Gender Inequality

Gender inequality, which is the devaluation of women and social domination of men , still continues to prevail in India. Women are usually deems as dowry burden, a weaker gender of society and of a lower social status compared to men. This had led to social and economic problems, which some of the impacts had already been felt. One of the main concerns is the declining sex ratio, which was [8] brought to attention in 2001, when the sex ratio hit as low as 927 to 1000 men. Other issues can include abuse of womens human rights and unequal opportunities given in education, employments or the rights to be born. As these problems can severely crippled Indias future development, it should not be dismissed easily. The key factor driving gender inequality is the preference towards males. This is because males are deemed to be more useful than females. Males are given the exclusive rights to inherit the family name and properties and they are viewed as additional status for their family. Not only that, they are also believed to have a higher economic utility as they can be an additional family labour in agriculture. Another factor is due to religion practices, which only can be performed by males for their parents afterlife. All these factors make sons more attractive. Moreover, expensive dowry of [9][10] daughters further discourages parents to have daughters. Thus, the combination of factors shaped the imbalanced view about gender. [edit]Violence
[7]

against women
[11]

Further information: Acid_throwing, Dowry death, and Bride burning The Thomas Reuters Foundation survey says that India is the fourth most dangerous place in the [12] world for women to live in as women belonging to any class, caste or creed and religion can be victims of this cruel form of violence and disfigurement, a premeditated crime intended to kill or maim her permanently and act as a lesson to put her in her place. Domestic violence against women in India is a big problem . For example, a paper published in International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory shows that in 2007 there were 20,737 reported case of rape, 8,093 cases of death due to dowry, 10,950 cases of sexual harassment with [14] total crime of 185312 A U.N. Population Fund report claimed that up to 70 percent of married [13] women aged 1549 in India are victims of beatings or coerced sex. [edit]Sexual
[13]

harassment

Main article: Eve teasing Eve teasing is a euphemism used for sexual harassment or molestation of women by men. This phenomenon has resulted in various assaults against women. Half of the total number of crimes [1] against women reported in 1990 related to molestation and harassment at the workplace. Many activists blame the rising incidents of sexual harassment against women on the influence of "Western [15] culture". In 1987, The 'Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act' was passed to prohibit indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner. In 1997, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India took a strong stand against sexual harassment of women in the workplace. The Court also laid down detailed guidelines for prevention and redressal of grievances. The National Commission for Women subsequently elaborated these [1] guidelines into a Code of Conduct for employers. [edit]Selective

abortion and female infanticide

Main article: Sex-selective abortion and infanticide

The number of girls born and surviving in India is significantly less compared with the number of boys, due to the disproportionate numbers of female foetuses being aborted and baby girls deliberately [16] neglected and left to die. Compared to the normal ratio of births, 950 girls for every 1000 boys,most states of India, especially Harayana, Mumbai and even Indians in overseas, are not meeting the standard,supported by the steeper child sex ratio, which can as low as 830 to 1000 boys. With increasing misuse and affordability of fetus sex-determining devices such as ultrasound scan, the rate of female feticide is rising sharply in India.Female infanticide (killing of girl infants) is still prevalent in [1] some rural areas. which seeks to raise the status of girls and combat female infanticide. According [17] to United Nation, it is estimated that as many as 2000 girls are illegally aborted every day and [18] approximately as many as 15 million girls are simply not born over the last decade. India has a low sex ratio, the chief reason being that many women die before reaching [1] adulthood. Tribal societies in India have a better sex ratio than all other caste groups. This is in spite [1] of the fact that tribal communities have far lower levels of income, literacy and health facilities. It is therefore suggested by many experts, that the low sex ratio in India are attributed by female infanticides and sex-selective abortions. Even though gender selection and selective abortion were banned in India under Pre-conception and [19] Pre-natal Diagnostics Technique Act,in 1994, the use of ultrasound scanning for gender selection [16] continues. Other institution effort,such as releasing advertisement calling female feticides a sin by [20] [21] the Health Ministry of India and annual Girl-child day , can be observed to raise status of girls ans to combat female infanticide. However, it did not appear to have much improvement in the rate of female foeticide.

Female feticide will decrease the population of female and further skew the sex ratio of India. This will [22] lead to problems like marriage squeeze and lower replacement rate. In addition, it can also cause [23] greater abuse against women and higher crime rate. It will also have negative effects on economic, such as lower female participation rate and inefficient allocation of labour due to gender discrimination.

[edit]Dowry Main articles: Dowry, Dowry law in India, and Dowry death In 1961, the Government of India passed the Dowry Prohibition Act, making the dowry demands in [24] wedding arrangements illegal. However, many cases of dowry-related domestic violence, suicides [25] and murders have still been reported. In 1985, the Dowry Prohibition (maintenance of lists of presents to the bride and bridegroom) rules were framed. According to these rules, a signed list of presents given at the time of the marriage to the bride and the bridegroom should be maintained. The list should contain a brief description of each present, its approximate value, the name of whoever has given the present and his/her relationship to [26] the person. However, such rules are hardly enforced. A 1997 report claimed that at least 5,000 women die each year because of dowry deaths, and at least [27] a dozen die each day in 'kitchen fires' thought to be intentional. The term for this is "bride burning" [25] and is criticised within India itself. Amongst the urban educated, such dowry abuse has reduced dramatically. [edit]Education

Though it is gradually rising, the female literacy rate in India is lower than the male literacy [1] rate. Compared to boys, far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them drop [1] out. According to the National Sample Survey Data of 1997, only the states of Kerala andMizoram have approached universal female literacy rates. According to majority of the scholars, the major factor behind the improved social and economic status of women in Kerala is [1] literacy. Under Non-Formal Education programme, about 40% of the centres in states and 10% of the centres [28] in UTs are exclusively reserved for females. As of 2000, about 0.3 million NFE centres were catering to about 7.42 million children, out of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for [28] girls. Certain state level engineering, medical and other colleges have reserved 30% of their seats [citation needed] [28] for females. In rural India girls continue to be less educated than the boys. According to a 1998 report by U.S. Department of Commerce, the chief barrier to female education in India are inadequate school facilities (such as sanitary facilities), shortage of female teachers and gender bias in curriculum (majority of the female characters being depicted as weak and helpless vs. [28] strong, adventurous, and intelligent men with high prestige jobs) The Prime Minister of India and the Planning Commission also vetoed a proposal to set up an Indian [29] Institute of Technology exclusively for females. Although India had witnessed substantial improvements in female literacy and enrolment rate since the 1990s, the quality of education for female remains to be heavily compromised as the country continues to hold greater value for male than female. According to the Gender Gap Index 2011 released by the World Economic forum (WEF), India was [30] ranked 113 out of 135 countries polled. This trend is very noticeable in states like Rajastan, Bihar and Madya. This represents a poor distribution of resources and opportunities amongst the male and female. Other measures such as attendance rate and Gender Equality in Education Index (GEEI) are [31] also developed to further capture the quality of education. In order for India to reach GEEI score of 95 % by 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals, it has to triple its rate of improvement.

[edit]Military

Service

Women are not allowed to have combat roles in the armed forces. According to a study carried out on this issue, a recommendation was made that female officers be excluded from induction in close combat arms, where chances of physical contact with the enemy are high. The study also held that a permanent commission could not be granted to female officers since they have neither been trained [32] for command nor have they been given the responsibility so far.