitutional mandates.

Systemic obstacles also stand in the way of translating into reality what
appears to be a national commitment to gender justice and equality. Customary
law or procedural laws may continue to give unequal rights to women and men,
effectively countermanding that commitment.

In countries where a 'Son-preference' is associated with economic survival

and religion, intentional neglect of daughters and female malnutrition are
commonplace. This quote from a Bengali women is a disturbing illustration:

"How can you explain to children there is not enough food? When my son
cries, I try to feed him. It is easier to make my daughter understand... if there is
less we eat less. You have to feed men more, or they beat you. My son beats me
if there is not enough food."^''

33
An interview taken in Delhi on 21 July, 2010.

141
 For millions of women around the world, land ownership and access to
credit are keys to survival, yet rarely their right. Current economic conditions and
agenda of Neo-liberal regimes in the name of structural adjustment programmes
(SAP) further deny women economic opportunity in every part of the world,
without exception.

Women remain visible victims of political oppression and are inherently

forgotten as political actors. "They are routinely sexually abused as prisoners,
imprisoned for peaceful beliefs and activities, tortured, denied the right to a fair
trial, abducted, 'disappeared', and extra-judicially executed."^'' Violence against
women is the most pervasive abuse of human rights. It exists in various forms in
everyday life in all societies. The world must recognize that the protection of
women's bodies and identities is not a privilege, but a right.

Gender-based abuse and discrimination may be sanctioned by society,

made into law, or simply tolerated. Either way, under democracy and
dictatorship, in times of war and times of peace, women's human rights are
violated daily and often systematically. The United Nations' Universal
Declaration of Human Rights proclaims: "All human beings are bom free and
equal in dignity and rights." Yet women's dignity, freedom and equality are
persistently compromised by law and by custom in ways that men's are not.

For decades, women's groups have focused on addressing women's civil

and political rights. Organizations working at the grassroots level and on local,
national, and international policy have drawn attention to gender-based abuses,
among them: inequality of opportunity in education, employment, housing, credit,
and health care, rape and domestic violence; reproductive freedom; and domestic
labour. Perceived as part of the women's rights movement and hence of a special-
interest agenda, these issues have been considered marginal to international law's

•''* Amnesty International Report, Women in the Frontline: Human Rights Violations
against Women, Amnesty International, London, 1992, p. 2.

142
more "serious" responsibility for human rights. "While human rights standards
may be invoked to protect women (as when they are applied to violations such as
the rape of women in detention) and human rights organisations may take action
on the behalf of individual women, human rights work has traditionally been
concerned with state-sanctioned or condoned oppression, that which takes place in
the "public sphere", away from privacy to which most women are relegated and in
which most violations of women's rights take place."

Recognizing that "it is not possible fully to separate the struggle for
women's human rights from the struggle for women's equal rights.""'^ Many
activist at the 1993 United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna
proclaimed that it is no longer enough that existing human rights mechanisms
only be extended to women: Women's rights must be understood as human rights.
We must understand gender-based abuses as human rights abuses. That
understanding must lead to the transformation of prevailing concepts of human
rights, breaking open the now-defimt categories.

4.5.1 Women's Human Rights: A Historical Perspective

In a civilized society, respect for human rights is a basic condition for the
survival of human beings. The UN Centre for human rights defines human rights
"those rights that are inherent in our nature and without which we cannot live as
human beings." These rights relate to life, equality, liberty and security of person,
equal protection under law, free from all forms of discrimination etc.

Human rights have helped to empower the individual. The American

Independence Movement of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 were
inspired by the ideas of natural rights and both movements were sought to
challenge governments that curtailed the natural rights of the people. It was

^^ Peters, J. and Wolper, A., Women's Rights: Human Rights - International Feminist
Perspectives^ Routledge, New York, 1995, p. 2.
^* Ibid.

143
during the French Revolution in 1789 that natural rights were elevated to the
status of legal rights with the formulation of the 'Declaration of Rights of Man,'
The American Bill of Rights in 1791 also incorporated natural rights. The above
conception of natural rights was deployed in several political and social
movements through the nineteenth century. For instance, the suffragette
movement was premised on the natural equality between men and women.

In 1991 the league of Nations came into existence. Its failure to promote
peace was evident with the outbreak of World War II, resulting in its dissolution
in 1946. The International Labour Organization (ILO) established in 1919 sought
to promote social justice. In 1946, ILO became the first specialized agency to the
United Nations. However, it was only in the aftermath of the gruesome Second
World War that the need to acknowledge and safeguard human rights was
articulated at the world level in the form of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, 1948.

Human rights discourse had traditionally been male dominated in the

sense that, in what is essentially a man's world, men have struggled to assert
their dignity and common humanity against an overbearing state apparatus.
"Defining women's human rights and implementing the idea that women and
men are equal members of society. Three caveats are necessary. First, because
women's history has been deliberately ignored over centuries as a means of
keeping women subordinate and is only now beginning to be recaptured, this is
primarily a northern story until the twentieth century. Second, because of this
ignorance - that is, because so much is still unknown - any argument that the
struggle to attain rights for women is only a northern or western effort is
without foundation. Third, the oft-heard argument that feminism (read the
struggle for women's equality) is a struggle pursued primarily by elite women
is simply another example of the traditional demeaning of women. Although

144
history is replete with examples of "elite" male leaders, few have been so
branded."^^

Because human life has so many facets, this long debate has been broad
and wide-ranging. Much of the debate has involved the traditional demeaning of
women. "With discrimination, the less powerful are deprived of their history,
their self-confidence, and, eventually, their legal ability to function as full citizens
or members of the larger group. The great irony is that women have been charged
with - and have often found security in - maintaining customs and traditions, thus
institutionalizing the discrimination against them through the education and
socialization of children."^^

Breaking tradition, defying custom and overcoming discrimination require

courge and leadership. For women, taking leadership was double-edge problem, a
contradiction in terms. For most women, especially before safe and effective birth
control was available, marriage, home and family were their means of economic
survival and social acceptance. "The beginning of women's education began with
literacy. As literacy rates increased, women began to articulate their view of the
world. Many wrote anonymously at first in order to have their work published.
The Industrial Revolution and the concomitant advances in science and
technology contributed immensely to women's emanation. Not only did more
women find employment outside the home, travel and communication too became
easier and cheaper."

The drive to define women's human rights and eliminate discrimination

against them can be seen as part of the worldwide democratization effort. The
question at the beginning of the twenty-first century is whether women will

^^ Fraser, Arvonne S., "The Origins and Development of Women's Human Rights", in
Agosin, Marjorie (eds.), Women, Gender and Human Rights, Rawat Publications, Jaipur,
pp. 15-16.
^* Ibid, p. n.
^' Ibid,p.\8.

145
exercise their political muscle sufficiently at national, local and international
levels to assure universal implementation of the women's human rights treaty.

4.5.2 The origins of Women's Human Rights

Christine de Pizan's Le Livre de la Cite des dames was published partially

in response to Giovanni Boccacio's work of 1361, Concerning Famous Women,
which described exceptional women of history who had acquire "manly spirit"
and other male attributes such as "keen intelligence... and remarkable fortitue"
and who dared to undertake difficult deeds.

The feminist historian Gerda Lemer credits de Pizan with the first
deliberate efforts to raise women's consciousness but laments the fact that
although numerous women later published the lists of famous women, few used
de Pizan as a reference - an example of how the lack of knowledge of women's
history impedes intellectual development. Joan Kelly, another feminist historian,
argues that de Pizan opened the debate about women by establishing the basic
postulates of feminism.

Jean Jacques Rosseau (1712-1778) promoted political freedoms and rights,

though be belittled the advocacy of women's rights by his contemporaries. In his
opinion, women by nature is inferior to man. It is not possible to consider her as
equal citizen.

In the late 18'*' century the question of women's right became central to
political debates in both France and Britain. At the time some of the greatest
thinkers of the Enlightenment, who defended democratic principles of equality
and challenged ideas that a privileged few should rule over the vast majority of
the population, believed that these principles should be applied only to their own
gender and their own race. The philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau for example
thought that it was the order of nature for woman to obey men. He argued that

146
"Women do wrong to complain of the inequality of man-made laws and claimed
that when she tries to usurp our rights, she is our inferior.

