Denmark, 1 oct 1989. The first ever legalised gay marriage was on its way. The momentous moment was recorded, photographed and filmed by hordes of reporters and cameramen. It ushered the way to a new era, an era where social change was occurring. The acceptance of such an act was considered audacious, but it also served as a landmark as to how far homosexual's rights have come.
Today, that photograph hangs on the wall of 94-year-old Axel's cozy Copenhagen apartment, amid a crop of houseplants and ceramic tchotchkes. His husband, Eigil, has been dead for 14 years, but Axel still remembers the wedding as if it were yesterday: the stream of gifts that began arriving early that sunny Sunday morning, the taxi ride to the town hall, the asparagus soup they ate at the reception. More than anything, he remembers the crowd. "I'd never seen so many television cameras. There were journalists there from all over the world," he says. "It wasn't until that moment that we realized the historic significance of what we were doing."
Twenty years later, the relative ease with which Denmark enacted that historic moment is still unusual. Seven countries now permit same-sex marriage, and 15 more authorize civil unions.
For many, that something was an epidemic. "AIDS did two things," says Jensen. "First, it made conservatives think that it might be good to support stable, monogamous relationships among gays. And second, it brought homosexuals into the public sphere. For the first time, politicians were actually meeting gay men and lesbian women, and realizing they weren't any different from straight people." Tom Ahlberg, who, as deputy mayor of Copenhagen in 1989, married Axel and Eigil, agrees that AIDS was a significant factor, but sees its role somewhat differently. "Given the tragedy of what was happening, I think we as a society felt we owed something, some sign of sympathy and respect, to gays.
Denmark still has a long way to go. Hate crimes against gays have risen in recent years. And activists are still working to achieve adoption rights and the right to wed in church for gay couples — to say nothing of the right to call their relationships marriages. "We were the first country to have legal partnerships, but all these other countries now have legal marriage," says Larsen. "I think, why are we so old-fashioned in Denmark?"
Yet despite the lag, Danish society is comfortable with the idea of same-sex unions. Since they were authorized, the country has witnessed some 4,700 gay and lesbian weddings. "There was never any negative reaction," says Ahlberg, who retired from office in 1994. "But Danes aren't given to controversy. That's why we call ourselves the consensus society."
For proof that gay marriage is now wholly a part of that consensus, you need only ask Kasper Jensen and Aedan Blansø. One afternoon in April, the two young men, who had been dating for five years, met up in front of the same town hall in which Axel and Eigil were married 20 years ago. Both were born a few years before the registered-partnership legislation went into effect, so they are young enough to have fully absorbed its impact. "I grew up thinking that one day I would meet the right man, fall in love and get married," says Jensen. "You hear about these other countries where it's banned and it seems so sad. People should have the lives they want."
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
"Instant Marriage" in India Another Result of Gender Discrimination
Movement or displacement of women after marriage is a phenomenon commonly linked to exploitation and trafficking of women. Forced prostitution and labor feed on the relationship between marriage and migration as many women find themselves inextricably trapped in these often exploitative relationships.
In India, the traditional patriarchal set-up demands that the woman moves into the matrimonial home of her husband, which also houses her in-laws and new extended family. A huge number of migrant women in the country move away from their natal homes after their marriage, which is hardly surprising since girls and women are viewed as someone's else property to be given up by way of marriage in any case. According to the 2001 census, women account for almost three quarters, or 65 percent, of the total migration reported in the country.
While female migrant labor remains invisible for many reasons, it is also often tied to the migration of the spouses so there is more opportunity for exploitation and vulnerability to occur.
In a trafficking situation, after being sold off to the next buyer by a fake husband who is involved in the sex trafficking network, women find themselves in fraternal polyandrous marriages. When they reach their matrimonial homes, they are abandoned for various reasons, and are put in abusive conditions working for little or no remuneration.
Women's position in Indian society and how they continue to be viewed determines the decisions that are made for them in marriage, whether real or contrived marriages. In many cases, they simply have become the currency of exchange. It is just the terms of engagement that get modified according to the situation.
The conditions change with the social factors driving them at that time. In many parts of India, girls are devalued and often are unwelcome in most households, especially if a second child is a female born into a home where the first-born child is already a girl. In these settings, sex selection abortion, female infanticide, or neglect of girl children through denial of food and medical care may be routine. Higher rates of mortality among girl children lead to skewed sex ratios in which boys far outnumber girls. As a result, India has fewer females per thousand males than is the norm biologically or socially in most other countries. The national average in the country, as per the 2001 census, is 933 females per 1,000 males. In some states, however, the ratio is far worse. Uttar Pradesh, for example, has a gender ratio of 898 females to 1000 males, ranking only slightly better than Punjab, Haryana and Sikkim, the worst affected states.
Yet the near-drought of young, marriageable women that results in regions such as Punjab and Haryana where gender discrimination is most pronounced has driven prospective suitors in these areas to resort to "buying" their brides from other more impoverished regions. So the skewed gender ratio in these states leads to sourcing brides from faraway eastern states of India like West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
Even as sex selection extracts its price, communities have devised their own means of dealing with the situation of uneven gender ratios. In a country where marriages thrive on regional, caste and class, and the chastity of the girl, new means of driving marriage arrangements have been prompted by the scarcity of girls and driven by poverty of a substantial bulk of the population.
For example, a pre-assembled baraat, or wedding procession, consists of a ready groom and willing parents. All that's missing in this perfect wedding scenario is the bride, who has to be found somewhere. These are the essential ingredients of what is being increasingly referred to as chatpat shaadi or instant wedding, an increasingly common practice in some districts of the north state Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Unorthodox at the very least and excessively pragmatic at the most, families engage in these instant weddings to fulfill the socially indispensable requirement of marriage, a community pressure that bears upon eligible girls and boys and their families, though sooner for girls than boys.
What the eastern parts of this state have been witnessing over the years is the arrival of boys in groups of ten or more with their families in tow. The destination villages conduct guided tours, on the basis of locally collected data about eligible girls and acquiescent parents. Initially the practice involved cross-checking the antecedents of both families, but it's now a practice the girls' families are doing away with.
The ceremony's immediacy is reflected by the hurried, exchanged vows at the local temple, and the groom's party's return home in a matter of days, with a very young bride in tow.
To some extent, these marriages bear the imprint of mass marriages conducted in almost every rural or semi-urban part of the country. It's a quick fix community work model practised by local politicians. In many of these mass marriages, young girls have been married in clear violation of the law. These marriages can be seen as just another local version of marriage with poverty being the guiding factor.
What is even more interesting is that while the female to male ratio is below 900 in the western districts, it is above 1,000 in some of the eastern districts guiding the flow of women from eastern UP to the western part of the state via matrimony.
Weddings in small towns and villages were traditionally arranged by the community's priest, who had access to information about eligible girls and boys and willing parents. Today's instant weddings are now arranged by a local facilitator. While frequently a middle-man, the facilitator could also be a woman, who by virtue of marriage, has family in the villages of both the bride and the groom. The facilitator is the person who verifies the antecedents of both sides, and arranges the modalities and logistics of the wedding. Despite the financial burden the dowry system places on the bride's side, these weddings have become attractive because of the limited economic burden placed on the parents. Often the absence of a dowry demand is what makes the groom acceptable, no questions asked. In fact, the financial insecurity of the bride's family implies that the groom's side bears a substantial part of the wedding expenses - the bride price for the girl. Often the lucrative offer of a dowry-less alliance is the first step into a life built on deceit and various levels of exploitation as the girl is taken to far off villages and towns, isolated from her own support systems and family.The pressure the institution of marriage places on the social fabric and its denizens only widens the scope of exploitation of girls, and often her family. Innumerable narratives center around the lack of information and naiveté of the victims, with women realizing they have been duped after they are a long distance from their homes.
