(Affiliated to S.N.D.T. Women’s University, Mumbai)
Syllabus for Second Year Semester-IV
Bachelor of Education Program (2019-2021)
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Course 11: Gender, School and Society
Marks: 100, Credits: 4, Hours: 60for theory excluding hours to be spent by student teachers for
completing assignments
Course Objectives:
Describe issues concerned with women
Suggest remedial measures to overcome constraints to education of women
Understand various social reform movements in India with respect to women
Design learning experiences for gender sensitization and women empowerment
Organize training and counselling for various personnel regarding gender equality and women
empowerment
Module 1: Concept of Gender, Gender Issues and Concerned Recommendations
(Credit: 1, hours: 15, Marks: 25)
Objectives: After learning this module the student teacher will be able to-
- explain concepts of gender, sex, feminism and gender bias
- describe issues concerned with women
- explain recommendations of various commissions and Abhiyan regarding women education
Content:
1. Concepts: Gender, sex, sexuality, patriarchy, masculinity and feminism, Gender bias, gender
stereotyping (2)
2. Equity and equality in relation with caste, class, religion, ethnicity, disability and region (2)
3. Issues concerned with women: Foeticide, infanticide, early marriages, dowry, desertion, widow,
violence against women, illiteracy, intoxication, sexual harassment, health problems, malnutrition,
prostitution(4)
4. Gender inequality due to biased socialisation practices in family, schools and other formal and informal
organisations (2)
5. Recommendations regarding Women‘s Education and Empowerment: Kothari Commission(1964-66),
National Policy of Education (1986), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (2000), Right to Education Act(2009),
Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan(2010), Woman Centred family as suggested by Raghunath Mashelkar in
New Panchsheel of Education (5)
Module 2: Constraints in Women Education and Empowerment
(Credit: 1, Hours: 15, Marks:
Objectives: After learning this module the student teacher will be able to-
- explain constraints in the socio-political system regarding women empowerment
- explain constraints to education of Women in India
- suggest remedial measures to overcome constraints
Content:
1. Constraints in the socio-political system regarding women empowerment:(7)
Family /Parents /Patriarchy
Caste system
Orthodoxy in the matter of religion and culture,
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Economic causes
Social attitude towards women
Elected representatives at all levels, leaders, politicians etc.
Police Personnel and Gender Sensitization
Administration/Employment Sector
Media and Technology
Law and judiciary
Agencies perpetuating violence: Family, school, work place and media (Print and electronic)
NGO‘s and Civil Society
2. Constraints to education of Women in India: (8)
Access and retention in education due to remote locations, inadequate infrastructure and poor
facilities in schools
Traditional Patriarchal Mindset and discrimination
Underestimation of women capabilities and intelligence
Undervaluation of Female Labor
Sexual harassment and violence in school setting
Reinforcement of Gender Roles in educational and career opportunities
Reinforcement of Gender discrimination and Stereotyping in the present education system through
hidden curriculum, textbook, teacher‘s attitude
Module 3: Dimensions and Movements for Women Empowerment
(Credit: 1, hours: 15, Marks:25)
Objectives: After learning this module the student teacher will be able to-
- explain concept and dimensions of women empowerment
- become aware about various social reform movements in India with respect to women
- explain relevance of provisions in constitution for gender equality
Content:
1. Concept, Importance and Dimensions of women empowerment: Individual empowerment, Social
empowerment, Economic empowerment, Physical empowerment, Psychological empowerment,
Political empowerment(4)
2. Some landmarks from social reform movements with focus on women's education and social status:
Raja Rammohan Roy, Tarabai Shinde, Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve, Savitribai and Mahatma
Phule (3)
3. Various reform movements before independence: Act of Sati (abolish) 1829, Hindu Widow Remarriage
Act‘ 1856, the Child Restriction Act, 1929, Women Property Right Act, 1937 etc.(2)
4. Reform movements after independence: (3)
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (regarding the age for marriage, monogamy and guardianship of
the mother )
Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956(adoption by unmarried women, widow or divorcee
of sound mind )
Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961
5. Provisions in the Constitution of India: (3) Article 14, Article 15, Article 15 (3) about special provision
enabling the state to make affirmative discriminations in favour of women; Article 42 directs the state
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to make provision for ensuring just and human conditions of work and maternity relief. Articles 15
(A), (E) to renounce the practices derogatory to the dignity of women
Module 4: Education for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
(Credit: 1, hours: 15, Marks: 25)
Objectives: After learning this module the student teacher will be able to-
- explain role of school in gender equality and women empowerment
- analyze and develop school curriculum with gender equality perspective
- design learning experiences for gender sensitization and women empowerment
- organize training and counselling for various personnel regarding gender equality and women
empowerment
- develop oneself to become change agent
Contents:
1. Role of school : Provision of secure and encouraging environment, Sufficient Light, Internal Security,
Separate washrooms, cleanliness, Identity cards for entry in the institute, display of telephone help
lines for women, Hostel facilities, transport facility, regular medical checkup, proper implementation
of government welfare schemes for girls, regular parent-teacher meetings, women grievance cell,
redressing sexual harassment cases (3)
2. Curriculum development: Messages of gender equality, dimensions of women empowerment and
awareness of laws relating to the protection of women/human rights through different school subjects,
contribution of women in various fields of life(3)
3. Textbooks and learning material : Attention to gender/human rights issues especially violence against
women through textbook(1)
4. Teacher‘s Role as an agent of change :Deliberate efforts about gender sensitization and women
empowerment through curriculum transaction, Encouraging participation of girls in curricular and co-
curricular activities, preventive supervision against teasing and sexual harassment, establishing rapport
with girl students, research on gender issues and remedies, inculcating gender equality through group
discussions, organizing guest lecturers, projects, visits, films life sketches, news etc. (5)
5. Training about Gender/human rights, gender awareness and empowerment to teachers, concerned
officials, staff, students and parents(1)
6. Special training to girl students: Adolescence education, life skills education, self defense (1)
7. Counseling centre for adolescents for pre-marital counseling and health problems, career counseling (1)
Assignments: (Marks 25)
1. Visit to any government/non-government organization working for women empowerment/issues related
to women and writing a report (15 Marks)
2. Reading a book related to gender issues/ girl‘s education/ women empowerment/biography or
autobiography of a successful woman and give seminar on the same, submit the paper/ article. (10
Marks)
Useful Sites:
http://www.nesse.fr/nesse/activities/reports/gender-report-pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_discrimination_in_India
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Course 12: Guidance and Counseling
Total Credits: 4; Marks: 100; Hours: 60 for theory excluding hours to be spent by student teachers
for completing assignments
Course Objectives: the student teachers will be able to-
discuss the tools for information collection for guidance
describe role of a school and teacher in guidance
describe types and process of counseling
locate issues of adolescents requiring counseling
Module 1: Concept, Meaning and Process of Guidance
(Credit: 1, hours: 15, Marks: 25)
Objectives:
On completion of this module the student teachers will be able to:
elaborate the concept, need & Scope of Guidance
explain the basic principles and process of guidance
discuss the foundations of guidance, type of Guidance
discuss the tools for information collection for guidance
describe role of a school and teacher in guidance
discuss qualities ,skills and ethics of counselor
Content:
1. Concept, meaning, Nature, Need, scope and functions of Guidance, limitations of guidance services.
(3)
2. Basic principles and process of guidance(1)
3. Foundations of guidance: Philosophical, psychological and socio-cultural(1)
4. Type of Guidance: Educational , Vocational and Personal Guidance with special reference to
secondary and higher secondary level (2)
5. Tools for information collection for Guidance: Quantitative tools- Intelligence, Aptitude, Interest,
Attitude inventory and Personality; Qualitative tools-Anecdotal Records, questionnaire, socio-metric
technique, check list, rating scale, Interview, Case study, Diary (6)
6. Role of a school and teacher in guidance (2)
Module 2: Concept, Meaning and Process of Counseling
(Credit: 1, hours: 15, Marks: 25)
Objective:
On completion of this module the student teachers will be able to:
discuss the concept, need, importance, functions & Scope of counseling
differentiate between guidance and counseling
describe types and process of counseling
locate issues of adolescents requiring counseling
Content:
1. Concept, meaning, Nature, Need and functions of Counseling, limitations of counseling (3)
2. Relationship and difference between guidance and counseling(1)
3. Basic principles of counseling(1)
4. Types of counseling: Directive, Non-directive and Eclectic (2)
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5. Process of Counseling: Relationship building, problem assessment, goal setting, counseling
intervention, evaluation (2)
6. Counseling Approaches: Behaviorist, Cognitive and Humanistic Approach (3)
7. Counseling for Adolescence Issues : Bullying, Relationship with Peer and Parents, Handling puberty
issues, Addiction [substance abuse, technology induced social networking], Suicide, Academic Stress(3)
Module 3: Role of Counselor in school setting
(Credit: 1, hours: 15, Marks: 25)
Objectives:
On completion of this module the student teachers will be able to:
discuss qualities ,skills and ethics of counselor
explain the role of counselor & importance of career counseling
consider various factors in counseling
Content:
1. Qualities of a teacher as a counselor (2)
2. Skills and ethics of counseling (1)
3. Counseling of students with special needs (2)
4. Role of counselor in developing self concept. (1)
5. Career counseling in the present context. (2)
6. Factors to be considered in counseling (7)
Background Factors: Family, Health, Socio-Economic Status.
Psychological factors: Personality, Intelligence, special aptitudes, interests, values and goals.
Educational factors: Academic achievement and non-scholastic achievement
Module 4: Guidance for Career information
(Credit: 1, hours: 15, Marks: 25)
Objective: On completion of this module the student teachers will be able to:
elaborate the meaning, need, importance and sources of career information
discuss the date gathering techniques for career
describe the concept of occupational information
Content:
1. Career information: Meaning, Need, importance of career information. (2)
2. Sources of career information (3)
3. Data gathering techniques: Job analysis, Survey method (2)
4. Occupational information: meaning and importance, information about education and job
opportunities and personal and social information. (4)
5. Disseminations of information through: Career talks, Exhibition, Class talks by subject teacher,
bulletin boards, visits, on line search (4)
Assignments (25 marks)
1. Organizing an exhibition on career information and writing a report(15 Marks)
2. Interviewing a school counselor/ personal counselor and writing a report(10 marks)
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Course 11: Gender, School and Society
Module 1: Concept of Gender, Gender Issues and Concerned Recommendations
11.1.1: Concepts: Gender, Sex, Sexuality, Patriarchy, Masculinity and Feminism,
Gender Bias, Gender Stereotyping
Gender:
The term Gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated
with being male or female. In most societies, being a man or women is not only a matter of different
biological and physical characteristics. Men and women face different expectations about how they
should dress, behave or work. Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that
are created in our families, our societies and our cultures. The concept of gender also includes the
expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviors of both women and men
(femininity and masculinity). Gender roles and expectations are learned. They can change over time
and they vary within and between cultures.
Gender has been defined as:
"The commonly shared expectations and norms within a society about appropriate male and female
behavior, characteristics and roles. Gender can be considered a social and cultural construct that
differentiates females from males and thus defines the ways in which females and males interact with
each other. These roles and expectations are learned and they can change over time as well as vary
within and between cultures."
Sex:
‘Sex’ can be defined as an individual’s biological representation as male or female or as transgender
based on the individual’s organs of birth (Based on hormonal imbalance in the case of transgender).
A person’s sex is biologically determined as female or male according to certain identifiable physical
features which are fixed.
‘Gender’ is a socio-cultural term referring socially defined roles and behaviours assigned to ‘males’
and ‘females’ in a given society; whereas, the term ‘sex’ is a biological and physiological phenomenon
which defines man and woman. In its social, historical and cultural aspects, gender is a function of
power relationship between men and women where men are considered superior to women. Therefore,
gender can be understood as a man-made concept, whereas ‘sex’ is a natural or biological
characteristic of human beings.
Sexuality:
Sexuality is a person’s sexual orientation or preference. Sexuality is distinct from gender yet
intimately linked to it. It is the social construction of a biological drive.
It is more than sexual behavior; it is a multidimensional and dynamic concept. It involves biological,
physical, emotional, social or spiritual feelings and behaviors. The biological and physical aspects of
sexuality largely concern the human reproductive functions.
Patriarchy:
Patriarchy literally means “the rule of the father”. A Patriarchal society consists of a male-dominated
power structure throughout organized society and in individual relationships. Patriarchy can be defined
as a system of society in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. This will
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be visible in Political Leadership, Moral authority, Social privilege, Control of Property, Familial
matters etc.
A patriarchy, from the ancient Greek patriarchs, was a society where power was held by and passed
down through the elder males. When modern historians and sociologists describe a “patriarchal
society”, they mean that men hold the positions of power and have more privilege: head of the family
unit, leaders of social groups, boss in the workplace and heads of the government. In Patriarchy, there
is also a hierarchy among the men. In traditional patriarchy, the elder men had power over the younger
generations of men. In modern patriarchy, some men hold more power by virtue of position of
authority.
Characteristics of Patriarchal System:
In a Patriarchal system, men make all decisions both in the family as well as in the society.
Men are considered superior.
Men are concerned with identification that includes qualities of control, forcefulness, strength,
strong work ethic, rationality, and competitiveness.
Men will have the control on finances and education.
Women will not be allowed to rise up to leadership levels or make decisions.
From values, rituals and traditions to laws and formal institutions like governments, power within
a society will be focused on uplifting men.
Masculinity (Manhood or Manliness):
Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles associated with boys and men. It is distinct from
the definition of the male biological sex. Masculine qualities, characteristics or roles are considered
typical of or appropriate for a boy or man, expected by the social system. It differs on the basis of
region, religion, class, nation, culture etc. Among some of the characteristics commonly attributed to
men are ambition, pride, competitiveness, independent, non-emotional, aggressive, strong-mentally
and physically etc.
Feminism (Womanhood or Womanliness):
Feminism is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally associated with girls and women. It is a
socially constructed, but made up of both socially defined and biologically-created factors. It differs
on the basis of region, religion, class, nation, culture etc. Among some of the characteristics
commonly attributed to women are dependent, emotional, submissive, weak-mentally and physically
etc. ‘Masculinity’ and ‘Feminism’ describe gender identities. They describe socio-cultural categories
in everyday language. Because these are gender identities, they are shaped by socio-cultural processes,
not biology. These are plural and dynamic; they change with culture and with individuals.
Gender Bias:
Gender bias can be stated as the “unfair way in which men and women are treated based on their sex.”
It is the prejudice towards one gender over the other. This happens consciously or unconsciously due
to habits or practices of the social system. This is visible in certain roles, responsibilities, jobs, wages,
positions etc. Gender bias is a preference or prejudice towards one gender over the other. Bias can be
conscious or unconscious, and may manifest in many ways, both subtle and obvious. It is the unequal
treatment in employment opportunity such as promotion, pay, benefits and privileges and expectations
due to attitudes based on the sex of an employee. Gender bias can be subtle or overt, and can result in
small or large consequences. Most countries have laws eliminating gender bias in work places. Gender
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bias can be a legitimate basis for a lawsuit under anti-discrimination statutes. Gender bias is behavior
that shows favoritism toward one gender over another. Most often, gender bias is the act of favoring
men and/or boys over women and/or girls. Gender bias occurs when people make assumptions
regarding behaviors, abilities or preferences of others based upon their gender. Because there are
strong gender role stereotypes for masculinity and femininity, students who do not match them can
encounter problems with teachers and with their peers.