In 1791, the French political activist Olyme de Gouges published the

Declaration of Rights of Women and the Female Citizen, modelled on the
Declaration of Rights of man and of the citizen of 1789. The Declaration is ironic
in formulation and exposes the failure of the French Revolution, which had been
devoted to equality. The Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female
Citizen follows the seventeen articles of the Declaration of Rights of man and of
the citizen point for point and has been described by Camille Naish as almost a
parody... of the original document. De Gouges expands the sixth article of
Declaration of the Rights of man and of the citizen, which declared the rights of
citizens to take part in the formation of law. She also draws attention to the fact
that under French law women were fiilly punishable, yet denied equal rights.

Mary Wollstonecraft, a British writer and philosopher, published A

Vindication of Rights of Woman in 1792, arguing that it v/as the education and
upbringing of women that created limited expectations. She attacked gender
oppression, pressing for equality, justice and rights for all men and women. "Men
and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of
the society they live in."'"'

She further writes, "Would men but generously snap our chains, and be
content with rational fellowship instead of Slavish obedience they would find us
more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more
reasonable mothers in a word, better citizens."'" While talking about women
rights, she writes, "Let women share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of
man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated, or justify the authority

'"' Wollstonecraft, Mary, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin, New Delhi, 2004
(First published in 1792), p. 30.
"' Ibid, p. 186.

147
that chains such a weak being to her duty... Allowing this position, women have
not any inherent rights to claim; and, by the same rule, their duties vanish, for
rights and duties are inseparable.

Be just then, O ye men of understanding! and mark not more severely what
women do amiss, than the vicious tricks of the horse or the ass for whom ye
provide provender - and allow her privileges of ignorance, to whom ye deny the
rights of reason, or ye will be worse than Egyptian task-masters, expecting virtue
where nature has not given understanding."''^

Historical research has revealed a much longer gestation period, beginning

at least in the early 15"^ century with the 1405 publication of Le Livre de La cite
des dames (The Book of the City of Ladies) by Christine de Pizan. "This work
stimulated what French feminists call the Querelle des Femmes (debates about
women), which continues to the present."

In his 1869 essay "The Subjection of Women", John Stuart Mill described
the situation of women in Britain. "As John Stuart Mill argued in 1869 in his
essay The Subjection of Women, the question is whether women must be forced to
follow that is perceived as their "natural vocation" that is home and family - often
called the private sphere - or should be seen, in private and public life, as the
equal partners of men. While the division of spheres, based on sex and known as
patriarchy, may have been justified as a necessary division of labor in the early
evolution of human species, the system long ago outlived its functionality and has
been challenged by women, and a few men, since at least the fifteenth century."'*"^
Mill that too many men were afraid of equality in marriage. In that case, he
argued, men should never have allowed women "to receive a literary education.
Women who read, much more women who write, are, in the existing constitution
of things, a contradiction and a disturbing element."

*^ Ibid, p. 242.
'*•' Fraser, Arvonne S., op. cit., p. 15.

148
 Denied direct access to the world of politics by customs - it was unseemly
for women to speak in public- and subordinate under law, many English, French,
and American women took to writing literature and political commentary as a
means of intruding on public sphere and, not incidentally, like de Pizan and
WoUstonecraft, as a means of economic independence. Among the late-
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels written by women concerning women's
role in society, the best known are those of Jane Austin (1775-1817) and Charlotte
Bronte (1816-1855). Fanny Bumey (1752-1840) of England and Madame de
Stael (1766-1817) of France were also notable popular writers who described the
world from a women's perspective. Much more famous and widely read in the
nineteenth century was a novel not about women but about slavery.

In US, Abigail Adams was expressing idea on the Rights of Women. A

respectable married women and wife of the second president of the United States,
Adams is portrayed indulgently by historian for her "don't forget the ladies"
letter to husband John Adams while he was off helping draft the new country's
constitution: "Do not put such unlimited power in the hands of the husbands.
Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention
is not paid to the ladies we are determine [sic] to foment a rebellion, and will not
hold ourselves bound by any law in which we have had no voice, or
44
representation.
These are totally personal sentiments based on women's experience. What
most historian ignore is that this letter was only one example of her outspoken
irritation at the legal constraints on women.

As clear from the Abigail Adams' letter, discussion of women's rights have
been an integral piece of American politics and culture from the founding of the
nation. "John Adams dismissed Abigail's petition as a laughable matter and

44
Adams, Abigail quoted from, Fraser, Arvonne S., op. cit., p. 25.

149
reminded her pleasantly but condescendingly of the "despotism ofpeticoats" and
claimed that men were generally the subjects, not the tyrants of women."

The most famous women's rights documents of the United States, the 1848
Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls, would call on the principles enunciated
in the Declaration of Independence and evoke Abigail's call for an end to the
tyranny of men.

After Mott and Stanton were refused admission to the World Anti-Slavery
Conference, they decided that it was time women held a conference of their own.
The Seneca Falls Convention held in 1848. The Convention featured a
Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence. It
opened with the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men and
women are created equal." The conventioneers adopted twelve resolutions
concerning the rights of women - not special rights, but rights that men already
enjoyed. "In the Declaration of Sentiments that Stanton wrote in 1848 meeting,
she expresses strong resentment of the fact that, throughout history, men had
established "an absolute tyranny" over women. Women are required to abide by
laws they had no hand in making, and were there by deprived, viewed "if married,
in the eye of the law, [as] civilly dead."

Stanton wrote that, "We do not expect our path will be strewn with the
flowers of popular applause, but over the thorn of bigotry and prejudice will be
our way, and on our banners will beat the dark storm-clouds of opposition fi-om
those who have entrenched themselves behind the stormy bulwarks of custom and
authority, and who have fortified their position by every means, holy and unholy.
But we will steadfastly abide the result. Unmoved we will bear it aloft.
Undauntedly we will unfiirl it to the gale, for we know that the storm cannot rend

45
Strom, Sharon Hartman, Women's Rights, Greenwood Press, London, 2003, p. 3.

150
from it a shred, that the electric flash will but more clearly show to us the glorious
words inscribed it, "Equality of Rights"/^

The main stress of Stanton was, "Women are intellectually, morally and
physically equal to men; therefore, women deserve the same rights as men,
including the right to vote."'*^

The resolutions adopted at this conference echoed sentiments expressed by

earlier feminists and were reminiscent of Olympe de Gouges's 1791 Declaration
of Rights of Women and Citizen. What is known about the 1848's meeting that it
was attended by many of the nation's leading reformers - black and white - and
received extensive, primarily negative, publicity.

On the 150"' anniversary of first women's right convention, Hillary

Rodham Clinton said, "I would like to take your minds back a 150 years... But
then one day in July 1848, you hear about a women's right convention to be held
in nearby Seneca Falls. It's convention to discuss the social, civil and religious
conditions and rights of women.""*^

She further said that, "The Senecca Falls 100", as I like to call them, shared
the radical idea that America fell far short of her ideals started in our founding
documents, denying citizenship to women and slaves.'''^ In the last she said,
"Help us imagine a future that keeps faith with the sentiments expressed here in
1848. The future, like the past and the present, will not and cannot be perfect.
Our daughters and grand daughters will face new challenges which we today
cannot even imagine. But each of us can help prepare for that future by doing

"^ Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, "In Defence of Women's Rights", in Hurley, Jennifer A.,
Women's Rights: Great Speeches in History, Greenhaven Press, Inc. San Diego,
California, 2002, pp. 37-38.
""^ Ibid., Forward.
** Clinton, Hillary Rodham, "On the 150*'' anniversary of the first women's rights
convention", In Hurley, J.A. (eds.), op. cit., p. 205.
"' Ibid, p. 206.

151
what we can to speak out for justice and equality, for women's rights and human
rights, to be on the right side of history, no matter the risk or cost, knowing that
eventually the sentiments we express and causes we advocate will succeed
because they are rooted in the conviction that all people are entitled by their
creator and by the promise of America to the freedom, rights, responsibilities, and
opportunities of fiill citizenship. That is what I imagine for the future. I invite
you to imagine with me and then to work together to make that future a reality."^"

In March 1888, forty years after the Seneca Fails meeting. International
Council of Women meeting, organised by Stanton and her friend, Susan B.
Anthony, was held in Washington, D.C. Anthony had been active in the
temperance movement and proved herself to be the consummate organizer, while
Stanton was a theoretical politician. In 1902, delegates from ten countries - the
United States, England, Russia, Norway, Germany, Sweden, turkey, Australia,
Chile and Canada attended on International Woman Suffrage Conference held in
Washington, D.C. as part of the National American Women Suffrage
Association's annual convention. By this time. New Zealand and Australia had
given women to vote. In 1919, International League for Peace and Freedom was
organized, reflecting many women's concern for peace. By 1930 many countries
starting giving women right to vote. After the World War II, the situation of
women's right radically changed.