Low literacy levels only worsen their situations as they rarely know whom to approach for redress in a completely alien and hostile environment. The amount of deceit involves cases when the groom's side have built an entire façade of home, relatives and assets for the bride, and reality strikes only when the bride reaches her new home.
What could follow is physical and sexual abuse apart from being confined to prevent women from returning to their families. The social ostracism associated with an abandoned or divorced wife forces women to continue living in this environment.
These instant marriages that are occurring in India spells nothing but bad news. The first thing that it implies is that gender discrimination in India is worsening, however, it has further implications that limits it to more than just gender discrimination. True, with these instant marriages going on, the female party would then be on the losing end, being treated as nothing more than a commodity, no feelings attached. However, the true implication behind this is that how criminal organisations may choose to abuse this system and make use of instant marriages to carry out human trafficking, crime rates in India may rise to new heights.
Malnutrition; A gender issue in India
KOLARAS, India, 30 October 2007 – When nine-month-old twins Devki and Rahul were brought by their mother to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre in Kolaras – located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh – Rahul was a normal weight and size for his age, yet his sister Devki weighed just over half of what she should have. Devki’s condition was the result of severe malnutrition.
Both babies showed such varied weight and health that doctors suspected less food was given to Devki, a common occurrence in some areas of India where boys are often given more attention than girls.
When Devki was initially brought to the centre she was severely underweight, and doctors said she was a week away from death. Experts believe this case exemplifies a far more widespread social problem in cities and villages where, in many cases, the birth of boys is celebrated while newborn girls are at best tolerated and at worst, treated harshly.
Ask ourselves, is this a humane act, or one of the devil? Gender discrimination in India has taken a new face, it has escalated from what seemed to be a tiny spark to a huge forest fire. In the past, gender discrimination was limited to what seemed only to be inequality but now, girls are being abused to the extent of death, is this what we truly desire? Furthermore, are the alarming malnutrition rates in India is it due to India being undeveloped or is it due to gender discrimination? As this goes on, it is hard to say that gender discrimination in India is not headed straight to the abyss, and along with it, malnutrition in India.
Women in Science face discrimination
An IPS investigation reveals that women scientists are sidelined by male-centric selection committees for awards and for appointments to research and development (R&D) positions in government funded organisations. A gender-wise breakup of data related to three important national awards - SSB, Young Scientist and National Bio Science award - shows a consistent marginalisation of female scientists and technologists. There were very few females among the recipients of the Young Scientist awards since it was instituted in 1987. Of the total 133 people who won the award up to 2009, only 17 were females. Equally the National Bio Science awards have been prejudicial to women. Between 1999-2008, 70 scientists received the award which carries a cash prize of 100,000 rupees (2,200 dollars) and a research grant of 300,000 rupees (6,400 dollars) per year for a maximum of three years. Only 10 women scientists were chosen.
The Indian National Science Academy report on 'Science Career for Indian Women' substantiates the IPS investigation, and says that "male-centric decision making bodies in S&T (science and technology) have often worked against women and S&T has hurt rather than helped women (advance)." "A few women receive recognition through awards and academy fellowships. Bias against women leading to the much talked about 'glass ceiling' does operate and needs to be addressed," the report said. Commenting on gender discrimination in Indian science and technology, Dr. Vineeta Bal, a senior scientist at the New Delhi-based National Institute of Immunology and a member of the government's task force for women in science, told IPS that a male-centered line of thinking has been dominant in S&T award selections for several years.
"In the history of SSB awards, very few women have been considered worthy of the prize award in any field of science. There is only one women recipient of the SSB award in medicine in the past 15 years and none in biology," she added. Statistics/data availed from major R&D institutions showed that gender disparity in male-female staff selection process was continuing, and females were marginalised in recruitments. The government's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has 950 women among its scientific work force of 7,000. The organisation had suffered a major set back in 2003-07 due to an exodus of young scientists/technologists; as many as 1,007 people left DRDO for better scientific jobs. The percentage of women scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - which awards the SSB and Young Scientist prize every year - is considerably fewer than male scientists. Of the total 4,297 scientists, the number of women is 703.
Though many women have reached top positions in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), under the Department of Space, the percentage of women scientists is very low; the percentage of women employees in the administration is 17.6 percent, while strength of women in scientific/technical positions is 7.18 percent only. The percentage of women scientists employed at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore is also less than 20. According to data, 15,338 people are working at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai, where the percentage of women scientists/engineers is less than five. "Female representation in science faculty in major national institutes/ some central universities showed a disproportion in the selection of women teachers/scientists with respect to the higher numbers of males", said Gopika Chandran, who teaches science in a university in Chennai (previously Madras).
In July 2009, S&T minister Prithviraj Chauhan told a meeting of 27 senior women scientists in New Delhi that he was "not happy about the number of women scientists in the country. There are many problems." "Attempt will be made to make gender audit in scientific establishment obligatory. Out of 37 institutes of CSIR, not a single lab is headed by a woman," he added. There are few female fellows in national science academies like the Indian Academy of Sciences in Bangalore. "Becoming a fellow in an academy is considered as a stepping stone to higher positions. Therefore, every scientist aspires to become a fellow," admitted Rajan Mathur, a scientist in a government research institute in Mumbai. IPS's investigation also found out that a few academies have nominated more women scientists to its list of fellows due to growing dissatisfaction among women scientists.
The prominent Indian Academy of Sciences, which was founded in 1934 by Nobel Laureate Prof. C.V. Raman, presently has over 800 fellows. Between 1994-2004, the number of males selected as fellows in all disciplines was 236 while the number of females was 17. The academy enlisted more women fellows, and their numbers increased to 51 in 2007. Women's representation in government constituted research advisory bodies also worries women scientists; data shows a range between 0-21 percent.
According to Dr. Bal, many unstated considerations were factors in the selection/nomination of fellows/members in research institutions/committees. "When personal connections matter in achieving targets, women scientists can easily lose out, since personal interactions of women scientists with male colleagues would be deeply constrained by standard patriarchal cultural barriers of so-called morality."
The Indian National Science Academy report on 'Science Career for Indian Women' substantiates the IPS investigation, and says that "male-centric decision making bodies in S&T (science and technology) have often worked against women and S&T has hurt rather than helped women (advance)." "A few women receive recognition through awards and academy fellowships. Bias against women leading to the much talked about 'glass ceiling' does operate and needs to be addressed," the report said. Commenting on gender discrimination in Indian science and technology, Dr. Vineeta Bal, a senior scientist at the New Delhi-based National Institute of Immunology and a member of the government's task force for women in science, told IPS that a male-centered line of thinking has been dominant in S&T award selections for several years.
"In the history of SSB awards, very few women have been considered worthy of the prize award in any field of science. There is only one women recipient of the SSB award in medicine in the past 15 years and none in biology," she added. Statistics/data availed from major R&D institutions showed that gender disparity in male-female staff selection process was continuing, and females were marginalised in recruitments. The government's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has 950 women among its scientific work force of 7,000. The organisation had suffered a major set back in 2003-07 due to an exodus of young scientists/technologists; as many as 1,007 people left DRDO for better scientific jobs. The percentage of women scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - which awards the SSB and Young Scientist prize every year - is considerably fewer than male scientists. Of the total 4,297 scientists, the number of women is 703.
Though many women have reached top positions in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), under the Department of Space, the percentage of women scientists is very low; the percentage of women employees in the administration is 17.6 percent, while strength of women in scientific/technical positions is 7.18 percent only. The percentage of women scientists employed at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore is also less than 20. According to data, 15,338 people are working at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai, where the percentage of women scientists/engineers is less than five. "Female representation in science faculty in major national institutes/ some central universities showed a disproportion in the selection of women teachers/scientists with respect to the higher numbers of males", said Gopika Chandran, who teaches science in a university in Chennai (previously Madras).