(Note: Add examples of gender bias occurring in family, school, work place and society.)
Gender Stereotyping:
Gender Stereotyping can be defined as the overgeneralization of characteristics or differences or
attributes of a certain group (male or female or transgender) based on their sex.
Gender stereotyping is mainly visible in:
Physical Appearance: Women are supposed to be shy, passive and submissive. Women are
organized and clean. Men are expected to be tough, aggressive, dominant and self-confident. Men
are lazy and messy.
Domestic Behavior: Women are supposed to cook and do housework. Women are better at raising
children. Stay-at-home mothers are better than working mothers. On the other hand, men are better
at household repairs. Men cannot cook, sew or care for their children.
Occupation: Women are supposed to have jobs such as teachers, nurses, secretaries and librarians.
Women are not good at maths. Women are supposed to make less money than men. On the other
hand, men can work as mechanics, engineers etc. Men are good at maths, should make more
money than women.
Personality Traits: Women are expected to be short and slender and delicate while men are
supposed to be tall and strong.
Gender stereotypes are dangerous because they might create unequal or unfair treatments to a certain
person who chooses to defy people’s assumptions about his/her gender. Stereotypes can be positive or
negative, but they rarely communicate accurate information about others. Gender stereotyping can be
harmful as they stifle individual expression and creativity, as well as hinder personal and professional
growth.
11.1.2: Equity and Equality in Relation with Caste, Class, Religion, Ethnicity,
Disability and Region
Equality can never be achieved without equity. Gender fairness is not to create a society that is the
same and genderless. It is about everyone being given the same opportunities, rights and obligations
despite their differences.
According to UNESCO,
“Gender Equality, equality between men and women…..does not mean that women and men have to
become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether
they are born male or female. Gender Equity means fairness of treatment for women and men,
according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different,
but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities.”
The goal of treating everyone the same may seem noble, but the principle of equal treatment tends
to ignore the fact that people differ in their capacities, interests, resources and experiences.
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Equality is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the state of being equal, especially in status, rights
or opportunities. It focuses on creating the same starting line for everyone.
Equity is defined as the quality of being fair and impartial. Equity has the goal of providing everyone
with the full range of opportunities and benefits-the same finish line.
Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, strategies must be
available to compensate for women’s historical and social disadvantages. Gender equality requires
equal enjoyment by women and men of socially-valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards. It
is generally women who are excluded or disadvantaged in relation to decision making and access to
economic and social resources. A critical aspect of promoting gender equality is the empowerment of
women, with a focus on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more
autonomy to manage their own lives. It means that access to opportunities and life changes is neither
dependent on, nor constrained by their sex.
Gender Equity and Equality in relation to Caste: Caste refers to a traditional model of social
stratification, which defines people by descent and occupation. A suffocating patriarchal shadow
hangs over the lives of women throughout India. From all sections, castes and classes of society,
women are victim of its repressive, controlling effects. Those subjected to the heaviest burden of
discrimination are from the Dalit or “Scheduled Castes”, earlier known as the “Untouchables”.
Women of these castes faced extreme levels of abuse and servitude. They experience multiple
levels of discrimination and exploitation, much of which is barbaric, degrading, appallingly violent
and totally inhumane.
Gender Equity and Equality in relation to Class: Social Class, is a “dimension of the self that is
rooted in objective material resources (income, education and occupational prestige) and
corresponding subjective perceptions of rank vis-à-vis others.” Social stratification into classes
reflects relative economic relationships across individuals within a society, both perceived and
actual.
It has been observed, that regardless of one’s socio-economic class, there are systematic gender
differences in material well-being, although the inequalities varies across countries and time.
Rising income have made it easier for higher earning women to remain employed and nominally
responsible for housekeeping while low earning women have fewer options for reducing the time
they dedicate to housework.
Gender Equity and Equality in relation to Religion: The main religions of the world all contain
certain ideas about the appropriate roles for men and women in society, and traditionally, this has
placed women in the home and men in the ‘outside’ world. This holds true even nowadays.
Religious leaders sanctified existing social structures, instead of pushing for justice. Religious
patriarchy works as a vehicle for coercing women to accept gender oppression through religion.
Even today, many religious institutions exclude women from their hierarchies and rituals-which
generally imply that females are inferior.
Gender Equity and Equality in relation to Ethnicity: “Indigenous women all over the world
experience discrimination, not only on the ground of sex, but also because of their indigenous
identity, ethnicity, color or religious beliefs. This discrimination is particularly evident as women;
particularly young indigenous women enter and try to advance through the labor market.”
-Jane Hodges, ILO (Gender Equality Director)
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Ethnicity is the state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural
tradition. People belong to particular communities. People belong to particular societies. People
belong to an area/district/state/nation/particular period etc will constitute an ethnic group.
Ethnic minority women face double discrimination in the workplace because of their race and their
gender.
A UK parliamentary report, “Ethnic minority Female Unemployment” said, “In 2011, the overall
unemployment rate for ethnic minority women in the UK was just over 14 per cent, more than
double that of white women and higher than the unemployment rate for ethnic minority men.”
Gender Equity and Equality in relation to Region: The study entitled “Gender biases and
discrimination against women: What do different indicators say?” focuses on disparities across the
diverse regions of the country, analyzing indicators pertaining to- health, education, mortality,
economic participation, decision-making and safety and security. Most illustrative is the data on
survival indicators, which reveals that demographic imbalances stem as much from socio-cultural
practices as from economic factors. States of Bihar, MP, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, despite
some improvements, show figures indicating backwardness in terms of various health indicators.
States of Haryana and Punjab are among the worst with adult sex ratios of 869 & 886 females per
1000 males in 2001. The best state in terms of highest participation in village-level panchayats and
urban municipalities is Bihar followed by Karnataka, Kerala, Sikkim and West Bengal.
The rapid and progressive urbanization around the world, with over 60 per cent of the world’s
population expected to live in cities by 2030, makes ending poverty and promoting equity through
urban development a crucial step towards achieving human progress. When urban design and
services address gender discrimination and promote equal opportunities, greater social and
economic benefits can be achieved.
Although women have advanced public and economic sphere, gender division of labor still exist.
Women’s unpaid household labor is greater than that of men. Women, particularly working
mothers who are overburdened with responsibility put their physical and mental health at risk. A
significant portion of men are still, reluctant to share responsibilities- child rearing and household
chores, making it difficult for women to work outside homes.
“Rural women in India are not a homogenous constituency; they are engaged in various
occupations and affected by multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. Unpaid care work,
lack of access to resources, financial entitlements, social services often create layered
marginalization for rural women.”
- Jeevan Kanakkassery
Majority of the rural women suffer not only from economic poverty but also from ‘information
poverty’. Though, women work longer hours (both at home and at agricultural land) than men and
contribute substantially to family income, they are not perceived as productive workers. Very few
have ownership over land and or productive assets. Generally, they are married at an early age.
From childhood days they have to bear the burden of taking care of younger siblings, cooking, and
domestic chores. Child brides are often forced to drop out of the schools and are subject to the
risks of early pregnancy and are more likely to be exposed to violence.
Tribal comprise around 8.2 per cent of the national population. The status of women in the tribal
societies is comparatively better than that of the women in general society. Mitra and Singh write
that discrimination against women, occupational differentiation and emphasis on status and
hierarchical social ordering that characterize Hindu culture are generally absent among the tribal
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groups. When primary and secondary subsistence activities are counted, women work more than
men. Most of the tribal societies are patriarchal in which men dominate the public sector. It can be
said that though women in tribal society enjoy a greater freedom to mix and move around, their
social organizations and institutions are still discriminatory particularly with regard to customary
laws that guide ownership of property and inheritance and exercising authority in domestic and
public spheres.