4.5.3 Human Rights Treaties and International Conferences

A series of human rights treaties and International conference agreements,

forged over several decades by governments - increasingly influenced by a
growing global movement for women's rights - provides a legal foundation for
ending gender discrimination and gender based rights violations. These
agreements affirm that women and men have equal rights, and oblige states to
take action against discriminatory practices.
50
Ibid, p. 214.

152
 The starting point is found in the principles of the United Nations Charter
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which all member states of the
United Nations subscribe. Specific descriptions of rights and freedoms have been
elaborated since these two instruments were written in the 1940s, but every
subsequent human rights treaty has been rooted in the founders explicit
recognition of equal rights and fundamental freedoms for individual men and
women, and their emphasis on protecting the basic dignity of the person.

As expressions of the world's conscience, the consensus decisions of

International Conferences are also powerful instruments for promoting change
both within countries and internationally. The Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action, the Programme of Action of the International Conference
on Population and Development and the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth
World Conference on Women (FWCW) are international consensus agreements
that strongly support gender equality and women's empowerment.^'

In particular, the International Conference on Population and Development

(ICPD) and FWCW documents, drawing on human rights agreements, clearly
articulate the concepts of sexual and reproductive rights^^ - including the right to
sexual and reproduction health; voluntary choice in marriage, sexual relations and
child-bearing; freedom from sexual violence and coercion; and the right to
privacy - which are essential to gender equality.^"'

51 See, Dubey, M. and Jabbi, M.K. (eds.), A Social Charter for India, Pearson Lx)ngman,
Delhi, 2009, pp. 83-99.
52
See, South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, Introducing Human Rights,
Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 154-178.
Wolper, Andrea and Julie S. Peter (1995) (eds.), Women's Rights, Human Rights:
International Feminist Perspectives, Routledge, New York, pp. 1-41.
Petchesky Rosalind and Karan Judd (eds.). Negotiating Reproductive Rights: Women's
Perspectives Across Countries and Cultures, International Reproductive Rights Research
and Action Group, New York.
53
See, UNDP, Human Development Report 1995, UNDP and Oxford University Press,
1995, pp.1-86.

153
4.5.4 United Nations and World Conferences on Women

In 1946, the United Nations established a Commission on Status of

Women. Originally as the Sections on the status of Women, Human Rights
Division, Department of Social Affairs, and at present part of the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC). Since 1975, the United Nations has held a series of
World Conferences on women's issues. The first International Conference on
women took place in Mexico in 1975, under the title "Equality, Development and
Peace", one of the conclusions of this conference was that women should and
could contribute to the progress of their country as well as any man. In one word,
women were recognised as a factor of development. The second conference held
at Copenhagen in 1980.

And the third conference held at Nairobi in 1985. The prospective

strategies of the Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi (1985) stipulate:
"It is necessary to recognise that women contribute equally with men to the
orientation of efforts for development and must benefit from the advantages
generated by that development.

The World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 was a successful for

women, when it recognised them in the same manner as men. The World
Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, declared human rights to
be a universal norm, independent of the standards of individual states. The
Vierma Declaration emphasizes that rights of women and girls are "an inalienable,
integral and indivisible part of human rights, requiring special attention as part of
all human rights activities.

The conference urged that increased priority be given to eradicating all

forms of discrimination on the grounds of sex; to ensuring women's full and equal
participation in political, civil, economic and cultural life; and to ending all forms
of gender based violence. Countries agreed that women's enjoyment of rights -
including equal access to resources - is both an end in itself and essential to their

154
empowerment, to social justice, and to overall social and economic
development."^''

As a result of the Vienna Conference's recommendations, the General

Assembly in December 1993 adopted by consensus the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against women.

4.5.5 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

In 1994 ICPD recognized that empowering women improving their status

are important ends in themselves and essential for achieving sustainable
development. The ICPD Programme of Action affirmed that universally
recognised human rights standards apply to all aspects of population programmes.

The fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995 was

most successful one, amongst the four conferences held since 1975. "There was
no ambiguity in the declaration and platform of action. All the problems were
analysed and dealt with. Nothing was left out. The clash between North and
South had, this time, little to do with politics. Women came to defend their rights.
Once again, the stand was very clear: 'Women's rights are human rights.'"^^ "The
'Beijing+5' review, entitled "Women: 2000: Gender Equality, Development and
Peace for the 21*' century", took place 5-10 June, 2000. The Gender Assembly
session assessed progress in implementing the Nairobi Forward looking strategies
for the Advancement of Women, adopted in 1985 and FWCW Platform for
Action, and considered future actions and initiatives."^^

The fifth World Conference on women and sport held at Sydney, Australia.
"Despite setbacks in its peace-keeping role, the UN remains the only organization

^^ U.N.P.F., The State of World Population, New York, 2000, p. 51.

^' Warzazi, Halima Embarek, "March of Human Rights of Women", in Bhandare,
Murlidhar C. (eds.), The World of Gender Justice, Har-Anand Publications Pvt. Ltd.,
New Delhi, 1999, p. 115.
^* U.N.P.F.,0/?. c//.,p. 52.

155
with authority and resources adequate to the pursuit of an international policy
agenda. Since its creation, it has been a focus of attention for women with a sex
equality agenda. This agenda has been developed in terms of human and civil
rights. It is not an easy task. Cultural and economic differences mean that the
content of an equality agenda differs around the world and is prone to conflict.
Different perceptions of gender and women's roles, compounded by mistrust of
post-colonial agendas and western domination, cause disputes about appropriate
goals and strategies. However, CEDAW, the conferences, the CSW and DAW,
provide invaluable forums for debate of these issues. There is an international
dialogue going through these organizations and the NGOs that the UN has
encouraged, which provides an alternative perspective on the world from that
offered by the Security Council and the World Trade Organization."^^

4.5.6 Sexual Violence against Women under International Human Rights Law

Violence against women has been widely recognized as a pervasive global

problem. It is an enduring impediment to the empowerment of women and more
generally, to social justice and peace. Cultures of violence are based on
repression, denial, and manipulation. "In the case of violence against women this
is particularly acute. Historically women have been blamed, shamed, and silenced
about the violence perpetrated against them, especially sexual violence. Silence
surrounding gender violence contributes to the violence by maintaining it and
exacerbating its traumatic impact on victims and the broader consequences for all
women."^^

Earlier, sexual violence against women was not been considered a human
rights violations in the main treaties and documents of international human rights
law. These are general treaties signed by large numbers of countries that stipulate

^^ Stock, Wendy, Women in Contemporary Politics, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK, 2005, p.
231.
^* Elliot, Carolyn M., Global Empowerment of Women; Responses to Globalization and
Politicized Religions, Routledge, New York, 2008, p. xii.

156
two set of rights: civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights.
Later, several treaties about specific human rights violations such as torture,
slavery and traffic of people, and the elimination of the discrimination against
women were signed. However, there are still no treaties that focus on violence
against women. When states ratify treaties they assume international obligations
and may be liable for international responsibility if they do not comply with those
obligations. In the case of human rights treaties, states have the obligation to
prevent and investigate human rights violations, punishing the perpetrators and
compensating the victims.

Instead, human rights law, human rights law dealing with the subordination
of women and gender-based crimes has evolved through other kinds of documents
and international resolutions. Gradually, an edifice of law has been built through
reports of the United Nations Commissions and special rapporteurs, regional
systems, international criminal courts, and truth commissions. Women's
organizations and international case law have contributed to this evolution.

A major step forward was taken by the Second World Conference of

Human Rights (1993). "Its Vienna declaration stated that rights of women and
girls are human rights and shall be protected and recognized internationally. The
Conference highlighted the importance of eliminating violence against women in
public and private life, all forms of sexual harassment, exploitation and trafficking
of women, and sexist prejudices in the administration of justice. It also argued for
the eradication of any conflicts that arise between the rights of women and
prejudicial consequences of traditional practices and customs, cultural prejudices,
and religious extremism. Furthermore, it argued that violations of human rights of
women in armed conflicts are violations of fundamental principal of international
human rights law and humanitarian law. The conference insisted that various

157
kinds of crimes - murders, systematic violations, sexual slavery, and forced
pregnancies - require an effective response."^'

United Nations agencies and mechanism have made a promise to

international human rights of women. The Committee for the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), established in 1979, included sex-
based violence in its definition of discrimination against women as follows:
"Violence directed to women because they are women or because women are
affected in a disproportionate way. This definition includes acts that cause
physical, mental, or sexual harm or suffering, threats, coercion, and other forms of
privation of liberty.^" Moreover, CEDAW stated that rural women are at risk of
violence because of persistence of traditional attitudes related to the subordination
of women in many rural communities.