In July 2009, S&T minister Prithviraj Chauhan told a meeting of 27 senior women scientists in New Delhi that he was "not happy about the number of women scientists in the country. There are many problems." "Attempt will be made to make gender audit in scientific establishment obligatory. Out of 37 institutes of CSIR, not a single lab is headed by a woman," he added. There are few female fellows in national science academies like the Indian Academy of Sciences in Bangalore. "Becoming a fellow in an academy is considered as a stepping stone to higher positions. Therefore, every scientist aspires to become a fellow," admitted Rajan Mathur, a scientist in a government research institute in Mumbai. IPS's investigation also found out that a few academies have nominated more women scientists to its list of fellows due to growing dissatisfaction among women scientists.
The prominent Indian Academy of Sciences, which was founded in 1934 by Nobel Laureate Prof. C.V. Raman, presently has over 800 fellows. Between 1994-2004, the number of males selected as fellows in all disciplines was 236 while the number of females was 17. The academy enlisted more women fellows, and their numbers increased to 51 in 2007. Women's representation in government constituted research advisory bodies also worries women scientists; data shows a range between 0-21 percent.
According to Dr. Bal, many unstated considerations were factors in the selection/nomination of fellows/members in research institutions/committees. "When personal connections matter in achieving targets, women scientists can easily lose out, since personal interactions of women scientists with male colleagues would be deeply constrained by standard patriarchal cultural barriers of so-called morality."
This discrimination against women in the field of science is one worthy of concern. As women are being discriminated in the field of science, they do not gain the recognition they deserve. This not only denies these women from the honour they deserve but also at the same time worsening the issue of gender discrimination, locking it in a cycle. As these women are being denied of the honour and recognition they deserve, it also means that other females in the nation are at the same time losing a role model or inspiration for them to look forward to that women can succeed in India and are no longer discriminated, as a result, they are constantly being repressed and are stuck in the cycle where they are born to be discriminated, give birth to another one who would live the same life as them.
Transexuals gaining their own gender: O (Others), India
Indian election authorities Thursday granted an independent identity to intersex and transsexuals in the country's voter lists. Before, members of these groups were referred to as male or female in the voter rolls. But now, they will have the choice to tick "O" -- for others -- when indicating their gender in voter forms, the Indian election commission said in a statement. India, home to more than 1 billion people, has 714 million registered voters. Intersexual people are seen as a marginalized community in India. Many end up begging on the streets, becoming prostitutes or earning their livelihood by dancing at celebrations.In July, an Indian court delivered a landmark ruling legalizing gay sex between consenting partners in the country.
The July verdict meant the law -- Indian penal code section 377, which had previously criminalized consensual homosexual acts between adults -- was partly struck down but remains in place as far as forced homosexual acts are concerned. It was not clear whether the ruling -- which was later challenged by an astrologer in India's highest court -- would eventually lead to legalization of gay marriages in the country.
This notion made in India may be one of significance as these members of the public gain an identity of their own, it also means one thing, India is slowly becoming more liberal and at the same time it meant that these individuals would slowly become integrated into India's society and become a part of them, making them less discriminated as they are being accepted. Furthermore, as more doors are being opened to these individuals, they may no longer need to work as those jobs in the red light district and thus reducing the number of vices present in India.
Gender Bias (India)
As John-Thor Dahlburg points out, "in rural India, the centuries-old practice of female infanticide can still be considered a wise course of action." (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'," The Los Angeles Times [in The Toronto Star, February 28, 1994.]) According to census statistics, "From 972 females for every 1,000 males in 1901 ... the gender imbalance has tilted to 929 females per 1,000 males. ... In the nearly 300 poor hamlets of the Usilampatti area of Tamil Nadu [state], as many as 196 girls died under suspicious circumstances [in 1993] ... Some were fed dry, unhulled rice that punctured their windpipes, or were made to swallow poisonous powdered fertilizer. Others were smothered with a wet towel, strangled or allowed to starve to death." Dahlburg profiles one disturbing case from Tamil Nadu:
Lakshmi already had one daughter, so when she gave birth to a second girl, she killed her. For the three days of her second child's short life, Lakshmi admits, she refused to nurse her. To silence the infant's famished cries, the impoverished village woman squeezed the milky sap from an oleander shrub, mixed it with castor oil, and forced the poisonous potion down the newborn's throat. The baby bled from the nose, then died soon afterward. Female neighbors buried her in a small hole near Lakshmi's square thatched hut of sunbaked mud. They sympathized with Lakshmi, and in the same circumstances, some would probably have done what she did. For despite the risk of execution by hanging and about 16 months of a much-ballyhooed government scheme to assist families with daughters, in some hamlets of ... Tamil Nadu, murdering girls is still sometimes believed to be a wiser course than raising them. "A daughter is always liabilities. How can I bring up a second?" Lakshmi, 28, answered firmly when asked by a visitor how she could have taken her own child's life eight years ago. "Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her." (All quotes from Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.")
A study of Tamil Nadu by the Community Service Guild of Madras similarly found that "female infanticide is rampant" in the state, though only among Hindu (rather than Moslem or Christian) families. "Of the 1,250 families covered by the study, 740 had only one girl child and 249 agreed directly that they had done away with the unwanted girl child. More than 213 of the families had more than one male child whereas half the respondents had only one daughter." (Malavika Karlekar, "The girl child in India: does she have any rights?," Canadian Woman Studies, March 1995.)
The bias against females in India is related to the fact that "Sons are called upon to provide the income; they are the ones who do most of the work in the fields. In this way sons are looked to as a type of insurance. With this perspective, it becomes clearer that the high value given to males decreases the value given to females." (Marina Porras, "Female Infanticide and Foeticide".) The problem is also intimately tied to the institution of dowry, in which the family of a prospective bride must pay enormous sums of money to the family in which the woman will live after marriage. Though formally outlawed, the institution is still pervasive. "The combination of dowry and wedding expenses usually add up to more than a million rupees ([US] $35,000). In India the average civil servant earns about 100,000 rupees ($3,500) a year. Given these figures combined with the low status of women, it seems not so illogical that the poorer Indian families would want only male children." (Porras, "Female Infanticide and Foeticide".) Murders of women whose families are deemed to have paid insufficient dowry have become increasingly common, and receive separate case-study treatment on this site.
India is also the heartland of sex-selective abortion. Amniocentesis was introduced in 1974 "to ascertain birth defects in a sample population," but "was quickly appropriated by medical entrepreneurs. A spate of sex-selective abortions followed." (Karlekar, "The girl child in India.") Karlekar points out that "those women who undergo sex determination tests and abort on knowing that the foetus is female are actively taking a decision against equality and the right to life for girls. In many cases, of course, the women are not independent agents but merely victims of a dominant family ideology based on preference for male children."
Dahlburg notes that "In Jaipur, capital of the western state of Rajasthan, prenatal sex determination tests result in an estimated 3,500 abortions of female fetuses annually," according to a medical-college study. (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.") Most strikingly, according to UNICEF, "A report from Bombay in 1984 on abortions after prenatal sex determination stated that 7,999 out of 8,000 of the aborted fetuses were females. Sex determination has become a lucrative business." (Zeng Yi et al., "Causes and Implications of the Recent Increase in the Reported Sex Ratio at Birth in China," Population and Development Review, 19: 2 [June 1993], p. 297.)
Deficits in nutrition and health-care also overwhelmingly target female children. Karlekar cites research
indicat[ing] a definite bias in feeding boys milk and milk products and eggs ... In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh [states], it is usual for girls and women to eat less than men and boys and to have their meal after the men and boys had finished eating. Greater mobility outside the home provides boys with the opportunity to eat sweets and fruit from saved-up pocket money or from money given to buy articles for food consumption. In case of illness, it is usually boys who have preference in health care. ... More is spent on clothing for boys than for girls[,] which also affects morbidity. (Karlekar, "The girl child in India.")
