Gender equality still a distant dream

March is dedicated to women with International Women’s Day being celebrated on the 8th of the month. Rather than addressing timely and important issues of empowerment and substantive equality, the month of March is a marketing opportunity with an exponential increase in sales in the retail sector. Every consumer product, from kitchen equipment, jewellery, fashion and beauty use this opportunity to attract attention to their brand and also line their pockets holding special sales. Beyond snazzy advertisements asking the viewers to ‘celebrate’ women by buying their product/service, the true message behind observing Women’s Day is drowned out in the marketplace of consumerism.    

More than ever before, there is an urgent need to introspect about the status of women in our society. Whilst we have made considerable progress in the area of gender equality in the past few decades, we cannot be complacent and think about us as completely enlightened. Be it in the household, in public places or at the workplace, the unfortunate reality is that women are still at a disadvantage. Women face challenges everywhere right from birth. Female infanticide which was a common practice in several parts of the country has now given way to female foeticide. There is still a strong societal preference for boys rather than girls. The Supreme Court has even banned internet search engines from showing results on pre-natal sex determination. Even after birth, girl children do not receive the same attention, nutrition or medical care that their male counterparts do leading to shorter life expectancy. Amartya Sen famously wrote that “more than 100 million women are missing” referring to the scale of lives lost because of societal preference to boys. 

Abuse in the household is not talked about for fear of causing disrepute to one’s family. Research shows that the most common form of sexual violence and abuse occurs within the family and is perpetrated by close family members or intimate partners. In addition, dowry harassment and domestic violence is an everyday reality in our country. Crimes committed against women within the family go unreported allowing the cycle of violence. We have enacted laws such as the Dowry Prohibition Act and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act which are not entirely effective due to endemic judicial delays and lack of sensitization of the concerned officials. 

We have a plethora of laws to protect women at the workplace in order to facilitate their participation there. Among them is the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013. The Supreme Court had drafted temporary guidelines to be followed by every organisation in 1997 and directed the government to pass a law immediately, but it took 16 years for the law to be passed. This is demonstrative of the kind of apathy of the government and State authorities to issues of gender justice. After the enactment of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, every organisation is required to set up a committee to hear complaints of sexual harassment. Despite having this law, many victims of sexual harassment do not come forward because of retaliation in the workplace. Complaints are discouraged by organisations and women who dare to prefer such complaints are labelled as trouble makers and have diminished work opportunities. What we need is sensitisation of people towards issues of gender and also understand that it is essential to support victims who come forward to report instances of violence and abuse.   

After the Delhi rape incident and consequent changes to the Indian Penal Code with regard to sexual offences, there is a significant change in attitude of people with regard to victims suffering such an assault at the hands of strangers. However, the first impulse is still to analyse the ‘character’ of the victim and engage in victim-blaming. The victim/complainant is made to suffer an ordeal at the hands of the police and the court process. We also see a disturbing trend in the form of the media naming the victim and sensationalising instances of sexual assault for the sake of ratings. When privacy of the victim is not maintained and they are ‘outed’ by the media, victims face further harassment and persecution. 

The Constitution of India is amongst the most progressive and visionary documents. It guaranteed universal adult suffrage and non-discrimination on the basis of sex as early as 1950 when most countries, including those that were industrialised and developed, had not provided similar rights. Despite passing of 66 years, the guarantees in the Constitution of equality, non-discrimination and liberty are not fully realised because our societal attitudes towards gender roles have not changed. Therefore, the most progressive of laws are rendered meaningless and are paper tigers. For example, most crimes against women are cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable in order to ensure that they are treated seriously. However, in reality, FIRs can be registered only with considerable effort and struggle; investigation is lax and the courts do not scrutinise them with the judiciousness they deserve. 

India has several protective labour laws to ensure that workers are not exploited and get a fair wage and compensation in case of injury. Most of these protective laws do not cover the informal sector that include domestic workers, beauticians, construction labourers, agricultural workers, to name a few. Laws have traditionally ignored the informal sector; thus beneficial policies and amenities like maternity leave and insurance are not available to those employed in the informal sector. It is time that the State turns its attention to the informal sector as a significant part of the workforce comprises of women. 

The United Nations Organisation’s theme for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017, focuses on “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”. The paper of UN Women says “Achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, rests upon unlocking the full potential of women in the world of work. Measures that are key to ensuring women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work must include bridging the gender pay gap, which stands at 24 per cent globally; recognising women’s unpaid care and domestic work and addressing the gender deficit in care work; as well as addressing the gender gaps in leadership, entrepreneurship and access to social protection; and ensuring gender-responsive economic policies for job creation, poverty reduction and sustainable, inclusive growth.” 

It is true that there are several successful women in public life. Women in India have occupied the highest positions of power, be it political or corporate, but the glass ceiling is an unfortunate reality. It is harder for women to break through and succeed in the workplace and in public life as they are not accorded the same respect as men are. These barriers to progress should be broken and shattered. Most of all it is important for us to be vigilant to issues of discrimination and violence and lend our support to the cause so that we may inch closer to the ideal of gender equality.