Dr. Kakali Majumdar
Justice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, fairness and equity. Historical evidences show women are the deprived section of our society, deprived in terms of birth, nutrition, education, job opportunity and social security. Still in most Indian families, a daughter is viewed as a liability. Females receive less health care than males. Families are far less likely to educate girls than boys. Women work longer hours than men. Women are the victims of unjust and cruel system of dowry deaths. Female infanticide and sex-selective abortions are additional forms of violence. These highlight the fact that women are perceived as the weak and exploited part of society. ”Since men and women were biologically different, and racial characteristics were different, different treatment was not deemed an infringement of equality” (Aristotle). In general however, inequalities have been justified and rationalized in past centuries in our region, and even today on the basis that our cultures are communitarian and duty based, rather than aggressively individualist.
The emphasis continues to be on equality of opportunity for men and women, a position justified on the argument that ‘equality of opportunity may not result in equal treatment, but it does respect every persons right to treatment as an equal.
Several countries have also ratified the International Covenants on human rights and other human rights treaties which contain guarantees on gender equality. Since inequality was addressed through formal equality of treatment, the early women’s rights campaigns in the West also focused exclusively on achieving formal equality of opportunity and identical treatment with men. “You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women”, (Jawaharlal Nehru). Indian constitution also gives immense importance to Gender Justice. Articles 14-16 deal with right of Equality irrespective of Gender. Article 19-22 guarantee the fundamental rights of Freedom irrespective of Gender. Article 23 guarantees right against Exploitation irrespective of Gender. Article 38 ensures the justice in terms Social Economic and Political life of the citizen irrespective of Gender. Article 39 highlight state policies regarding adequate means of livelihood irrespective of Gender. Besides, some acts are also amended to give justice to Indian women. Maternity benefit act 1961, Dowry prohibition act 1961, Equal remuneration act 1976, Crime rule of 1983 for dowry death, Act 1986 regarding various harassment, Act of 1987 against Sati system etc. are some of the examples.
India has introduced an 86th Amendment to the Constitution in 2002 to make access to compulsory education a fundamental right, and a dimension of the right to life, after Supreme Court decisions. Gender discrimination still persists in India and lot more needs to be done in the field of women’s education in India. Only 40% of the women (men – 64%) are literate, majority having only a primary education or less. About 1% of total women population has college education. Women account for one third of the students at college/university level. In engineering and business, the proportion of female students is much smaller. Higher levels of education for women do not directly translate into higher proportions of main workers. The gap in the male-female literacy rate is just a simple indicator. Prevailing prejudices, low enrollment of girl child in the schools, engagements of girl children in domestic works and high dropout rate are major obstacles in the path of making all Indian women educated. A good number of Indian parents are still reluctant to invest in the education of the daughter. A good number of girls child are still more casual and less career minded.
The stereotyped image of women workers is that they are not the primary bread earners of their family and thus they are not that much career oriented as the males are. Women workers here have taken their employment as a means to empower themselves rather than just for career furtherance. However, Indian women from lower middle class or poor class by and large undertake ‘productive work’ only under economic compulsion. This is the reason for high female participation rates for economically under privileged communities. Upper class women usually were limited to their homes. The International Labour Organisation says women represent 50% of the population, 30% of the labour force, Perform 60% of all working hours, Receive 10% of the world’s income, Own less than 1% of the world’s property.
Globalization has clearly benefited India’s women. Globalization brought about a change in the gender composition of the industrial workforce in favour of women. The elite, educated and upper middle class, especially in the cities, have gained by exposure to Western ideas on such issues as women’s roles, career options, and jobs. Indian Women Gains Access to Lucrative Male-dominated Job. Many women holding to positions in companies recognized worldwide. A section of Indian women like the elite and the upper middle class have gained by the exposure to the global network. Although significant increase in the participation of women in business, they still remain under-represented. “One of the most enduring cliches about India is that it is the country of contradictions. Like all cliches, this one too has a grain of truth in it. At the heart of the contradiction stand Indian women: for it is true to say that they are among the most oppressed in the world, and it is equally true to say that they are among the most liberated, the most articulate and perhaps even the most free. Can these two realities be simultaneously true?”(Urvashi Butalia).
Despite the fact that women in India have held the highest political office of Head of State or Prime Minister, there are very few women ministers, high level executives or heads of universities. The number of women entrepreneurs is still very low, only around 13 percent of the total number. In many organizations, women are not preferred for some functions, such as the manufacturing or production-related areas. The degree, the hard work, does not always pay equally to the women. Different types of restrictions related to marriage, pregnancies etc. are imposed on women. Men still largely dominate strategic sectors such as policymaking and finance while women fare better in media and advertising. Still the place of women in the workforce varies according to societal structure, needs, custom attitudes etc.
The Indian constitution grants women equal rights with men, but strong patriarchal traditions persist, with women’s lives shaped by customs that are centuries old. Women must be put in a position to solve their own problems in their own way. No one can or ought to do this for them and our Indian women are as capable of doing it as any in the world (Swami Vivekananda).
(The author is Faculty Member, Department of Economics, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.)
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