Sunita Kishor reports "another disturbing finding," namely "that, despite the increased ability to command essential food and medical resources associated with development, female children [in India] do not improve their survival chances relative to male children with gains in development. Relatively high levels of agricultural development decrease the life chances of females while leaving males' life chances unaffected; urbanization increases the life chances of males more than females. ... Clearly, gender-based discrimination in the allocation of resources persists and even increases, even when availability of resources is not a constraint." (Kishor, "'May God Give Sons to All': Gender and Child Mortality in India," American Sociological Review, 58: 2 [April 1993], p. 262.)
Indian state governments have sometimes taken measures to diminish the slaughter of infant girls and abortions of female fetuses. "The leaders of Tamil Nadu are holding out a tempting carrot to couples in the state with one or two daughters and no sons: if one parent undergoes sterilization, the government will give the family [U.S.] \\$160 in aid per child. The money will be paid in instalments as the girl goes through school. She will also get a small gold ring and on her 20th birthday, a lump sum of $650 to serve as her dowry or defray the expenses of higher education. Four thousand families enrolled in the first year," with 6,000 to 8,000 expected to join annually (as of 1994) (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.") Such programs have, however, barely begun to address the scale of the catastrophe.
Lakshmi already had one daughter, so when she gave birth to a second girl, she killed her. For the three days of her second child's short life, Lakshmi admits, she refused to nurse her. To silence the infant's famished cries, the impoverished village woman squeezed the milky sap from an oleander shrub, mixed it with castor oil, and forced the poisonous potion down the newborn's throat. The baby bled from the nose, then died soon afterward. Female neighbors buried her in a small hole near Lakshmi's square thatched hut of sunbaked mud. They sympathized with Lakshmi, and in the same circumstances, some would probably have done what she did. For despite the risk of execution by hanging and about 16 months of a much-ballyhooed government scheme to assist families with daughters, in some hamlets of ... Tamil Nadu, murdering girls is still sometimes believed to be a wiser course than raising them. "A daughter is always liabilities. How can I bring up a second?" Lakshmi, 28, answered firmly when asked by a visitor how she could have taken her own child's life eight years ago. "Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her." (All quotes from Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.")
A study of Tamil Nadu by the Community Service Guild of Madras similarly found that "female infanticide is rampant" in the state, though only among Hindu (rather than Moslem or Christian) families. "Of the 1,250 families covered by the study, 740 had only one girl child and 249 agreed directly that they had done away with the unwanted girl child. More than 213 of the families had more than one male child whereas half the respondents had only one daughter." (Malavika Karlekar, "The girl child in India: does she have any rights?," Canadian Woman Studies, March 1995.)
The bias against females in India is related to the fact that "Sons are called upon to provide the income; they are the ones who do most of the work in the fields. In this way sons are looked to as a type of insurance. With this perspective, it becomes clearer that the high value given to males decreases the value given to females." (Marina Porras, "Female Infanticide and Foeticide".) The problem is also intimately tied to the institution of dowry, in which the family of a prospective bride must pay enormous sums of money to the family in which the woman will live after marriage. Though formally outlawed, the institution is still pervasive. "The combination of dowry and wedding expenses usually add up to more than a million rupees ([US] $35,000). In India the average civil servant earns about 100,000 rupees ($3,500) a year. Given these figures combined with the low status of women, it seems not so illogical that the poorer Indian families would want only male children." (Porras, "Female Infanticide and Foeticide".) Murders of women whose families are deemed to have paid insufficient dowry have become increasingly common, and receive separate case-study treatment on this site.
India is also the heartland of sex-selective abortion. Amniocentesis was introduced in 1974 "to ascertain birth defects in a sample population," but "was quickly appropriated by medical entrepreneurs. A spate of sex-selective abortions followed." (Karlekar, "The girl child in India.") Karlekar points out that "those women who undergo sex determination tests and abort on knowing that the foetus is female are actively taking a decision against equality and the right to life for girls. In many cases, of course, the women are not independent agents but merely victims of a dominant family ideology based on preference for male children."
Dahlburg notes that "In Jaipur, capital of the western state of Rajasthan, prenatal sex determination tests result in an estimated 3,500 abortions of female fetuses annually," according to a medical-college study. (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.") Most strikingly, according to UNICEF, "A report from Bombay in 1984 on abortions after prenatal sex determination stated that 7,999 out of 8,000 of the aborted fetuses were females. Sex determination has become a lucrative business." (Zeng Yi et al., "Causes and Implications of the Recent Increase in the Reported Sex Ratio at Birth in China," Population and Development Review, 19: 2 [June 1993], p. 297.)
Deficits in nutrition and health-care also overwhelmingly target female children. Karlekar cites research
indicat[ing] a definite bias in feeding boys milk and milk products and eggs ... In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh [states], it is usual for girls and women to eat less than men and boys and to have their meal after the men and boys had finished eating. Greater mobility outside the home provides boys with the opportunity to eat sweets and fruit from saved-up pocket money or from money given to buy articles for food consumption. In case of illness, it is usually boys who have preference in health care. ... More is spent on clothing for boys than for girls[,] which also affects morbidity. (Karlekar, "The girl child in India.")
Sunita Kishor reports "another disturbing finding," namely "that, despite the increased ability to command essential food and medical resources associated with development, female children [in India] do not improve their survival chances relative to male children with gains in development. Relatively high levels of agricultural development decrease the life chances of females while leaving males' life chances unaffected; urbanization increases the life chances of males more than females. ... Clearly, gender-based discrimination in the allocation of resources persists and even increases, even when availability of resources is not a constraint." (Kishor, "'May God Give Sons to All': Gender and Child Mortality in India," American Sociological Review, 58: 2 [April 1993], p. 262.)
Indian state governments have sometimes taken measures to diminish the slaughter of infant girls and abortions of female fetuses. "The leaders of Tamil Nadu are holding out a tempting carrot to couples in the state with one or two daughters and no sons: if one parent undergoes sterilization, the government will give the family [U.S.] \\$160 in aid per child. The money will be paid in instalments as the girl goes through school. She will also get a small gold ring and on her 20th birthday, a lump sum of $650 to serve as her dowry or defray the expenses of higher education. Four thousand families enrolled in the first year," with 6,000 to 8,000 expected to join annually (as of 1994) (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.") Such programs have, however, barely begun to address the scale of the catastrophe.
Girl prostitution in India
According to Human Rights Watch, there are approximately 15 million prostitutes in India. There are more than 100,000 women in prostitution in Bombay, Asia's largest sex industry center. Girls in prostitution in India, Pakistan and the Middle East are tortured, held in virtual imprisonment, sexually abused, and raped. Girl prostitutes are primarily located in low-middle income areas and business districts and are known by officials. Brothel keepers regularly recruit young girls. Girl prostitutes are grouped as common prostitutes, singers and dancers, call girls, religious prostitutes or devdasi, and caged brothel prostitutes. Districts bordering Maharashtra and Karnataka, known as the "devadasi belt," have trafficking structures operating at various levels. The women here are in prostitution either because their husbands deserted them, or they are trafficked through coercion and deception. Many are devadasi dedicated into prostitution for the goddess Yellamma.
An oft-repeated cause of prostitution is poverty. But poverty is only one of the reasons. The helplessness of women forces them to sell their bodies. Many girls from villages are trapped for the trade in the pretext of love and elope from home only to find themselves sold in the city to pimps who take money from the women as commission. The other causes of prostitution include ill treatment by parents, bad company, family prostitutes, social customs, inability to arrange marriage, lack of sex education, media, prior incest and rape, early marriage and desertion, lack of recreational facilities, ignorance, and acceptance of prostitution. Economic causes include poverty and economic distress. Psychological causes include desire for physical pleasure, greed, and dejection.
