India is no place for women!
BACKGROUND :
India has been ranked one of the world’s worst countries for women. Is it a true reflection of the current situation or is the status of women improving?
Article 14 in the Constitution of India (1949) states equality before the law and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
The 2011 poll by TrustLaw, a Thomas Reuters Foundation service, ranks India as the fourth most dangerous place for women after Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan.
POPULATION :
The Census Report 2011 says there are 940 women to 1,000 men. According to United Nations figures, the normal sex ratio at birth worldwide ranges from 102 to 106 males per 100 females.
The Indian government has said that there were 7 million girls missing in the last decade alone.
In April 2011, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described female foeticide and infanticide as a “national shame” and called for a “crusade” to save the girl child.
CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN:
National Crimes Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, data found:
- according to 2010 figures: crimes against women are increasing year on year.
- in 2010 there were 2,13,585 crimes against women - up 4.8 percent from 2009.
- 8,391 brides - one every hour - were murdered over dowry-related issues in 2010.
- Bride burning is on the increase from 6,995 deaths in 2000 to over 10,000 in 2011.
According to 2010 data, the number of cases convicted:
- 73 foeticide cases were registered and only 16 convicted.
- 146 cases for infanticide were registered and only 25 convicted.
- 305 cases for child trafficking were registered and only 21 convicted.
EFFORTS TO COMBAT CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN:
- The 1994 Pre-conception and Pre-natal diagnostic techniques (prohibition of sex selection) act regulates sex selection, before or after conception. The law provides for imprisonment, which may extend to 3 years and fine up to Rs. 10,000 for the first conviction.
- A National Plan of Action exclusively for the girl child was formulated in 1992 for the survival, protection and development of the girl child.
- The government has prohibited dowry through legislation in 1961.
- The 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act. This was amended in 1983 to include 498A to provide for adequate punishment for any cruelty inflicted on a married woman by the husband and relatives including dowry.
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act was passed this year, but no cases have been reported.
WOMEN IN THE WORK FORCE:
According to the 2009 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report:
- India ranks 114th out of 134, and holds lasts place among the BRIC countries on the index, behind Russia (51), China (60) and Brazil (82).
- Only 7 percent of women sit on the corporate boards in India.
- There are no reservation for women in the Indian Civil Service. Even so, only over 10 percent of India’s over 4,000 civil bureaucrats are women.
- The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is a center for national excellence with over 30,000 scientific and technical personnel, of which about 14 percent are women.
WOMEN IN POLITICS:
According to Inter-Parliamentary Union figures released in March 2012:
- 11 percent of lower house politicians in India are women.
- World average is 19.6 percent (both houses combined).
The amendments to the Constitution allow for political empowerment of women through 33 percent reservation of women in rural and urban local bodies.
Today there are more that one million elected women representatives in the Panchayats – local assemblies in rural India.