Made By:

Tushar Singla

Any act of gender-based violence that results in,

or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women and
girls, including threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring
in public or private life.

More violent forms, such as

femicide, acid attacks, and murders,
abductions, defilement and forced early marriages,
Military slavery, as a weapon of war, trafficking in women
and girls and
ill-treatment of widows have become more widespread.

Obtaining data on violence against women use

these to show the economic and social cost of VAW as
well as emotional and psychological impact on the
affected person
It is important that the extent, nature and root causes
of such violence are well-documented. By analyzing
such information, concrete steps can be taken, both
legal and charitable, to reduce the occurrence of such
violence and reduce its effects.

Increase access to opportunities for women- empower

women to avoid abusive relationships - empower
women, free them to leave behind abusive
relationships
Build capabilities of women- including physical
capabilities/ create awareness/ prevention
programmes/ crisis counselling & support groups

THE UN has identified violence against women and

girls "the most pervasive" human rights violation that
we know today. Statistics from the world over, paint a
clear picture of the social and health consequences of
violence against women.
According to the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM), violence against women is a major
cause of death and disability for women aged 16 to 44
years

Background: Facts about India

Place of Women in Indian Society
Indian Women in Modern Times
Education
Employment
Empowerment

Trivia: Famous Faces Indian Women

Introspection

Education
Literacy

Gender gaps:

Differences across
states
(Kerala has highest
female literacy;
Rajasthan, Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh have the
lowest)
Differences between
rural and urban areas
Parental preference for
boys going to school
Higher dropout rate
among girls

1971
1991
2003

Fema
le
22%
39%
48%

Male
46%
64%
70%

Education
Gender gaps in higher education
About 1 percent of total women population
has college education
Women account for a third of the students at
college/university level
In engineering and business, the proportion
of female students is much smaller
In education, nearly half of the students are
women

Barriers to Female Education

Poverty: one-fourth of Indias population

lives below the poverty line (2002)

Social values and parental preferences
Inadequate school facilities
Shortage of female teachers: 29 percent at
the primary level and 22 percent at the
university level (1993)
Gender bias in curriculum

Employment
Difficult to get an overall picture of

employment among women in India

Most women work in the informal sector

Women accounted for only 23 percent of the

total workers in the formal sector in 1991

The number of female workers has increased
faster than the number of male workers
Female unemployment rates are similar to
male unemployment rates

Barriers to Female Employment

Cultural Restrictions
Hierarchical society (caste system)
Purdah system: the veiling and seclusion of women

Discrimination at Workplace
More prevalent in fields where male competition is
high
Less prevalent in fields where competition is low

Lack of employment opportunities

Empowerment
Social Empowerment
Education
There is no direct relationship between
education and work force participation; but
may affect their participation in household
decision making
Economic Independence:
Economic independence does not imply
significant improvement in social standing
Culture and tradition play an important role
A small fraction has opened up towards
Western values

Economic Empowerment
Property Rights
Patriarchal society
Economic Decision Making
In the household
In businesses

Political Empowerment
Representation in democratic institutions
Government reservations policy for

women: the constitutional amendment of

1990s

Faces of an Indian woman

Wife
Mother
Sister
Bread earner
Compassionate member of the society

The origin of a child is a mother, a

woman. .she shows a man what
sharing, caring, and loving is all about.
That is the essence of a woman."
Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe
1994

but that is just a beginning.

Women specific Legislations

Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
The Maternity Benefit Act 1961
The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
Indecent Representation of Women
(Prohibition) Act, 1986
The
Commission
of
Sati
(Prevention)Act, 1987
Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005

1985- Ministry of Human Resource

Development set up
Department for Women and Child
Development constituted in HRD
Ministry
27
major
women
specific
schemes identified for monitoring
to assess quantum of funds/benefits
flowing to women

The Eighth Plan (1992-97) for the first time

highlighted the need to ensure a definite flow of
funds from general developmental sectors to
women
It commented:
special programmes on women should
complement
the
general
development
programmes. The latter in turn should reflect
greater gender sensitivity

Womens Component Plan- 30% of

funds were sought to be ear-marked in all
women related sectors inter-sectoral
review and multi-sector approach
Special vigil to be kept on the flow of the
earmarked funds/benefits
Quantifies performance under Womens
Component Plan in Ninth Plan-Approach
Paper Tenth Plan indicates 42.9% of gross
budgetary support in 15 women related
Ministries/Departments has gone to
women

Reinforces

commitment to gender budgeting to

establish its gender-differential impact and to translate
gender commitments into budgetary commitments.
Aims at initiating immediate action in tying up the two
effective concepts of Women Component Plan (WCP)
and Gender Budgeting to play a complementary role to
each other, and thus ensure both preventive and postfacto action in enabling women to receive their rightful
share from all the women-related general development
sectors.

Women availing services of public

utilities like road transport, power,
water and sanitation,
telecommunication etc.
Training of women as highly skilled
workers- top end skills
Research/Technology for women
Women in the work force
Asset ownership by women
Women as Entrepreneurs

Implementation of Laws like

Equal remuneration
Minimum Wages
Factories Act

Infrastructure for women like

Water and sanitation at workplace
Creches
Working Women Hostels
Transport services
Security

2005-06 National Family Health

Survey
(NFHS-3)

Not only are fewer women than men

literate but fewer are also regularly
exposed to media

Percentage of men and women age 15-19

regularly exposed to print media, TV, radio, or
cinema
Men

88%

Women

71%

Gender Disparity

19%

Occupational Distribution (%)

Type of
worker

Women

Men

Professional

Sales

14

Service

Production

22

37

Agricultural

59

33

Other

The majority of women have little freedom of

movement. Only one-third go alone to all three
destinations: the market, health facility and
outside the village or community.

Women are disadvantaged absolutely and

relative to men in terms of access to education,
media exposure, and employment for cash.

The majority of married women do not have the

final say on the use of their own earnings or all
other household decisions asked about.

Traditional gender norms, particularly those

concerning wife beating, remain strongly
entrenched.

Thank You