Most enter involuntarily. India, along with Thailand and the Philippines, has 1.3 million children in its sex-trade centers. The children come from relatively poorer areas and are trafficked to relatively richer ones. India and Pakistan are the main destinations for children under 16 who are trafficked in south Asia. What is causing alarm both in governmental and NGO circles is the escalation in trafficking of young girls in the last decade. NGOs like STOP and MAITI in Nepal report that most trafficking in India (both trans-border and in-country) is for prostitution. And 60 per cent of those trafficked into prostitution are adolescent girls in the age group of 12 to 16 years. These figures are corroborated by a study done by the Department of Women and Children in 13 sensitive districts of Uttar Pradesh. It reveals that all sex workers who formed a part of this survey had entered the profession as young girls. Many transsexuals, called hijiras, are sex workers. The families of hijiras reject them. They face opposition from the public, and with the denial of employment they take to begging and then enter the sex market.
Globalization, professionalisation of trafficking syndicates, feminization of poverty and rise in sex tourism - all have contributed to an increase in trafficking. This problem is further compounded because of two factors: linkages of trafficking with the spread of HIV/AIDS and the clandestine nature of the activity. Studies now show that while women of all ages are more vulnerable to the infection than men, young girls are even more at risk because their genital tracts are immature. In addition, they have absolutely no control over sexual relations and sexual health. So a physical vulnerability is compounded by gender vulnerability. The study done in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh shows that in a sample of 1,341 sex workers, brothel-based prostitution was 793 and family-based prostitution came close at 548.Since prostitution is not legal, the police can arrest sex workers at any time.
The police, whose main function is to protect and serve, turn out to be robbers stealing the little money that these workers "earn." Interventions are increasingly based on issues like combating stigma related to HIV/AIDS, developing empowering strategies for victims and involving communities in the rehabilitation of rescued women and girls. But there is a lot that still needs to be done. Involvement of communities is of the greatest significance here since it has been seen that their families and communities do not accept rescued women and girls. The situation becomes worse if someone tests positive for HIV because she is immediately labeled a prostitute - a perception that creates a complex situation in the rehabilitation programmes. Even if trafficked returnees can avoid such treatment, they have few options for survival. What is needed is a multi-pronged strategy which can help in curbing trafficking and empowering communities and which also has scope for rescue and rehabilitation processes. The task is not just daunting; given the political priorities of most governments it is not given the importance it deserves.
An oft-repeated cause of prostitution is poverty. But poverty is only one of the reasons. The helplessness of women forces them to sell their bodies. Many girls from villages are trapped for the trade in the pretext of love and elope from home only to find themselves sold in the city to pimps who take money from the women as commission. The other causes of prostitution include ill treatment by parents, bad company, family prostitutes, social customs, inability to arrange marriage, lack of sex education, media, prior incest and rape, early marriage and desertion, lack of recreational facilities, ignorance, and acceptance of prostitution. Economic causes include poverty and economic distress. Psychological causes include desire for physical pleasure, greed, and dejection.
Most enter involuntarily. India, along with Thailand and the Philippines, has 1.3 million children in its sex-trade centers. The children come from relatively poorer areas and are trafficked to relatively richer ones. India and Pakistan are the main destinations for children under 16 who are trafficked in south Asia. What is causing alarm both in governmental and NGO circles is the escalation in trafficking of young girls in the last decade. NGOs like STOP and MAITI in Nepal report that most trafficking in India (both trans-border and in-country) is for prostitution. And 60 per cent of those trafficked into prostitution are adolescent girls in the age group of 12 to 16 years. These figures are corroborated by a study done by the Department of Women and Children in 13 sensitive districts of Uttar Pradesh. It reveals that all sex workers who formed a part of this survey had entered the profession as young girls. Many transsexuals, called hijiras, are sex workers. The families of hijiras reject them. They face opposition from the public, and with the denial of employment they take to begging and then enter the sex market.
Globalization, professionalisation of trafficking syndicates, feminization of poverty and rise in sex tourism - all have contributed to an increase in trafficking. This problem is further compounded because of two factors: linkages of trafficking with the spread of HIV/AIDS and the clandestine nature of the activity. Studies now show that while women of all ages are more vulnerable to the infection than men, young girls are even more at risk because their genital tracts are immature. In addition, they have absolutely no control over sexual relations and sexual health. So a physical vulnerability is compounded by gender vulnerability. The study done in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh shows that in a sample of 1,341 sex workers, brothel-based prostitution was 793 and family-based prostitution came close at 548.Since prostitution is not legal, the police can arrest sex workers at any time.
The police, whose main function is to protect and serve, turn out to be robbers stealing the little money that these workers "earn." Interventions are increasingly based on issues like combating stigma related to HIV/AIDS, developing empowering strategies for victims and involving communities in the rehabilitation of rescued women and girls. But there is a lot that still needs to be done. Involvement of communities is of the greatest significance here since it has been seen that their families and communities do not accept rescued women and girls. The situation becomes worse if someone tests positive for HIV because she is immediately labeled a prostitute - a perception that creates a complex situation in the rehabilitation programmes. Even if trafficked returnees can avoid such treatment, they have few options for survival. What is needed is a multi-pronged strategy which can help in curbing trafficking and empowering communities and which also has scope for rescue and rehabilitation processes. The task is not just daunting; given the political priorities of most governments it is not given the importance it deserves.
Marrying Uncles
I have spent nearly 15 years growing up in Tamilnadu though I am basically from Delhi and found this practice odd too. Upon inquiry I was told that like today finding a match for a girl was often considered tedious or difficult.
Moreover having married a Tamilian, I have a respect and regard for their culture and so wish to highlight why this practice evolved though most families don’t follow it now!
There was the dowry issue, the caste that had to be matched and God forbid if the girl was “Manglik” she would have a hard time finding a groom. So in such circumstances it was considered a security that the maternal Uncle or cousin would marry the girl. Of course the south Indian beloved metal gold would stay in the family and the land too.
One must understand that dowry was and is still a very real problem in southern states, so this practice was actually was a relief to the parents in many ways. Moreover ancient middle eastern societies too followed this practice and they all gave birth to healthy children, so southern India is not an exceptional case!
The custom of marrying an uncle or first cousin is not a stone writ as some believe it is just that the uncle has the first right with the girls’ consent of course followed by the first cousin and then any outsider if the suitor doesn’t please the girl!
One might think this custom odd but I have done my degree from south and oh the times these couples have during Valentines day that too with the full permission of their parents, these traditional looking girls would be glowing with delight. So I think if the south Indian girls are happy with their custom so be it, well it works for them if not for others!
It’s not only for dowry but also the fact that in states like Kerala, girls outnumber boys and there are good chances that a number of girls might never find a guy as all get booked. In fact the reason that Kerala has so many nuns is partially due to this cause. So a parents’ mindset would be to secure the future of his daughter in such circumstances.
However, every parent wants their children’s good and happiness and all they do is to that end so if a girl expresses their unhappiness over such proposals their likes and dislikes are usually respected!
Moreover having married a Tamilian, I have a respect and regard for their culture and so wish to highlight why this practice evolved though most families don’t follow it now!
There was the dowry issue, the caste that had to be matched and God forbid if the girl was “Manglik” she would have a hard time finding a groom. So in such circumstances it was considered a security that the maternal Uncle or cousin would marry the girl. Of course the south Indian beloved metal gold would stay in the family and the land too.
One must understand that dowry was and is still a very real problem in southern states, so this practice was actually was a relief to the parents in many ways. Moreover ancient middle eastern societies too followed this practice and they all gave birth to healthy children, so southern India is not an exceptional case!
