Will it be a happy new year for women in India?
A new year brings with it new resolutions and new hopes. Across India, women and girls are hoping for a life free from the fear of violence and harassment - a life where she has access and liberty to get education first, and a better job later. A life where she can be a decision-maker at home and work, and a life where she can fulfil her potential as human being and fully contribute to inclusive growth; poverty reduction; and sustainable development. This is not a pipe dream. This can be a reality for all of India’s women and girls if the right laws and policies are initiated and fully implemented.
India has been a trend-setter in many areas - as one of the first countries in Asia to adopt temporary special measures, prior to even the now standard-setting 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. As a result, India has the largest absolute number of women in grassroots politics. Yet, at the national level we see stalled efforts to ensure that at least 30 per cent – considered globally a critical mass — are reserved for women in Parliament. Deep-rooted gender prejudices and a high level of violence against women in politics are main factors to explain the limited role of women in public decision-making at the federal and regional levels. While we congratulate the current administration on the higher number of women in the government compared to previous (seven out of 45 ministers, or 16 per cent, are constituted by women), we are also concerned about the long drawn approval process of the Women's Reservation Bill, which has been lying pending before the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) for almost five years. Therefore, introducing quotas for women in state and federal legislative Assemblies would be an important step towards increasing the low levels of women’s representation in these bodies.
According to a McKinsey report, "Women Matter 2011: An Asian Perspective, Harnessing female talent to raise corporate performance", India has the greatest gender gap between university graduates and entry-level professionals - 42 per cent of graduates are female, but only 29 per cent of entry-level professionals are female. Also, India’s declining women’s labour force participation rate (29 per cent) is one of the lowest in the world; and female labor is highly driven to the informal and unpaid sectors. In this context, addressing women’s lack of access to decent work; and the persistent occupational segregation and gender wage gaps are critical steps forward, if women’s economic empowerment is to be achieved.
Another critical challenge on the way forward is ensuring women’s full access to and control over financial and productive resources through ownership, inheritance, usufruct, and/or common property. Also, ensuring that rural women are provided full access and control over productive agricultural and natural resources should also be at the top of the priorities towards advancing the goal of gender equality. The development of relevant gender-sensitive social and productive infrastructure; women-friendly markets; women’s self-help groups and cooperatives along with enabling women’s capacities through formal and informal education and training; and alleviating women’s unpaid care burdens would also greatly contribute in improving the status of women in India.
Violence and discrimination against women in public and private spaces in India represent a systematic pattern which is rooted in patriarchal values and remains unabated. Research by the UN Women in 2014 found that nine out of ten women in New Delhi have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, while six in ten have faced sexual violence in the last six months. Last year, people across India endorsed this as a pivotal issue, ranking, "ending violence against women", second in a survey that asked them what matters most. There is an urgent need to invest heavily in the prevention and response masures to the pandemic of violence against women.
We welcome the announcement by the government of India to set up "One Stop Crisis Centres", and also encouraging individual states to make an impressive effort in this respect. One Stop Crisis Centres are now operational in Bhopal, Jaipur and in 21 in towns across Kerala. Mumbai has also announced setting up such centres at three civic hospitals to be led by women doctors. In addition to this, the Delhi High Court has asked the State Legal Services Authority to consult stakeholders in a move towards operationalising the crisis centres in Delhi.
Other positive legislations for women such as the Domestic Violence Act, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Sexual Harassment at the Workplace and the Criminal Amendment Act are all directed towards empowering - full realisation of women’s human rights. These are steps in the right direction. Yet, we want to see further implementation of laws, robust institutional accountability mechanisms across private and public sector actors, increased government financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment in national plans and budgets, coordinated and more accessible public services for women facing violence, and swift legal and police action. Everyday media headlines remind us that assaults target women across social structures - middle class women, underprivileged women and even international tourists. Therefore, the response needs to be comprehensive and multi-faceted - immediate in action but with a long-term vision. Dedicated financing for institutions focusing on the four Ps of ending violence against women – prevention, protection, prosecution of perpetrators; access to justice for women; and provision of multisectoral critical services to survivors are essential.
Besides formulating laws and policies, there is a need to involve everyone in the process of stamping out this form of violence. Changing mindsets through advocacy messages and campaigns is essential and we welcome the government’s "beti bachao, beti padhao" mass campaign, which is slated to be launched in January 2015. Since, attitudes will not change overnight as they have been ingrained over generations through cultural traditions and practices; we need to make efforts that are continuous and sustainable in nature. We need advocacy campaigns to operate at all levels including local, national, blocks and districts. Such campaigns need to inculcate an intrinsic sense of respect for women and girls through educational curricula and public information at primary schools, workplace, markets and communities.
At the historic 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where 189 governments delivered what is still considered the most comprehensive and far-reaching commitments to gender equality; Indian activists played a leading role. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this landmark conference - an opportunity both for the world and India to look back and evaluate how far they have achieved the goal of gender equality. Simultaneously, the international community is defining the post-2015 agenda, which is expected to be more ambitious and impactful on gender quality and women’s rights than ever before.
As these efforts consolidate to pave the way for a year where women are able to lead their lives free from violence - safe, healthy and productive citizens - this new year can be a game changer for India; a thriving democracy.