Gender Equity and Equality in relation to Disability: Women with disabilities have been
described as being doubly marginalized on account of their disability and gender. They may be
more vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion, and often have limited social, political and
economic opportunities and lack of access to basic services. Women with disabilities may also be
at greater risk of sexual and physical violence and abuse. They often face discrimination, for
example in education and family life.
11.1.3: Issues Concerned with Women: Feticide, Infanticide, Early Marriages,
Dowry, Desertion, Widow, Violence against Women, Illiteracy, Intoxication,
Sexual Harassment, Health Problems, Malnutrition, and Prostitution
Female Foeticide & Infanticide:
Female Foeticide refers to “aborting the female in the mother’s womb”; whereas Female infanticide is
“killing the girl child after her birth.” Female Foeticide and Infanticide is the ugly and earliest
manifestation of discrimination against female members of the society.
Female foeticide is a practice of selective elimination of the female foetus after prenatal sex
determination or sex pre-selection, thus, avoiding the birth of a girl child.
Discrimination does not end with the sex-selective abortion of female foetus. In most cases, it
continues beyond birth.
Female infanticide is a deliberate and intentional act of killing a female child within one year of
its birth either directly by using poisonous organic and inorganic chemicals or indirectly by
deliberate neglect to feed the infant by either the parents or other family members.
Reasons:
Ideological Preference for boys
Availability of latest technology
Socio-economic conditions
Absence of women in decision making
Gender inequality in India
Instances of sexual harassment and associated law & order problems
Decline in moral and ethical standards
Impact of Female Foeticide:
The most profound effect of female foeticide lies in the fact that sustained female foetus abortion
leads to a highly unstable sex ratio.
Worldwide, female foeticide, in the long run, produces consequences like an increase in crime
rates of female trafficking, rape against women
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Even early marriage is a probable consequence for a world with fewer women, due to the fact that
early marriage or selling off women early in age would bring about the higher number of children
in the biological time of the woman.
The effects of female foeticide are one that is not visible in the short term.
It is only in the long run that the acute and scary consequences would start showing themselves.
Role of Education in dealing with Female Foeticide and Infanticide:
Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Technique Act-1994-PCPNDT was enacted to ban the
use of sex selection techniques before and after conception, for selective abortion.
Recently launched programme like “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” ensures survival, protection and
empowerment of girls.
There are laws in place to tackle the heinous crime of female foeticide yet it goes without saying
that awareness and change in people mindset is necessary.
The ways in which female foeticide can be dealt with primarily lies in aggressive public
advertisement AGAINST the idea of foeticide itself.
Early Marriages (Child Marriage):
Child marriage is a formal marriage or informal union entered into by an individual before reaching
the age of 18. The legally prescribed marriageable age in some jurisdictions is below 18 years,
especially in the case of girls; and even when the age is set at 18 years, many jurisdictions permit
earlier marriage with parental consent or in special circumstances, such as teenage pregnancy. In
certain countries, even when the legal marriage age is 18, cultural traditions take priority over
legislative law. Child marriage affects both boys and girls, though the overwhelming majority of those
affected are girls, most of whom are in poor socioeconomic situations.
Child marriage in India, according to the Indian law, is a marriage where either the woman is below
age 18 or the man is below age 21.
Many factors have been responsible for child marriages. The causes of child
marriage are:
Illiteracy
Low status of woman
Opposition to Inter-caste Marriage
Joint Family System
Religious Factors
Dowry:
Dowry refers to the property, movable and or immovable, that is received by the bridegroom or his
parents from the bride’s parents. The Dowry system refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or
movable property that the bride's family gives to the bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives as a
condition of the marriage. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 defines dowry as ‘any property or
valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly
(a) By one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or
(b) By the parents of either party to a marriage or by any other person, to either party of the
marriage or to any other person; at or before or after the marriage as consideration for the
marriage of the said parties.
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The custom of dowry is prevalent in all the sections of our society in one form or the other. At the
beginning it was voluntary, but later on the social pressure was such that very few could escape from
it. Dowry is a curse to the bride’s parents who have to bear enormous cost to satisfy the unreasonable
demands of the bridegroom’s party. A demand of dowry does not diminish even after marriage. In
some instances, the in-laws of the bride are very much ready to inflict harassment, insults and tortures-
both mental and physical. It is often seen that, when more pressure is put on the bride’s parents, their
dear daughter has no other option but to commit suicide to avoid more insult and torture at the hands
of the members of her husband’s family. This curse of Dowry System must be eradicated forth with at
any cost. Women from every walk of life, literate or illiterate, poor or rich, young or old must unite
together and come forward to protect their own honour and interest. Though the Government has
promulgated certain anti-dowry laws, these have not produced the desired results. People’s efforts are
also necessary if this evil is to be removed once for all. The high expenditure of the marriage
ceremony must be cut down. Women must be empowered. Gender-based inequality should be
completely abolished and the position of women in the society should be raised. Women must be
taught since girlhood that their life is not useless without marriage.
Desertion:
Deserted women, cast-away women, thrown away women or “paritaykta” are different terms used
interchangeably for women who are thrown out of their marital homes or in some cases who have
chosen to step out themselves.A research study showed that single women are highly deprived with
very little access to either familial property or to government schemes. The reasons for desertion
ranged from alcoholic husband, wife beating, lack of male heir, complains of inefficiency at domestic
work, suspicion of extramarital affairs, property related matters, widowhood, sexual inadequacy etc.
Widow:
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man in that situation. The state of
having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood. This term "widowhood" can be used for either
sex. It is a natural occurrence. But the Hindus believe that the widowhood of woman is the result of
sins, she committed in her previous life. Widowhood is considered as an inauspicious thing and
therefore a widow faces a miserable and inhuman existence. Being economically dependent on the
members of her husband’s family, she has to live at their mercy. She is ill-treated, abused and
sometimes blamed and cursed for any unhappy occurrence in the family. For the very death of her
husband, she is held responsible and abused. She is considered as a woman of ill. Consequently she
has to keep herself away or at a distance on the occasions of family festivities including the occasions
of marriage of her own children.
Violence against Women:
According to United Nations Declaration of
Elimination of Violence against Women, Violence
is defined as
“Any act of gender based violence that results in,
or is likely to result in physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women,
including threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivations of liberty whether occurring in public or private life.”
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“…….It shall be understood to encompass but not be limited to physical, sexual & psychological
violence occurring in the family & in the community including battering, sexual abuse of female
children, dowry violence, marital rape & other traditional practices harmful to woman.”
Illiteracy:
Illiteracy retards the development of an individual, society and the country. Female literacy is
important as it helps in social development. The World’s Women 2015 study says 496 million women
are illiterate, with significant hurdles to overcome in achieving gender equality. Women make up two-
thirds of the illiterate population.
Reasons:
Perception of medieval India still persists in villages of India even today.
Girls are supposed to fulfil domestic duties and education becomes secondary for them.
The main reason for not sending girls to school is the poor economic condition. Another reason is
far off location and poor environment of schools
Priority to son’s education compared to daughters.
Sexual Harassment:
“Sexual Harassment” includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour
(whether directly or by implication), namely:
1. Physical contact or advances;
2. A demand or request for sexual favours;
3. Making sexually coloured remarks;
4. Showing pornography;
5. Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.
A workplace is defined as “any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course
of employment, including transportation provided by the employer for undertaking such a
journey.” Workplace sexual harassment is sexual, unwelcome and the experience is subjective.
Some examples of behavior that constitute sexual harassment at the workplace:
Making sexually suggestive remarks
Serious or repeated offensive remarks, such as teasing related to a person’s body or appearance.
Offensive comments or jokes.