The custom of marrying an uncle or first cousin is not a stone writ as some believe it is just that the uncle has the first right with the girls’ consent of course followed by the first cousin and then any outsider if the suitor doesn’t please the girl!
One might think this custom odd but I have done my degree from south and oh the times these couples have during Valentines day that too with the full permission of their parents, these traditional looking girls would be glowing with delight. So I think if the south Indian girls are happy with their custom so be it, well it works for them if not for others!
It’s not only for dowry but also the fact that in states like Kerala, girls outnumber boys and there are good chances that a number of girls might never find a guy as all get booked. In fact the reason that Kerala has so many nuns is partially due to this cause. So a parents’ mindset would be to secure the future of his daughter in such circumstances.
However, every parent wants their children’s good and happiness and all they do is to that end so if a girl expresses their unhappiness over such proposals their likes and dislikes are usually respected!
A self-fulfilling prophecy?
GENDER disparity still exists in Singapore, going by the results of the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women's Advancement.
In the latest index, Singapore scored a 88.3, an improvement over previous years but still indicating gender inequality in favour of males. Perfect gender equality would measure 100 points while a score above 100 indicates gender inequality in favour of females.
Two of the four socio-economic indicators for the index are subjective and self-reported by survey respondents.
In these aspects, the results seem to indicate a narrowing gap. About 86 women to every 100 men perceived that they were in the management league; about 98 women to every 100 men perceived they were being paid an above median salary.
Unfortunately, the results don't capture how the respondents' perceptions compare to their actual situation, which would have made for an interesting analysis.
While more women have joined the workforce over the years, women are still under-represented in the top rungs of the corporate ladder.
Flip through the newspaper and you'll see that the CEOs or experts mentioned or quoted are usually men. And I don't think journalists are being sexist in their choice of interviewees, afterall there are more female journalists in the newsroom.
Official figures also show that an income gap still exists.
In Singapore, the median monthly income for full-time employed females is 86 per cent that of fully employed males. While this figure is an improvement as compared to the figure 10 years ago (83 per cent), it's hardly anything to shout about.
It would be too simplistic to attribute the gap to any single factor, such as social conditioning or discrimination.
Rather, it's a combination and intertwining of factors, including women's reluctance to expect more for themselves. It's probably also less obvious than - though equally damaging as - discrimination.
Anecdotally, I know of a friend who was offered a higher salary than she had asked for when she switched jobs within the same field.
Was the hiring company just being generous? As it turns out, her asking salary had been too low. She later learnt that even with the offered salary, a less experienced, lower-ranking male colleague was earning more than her.
But don't take it from me.
The book Women Don’t Ask by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever provides some excellent insights and examples: Studies have shown that women in the same position as their male counterparts tend to be contented with lesser pay.
Women are also less likely to negotiate pay packages than their male counterparts with the same qualifications.
Which makes you wonder: Is that our form of self-discrimination? After all, if you don't ask, you don't get.
http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2009/2/27/a-self-fulfilling-prophecy , by Ang Yiying
In the latest index, Singapore scored a 88.3, an improvement over previous years but still indicating gender inequality in favour of males. Perfect gender equality would measure 100 points while a score above 100 indicates gender inequality in favour of females.
Two of the four socio-economic indicators for the index are subjective and self-reported by survey respondents.
In these aspects, the results seem to indicate a narrowing gap. About 86 women to every 100 men perceived that they were in the management league; about 98 women to every 100 men perceived they were being paid an above median salary.
Unfortunately, the results don't capture how the respondents' perceptions compare to their actual situation, which would have made for an interesting analysis.
While more women have joined the workforce over the years, women are still under-represented in the top rungs of the corporate ladder.
Flip through the newspaper and you'll see that the CEOs or experts mentioned or quoted are usually men. And I don't think journalists are being sexist in their choice of interviewees, afterall there are more female journalists in the newsroom.
Official figures also show that an income gap still exists.
In Singapore, the median monthly income for full-time employed females is 86 per cent that of fully employed males. While this figure is an improvement as compared to the figure 10 years ago (83 per cent), it's hardly anything to shout about.
It would be too simplistic to attribute the gap to any single factor, such as social conditioning or discrimination.
Rather, it's a combination and intertwining of factors, including women's reluctance to expect more for themselves. It's probably also less obvious than - though equally damaging as - discrimination.
Anecdotally, I know of a friend who was offered a higher salary than she had asked for when she switched jobs within the same field.
Was the hiring company just being generous? As it turns out, her asking salary had been too low. She later learnt that even with the offered salary, a less experienced, lower-ranking male colleague was earning more than her.
But don't take it from me.
The book Women Don’t Ask by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever provides some excellent insights and examples: Studies have shown that women in the same position as their male counterparts tend to be contented with lesser pay.
Women are also less likely to negotiate pay packages than their male counterparts with the same qualifications.
Which makes you wonder: Is that our form of self-discrimination? After all, if you don't ask, you don't get.
http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2009/2/27/a-self-fulfilling-prophecy , by Ang Yiying
Gender Discrimination : Much of Women's Economic Activity Not Reflected in Statistics
Although most women in India work and contribute to the economy in one form or another, much of their work is not documented or accounted for in official statistics. Women plow fields and harvest crops while working on farms; women weave and make handicrafts while working in household industries; women sell food and gather wood while working in the informal sector. Additionally, women are traditionally responsible for the daily household chores (e.g., cooking, fetching water, and looking after children). Although the cultural restrictions women face are changing, women are still not as free as men to participate in the formal economy.
In the past, cultural restrictions were the primary impediments to female employment; now, however, the shortage of jobs throughout the country contributes to low female employment as well. The 1991 Indian census divides workers into two categories: “main” and “marginal” workers. Main workers include people who worked for 6 months or more during the year, while marginal workers include those who worked for a shorter period. Detailed data on marginal workers have not been tabulated from the 1991 census, but many of these workers are agricultural laborers. Unpaid farm and family enterprise workers are supposed to be included in either the main worker or marginal worker category, as appropriate (Registrar General and Census Commissioner (RGCC), 1993). Women account for a small proportion of the formal Indian labor force, even though the number of female main workers has grown faster in recent years than that of their male counterparts.
The 1991 census shows that the number of male main workers increased 23 percent since the 1981 census while the number of female main workers increased 40 percent. However, women still accounted for only 23 percent (64.3 million) of the total. The reported labor force participation of women is very low. Fewer than one-quarter (22 percent) of women of all ages were engaged in work either as a main or a marginal worker in 1991, compared with just over half of men. Rural women were more likely than urban women to be counted in the census as working, 27 percent versus 9 percent, respectively (RGCC, 1993).
Since Indian culture hinders women’s access to jobs in stores, factories, and the public sector, the informal sector is particularly important for women. More women may be involved in undocumented or “disguised” wage work than in the formal labor force. There are estimates that over 90 percent of working women are involved in the informal sector and not included in official statistics (The World Bank, 1991). The informal sector includes jobs such as domestic servant, small trader, artisan, or field laborer on a family farm. Most of these jobs are unskilled and low paying and do not provide benefits to the worker. Although such jobs are supposed to be recorded in the census, undercounting is likely because the boundaries between these activities and other forms of household work done by women are often clouded (Dube and Palriwala, 1990). Thus, the actual labor force participation rate for women is likely to be higher than the calculated value.
In the past, cultural restrictions were the primary impediments to female employment; now, however, the shortage of jobs throughout the country contributes to low female employment as well. The 1991 Indian census divides workers into two categories: “main” and “marginal” workers. Main workers include people who worked for 6 months or more during the year, while marginal workers include those who worked for a shorter period. Detailed data on marginal workers have not been tabulated from the 1991 census, but many of these workers are agricultural laborers. Unpaid farm and family enterprise workers are supposed to be included in either the main worker or marginal worker category, as appropriate (Registrar General and Census Commissioner (RGCC), 1993). Women account for a small proportion of the formal Indian labor force, even though the number of female main workers has grown faster in recent years than that of their male counterparts.