The resolution of the Commission on Human Rights that created the

Special Rapportuer on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (1998) condemns the
violations of rights of women in armed conflicts, establishing that these are
violations of humanitarian law and asking for "an efficient response to such kind
of violations, particularly to murders, systematic rapes, sexual slavery and forced
pregnancy require an effective response."^'

In 1994, the United Nations also appointed a Special Rapporteur on

Violence Against Women because of "the continuous and endemic characteristic
of violence against women."^^ However, violence against women during periods

" Falcon, Julissa Mantilla, "Sexual Violence against Women and Experience of Truth
Commissions", in Elliot, Carolyn M., Global Empowerment of Women: Responses to
Globalization and Politicized Religions, Routledge, New York, 2008, p. 216.
^° See, General Recommendation 19 (1992), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
*' Commission on Human Rights, "Contemporary Forms of Slavery", http://www.hri.ca/
fortherecord 1998/documentation/commission/e-cn-4-sub2-1998-13.htm (accessed November
22,2006).
" Resolution 1994/45, Commission on Human Rights, United Nations

158
of armed conflict has generally been viewed as a side effect of the central battle.
Only in the past decade after the Vienna Declaration of 1993, the Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, and rulings by international courts on
Rwanda and the formal Yugoslavia has violence against women during armed
conflict came to be considered a violation of human rights and a crime against
humanity."

United Nations Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, passed in

2000, expresses the Security Council's concern that women and children account
for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict calls for ftill
implementation of international humanitarian and human rights law protecting the
rights of women and girls during and after conflicts. The resolution urges states
to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in
national, regional and international institutions and in mechanisms for the
prevention, management, and resolution of conflict. It also calls on states to take
special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence,
particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence
in situations of armed conflict. The International Committee on Red Cross
(ICRC) has also identified other results of armed conflict that affect the human
rights of women.

In the opinion of Falcon, "It has taken a long time for sexual violence
against women to be considered a human rights violation and an international
crime. International documents and resolutions, advanced rulings, and the work
of academics and activists have contributed to this process."^''

According to Vina Majumdar and C.P. Sujaya, "Women of old age groups
are as much exposed to the threat of violence as younger women. Widows

" See, Platform of Beijing (1995), Section D. This section focused particularly on women
belonging to minorities and indigenous women, whom it found to constitute most of the
victims.
^ Falcon, Fulissa Mantilla, op. cit., p. 228.

159
specially, face distinctly peculiar situations in safe-guarding their lives and
property after the death of the spouse. They are branded as witches, or sent away
to pilgrimage centres and stripped of their dignity."^^

4.5.7 Effectiveness of Framework of Women's Human Rights

Although the framework of women's human rights has been tremendously

useful in efforts to lobby for legislative and policy changes at local, national and
international levels, it has been an equally important tool for grassroots
organizing. It provides women with principles by which to develop alternative
visions of their lives without suggesting the substance of those visions.
According to Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women, "The fundamental
principles of human rights that accord to each and every person the entitlement of
human dignity give women a vocabulary for describing both violations and
impediments to the exercise of their human rights. The large body of international
covenants, agreements, and commitments about human rights gives women
political leverage and a tenable point of reference. And, finally, the idea of
women's human rights enables women to define and articulate the specificity of
the experiences in their lives as it provides a vocabulary for women to share the
experiences of other women around the world and work collaboratively for
change."^^

Understanding about what human rights entail, and how they should be
protected and monitored, are developed in a variety of processes, internationally
and within countries, consideration of gender factors needs to become an integral
and systematic part of all these processes. Despite important progress, this largely
remains to be achieved. "Human rights instruments and mechanisms provide

" Majumdar, Vina and Sujaya C, in Dubey, Muchkund and Jabbi, M.K., A Social Charter
for India: Citizens' Perspective of Basic Rights, Pearson Longman, Delhi, 2009, p. 96.
^^ Kramarae, Cheris and Spender, Dale (Eds.), Routledge International Encyclopedia of
Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge, Vol. 2, Routledge, New York, 2000, p.
1082.

160
avenues for challenging the systemic abuse of women, and governments can be
made to take gender-based violations more seriously by being held accountable
for the implementation of laws against them and for the sensitivity of agencies
handling these issues. Only through community responsibility and state
accountability, day by day, place by place, will be counter the massive violation
of women's human rights in the world."^^

It is suggested that, "the social charter for women prioritise the monitoring
of the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action and the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women at various levels
by women's groups, educational institutions, centre of women's studies and other
groups, networks and individuals involved with women's rights. Since these two
important legal instruments for women comprehensively cover all aspects of
rights and entitlements, their continuous monitoring on a sustained basis by
representatives of the women's constituency and the preparation of shadow
reports will create sustained mechanisms for advocacy and for urging the state for
more effective delivery of justice to women. The activity of the monitoring and
preparation of documents outside the government will also draw in a large number
of activists, researchers, lawyers and women's groups and help disseminate the
findings and information to larger numbers of grassroots women."^*

In the mid-nineteenth century Sarah Grimke rightly said: "Thus far woman
has struggled through life with bandaged eyes, accepting the dogma of her
weakness and inability to take care of herself not only physically but
intellectually. She has held out a trembling hand and received gratefully and
preferred aid. She has foregone her right to study, to know the laws and purposes
of government to which she is subject. But now there is awakened in her a
consciousness that she is defrauded of her legitimate rights and that she never can

*^ Bunch, Charlotte, "Transforming Human Rights from a Feminist Perspective", in Peter,

J. and Wolper, A., op. cit., p, 17.
^* Majumdar Vina and Sujaya C, op. cit., p. 93.

161
fulfil her mission until she is placed in that position to which she feels herself
called by the divinity within... There is now predominant in the minds of
intelligent women to an extent never known before a struggling after freedom, an
intense desire after a higher life.^'

4.6 Gender Equality

Women constitute about half of the world's population. They do about

55% of the world's work when unpaid economic activities in the household are
taken into account. In India, also, women constitute about fifty percent of the
total population. They are discriminated in the patriarchal society from the
beginning to death in education, health, employment, wages, reproductive rights
etc. Male dominated society oppress them. Even, they achieved the right to vote
in many countries, but their political participation is very less except a few
countries of the world including Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland etc.

Gerda Lemer, feminist historian rightly observed that 'Women are ignored
in history'. There is need to address the issues of gender equality to achieve an
egalitarian society. "The history of women is not linear, nor does it have a well
organised structure. It is, in fact, an integral, though mostly invisible, part of the
saga of civilisation. Its threads are closely interwoven with those of culture,
society, state and, above all, with the lives of people. Untangling the treads
through multiple layers of traditions is a fascinating enterprise.

Women's duties as good daughters, good wives and good mothers are well-
defmed in the Indian patriarchal society. Wifehood and motherhood are accepted
as pivotal roles for women: by implication, these roles complete in themselves
and women need not pursue any specialised discipline of knowledge, art or
profession. The good women is sweet, gentle, loving, caring and ever sacrificing.

69
Grimke, Sarah. "Sisters of Charity", ca. 1852, edited with an introduction by Gerda
Lemer. Signs 1, 1 (Autumn 1975), p. 254.

162
The mainstream concept of the role of a woman seems to be best described in the
anonymous Sanskrit couplet: she (in relation to her husband) is like a mother
cooking and serving food, secretary while he is working, servant at his feet,
courtesan in his bed and earch-like in ferbearance."^

According to World Bank Report (2001) define, "Gender equality in terms of

equality under the law, equality of opportunity - including equality in access to
human capital and other productive resources and equality of rewards for work - and
equality of voice. We stop short of defining gender equality in terms of equality of
outcomes, however, for two reasons. One is that different societies can follow
different paths in their pursuit of gender equality. The second is that an instrinsic
aspects of equality is letting women and men choose different (or similar) roles and
different (or similar) outcomes according to their preferences and goals."^'

Gender equality tell us about relative rights, opportunities, and voice for
women and men. For example gender inequalities in education, access to other
productive assets, employment, or earnings affects power relations between
women and men - and thus their relative ability to influence decisions within their
households. These inequalities also translate into disparities in women's and
men's capacity to take advantage of economic and other opportunities.
Inequalities in political representation, whether at the local or national levels
reflects the extent to which women and men have voice in public policy debates
and formulation.

