One of the wonderful things about Ahmedabad is the sight of women in traditional attire like a saree, driving a scooter deftly through the traffic maze. The Indian woman is capable of doing the balancing act pretty well between hearth and work. But sadly, millions of girls in India are not given a chance to be born.
The current official sex ratio in India according to the census figures is 933 girls for 1000 boys. But in some states, notably Haryana, the number of girls is less than 850 according to the UN Population Fund (2006-08). Though most states have improved the sex ratio, it is still under the declared natural ratio of 950 girls. (In China, the situation is more drastic at 833 girls for 1000 boys).
As one reads in the dailies, the bachelor boys of Haryana and Punjab do not have women to marry. Since celibacy is not an option for them, they have started procuring girls from outside the state. One would have thought that perhaps this is lesson enough for the men, that this would improve the status of women and the respect accorded to them. Not so. In fact, this has led to greater exploitation with men marrying even underage girls after procuring them from touts at measly amounts. Thereafter, the girls uprooted from their culture are exploited physically and also abused, kept enslaved and subjected to daily humiliations. A report on a European television channel depicted the plight of this young underage girl in a village in Haryana who was brought from Orissa. She sat cowering with their head covered with just glimpse of bewilderment in her eyes. The mother-in-law, a lady from Haryana hit the girl on the head in full view of the camera, muttering at her bad luck at getting such a ‘useless’ girl.
The disappearing Indian woman is a cultural, sociological, legal and economic issue and has to be as such tackled at all levels. From educating the women themselves, as some NGOs are doing, to providing economic incentives for women, giving better property rights and trying to eradicate the evil of dowry, making sex-determination a crime, all are important measures.
We need to make quality education accessible to women but thereafter, we need to see women in diverse professional fields. Till today, women occupy lower positions and get less pay in the private sector. The number of women leading companies are only a handful. Probably the fear is that for a woman marriage and kids come first and hence professional work may take a back seat.
It is true that most women have had to sacrifice their careers at the cost of bringing up their children. But this is also because there are very few efforts to provide crèche and child-care facilities to working women. No one expects men to give up a fruitful job for the sake of the children but this is easily demanded of women.
Economic independence will give a better status to women. It is easier for an economically independent woman to refuse any form of abuse. The government also needs to ensure that gender stereotyping from advertisements to those (in)famous family sitcoms are controlled.
India is the country that venerates so many forms of goddesses: Saraswati, Lakshmi, Durga and Kali. If India is to fully succeed in the coming years, it must tap its power of shakti, a unique Indian concept, that is the feminine form of energy.
As one reads in the dailies, the bachelor boys of Haryana and Punjab do not have women to marry. Since celibacy is not an option for them, they have started procuring girls from outside the state. One would have thought that perhaps this is lesson enough for the men, that this would improve the status of women and the respect accorded to them. Not so. In fact, this has led to greater exploitation with men marrying even underage girls after procuring them from touts at measly amounts. Thereafter, the girls uprooted from their culture are exploited physically and also abused, kept enslaved and subjected to daily humiliations. A report on a European television channel depicted the plight of this young underage girl in a village in Haryana who was brought from Orissa. She sat cowering with their head covered with just glimpse of bewilderment in her eyes. The mother-in-law, a lady from Haryana hit the girl on the head in full view of the camera, muttering at her bad luck at getting such a ‘useless’ girl.
The disappearing Indian woman is a cultural, sociological, legal and economic issue and has to be as such tackled at all levels. From educating the women themselves, as some NGOs are doing, to providing economic incentives for women, giving better property rights and trying to eradicate the evil of dowry, making sex-determination a crime, all are important measures.
We need to make quality education accessible to women but thereafter, we need to see women in diverse professional fields. Till today, women occupy lower positions and get less pay in the private sector. The number of women leading companies are only a handful. Probably the fear is that for a woman marriage and kids come first and hence professional work may take a back seat.
It is true that most women have had to sacrifice their careers at the cost of bringing up their children. But this is also because there are very few efforts to provide crèche and child-care facilities to working women. No one expects men to give up a fruitful job for the sake of the children but this is easily demanded of women.
Economic independence will give a better status to women. It is easier for an economically independent woman to refuse any form of abuse. The government also needs to ensure that gender stereotyping from advertisements to those (in)famous family sitcoms are controlled.
India is the country that venerates so many forms of goddesses: Saraswati, Lakshmi, Durga and Kali. If India is to fully succeed in the coming years, it must tap its power of shakti, a unique Indian concept, that is the feminine form of energy.
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