Displaying sexist or other offensive pictures, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or e-mails.
Intimidation, threats, blackmail around sexual favours.
Abuse of authority or power to threaten a person’s job or undermine her performance against
sexual favours.
Health Problems:
Women’s health in India can be examined in terms of multiple indicators, which vary by geography,
socio-economic standing and culture. Problems of under nutrition and anemia, environment and
occupational hazards, depression and maternal deaths are generally faced by Indian women. The high
level of gender inequality in India negatively impacts the health of women. Studies have indicated that
boys are more likely to receive treatment from health care facilities compared to girls.
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Gender discrimination begins before birth. Females are the most commonly aborted sex in India. The
maternal mortality rate in India is among highest in the world. As females are not given proper
attention, which results in the malnutrition and then they are married at an early age which leads to
pregnancies at younger age when the body is not ready to bear the burden of a child. All this results in
complications, which may lead to gynecological problems, which may become serious with time and
may ultimately, lead to death.
Once born, daughters are prone to being fed less than sons. Furthermore, it has been found that Indian
women frequently underreport illnesses, which may be because of cultural norms and gender
expectations within the household. Indian women suffer from depression at higher rate than men.
Women who are faced with greater degrees of poverty and gender disadvantage show a higher rate of
depression.
Malnutrition:
One of the major causes of mal nutrition among Indian women is gender inequality. In many parts of
India, especially rural India, women are the ones who eat last and least in the whole family. This
means they eat whatever is left after the men folk are satiated. As a result most of the times their food
intake does not contain the nutritional value required in maintaining the healthy body. In villages,
sometimes women do not get to eat a whole meal due to poverty.
India currently has one of the highest rates of malnourished women among developing countries. A
study in 2000 found that nearly 70 per cent non-pregnat and 75 per cent pregnant women were anemic
in terms of iron –deficiency.
Prostitution:
Prostitution continued from ancient and medieval India and has taken a more gigantic outlook in
modern India.
Causes:
Ill-treatment by parents
Bad company
Family Prostitutes
Social customs
Inability to arrange marriage
Early marriage and desertion
Economic causes include poverty and economic distress
Psychological causes
Every hour, four women and girls in India enter prostitution, three of them against their will. It leads to
many health problems such as Cervical cancer, Traumatic Brain Injury, HIV,STD, Psychological
disorders.
Laws related to prostitution in India:
Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girl Act-1956
Immoral Traffic (Prevention)Act-1956
Steps that should be taken
Formal education to victims who are still school going age and informal education to adults.
Rehabilitation of rescued victims
Awareness generation and legal literacy
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Adequate publicity through print and electronic media about problems of these women
Culturally sanctioned practices like system of devadasis, jogins etc should be suitably addressed.
Intoxication:
Excessive drinking may disrupt the menstrual cycle and increase the risk of fertility. Women who
drink alcohol while pregnant increase the risk of having a baby with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
which causes mental retardation and birth defects. Women are more vulnerable to diseases of Liver
and brain as compared to men in case of excessive intoxication.
11.1.4: Gender inequality due to biased socialization practices in family, schools
and other formal and informal organizations
Gender Inequality:
Gender Inequality, in simple words, may be defined as discrimination against women based on their
sex. Women are traditionally considered by the society as weaker sex. She has been accorded a
subordinate position to men. She is exploited, degraded, violated and discriminated both in our homes
and in outside world. This peculiar type of discrimination against women is prevalent everywhere in
the world.
Gender Inequality due to biased socialization practices in Family:
Gender roles are defined by the socio-cultural norms of any society. In most of the societies the family
systems are based on the gender roles and it is the predesigned gender roles that help members of the
family to run the family with bound responsibilities. Even when parents set gender equality as a goal,
there may be underlying indications of inequality. This is true in many types of activities, including
preference of toys, play styles, discipline, chores, and personal achievements. When dividing up
household chores, boys may be asked to do outdoor activities or perform other tasks that require
strength or toughness, while girls may be asked to fold laundry or perform duties that require neatness
and care.
It has been found that fathers are firmer in their expectations for gender conformity than are mothers,
and their expectations are stronger for sons than they are for daughters. As a result, boys tend to be
particularly attuned to their father’s disapproval when engaging in an activity that might be considered
feminine, like dancing or singing.
There are many subtle ways parents may reinforce gender stereotypes even when they are not overtly
encouraging them. Though dramatic social changes have been observed in last 50 years or so, Men’s
average involvement in childcare and housework is still much less as compared to women’s. Research
finds that father’s childcare involvement is negatively related to children’s gender stereotyping.
Parents should foster greater gender-role flexibility through encouragement of organized mixed-
gender activities in which girls and boys learn to work together as equals.
Gender inequality due to biased socialization practices in schools:
Schools play a major role in gender socialization as children spend large amounts of time in schools.
The schools and the teachers play a very important role in a child’s formative years. The child starts to
understand his/her identity beyond the family through friends, teachers and books that they read in
classrooms. Studies points out that the classroom setting reproduces gender inequality. From
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elementary school through higher education, girl students receive less active instruction, both in the
quantity and in the quality of teacher time and attention (Kimmel 2000). Teachers often discriminate
against girls, unaware that they are doing so. Discrimination often arises out of ignorance and deeply
ingrained way of thinking related to common sense assumptions.
Teacher’s gender stereotypes and prejudices shape their classroom behaviour in at least three ways-
First, teachers often model gender stereotypic behaviour. Female teachers, for example, often
exhibit “math phobic” behaviours.
Second, teachers often exhibit differential expectations for male and female students(ex. The way
they dress-up).
Third, teachers facilitate children’s gender biased by marking gender as important by using it to
label and organise students.
What should be done…….
Educational policy makers should resist the creation of gender segregated educational institutes
and instead seek to enhance co-educational schools to promote gender egalitarian attitudes.
Teachers need training to recognize their own explicit and implicit biases and how these biases
affect their classroom behaviours.
Additionally, teachers should receive explicit training in confronting children’s biases so that they
reduce peer policing of gender normativity.
Parents should seek educational settings for their students that are gender integrated and that make
use of curricula that directly teach about, and challenge, gender bias and inequality.
Gender inequality due to biased socialization practices in Formal
organizations/Workplace:
Gender equality in the workplace/formal organizations refers to a variety of cultures, practices and
attitudes that promote or subvert attempts to create a gender equal workplace. The deeply embedded
natures of power hierarchies present in society are reflected in the workplace. Studies reveal that there
is a dearth of women in senior leadership positions in India. Women continued to be stereotyped and
slotted into certain jobs, they face biases in performance appraisal, promotions and salary, and are met
with challenging work-life balance choices. Reiko highlighted that women earned 25 percent less than
men in formal sector in India in 2013. Sexual harassment is a manifestation of gender inequalities
within an organization and is a major challenge faced by women across sectors.
Although biases and stereotypes continue to persist, the situation seems to be changing. In order to
change organizational culture, individual mindsets and practices need to be transformed. Individuals
and organizations should reexamine gender biases that perpetuate unequal relations in the workplace.
Gender inequality due to biased socialization practices in Informal organizations:
Informal organizations have acquired great significance over the years as a source of employment,
especially for women. Women, who leave the rural areas in search of opportunities in urban area, tend
to find employment in the least paid, least skilled jobs, which often offer little legal protection, such as
domestic work. Women in the labor market work without pay, supporting the male and other family
members. They have poor working conditions lacking social securities. According to Marha Chen,
majority of the least visible informal sector workers are women, who work as garment makers,
embroiderers, incense stick rollers, paper bag makers, food processors etc. Globally, about 60 percent
or more of women workers are in non-agricultural informal employment. As a result of cultural and
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other restrictions more and more women are involved in informal work, where jobs are unskilled and
low-paying with little benefits. A common problem faced by home-based workers or informal workers
is the fact that they do not have access to employment based benefits or protection.