4.6.1 A three-part strategy to promote gender equality

That gender inequalities exact high human costs and constrain countries
development prospects provides a compelling case for public and private action to

^° Desai, Neera and Thakkar, Usha, Women in Indian Society, National Book Trust, New
Delhi, 2009, p. 1.
^' World Bank, Engendering Development: Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources
and Voices, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001, p. 35.

163
promote gender equality. The state has a critical role in improving the well-being
of both women and men and, by so doing, in capturing the substantial social
benefits associated with improving the absolute and relative status of women and
girls. Public action is particularly important since social and legal institutions that
perpetuate gender inequalities are extremely difficult, if not impossible, for
individuals alone to change. And active policies and programmes are needed to
correct centuries old inequalities between women and men. The evidence argues
for a three part strategy for the promotion of gender equality and equity.

(a) Reforming institutions to establish equal rights and opportunities for

women and men

Because social, economic, political, legal institutions shape women's and

men's access to resources, their opportunities, and their relative power, a critical
element in promoting gender equality is established a level institutional "playing
field" for women and men.

(b) Fostering economic development to strengthen incentives for more

equal resources and participation

In most setting economic development is associated with improved

circumstances for women and girls with greater gender equality - through several
channels:

(i) Household decide about work, consumption, and investments partly

response to price levels and other market signals. Shifts in these signals
tend to bring about reallocation of resources.
(ii) When economic development raises incomes and reduces poverty, gender
inequalities often narrow. Since low-income families are forced to ration
spending on education, health care, and nutrition, with women and girls
bearing much of the costs, as household income rise, gender disparities in
human capital tend to fall.

164
(iii) Economic development with proper (pro-poor) state policies leads to better
education, health, employment facilities to girls and women. Thus,
"economic development expands opportunities and resources and relaxes
constraints - especially among women and girls.

(c) Taking active policy steps to solve persistent gender disparities in

command over resources and political voice

Policy makers need to be selective, focusing strategically on where

government intervention has the largest social benefits. Fair and equal access to
productive resources and employment opportunities can advance economic
efficient of women. Some steps should be taken as:
(i) Promoting gender equality in access to productive resources and earning
capacity,
(ii) Reducing the personal costs to women of their household roles,
(iii) Providing gender-appropriate social protection,
(iv) Strengthening women's political voice and participation.

Gender equality is a core development issue - a development objective in

its own right... Promoting gender equality is thus an important part of a
development strategy that seeks to enable all people-women and men alike - to
escape poverty and improve their standard of living."^^
Gender inequalities undermine the rights and dignity of women - so
improving gender equality has to be the part of over all socio-economic
development strategy for the society especially for the developing regions of the
world like South Asia, West Asia and North Africa. Inequalities in rights,
resources, and political voice generally disadvantage women, but they also
disadvantage the rest of the society and impede development. Even more striking:

^^ The World Bank, Engendering Development: Through Gender Equality in Rights,

Resources, and Voice, World Bank and Oxford University Press, Washington, D.C.,
2001, p. 1.

165
the cost of gender inequality are particularly large in low-income countries. And
within countries they are larger for poor.

Foremost among the costs of gender inequality is its toll on human lives
and on the quality of those lives. It is not easy to identify and measure these
costs, but evidence from countries around the world demonstrates that societies
with large, persistent gender inequalities pay the price of more poverty,
malnutrition, more illness, more illiteracy, and more deprivations of other kinds.

4.6.2 Patterns of gender inequality in rights, resources and voice

Despite recent progress, gender inequalities are pervasive, persisting across

many dimensions of life, turning up in households, social institutions, and the
economy. The main focus is on the key manifestations of exclusion and
discrimination by gender: disparities in basic rights, in access to and control of
resources, in employment and earnings and in political voice. The analysis
concentrates largely on data available across countries and overtime to examine
the recent trends and current status of gender inequalities for major developing
countries.

Rights

To describe in brief, rights includes:

(a) Political and legal rights

(b) Social and economic rights.

Resources

In Short, resources includes.

(a) Education
(b) Health

" See, World Bank, op. cit, pp. 31 -72.

166
(c) Productive Assets: Land, information, technology and financial assets.
Employment and earnings.

Voice

(a) Political representation at National and local level;

(b) Representation in management posts; and judiciary etc.

"The variation of gender inequality is also considerable in South Asia in

general and India in particular."^''

4.6.3 Struggle for Gender Equality and Justice

In the present movements of the 21^' century the relentless struggle for
gender equality and justice, led mostly by women, has been equally supported by
growing numbers of men. When this struggle finally succeeds - as it must - it
will mark a great milestone in human progress. And along the way it will change
most of today premises fdr social, economic and political life.

"The Human Development Report has consistently defined the basic

objective of development as enlarging people's choices. At the heart of this
concept are three essential components:

(a) Equality of opportunity for all people in society.

(b) Sustainability of such opportunities from one generation to the next.
(c) Empowerment of people so that they participate in - and benefit from -
development processes."'^

Equal enjoyment of human rights by women and men is a universally

accepted principle, reaffirmed by the Vienna declaration, adopted by 171 states at
the World Conference on Human Rights in June 1993.

^^ Ibid, pp. 59-6\.

" United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 1995, UNDP &
Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 1.

167
4.6.4 Women's Rights Issues in Gender Equality and Justice

Women's rights issues are those for which women are the intended
beneficiary, constituency or object. Such a definition distinguishes women's
rights from several rated issues. First, women's rights as defined here distinct
from the numerous policies where women have traditionally been expected to
have greater interest, such as those pertaining to the family, children, and other
private or domestic sphere concerns.

Second, feminist lobbyists have argued that women's interest should be

considered in policy making on virtually all issues because women's unique
position in the social and economic structure means that, while perhaps
unintentional, most policies have a differential impact on women. ''Pro-women's
rights policies are those that have greater equality and opportunity for women as
their goal. The definition of the pro-women's rights position employed here
represents a modem, liberal feminist conception, meaning that it favours equality
for women but also recognizes women's unique interests and the need to have
those differences addressed in the shape of public policy ."^^

Human Rights has many dimensions, which are also very important for
women's right issues of gender equality:

"(a) Equal access to basic social services, including education and health.
(b) Equal opportunities for participation in political and economic decision
making.
(c) Equal reward for equal work.
(d) Equal protection under the law.
(e) Elimination of discrimination by gender and violence against women.
(f) Equal rights of citizens in all areas of life, both public - such as the
workplace - and private - such as home.

'* Wolbrecht, Christina, The Politics of Women's Rights, Princeton University Press, 2000,
p. 20.

168
 The recognition of equal rights for women along with men, and the
determination to combat discrimination on the basis of gender, are achievements
equal in importance to the abolition of slavery, the elimination of colonialism and
the establishment of equal rights for racial and ethical minorities."^^

A full analysis of historical and political movement for gender equality

extends far beyond what can be covered in the human development report of
U.N.D.P. (1995). No numbers, no indices, no policy packages can capture the
true essence of that movement. But they can help propel that movement by
providing the background of professional analysis.

4.6.5 Challenges for the Future - The Way Forward

But there remain several important challenges:

(a) How to deepen understanding of the links between gender equality and
development and how to reflect these links in policy are key challenges.
(b) Another challenge for policy makers is to broaden their partnerships with
civil society groups, donors, and others in the international community.

4.6.6 Constitutional Provisions for Gender Equality in India

On 15 August 1947, India kept her tryst with destiny, and the Constitution
of free nation was implemented from 26'*' January, 1950 as a vehicle of social
change to achieve the objectives of the freedom movement. "The Preamble
declares India as a sovereign, democratic republic, the words secular and socialist
were added later in 1976. It recognises principles of social, economic and
political justice. The Fundamental Rights as guaranteed by the Constitution tries
to remove the inequalities which Indian women had suffered."

" Ibid, p. \.
'^ Desai, Neera and Thakkar, Usha, op. cit., pp. 14-15.

169
 Accordingly, gender equality and equity became a Constitutional
obligation as reflected in the following articles:

Article 14. "Promises equality before the law and equal protection by the laws."^^

Article 15. "Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex

or place of birth:
(1) The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any
of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to:

(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public

entertainment, or
(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort
maintained wholly or partly out of state funds or dedicated to the use of general public.
(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making special provision
for women and children."