The 1991 census shows that the number of male main workers increased 23 percent since the 1981 census while the number of female main workers increased 40 percent. However, women still accounted for only 23 percent (64.3 million) of the total. The reported labor force participation of women is very low. Fewer than one-quarter (22 percent) of women of all ages were engaged in work either as a main or a marginal worker in 1991, compared with just over half of men. Rural women were more likely than urban women to be counted in the census as working, 27 percent versus 9 percent, respectively (RGCC, 1993).
Since Indian culture hinders women’s access to jobs in stores, factories, and the public sector, the informal sector is particularly important for women. More women may be involved in undocumented or “disguised” wage work than in the formal labor force. There are estimates that over 90 percent of working women are involved in the informal sector and not included in official statistics (The World Bank, 1991). The informal sector includes jobs such as domestic servant, small trader, artisan, or field laborer on a family farm. Most of these jobs are unskilled and low paying and do not provide benefits to the worker. Although such jobs are supposed to be recorded in the census, undercounting is likely because the boundaries between these activities and other forms of household work done by women are often clouded (Dube and Palriwala, 1990). Thus, the actual labor force participation rate for women is likely to be higher than the calculated value.
Indian Culture Restricts Women's Access to Work
India is a multifaceted society where no generalization could apply to all of the nation’s various regional, religious, social, and economic groups. Nevertheless, certain broad circumstances in which Indian women live affect the ways they participate in the economy. Indian society is extremely hierarchical with virtually everyone ranked relative to others according to their caste(or caste-like group), class, wealth, and power. This ranking even exists in areas where it is not openly acknowledged, such as certain business settings. Though specific customs vary from region to region within the country, there are different standards of behavior for men and women that carry over into the work environment. Women are expected to be chaste and especially modest in all actions (Dube and Palriwala, 1990), which may constrain their ability to perform in the workplace on an equal basis with men.
Another related aspect of life in India is purdah—literally, the veiling and seclusion of women. Fewer women, especially younger women, observe purdah today, but those who still do face constraints beyond those already placed on them by other hierarchical practices(Heitzman and Worden, 1996). These cultural rules place some Indian women, particularly those of lower caste, in a paradoxicalsituation: when a family suffers economically, people often think that a woman should go out and work, yet at the same time the woman’s participation in employment outside the home is viewed as “slightly inappropriate, subtly wrong, and definitely dangerous to their chastity and womanly virtue” (Dube and Palriwala, 1990, p. 131). When a family recovers from an economic crisis or attempts to improve its status, women may be kept at home as a demonstration of the family’s morality and as a symbol of its financial security.
As in many other countries, working women of all segments of Indian society face various forms of discrimination including sexual harassment. Even professional women find discrimination to be prevalent: two-thirds of the women in one study felt that they had to work harder to receive the same benefits as comparably employed men. It is notable that most of the women in this study who did not perceive discrimination worked in fields (e.g., gynecology) where few, if any, men competed against them (Liddle and Joshi, 1986).
Another related aspect of life in India is purdah—literally, the veiling and seclusion of women. Fewer women, especially younger women, observe purdah today, but those who still do face constraints beyond those already placed on them by other hierarchical practices(Heitzman and Worden, 1996). These cultural rules place some Indian women, particularly those of lower caste, in a paradoxicalsituation: when a family suffers economically, people often think that a woman should go out and work, yet at the same time the woman’s participation in employment outside the home is viewed as “slightly inappropriate, subtly wrong, and definitely dangerous to their chastity and womanly virtue” (Dube and Palriwala, 1990, p. 131). When a family recovers from an economic crisis or attempts to improve its status, women may be kept at home as a demonstration of the family’s morality and as a symbol of its financial security.
As in many other countries, working women of all segments of Indian society face various forms of discrimination including sexual harassment. Even professional women find discrimination to be prevalent: two-thirds of the women in one study felt that they had to work harder to receive the same benefits as comparably employed men. It is notable that most of the women in this study who did not perceive discrimination worked in fields (e.g., gynecology) where few, if any, men competed against them (Liddle and Joshi, 1986).
Gender Discrimination in India : Why is it still so bad for girls in India?
Females in India are facing a lot of discrimination against them which has caused their deaths. There are many reasons for their deaths. Some of them are educational backwardness, the caste system, differences in culture and differences in religious beliefs.
Girls: Household Servants
When a boy is born in most developing countries, friends and relatives exclaim congratulations. A son means insurance. He will inherit his father's property and get a job to help support the family. When a girl is born, the reaction is very different. Some women weep when they find out their baby is a girl because, to them, a daughter is just another expense. Her place is in the home, not in the world of men. In some parts of India, it's traditional to greet a family with a newborn girl by saying, "The servant of your household has been born."
A girl can't help but feel inferior when everything around her tells her that she is worth less than a boy. Her identity is forged as soon as her family and society limit her opportunities and declare her to be second-rate.
A combination of extreme poverty and deep biases against women creates a remorseless cycle of discrimination that keeps girls in developing countries from living up to their full potential. It also leaves them vulnerable to severe physical and emotional abuse. These "servants of the household" come to accept that life will never be any different.
Greatest Obstacles Affecting Girls
Discrimination against girls and women in the developing world is a devastating reality. It results in millions of individual tragedies, which add up to lost potential for entire countries. Studies show there is a direct link between a country's attitude toward women and its progress socially and economically. The status of women is central to the health of a society. If one part suffers, so does the whole.Tragically, female children are most defenseless against the trauma of gender discrimination. The following obstacles are stark examples of what girls worldwide face. But the good news is that new generations of girls represent the most promising source of change for women—and men—in the developing world today.
Dowry
In developing countries, the birth of a girl causes great upheaval for poor families. When there is barely enough food to survive, any child puts a strain on a family's resources. But the monetary drain of a daughter feels even more severe, especially in regions where dowry is practiced.Dowry is goods and money a bride's family pays to the husband's family. Originally intended to help with marriage expenses, dowry came to be seen as payment to the groom's family for taking on the burden of another woman. In some countries, dowries are extravagant, costing years' worth of wages, and often throwing a woman's family into debt. The dowry practice makes the prospect of having a girl even more distasteful to poor families. It also puts young women in danger: A new bride is at the mercy of her in-laws should they decide her dowry is too small. UNICEF estimates that around 5,000 Indian women are killed in dowry-related incidents each year.
Neglect
The developing world is full of poverty-stricken families who see their daughters as an economic predicament. That attitude has resulted in the widespread neglect of baby girls in Africa, Asia, and South America. In many communities, it's a regular practice to breastfeed girls for a shorter time than boys so that women can try to get pregnant again with a boy as soon as possible. As a result, girls miss out on life-giving nutrition during a crucial window of their development, which stunts their growth and weakens their resistance to disease.Statistics show that the neglect continues as they grow up. Young girls receive less food, healthcare and fewer vaccinations overall than boys. Not much changes as they become women. Tradition calls for women to eat last, often reduced to picking over the leftovers from the men and boys.
Infanticide and Sex-Selective Abortion
In extreme cases, parents make the horrific choice to end their baby girl's life. One woman named Lakshmi from Tamil Nadu, an impoverished region of India, fed her baby sap from an oleander bush mixed with castor oil until the girl bled from the nose and died. "A daughter is always liabilities. How can I bring up a second?" said Lakshmi to explain why she chose to end her baby's life. "Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her."Sex-selective abortions are even more common than infanticides in India. They are growing ever more frequent as technology makes it simple and cheap to determine a fetus' gender. In Jaipur, a Western Indian city of 2 million people, 3,500 sex-determined abortions are carried out every year. The gender ratio across India has dropped to an unnatural low of 927 females to 1,000 males due to infanticide and sex-based abortions.