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11.1.5: Recommendations regarding Women‘s Education and Empowerment:
Kothari Commission(1964-66), National Policy of Education (1986),
SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (2000), Right to Education Act(2009),
MadhyamicShikshaAbhiyan(2010), Woman Centred family as suggested by
RaghunathMashelkar in New Panchsheel of Education
Kothari Commission (1964-66):
The Kothari commission, 1964-66 which was appointed under the chairmanship of Dr. D.S. Kothari to
investigate the problems of education in general, accepted the suggestion of National Committee on
Women’s Education.
The commission suggested that:
Women’s education should be regarded as a major program in education for some years to come
and a bold and determined effort should be made to face the difficulties involved and to close the
existing gap between the education of men and women in as short a time as possible;
On priority basis funds required for them should be provided;
There should be special machinery at the state and central level to look after the women’s
education and both official and non- officials should be involved in chalking out the plan and
implementation of programs for women’s education.
Greater attention will be paid to the problems of training and employment of women teachers.
Teaching, nursing and social service are well organized areas where women can have an useful
role to play.
Establishment of Women School
Establishment of Women Hostel
Arrangement of equal curriculum
Providing occupational scope for women
Arrangement of fine arts
Non- mandatory of home science
Full time recruitment (married women)
National Policy of Education (1986):
According to NPE, 1986, the main features of the implementation strategy consisted, “to gear up entire
education system to play a positive interventionist role in the empowerment of women; to encourage
educational institutions to take up active programe to enhance women’s status and further women’s
development in all sectors; to widen women’s access to vocational, technical and professional
education at all levels”.
The policy states the following:
i. Status of women: Education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women.
ii. Empowerment of Women: The national system of education will play a positive role in the
empowerment of women. It will foster the development of new values through redesigned
curricula, text books, the training and orientation of teachers, decision makers and administrators,
and the active involvement of educational institutions.
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iii. Women’s Studies: Women’s studies will be promoted as a part of various courses and educational
institutions will be encouraged to take up active programs to accelerate the pace of women’s
development.
iv. Removal of Women’s Illiteracy: The removal of illiteracy of women and obstacles inhibiting
their access to and retention in education will receive top priority through provision of special
support services, setting of time targets, and effective monitoring.
v. Women’s Participation in Technical and Vocational Education: Major thrust will be placed
upon women’s participation in technical, vocational and professional course at different levels.
The policy of non-discrimination will be pursued vigorously to obliterate sex stereo-typing in
vocational and professional courses. Besides, their participation will be promoted a non-traditional
occupations and emergent technologies.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (2000):
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Right to Education Act (2009):
Enacted on 1 April 2010, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) 2009
serves as a building block to ensure that every child from 6 to 14 years has his or her right to get a
quality elementary education, and that the state, with the help of families and communities, fulfills this
obligation.
Important facets of quality education in the context of RTE:
Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the 6 to 14 age group.
Schools as inclusive spaces: A key RTE mandate is for schools to become child friendly,
inclusive spaces where all children from diverse backgrounds are welcomed, treated kindly, and
encouraged to actively participate in learning through child-centred activities.
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Teachers as key change agents: Another important RTE goal is to empower teachers as key
change agents in schools, ensuring their competence as professionals able to reflect on and
improve their own practice. Beyond ensuring an acceptable Pupil-Teacher Ratio, RTE mandates
that all teachers are professionally trained and supported to continuously assess and improve
children’s learning.
Role of the community: Another key mandate of RTE is empowering communities to take
ownership in the effective running of schools through School Management Committees.
Strengthened institutions and governance: While there are one-time investments that will make
a significant difference in achieving targets in such areas as ensuring a library or a functional toilet
in every school, much of the pedagogic transformation mandated by the RTE will necessitate
substantial structural reform.
Twenty-five per cent reservations for economically disadvantaged communities in admission to
Class I in all private schools is to be done.
Improvement in the quality of education is important.
School teachers will need adequate professional degree within five years or else will lose job.
School infrastructure (where there is a problem) need to be improved in every 3 years, else
recognition will be cancelled.
Financial burden will be shared between the state and the central government.
Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan (2010):
The objectives of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan can be summarised as follows:
To improve quality of education imparted at secondary level through making all secondary schools
conform to prescribed norms.
To remove gender, socio-economic and disability barriers.
Universal access to secondary level education by 2017, i.e., by the end of the XII Five Year Plan.
Universal retention of students by 2020.
RMSA not only emphasizes on providing secondary education for the special focus groups that
include scheduled tribe and scheduled caste groups, minority girls and CWSN children, but it also give
importance on removing the existing disparities in socio-economic and gender background in the
secondary level of education. They are termed as the vulnerable/ disadvantaged group.
Certain strategies were implemented to provide free access towards secondary
education and they are given as following steps:
Identification of the disadvantaged groups: For this purpose, educational indicators like gross
enrollment ratio (GER), net enrollment ratio (NER), drop-out rate, retention rate, gender parity
index (GPI), gender gap, etc. were analysed.
Need assessment: This is the critical step to prepare for the equity plan where the factors affecting
the education of this group of children were evaluated with the involvement of the community
members, teachers, civil society, etc.
Strategizing for the addressing gaps: Since there are multiple interwoven factors that cause the
un-equitable condition in this scenario, the strategy was called to have a set of multi-dimensional
activities.
Project-based proposal: Development of a project-based strategy enables the RMSA to call for
an evidence-based and outcome-oriented strategy.
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Under the integrated scheme of RMSA, interventions including construction of new secondary
schools, provision of toilets blocks in existing schools with separate toilets for girls, construction
of teachers quarters, construction of Girls Hostels in Educationally Backward Bs, special teaching
for learning enhancement, self-defense training, guidance and counseling facilities, conduct of
adolescent education programs, organization of empowerment/awareness camps are taken up to
improve the education of girls at the secondary stage.
Women Centered Family as suggested by Raghunath Mashelkar in New
Panchsheel of Education:
As President of 86th Indian Science Congress, which was held on 3rd January 2000 in Pune,
Dr.Raghunath Mashelkar proposed A New Panchsheel for the New Millennium. It was:
Child Centered Education
Woman Centered Family
Human Centered Development
Knowledge Centered Society
Innovation Centered India
Women Centered Family:
Dr. Mashelkar said that women represent excellence, morality, equality not in material terms but as a
living culture symbol practicing these values. He believed that technological developments have the
potential to impact the lives of the women enormously.
Out of all the management experiences in business, industry, public service and society, mother is the
best manager nature has created. Management practices may find strength from the way mother
manages her family in small and big ways i.e. Mother Culture.
A woman has to be allowed the full expression of the potential and she has to be empowered to
become a dynamic partner in the building of New India of our dreams. Several actions need to be
taken if this has to happen.
The emerging IT connectivity offers the women the freedom to work from home and at hours
that suit them. Make Change in the employment rules with a far more liberal view of the work
place, work function and working hours.
Developing and enhancing a woman’s entrepreneurial skills and giving economic freedom will
alone restore her to the rightful place in the family the society.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kothari_Commission
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/women-education-system-in-india/84855
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/education/11-salient-features-of-national-policy-on-education-
1986/76821
https://www.slideshare.net/SushmaJogan/an-assessment-of-girls-education-under-ssa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashtriya_Madhyamik_Shiksha_Abhiyan
http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/17764/1/JSIR%2059(3)%20191-200.pdf
Gender, School and Society, Dr. Ritu Mago, Deepti Agarwal, Neelkamal Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Gender, School and Society, Dr. Sreelatha K., Neelkamal Publications Pvt. Ltd.