Article 16. "Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment:

(1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to
employment or appointment to any office under the state.
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place
of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in
respect of, any employment or office under the state."
Article 23. "Prohibits traffic in human beings as well as forced labour. Apart
from the important provisions in the Fundamental Rights, some guidelines are
given in the Directive Principles of State Policy which are non-judiciable."

" Ibid,p.\5.
^° Ibid, p. 7.
*' Desai, Neera and Shah, Usha, op. cit., p. 15.

170
Article 39. "directs the state to adopted a policy of equal pay for equal work for
both men and women, and asks the state to ensure that the health and strength of
men and women workers is not abused. It further seeks protection of children and
youth from exploitation, and from moral and material abandonment."
Article 42. "directs the state to make provisions for ensuring just and humane
conditions of work and maternity relief "^^
Article 51. "inserted in 1976 by the 42"^* Constitutional Amendment imposes a
fundamental duty on every citizen to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity
ofwomen."^"*
In addition. Article 243D(3), 243D(4), 243T(3), 243T(4) of the
Constitution makes provisions for reserving not less than one third of the total
seats for women in the direct elections of local bodies, viz. Panchayats and
Municipalities.

Some legislations, laws and acts have been formulated to protect the rights
of women likewise provisions in the Indian Penal Code, in Indian Evidence Act,
Code of Criminal Procedure etc. Some laws and acts are:

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
The National Commission for Women Act, 1990
A National Plan of Action for the Girl Child
The Protection of Women from Violence Act, 2005

Besides these acts many other acts and laws are exists that are:

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

82
Ibid, p. 16.
83
Ibid, p. 16.
84
Ibid., p. 15. Also see, Bhandare, Justice Sunanda, Society, Law and Gender Justice, in
Bhandare, M.C., Struggle for Gender Justice, Penguin India, New Delhi, 2010, pp. 8-19.

171
• Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955
• Immoral Traffic (Prevention Act) 1956
• Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition Act, 1986)
• Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and many more

Despite the great progress made in the arena of women's rights in theory
and policy formulation. Women are still facing violation of their social, political
and economic rights in the family and community.

Women's rights, equality and equity must be looked with renewed vigour
and vision. It should be an integral part of the development and welfare policies
of states and international organisations. Awareness campaigns should be
organised on women's rights by civil society and freedoms and disseminate
knowledge of various welfare measures implemented by the state and
international organization. The active involvement and association of the civil
society in women's issues can accelerate the whole process as it works at the
grassroot level and, understands the ground reality of the situation. The most
important thing for the upliftment of women is to change the mind set of men as
well as well women folk.

Thus, the gender justice and woman rights and equality issues are very
important for the gender cause in particular and society in general. "It is
important to bear firmly in mind - even when we consider the indirect effects of
gender inequality - that inequality between women and men is itself a denial of
social decency and justice."^^ In the opinion of Vina Majumdar, "Equality for
women is a basic condition for ensuring that women contribute fully to the social,
economic and political development of the nation. But substantively equality still
eludes the mass of Indian women even after five decades of engagement with

*^ Sen, Amartya, "The Nature and Consequences of Gender Inequality", in Bhandare,

Murlidhar C, op. cit., p. 123.

172
political democracy and democratic development planning."^^ Isobel Coleman,
senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy has analysed that, "Over the last several
decades, it has become accepted wisdom that improving the status of women is
one of the most critical levers of international development. When women are
educated and can earn and control income, a number of good results follow: infant
mortality declines, child health and nutrition improve, agricultural productivity
rises, population growth slows, economies expand, and cycles of poverty are
broken."^^ Closing the gender gap and improving women's rights in the Middle
East, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa may take many generations, but the
benefits will be huge - not only for the individual women and their families but
also for global markets. As companies seek new sources of revenues in emerging
economies, they will find that gender disparities pose an obstacle to doing
business. The sooner the private sector works to overcome gender inequality, the
better off the world - the companies' own bottom lines will be."^*

Several forms of gender discrimination emerge from a contradiction in the

Indian Constitution. "It ensures equality for all before law and prohibits
discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth, but it also
guarantees freedom of religion - the right freely to profess, practise and propagate
religion. This provision of religious freedom takes away much of the freedom and
equality extended to women by the Constitution. Because family and personal law
is rooted in religious codes, women do not have equal rights within the family, or to
property. Many of them do not have the freedom to decide where they would live
after marriage, some are deprived of the right to maintenance some have great
difficulty in getting a divorce, and some cannot legally adopt a child. There has
been brave talk about a common civil code, but the opposition from orthodoxy and

*^ Majumdar, Vina, "Empowerment of Women", in Dubey and Jabbi (ed.), op. ciL, p. 86.
*^ Coleman, Isobel, "The Global Glass Ceiling: Why Empowering Women is Good for
Business", in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 89, No. 3, May/June, 2010, p. 13.
*^ Ibid, p. 20.

173
entrenched vested interests unnerves the country's political leadership, which defers
initiatives for a more propitious time in future. The fear of the possible political
fallout and the resultant alienation of the religions communities - and the loss of
vote-banks - holds progressive legislation in eludes women.

The social and political system appears geared to continue gender

inequality. It seems that the march to equality will be long and tortuous.

According to India Education Report (2002), "Education planners in India

have tried a wide range of strategies to bridge the gap between men and women.
But, fifty years after independence we are still grappling with unequal access.
The National Policy on Education (NPE) (1986) stated that the government would
use education as a means to achieve gender equity and as a tool to correct
centuries of discrimination."
The challenge now is to redefine tools in the light of 60 years experience
and lessons learnt and address the critical areas.

4.7 Nature and Status of Women in Indian Society

4.7.1 Pre-Independence Period

There is considerable ambiguity about the nature and status of women in

Indian society. Some scared texts give them an exalted status by saying "the gods
live where women are worshipped." In her various manifestations as Mother
Goddess - as Durga, Kali, Chandi, or under several other names and
manifestations in different regions - she is believed to represent power (Shakti)
and evokes both fear and reverence. But there is another profile of woman, also
sanctified by religious writings and folklore: She is believed to be fickle and
fragile. She is sensuous, a temptress, given to falsehood, folly, greed, trickery,
impurity, and thoughtless action. She can thus be regarded as the root of all evil.

*' Ramachandran, Vimala, "Education and Status of Women", in Govind, R. (ed.), India
Education Report, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002, p. 253.

174
Because of her supposedly inconsistent character she has to be kept under strict
control. Being fragile she needs protection at all stages of her life; in childhood
by her father, in youth by her husband, and in old age - after the husband's death
- by her sons. These two images are contradictory; the tilt in the accepted
stereotypes in towards the negative and derogatory picture... Being the allegedly
inferior sex, women have had to forgo some privileges and rights that are regarded
as exclusively the male preserve and had invaded the world-view and ethos of
almost the entire Indian society."^" Prof Dube fiirther linked this ideology of
subordination with religion. "This ideology of subordination, linked mainly to
Hinduism, but also to Islam and Christianity, is pervasive and has invaded the
world-view and ethos of almost the entire Indian society. There are, of course,
some exceptions, which permit a greater measure of equality and freedom to
women."''
The ideology of subordination and oppression, linked mainly to religion,
and, in Indian context mainly to Hinduism, but also to Islam, Christianity and
Sikhism etc. There are, of course some exceptions, which permit a greater
measure of equality and freedom to women. There are many types of control
exercised on women. "The manner in which these controls are exercised depend
to a great extent on social structure, role allocation, value premises, and the
rigidity or flexibility of social control. The interplay of historical, economic,
social, and political forces contributes significantly to the shaping and reshaping
of gender equations."'^

The Indian social system, with a few exceptions, is characterized by

patriarchy. Patriarchy recognizes male domination and female subordination and
oppression. In respect of role allocation, distinction is made between "men's
work" and "women's work". The management of the household is invariably in

'° Dube, S.C, Indian Society, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1990, pp. 106-107.
" Ibid, p. \07.
'2 Ibid, p. 108.

175
the women's sphere. They lacks education and health facilities, so their literacy
rate is less than male's. The declining sex-ratio shows the gender inequality
specially states like Punjab, Haryana etc. The participation of the females in the
labour market is significant less and they are also paid around 38% less than their
male counterpart for the same job. "Gender discrimination remains pervasive in
many dimensions of life-worldwide. This is so despite considerable advances in
gender equality in recent decades. The nature and extent of the discrimination
vary considerably across countries and regions. But the patterns are striking. In
no region of the developing world are women equal to men in legal, social and
economic rights. Gender gaps are widespread in access to and control of
resources, in economic opportunities, in power, and political voice. Women and
girls bear the largest and most direct costs of these inequalities - but the costs cut
more broadly across society, ultimately harming everyone.