Gender discrimination in India has caused the death and abuse of many females because they are not given the equal rights that males have in India which has actually caused the economic and social situation in India to worsen.
Gender Discrimination in India
Sociologically the word gender refers to the socio-cultural definition of man and woman, the way societies distinguish men and women and assign them social roles. The distinction between sex and gender was introduced to deal with the general tendency to attribute women's subordination to their anatomy. For ages it was believed that the different characteristics, roles and status accorded to women and men in society are determined by sex, that they are natural and therefore not changeable. Gender is seen closely related to the roles and behavior assigned to women and men based on their sexual differences. As soon as a child is born families and society begin the process of gendering. The birth of the son is celebrated, the birth of a daughter filled with pain; sons are showered with love, respect, better food and proper health care. Boys are encouraged to be tough and outgoing; girls are encouraged to be homebound and shy. All these differences are gender differences and they are created by society. Gender inequality is therefore a form of inequality which is distinct from other forms of economic and social inequalities. It dwells not only outside the household but also centrally within it. It stems not only from pre-existing differences in economic endowments between women and men but also from pre-existing gendered social norms and social perceptions. Gender inequality has adverse impact on development goals as reduces economic growth. It hampers the overall well being because blocking women from participation in social, political and economic activities can adversely affect the whole society. Many developing countries including India have displayed gender inequality in education, employment and health. It is common to find girls and women suffering from high mortality rates. There are vast differences in education level of two sexes. India has witnessed gender inequality from its early history due to its socio-economic and religious practices that resulted in a wide gap between the position of men and women in the society.
The origin of the Indian idea of appropriate female behavior can be traced to the rules laid down by Manu in 200 B.C.: "by a young girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house". "In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent." Women's lives are shaped by customs that are centuries old. "May you be the mother of a hundred sons" is a common Hindu wedding blessing. Statistics reveal that in India males significantly outnumber females and this imbalance has increased over time. The sex ratio according to 2001 census report stands at 933 per 1000 males. Out of the total population, 120 million are women who live in abject poverty. The maternal mortality rate in rural areas is among the world's highest. From a global perspective India accounts for 19% of all live births and 27% of all maternal deaths. The deaths of young girls in India exceed those of young boys by over 300,000 each year and every 6th infant death is specifically due to gender discrimination. Women face discrimination right from the childhood. Gender disparities in nutrition are evident from infancy to adulthood. In fact, gender has been the most statistically significant determinant of malnutrition among young children and malnutrition is a frequent, direct or underlying, cause of death among girls below age 5. Girls are breast-fed less frequently and for a shorter duration in infancy. In childhood and adulthood, males are fed first and better. Adult women consume approximately 1,000 fewer calories per day than men according to one estimate. Nutritional deprivation has two major consequences for women: they never reach their full growth potential, and suffer from anemia, which are risk factors in pregnancy. This condition complicates childbearing and results in women and infant deaths, and low birth weight infants. The tradition also requires that women eat last and least throughout their lives even when pregnant and lactating. Malnourished women give birth to malnourished children, perpetuating the cycle. Women receive less healthcare facilities than men. A primary way that parents discriminate against their girl children is through neglect during illness. As an adult they tend to be less likely to admit that they are sick and may wait until their sickness has progressed far before they seek help or help is sought for them. Many women in rural areas die in childbirth due to easily preventable complications. Women's social training to tolerate suffering and their reluctance to be examined by male personnel are additional constraints in their getting adequate health care.
The Constitution of India ensures gender equality in its preamble as a fundamental right but also empowers the state to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women by ways of legislation and policies. India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights forums to secure equal rights of women, such as ratification of Convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in 1993. Women have been finding place in local governance structures, overcoming gender biases. Over one million women have been elected to local panchayats as a result of 1993 amendment to the Indian Constitution requiring that 1/3 rd of the elected seats to the local governing bodies be reserved for women. The passing of Pre-natal Diagnostic Tech Act in 1994 also is a step in removing gender discrimination. This Act seeks to end sex-determination tests and female foeticide and prohibits doctors from conducting such procedures for the specific purpose of determining the sex of the fetus. The Government also announced the National policy for empowerment of women in 2001 to bring out advancement, development and empowerment of women. The Government has also drawn up a draft National policy for the empowerment of women which is a policy statement outlining the state's response to problems of gender discrimination. As persistent gender inequalities continue we need to rethink concepts and strategies for promoting women's dignity and rights. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has stated, "Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance." There is a need for new kinds of institutions, incorporating new norms and rules that support equal and just relations between women and men. Today women are organizing themselves to meet the challenges that are hampering their development.
The origin of the Indian idea of appropriate female behavior can be traced to the rules laid down by Manu in 200 B.C.: "by a young girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house". "In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent." Women's lives are shaped by customs that are centuries old. "May you be the mother of a hundred sons" is a common Hindu wedding blessing. Statistics reveal that in India males significantly outnumber females and this imbalance has increased over time. The sex ratio according to 2001 census report stands at 933 per 1000 males. Out of the total population, 120 million are women who live in abject poverty. The maternal mortality rate in rural areas is among the world's highest. From a global perspective India accounts for 19% of all live births and 27% of all maternal deaths. The deaths of young girls in India exceed those of young boys by over 300,000 each year and every 6th infant death is specifically due to gender discrimination. Women face discrimination right from the childhood. Gender disparities in nutrition are evident from infancy to adulthood. In fact, gender has been the most statistically significant determinant of malnutrition among young children and malnutrition is a frequent, direct or underlying, cause of death among girls below age 5. Girls are breast-fed less frequently and for a shorter duration in infancy. In childhood and adulthood, males are fed first and better. Adult women consume approximately 1,000 fewer calories per day than men according to one estimate. Nutritional deprivation has two major consequences for women: they never reach their full growth potential, and suffer from anemia, which are risk factors in pregnancy. This condition complicates childbearing and results in women and infant deaths, and low birth weight infants. The tradition also requires that women eat last and least throughout their lives even when pregnant and lactating. Malnourished women give birth to malnourished children, perpetuating the cycle. Women receive less healthcare facilities than men. A primary way that parents discriminate against their girl children is through neglect during illness. As an adult they tend to be less likely to admit that they are sick and may wait until their sickness has progressed far before they seek help or help is sought for them. Many women in rural areas die in childbirth due to easily preventable complications. Women's social training to tolerate suffering and their reluctance to be examined by male personnel are additional constraints in their getting adequate health care.
The Constitution of India ensures gender equality in its preamble as a fundamental right but also empowers the state to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women by ways of legislation and policies. India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights forums to secure equal rights of women, such as ratification of Convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in 1993. Women have been finding place in local governance structures, overcoming gender biases. Over one million women have been elected to local panchayats as a result of 1993 amendment to the Indian Constitution requiring that 1/3 rd of the elected seats to the local governing bodies be reserved for women. The passing of Pre-natal Diagnostic Tech Act in 1994 also is a step in removing gender discrimination. This Act seeks to end sex-determination tests and female foeticide and prohibits doctors from conducting such procedures for the specific purpose of determining the sex of the fetus. The Government also announced the National policy for empowerment of women in 2001 to bring out advancement, development and empowerment of women. The Government has also drawn up a draft National policy for the empowerment of women which is a policy statement outlining the state's response to problems of gender discrimination. As persistent gender inequalities continue we need to rethink concepts and strategies for promoting women's dignity and rights. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has stated, "Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance." There is a need for new kinds of institutions, incorporating new norms and rules that support equal and just relations between women and men. Today women are organizing themselves to meet the challenges that are hampering their development.
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