SVB’s SCER, Dombivli (E)/ Course 11- Gender, School and Society/ Module-1 Page 18
Course 11: Gender, School and Society
Module 2: Constraints in Women Education and Empowerment
11.2.1: Constraints in the Socio-Political System Regarding Women Empowerment
Women Education:
Women education refers to every form of education that aims at improving the knowledge, and skill of
women and girls. It includes general education at schools and colleges, vocational and technical
education, professional education, health education, etc.
Empowerment:
Empowerment is the authority or power given to someone to do something. It is the process of
becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights.
It is an action that refers both to the process of self-empowerment and to professional support of
people, which enables them to overcome their sense of powerlessness and lack of influence, and to
recognize and use their resources.
Women Empowerment:
Reflecting into the “Vedas&Purana” of Indian culture, a woman is being worshiped such as LAXMI
MAA, goddess of wealth; SARSWATI MAA, for wisdom; DURGA MAA for power. The status of
women in India particularly in rural areas needs to address the issue of empowering women. About
66% of the female population in rural area is unutilized. This is mainly due to existing social customs.
In agriculture and Animal care the women contribute 90% of the total workforce. Women constitute
almost half of the population, perform nearly 2/3 of its work hours, receive 1/10th of the world’s
income and own less than 1/ 100th the world property. Among the world’s 900 million illiterate
people, women outnumber men two to one. 70% of people living in poverty are women. Lower sex
ratio i.e. 933, the existing studies show that the women are relatively less healthy than men though
belong to same class. They constitute less than 1/7th of the administrators and mangers in developing
countries. Only 10% seats in World Parliament and 6% in National Cabinet are held by women.
Women Empowerment refers to the creation of an environment for women where they can make
decisions of their own for their personal benefits as well as for the society.
Women Empowerment refers to increasing and improving the social, economic, political and legal
strength of the women, to ensure equal-right to women, and to make them confident enough to
claimtheir rights, such as:
freely live their life with a sense of self-worth, respect and dignity,
have complete control of their life, both within and outside of their home and workplace,
to make their own choices and decisions,
have equal rights to participate in social, religious and public activities,
have equal social status in the society,
have equal rights for social and economic justice,
determine financial and economic choices,
get equal opportunity for education,
get equal employment opportunity without any gender bias,
get safe and comfortable working environment
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Constraints:
Constrain is a factor that works as a bottleneck. It restricts an entity, project, or system (such as a
manufacturing or decision making process) from achieving its potential (or higher level of output)
with reference to its goal.
Constraints in the Socio-Political System Regarding Women Empowerment
The socio-political system is something that involves both social and political factors. An example of
something that is sociopolitical is the issue of environmental conservation, which is influenced by both
social attitudes towards "going green" and by political policies.
The following are the different areas where constraints in the socio-political system regarding women
empowerment are observed.
A) Family/Parents/Patriarchy,B) Caste System,C) Orthodoxy in the matter of religion and culture,D)
Economic causes,E) Social attitude towards women,F) Elected representatives at all levels, leaders,
politicians etcG) Administration / Employment Sector,H) Media and Technology, I) Law and
Judiciary,J) Agencies perpetuating violence: Family, School, Workplace and media (Print and
Electronic),K) NGO’s and Civil Society
Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System
Women empowerment can be described as the provision of adequate opportunities to women to
develop their potentials and contribute to the development of the nation in particular and to the World
in general. It deals with providing conducive environment or opportunities to women to contribute
their quota to the social, political and economic development of a nation.
The issue of gender inequality is an important social cum economic problem to the India today. The
term was coined by AmartyaSen.
“It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is
improved. It is impossible for a bird to fly on only one wing.” — Swami Vivekananda
The term ‘patriarch’ is widely used to describe male domination and a power relationship between the
dominating male and the subordinate female. In modern everyday life, patriarchy can be recognized by
acts of discrimination that cause various forms of disparities such as in education, inheritance, work
opportunities and strategic career paths, salaries and wages, and so forth.
A) The Constraints to Women Empowerment from the Family, Parents and
Patriarchy:
Women are the key to sustainable development and quality of life in the family. The varieties of role
the women assume in the family are those of wife, leader, administrator, manager of family income
and last but not the least important the mother. In the ancient Indian society women were adored and
worshiped as goddesses. However in the middle age, the status of women got down to a great extent.
Women are considered in the society only to perform duties like bring up children, caring every family
member, and other household activities. She is facing hurdles from her family, parents and the
patriarchy nature at home for her empowerment. The following are some of the constraints face by
women:
Female infanticide: Girl child is not welcomed in the family because of many social evils
surrounded her. In the beginning, it was female infanticide; the advancement of technology
changed this practice into feticide.
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Illiteracy and school dropout: The education of girl child is not considered as important as to that
of a male child in many families. The education of the girl child is considered as useless as she is
considered to anyways to serve in the kitchen thus is forced to drop out of school.
Technological drawback: Knowledge on technology and its advancement also is not promoted
for the women by the family. It is believed as not a good practice for women to be active on the
social networking sites such as facebook, instagram, chatting etc.
Traditional Backward Thinking: The girls are not allowed to get higher education, especially the
ones that cost more like medical or engineering because of the belief that girls after marriage they
go to different house and their earning has no profit to the paternal house of the women.
No Freedom to Speak: Women are often not allowed to convey their opinion regarding any
matter in the family be it related to the family or of herself. For eg: She is not asked her concern
regarding her marriage, no opinion of her is of concern in family matters.
Changes in Marital life: Women after marriage leave their job, name, and home to their
husband’s home thus bringing back new challenges to face. It is enforced by the family only on the
women to adjust to the new environment and new home situation.
Facing Patriarchy: Men show a domination character at home towards women thus not allowing
her to make her choice to work or life related decisions. If women assist her family in the family
business then she is put under the male member of the family and not allowed to lead the business.
Having a joint account with the husband whereas he handles his salary account single handedly
thus no independence to women in investing money in desired place.
Assault: Women at home are subjected to assault and domestic violence if she goes against the
wishes of her family members. Also because of male members of the family who are addicted, the
women are often put to assault and insult in the family.
Less opportunity to choose: Late shift working is a no-no for women because of believed less
security. Women are given no choice to make whether she wants a baby or not. It becomes the
family decision thus affecting her career and employment.
Motherhood: Most women feel it her duty to look after the child and thus they leave their all
dreams to fulfill those of families and children. The priority is given to the family and kids than to
upgrading herself. Also the family expects the feminine gender to look after the kids and home.
No share: In most of the Indian culture women are not given share in the family property, she is
not given the right to pay last rites to her parents if there is no male sibling to her.
All these, act as a constrain to the empowerment of women from the family
B) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System from Caste
System:
A caste system is a type of social structure which divides people on the basis of inherited social
status.In Indian traditional caste system, people are divided in to four groups based on their occupation
such as Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vishay and Sudra. There are two more caste groups considered as daliths
namely scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, who are living outside the main stream of the society due
to their lower socio-economic status and discrimination.
Daliths have reminded as culturally, educationally, economically and socially deprived section. In
dalith society women plays an important role, because they work harder and the family management
depends on them. But they are still lagging far behind in the different walks of life good health,
employment, education, social and political position and empowerment etc.
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The Constraints to women from caste system are as follows:
Not Welcoming Girl Child: Most of the castes in India do not celebrate the birth of girl child.
There are castes who mourn on their birth.
Lack of knowledge: Women from lower castes (the scheduled castes, other backwardcastes, and
tribal communities) are particularly vulnerable to maternal mortality and infant mortality. They are
often unable to access health and educational services, lack decision-making power, and face
higher levels of violence. Among women of lower caste and class, some level of education has
shown to have a positive impact on women’s empowerment indicators.
Every caste looks down upon Women: The stereotypical portraying of women in social customs
and morals irrespective of their caste, class and religious background makes women submissive in
the male dominated society.