In ancient India, women had enjoyed equal status and equal rights with
men. But they lost all their freedom during the Mughal period. Now with the
advent of the modem era, women have proved that both in efficiency and intellect
they are at par with men. Many avenues and opportunities are available to women
with the advent of industrial revolution. In every field, women are competiting
with men. But due to Casteism, illiteracy, outdated customs and tradition, the full
potential of Indian women could not be gauged and recognised.

"Woman has been suppressed under custom and law for which man was
responsible and in the shaping of which she had no hand. In a plan of lifebased on
non-violence, woman has as much right to shape has own destiny as man has to
shape his. But as every right in a non-violent society proceeds from the previous
performance of a duty, it follows that rules of social conduct must be framed by
mutual cooperation and consultation. They can never be imposed from outside.
Men have not realised this truth in its fullness in their behaviour towards women.
They have considered themselves to be lords and master of women instead of

176
considering them as their friends and co-workers... Women are in the position
somewhat of the slave of old who did not know that he could or ever had to be
free. And when freedom came, for the moment he feh helpless. Women have
been taught to regard themselves as slaves of men. It is up to congressmen to see
that they enable them to realise their full status and play their part as equals of
men... It is hardly necessary to point out that I have given a one-sided picture of
the helpless state of India's women. I am quite conscious of the fact that in the
villages generally they hold their own with their men-folk and in some respects
even rule them. But to impartial outsider the legal and customary status of
woman is bad enough throughout and demands radical alteration.'

4.7.2 Post-Independent

However, these constitutional obligations were not fulfilled adequately.

As a result, gender-based discrimination against women in India persisted and
gaps between women and men increased in all major spheres of life, namely
social, economic, political, educational, demographic, and mortality. It is
reflected in various indicators of development. The sex-ratio in India is 933
females per males (Census 2001). The death rate of children below four years
shows that the female infant mortality rate (2003) is 64 per cent as against
male infant mortality rate of 57 per cent.^'' The work participation rate (2001)
for males is 51.7 per cent and for females, 25.6 per cent. It is however, rightly
argued that lower female work participation in census figures is mainly due to
the flawed definition of'work partition' which ignores unpaid work of women.
Often women's role as mothers and housewives is over-emphasized and their
role as bread-winners is overlooked; whereas in actual life situations, women
have been making large and significant contribution as bread-winners as well.
The comparative position of gender-related development index (GDI) reveals

" Gandhi, M.K., Hind Swaraj and Other Writings (ed. by Anthony J. Panel), Cambridge
University Press, 1997, pp. 175-176.
''' The Sample Registration System, Registrar General, India.

177
 that among 177 countries, India ranks 113th, indicating its very low gender
95
equity status (Table 1)

Table 4.1
Comparative Position of Gender-related Development
Index of Selected Countries
4)
J2
V. • B vp
o
15
I- O 2
2.2l § MM
B >» o 60 -a ^ -S Q
O ^
CO •w m O OS 0 0
B Q t5 la I S — (N 5 g " ^ ^
3 •So-
O EC
U o S 3 «
,*> ^ g .§ '€ .S "^ .:^ C
B
a . •"

Rank Value F M F M F M F M

1 Iceland 1 0.962 83.1 79.9 •• 101 90 28,637 40,000 0

2 Norway 3 0.957 82.2 77.3 •• 103 95 30,749 40,000 -1

3 Australia 2 0.960 83.3 78.5 114 112 26,311 37,414 1

4 Canada 4 0.956 82.6 77.9 101 98 25,448 40,000 0

70 Brazil 60 0.798 75.5 68.1 88.8 88.4 89 86 6,204 10,664 5

81 China 73 0.776 74.3 71.0 86.5 95.1 69 70 5,220 8,213 1

121 South Africa 107 0.667 52.0 49.5 80.9 84.1 11 77 6,927 15,446 -1

128 India 113 0.600 65.3 62.3 47.8 73.4 60 68 1,620 5,194 0

(F = Female and M = Male)

Source: Human Development Report (HRD) 2007/2008.

However, India ranks 21^' among 128 countries with regard to political
empowerment of women and it could well have top ranking on this particular
index if over one million EWRs in the Panchayats were taken into
96
consideration

'^ HRD 2007/08, UNDP, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, pp. 326-329.
'* The State of Panchayats 2007-08, Vol. 1, p. 187.

178
 Although the gap between male and female literacy rates has been
narrowing, there is still very large disparity in this regard. While male literacy
rate in India in 2001 is 75.3 per cent, female literacy rate is only 53.7 per cent.
It is even worse among SCs and STs. Among SCs, 50 per cent males are
literate, while only 24 per cent females can read and write; among STs, 41 per
cent males and only 18 per cent females are literate. It is pertment to
underline that the main obstacle in gender-equality is dismal female
educational level. "Educate a body and you educate a person, educate a girl
and you educate a nation."

The position of women in decision-making bodies has been equally

invisible. Although women have been participating in the voting process,
women's movements, trade unions, students and youth movements, etc., they
have not been able to secure adequate representation in the National Parliament
and State Assemblies, New Delhi Document on Women in Development (1985)
rightly says, "...despite the rapid growth of informal political activity by women,
their role in the formal political structure has virtually remained unchanged."'^ As
reflected in Table 2, the percentage of representation of women in the Lok Sabha
varies from 4.4 in 1952 to 8,1 in 1984, declining to 5.2 in 1989, rising to 7.9 in
1998 and 9.02 in 1999, again declining to 8.10 in 2004, but rising to 11.23 in
2009.

^^ Aruna Goel, Education and Socio-Economic Perspectives of Women's Development and

Empowerment, Deep & Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2004, pp. 21-22.
'* K.N. Lelithabhai, 'Empowering Women Through Panchayati Raj' in Kurukshetra,
August 1998, p. 12.
' ' Bidyut Mohanty, 'Panchayti Raj, Seventy-Third Constitutional Amendment and
Women' in Economic and Political Weekly, December 1995, p. 189.

179
 Table 4.2
Women's Representation in Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha Year Total seats Members (No.) Percentage

(No.) of female
Male Females members to
total

I 1952 499 477 22 4.41

II 1957 500 473 27 5.40

III 1962 503 469 34 6.76
IV 1967 523 492 31 5.93
V 1971 521 499 22 4.22
VI 1977 544 525 19 3.49
VII 1980 544 516 28 5.15
VIII 1984 544 500 44 8.09
IX 1989 517 490 27 5.22
X 1991 544 505 39 7.17
XI 1996 543 504 39 7.18
XII 1998 543 500 43 7.92
XIII 1999 543 494 49 9.02
XIV 2004 543 499 44 8.10
XV 2009 543 482 61 11.23
Source: 'Lok Sabha Members', Lok Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi.

In Rajya Sabha, proportion of female members started with 7.3 per cent in
1952 and rose to 15.5 per cent in 1991, but again declined to 6 per cent in 1998
and rose to 10.3 per cent in 2005, again slightly declining to 9.9 per cent in 2006
as depicted below in the Table 3:

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 Table 4.3
Women's Representation in Rajya Sabha

Rajya Year Total seats Members (No.) Percentage

Sabha (No.) of female
Male Females members to
total
I 1952 219 203 16 7.31
II 1957 237 219 18 7.59
III 1962 238 220 18 7.56
IV 1967 240 220 20 8.33
V 1971 243 226 17 7.00
VI 1977 244 219 25 10.25
VII 1980 244 220 24 9.84
VIII 1984 244 216 28 11.48
IX 1989 245 221 24 9.80

X 1991 245 207 38 15.51

XI 1996 223 204 19 8.52
XII 1998 245 230 15 6.12
XIII 1999 245 226 19 7.76
XIV 2005 243 218 25 10.29
XV 2006 242 218 24 9.92

Source: 'List of Members of Rajya Sabha', Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi.

In the State Legislatures the picture has been extremely bleak in all the
States including West Bengal and Kerala.'^° However, as regards voters' turnout,

'°° Bidyut Mohanty, 'Gender Role Transformation in Parliamentary Democracy: A Case for
Women's Participation in Panchayat' in Caritas India Quarterly, April-July 1999, Vol. I,
Issue No. I, p. 22.

181
it is noteworthy that the gap between female and male voters was 17 per cent in
1957, but it decreased slowly over successive elections and came down to 9 per
cent in 1996'°', and 8.3 per cent in 2004*°^ Lok Sabha elections.

Nevertheless, it is important to underline that the position of gender-

equality greatly varies across and within the states, castes and ethnic groups,
cultures, economic categories, rural and urban areas, and as per educational levels
in conformity with the large size and diversity in the country.

Women's participation in politics can significantly transform the

governance of a country by making it more receptive to the concerns of all of its
citizens.'^^ Women in politics would make a difference in at least three important
arenas'"'':
• National Politics: A better representation of women in parliament can make it
more gender and child sensitive.
• Local politics; Similarly, the presence of women leaders in local politics often
serves to focus greater attention on issues related to women and children as is
evident in the PRIs across various States in India.
• Peace processes and Post-conflict Reconstruction: Likewise, there is an
increasing recognition that the contribution of women is critical both to the
long-term success of peace processes and to post-conflict stability.

Recognizing the unique contribution that women can make to peace

processes, in October 2000 the UN Security Council unanimously passed
resolution 1325, which specifically addresses the impact of war on women, and
women's contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace. Yet women's
role in peace processes remains at best, informal. However, it is pertinent to

'°' Ibid., p. 22.

'°^ Election Commission of India.
'°^ UNICEF, The State of the World's Children 2007, p. 51.
'°'' See,/6/V/., pp. 51-64.

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mention that the recognition that women are not merely victims of conflict, but
critical actors whose contribution is essential to the success of peace processes
and to long-term political stability is strikingly recent. As the eminent Indian
economist, Devaki Jain writes in Women, Development and the UN, "Until 1975,
UN discussions on aspects of security and defence almost never referred to
women; in the post-war conventions, male nouns and pronouns were used to
represent both men and women." Thus, there is a need for a number of concrete
and achievable cross-cutting actions in several critical areas that can address the
challenge of gender-equity and women's empowerment.'^^

4.8 Steps to Improve Status of Women

However, 'Towards Equality. Report of the Committee on the Status of

Women in India' (1974) (Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of India) made
a notable contribution to the cause of gender-equality. Along with its other vital
recommendations, the Committee recommended the establishment of statutory
all-women Panchayats at the village level with autonomy and resources of their
own for the management and administration of welfare and development
programmes for women and children, as a transitional measure.'^^ Although this
recommendation was never adopted statutorily anywhere, a few all-women
Panchayats emerged in some of the States. "'^ However, many of the issues raised
in the Report were reminiscent of the reform movement of the early twentieth
century. Nonetheless, it did ring alarm bells and opened the floodgates of new
perceptions on gender-equity. This process was accelerated with a series of other
closely following measures, such as:

'°^ UNICEF,p.69.
'°^ Susheela Kaushik, Women and Panchayati Raj, Har-Anand Publications, Delhi, 1993, p.
17
107
Ibid, p. n.

183
 International Women's Year in 1975, followed by International Women's
Decade (1976-85);
Reservation of 25 per cent of the total seats in the PRIs for women in the
Kamataka Panchayat Raj Act of 1983;
Creation of a Department of Women and Child Development in the
Ministry of Human Resources Development, GOI (1986);
"National Perspective Plan for Women: 1988-2000" (1988) which
recommended a plan of action for equity and social justice including 50 per
cent representation for women at the level of grassroots functionaries and
at least 30 per cent in the PRIs'"*
Shramshakti: Report of the National Commission on Self-Employed
Women and Women in the Informal Sector (1988), which made women in
the informal sector and their occupations visible;
The World Bank Report, "Gender and Poverty in India: Issues and
Opportunities Concerning Women in the Indian Economy" (1991);
Setting up of the National Commission for Women (1992);
The Constitution (Seventy-Third and Seventy-Fourth Amendment) Acts
1992, providing for reservation of not less than one-third of total elective
seats of members as well as offices of Chairpersons for women in
Panchayats and Municipalities effective from 1993;
Establishment of a national fund by the Department of Women and Child
Development, GOI, called 'Rashtriya Mahila Kosh' to provide need-based
credit facilities to poor women (1993);
Fourth World Conference on Women; Beijing (1995);
The Constitution (Eighty-First Amendment) Bill, 1996, providing for the
reservation of not less than one third of the total seats for women in the
Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, since lapsed and reintroduced

108
G. Morley Mohan Lai, Rajiv Gandhi and Panchayati Raj: Democracy and Development
at the Grassroots, Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 1994, p. 12.

184
 in the Parliament as The Constitution (Eighty-Fifth Amendment) Bill,
1999, which also lapsed and has been reintroduced in the Parliament
(Rajya Sabha) as The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment)
Bill, 2008 and has been referred to Parliamentary Standing Committee to
evolve a consensus among the political parties, now included as a priority
item in the promises of the newly elected UP A government.'°^

Similarly, Milestones on the Road to Gender-equality in the United

Nations are depicted in Annexure. Some scholars and activists have scanned and
traced evolution of the approaches to women's empowerment during post-
Independence period as follows"":

Welfare Oriented Approach (1947-75);

Women in Development (WID) Approach (1975-85);
Gender-equity Approach (1985-88);
Women's Empowerment Approach (1988-93);
Gender and Development Approach (GAD) (1993-98); and
Rights-based Approach (1998 onwards).

While discussing gender inequality, Amartya Sen underlines the

conceptually rich distinction between 'agency' and 'well-being' 'since they refer
to two distinct ways in which a person's values, ends, ambitions, freedoms and
achievements can be understood, using two different perspectives of
assessment'.'" According to him: "Women (as agents) are, in this perspective,
not passive recipients of welfare-enhancing help brought about by society, but are
active promoters and facilitators of social transformations. Such transformations
influence, of course, the lives and well-being of women, but also those of men and

'°' President's address to the joint session of Parliament, 4* June 2009.

"° Bidyut Mohanty and Vandana Mahajan, Background Paper: Women's Empowerment in
the Context of the Constitution (Seventy-Third & Seventy-Fourth Amendments) Acts
1992: An Assessment.
''' Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian, Penguin Books, 2005, p. 221.

185
all children - boys as well as girls. This is a momentous enrichment of the reach
of women's movements."'''^

However, he takes note of 'the extensive interconnections between the

agency aspect and the well-being aspect of women's lives.'^'^ Then, he examines
the wide range of variations between the different 'faces of gender inequality
under the headings such as survival inequality, natality inequality, unequal
facilities, ownership inequality, unequal sharing of household benefits and chores,
and domestic violence and physical victimization.

Finally, he makes a concluding remark,

"We need a fuller cognizance of the power and reach of women's

enlightened and constructive agency and an adequate appreciation of the fact that
women's power and initiative can uplift the lives of all human beings - women,
men and children. Gender inequality is a far-reaching societal impairment, not
merely a special deprivation of women. That social understanding is urgent as
well as momentous.""''

Besides, while discussing gender inequality and theories of justice, he says:

"The central issue is to confront the underlying prejudice directly and to outline
the need for and scope of reducing inequalities in capabilities without accepting
that this must cause great inefficiency. The implicit prejudices call for explicit
scrutiny. We have to be clear on the nature of the 'theory' underlying the practice
of extreme inequality.""^

"2 Ibid., p. 222.

"^ Ibid,p.222.
"'* Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian , p. 250.
"^ Amartya Sen's paper, 'Gender Inequality and Theories of Justice' reproduced in
'Capabiiities, Freedom and Equality - Amartya Sen's Work from a Gender Perspective',
Edited by Bina Agrawal, etc., OUP, 2006, p. 431.

186
 "That the benefits of development, through bourgeis revolution and
otherwise, are going more to men than to women and that the costs of
development are being borne more by women than by men are to the women's
movements of India and their friends matter of grave concern. These were first
and foremost fully articulated in a landmark report of 1974, entitled Toward
Equality, prepared and presented by goverrmient-sponsored committee on the
Status of Women in India. In its conclusion, the drafters of the committee were
"forced to observe" that the revolution in the social and political status of women
for which constitutional equality was to be only the instrument, still remains a
distinct objective. While there is no doubt that the position of some groups of
women have changed for the better by opening to them positions of power and
dignity, large masses of women continue to lack spokesmen who understand their
special problems and (are) committed to their removal in the representation bodies
of the state.

Over the three and half decades since Towards Equality was published,
have Indian women progressed any ftirther toward Gender equality and Justice
there has certainly been some progress with regard to literacy and education. But
this is not enough, women have much to achieve.

187