The practice of ‘mehr’— sum of money given at the time of marriage to a Muslim woman in the
Indian situation becomes only a promise.
Caste barrier to Education: The fear that sending girls to school could ruin a girl’s and her
family’s reputation, emerged strongly from the interviews, particularly with parents. Many parents
describe a strong sense of fear that after a girl reaches puberty, she might engage in ‘love affairs’
with someone not belonging to their caste, on her way to or whilst at school, and engage in
behaviours deemed inappropriate within the cultural context. This in turn is believed could ruin her
marriage prospects and the families’ reputation within the community. They claim that rumour or
allegation of an affair with a boy can tarnish a girl’s reputation and bring shame to her family and
community. The blame for ‘eve teasing’, is also in most of the cases put on the girl as she is held
responsible for maintaining her and her family’s honour. This results in girls being punished if
they experienced ‘eve teasing’ or had a relationship with a boy.
Inter-caste marriages: According to the Manu, the Hindu law giver, in a “pratiloma” marriage,
where an upper caste woman is marrying a lower caste man, the woman falls into the trap of social
disadvantages and humiliation. Her caste is determined by her husband’s caste. . Now, she
generally will not have any association with the caste that she was born in, rather, she will be
pushed into the social dynamics of being a woman, and that too an outcaste woman who is now the
wife of a lower caste man. Many cases of honour killings have come into picture where the women
are brutally killed.
Low wages and exploitation: Rural, low caste and tribal women also make up 70% of domestic
workers in India, a sector which is largely unregulated and unorganized. Domestic workers are
mostly illiterate, with little or no negotiating power for wage equity, and are highly vulnerable to
exploitation, sexual and physical abuse. There is a movement at the policy level to organize
domestic workers and to create laws to regulate minimum wage, working hours, and other
measures such as life and health insurance.
Politics & Caste game: An analysis by International Idea of women in the Indian Parliament
between 1991 and1996 found that among the small number of women Parliamentarians, a
disproportionate number represented the Brahmin caste (the higher caste in the Hindu caste
system). Most local governments remain largely patriarchal and caste-based institutions, hindering
inclusive governance. Although representation of women and members of the lower castes in
Indian politics is rapidly changing, complexities of caste politics continue to govern representation.
An interesting case study is that of Mayawati, the Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh. Mayawati, a
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woman and a member of the Dalit caste, was the youngest Chief Minister when first elected, and
the only woman Dalit to be elected as a Chief Minister.
Caste reservation in Politics: The Women’s Bill in April 2010, which gives 33.3% reservation
for women in all levels of Indian politics, took 14 years after its introduction to finally pass by the
RajyaSabha (the upper house of parliament). It is yet to be passed by the LokSabha (the lower
house of parliament). Currently women occupy less than 10% of seats in the national Parliament.
It will create a path for women from lower classes and castes (who are currently confined to local-
level governance) to enter state and national level governments. The two main arguments against
the bill are that it will only benefit privileged women (particularly in national level politics) and
that there should be reservations for Dalit, minorities (particularly Muslim women), and OBCs.
However, supporters of the bill do not agree with creating quotas within the existing 33% women
quota in parliament, as SC and ST quotas already exist.
Exclusion on the base of caste: SC/ST girls often faced exclusion on the bases of caste and their
poor academic performance.
C) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System due to
Orthodoxy in the Matter of Religion and Culture:
In most cultures and religions, protocols regarding faith are applied more strictly to women than men,
especially when it comes to places of worship or of religious importance. Women are segregated in
mosques, some temples prohibit women from entering the sanctum sanctorum and other temples
women prohibit women from entering at all. These decrees which are almost always in some way
about regulating women are issued by religious bodies that are under male authorities.
In ancient times, the kings followed rituals and culture of taking wives from women captured
during war
Religious restrictions surrounding a woman's monthly cycle aren't only found in Islam. There are,
or have been, faith-based limitations on menstruating women in nearly every major religion.
Menstruating women are often kept out of home kitchens and temples, as they are considered
“impure” for that duration. Important Muslim and Hindu places of devotion, such as the shrine of
Haji Ali in Mumbai, Trimbakeshwar Temple and ShaniShinganapur in Maharashtra, didn’t allow
women into the sanctum for varying reasons. Sabarimala Temple in Kerala (a state that
incidentally scores high on the women welfare index) did not allow entry to women belonging to
the menstruating demography. These rights were given to women only on their fight to it. Still
many women fear to visit these places of worship fearing they may commit sin.
Women are not permitted to attend their family members or relatives funeral/ fire pyre of her
parents, tonsure head etc. They are the duties believed to be strictly followed by men
The internet abounds with anxious questions posed by women from a wide array of religious
traditions seeking specific answers on whether or not they can attend funerals, bake bread, pickle
vegetables, recite scripture, while menstruating, which clearly shows the position of women and
the barriers that she is facing for her development.
Denmark now has women-only mosque, as does the United States. Another one is on the cards for
United Kingdom. Thus there are only 3 mosques in the whole world for women.
A culture of woman accused of not being a virgin at the time of marriage is stoned to death;
however, if the accusation is false, the man who brings the accusation is punished with a fine
Women priests are not accepted at temples, churches and mosques. The desert state of Rajasthan
just got its first women qazis. However, the women are facing stiff resistance from their male
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counterparts. According to the resisters, “As per Quran, a woman can never be a man’s hakim
(ruler/judge). Hence, a woman can never be a qazi. In Islamic history, there is no evidence
whatsoever to say that a woman can be a qazi. And if anyone deserved to be a qazi, it was Prophet
Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, who is considered a role model, but even she was not a qazi.
It appears that while women may be able to overcome all stereotypes and hurdles and shatter
ceilings in fields of science, medicine, engineering, armed forces, politics and board rooms,
religion is proving to be the hardest nut to crack.
D) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System due to
Economic Causes:
There are many constraints that hinder the effective role of women in economic development. Among
these obstacles the most and often still unsolved problem is the traditional backward attitudes, beliefs
and customs of the society towards women which are continued as a historical legacy across the
country. This traditional back ward attitudes towards women (assuming women as a weaker sex,
second citizens, dependent, passive, and ignorant) not only hinder and make the effective role of
women invisible and unrecognized, but also it make and force women’s to internalize and accept their
weakness and for long period even still remain not confident. In general, the following are considered
as common barriers and often make the role of women unrecognized and insignificant.
Poverty: Women constitute 70% of the world’s poor. To bring her out of this she should be
provided with quality education, beaming opportunities and societal support which are lagging.
Lack of confidence and inferiority: In many cases, the most and often difficult problem for the
integrations of women in to the economic development and in other various offices is lack of
confidence. Women lack of confidence is mainly due to the culture of the society and their
inferiority assumption. In addition, women’s are not highly committed and they lack interest to
take full responsibilities and accountabilities and they are fear of challenges especially in office
positions. Despite, the existence of the above mentioned barriers for women’s effective role in
economic development, they are continued to play their role in economic development. Even
though, different problems hinder the participation of women’s, their roles in various economic
activities are very significant.
Low level educational back ground: The majority of women’s are not educated. From this, we
can conclude that women’s non-educational status hinder their expected role. Thus they get less
paid jobs. Most of the women have joint accounts with their partners and are exploited without
their knowledge.
Entering field of labor: Women find it difficult to fight against the gender based violence,
discrimination, patriarchal society, and earn something for herself despite all odds.
Lack of Capital: Despite, the high self-interest and self-motivation of women to work, lack of
initial capital to start up and to run the business hinder their economic activity.
Lack of business know-how: Women involve in various economic activities especially in
marketing process and trading activities, but they lack business know- how i.e. how to run business
and cost-benefit analysis.
Less years of service: As women has to spend precious years of her life for the family and
children, she has less years of service in job and thus gets less amount with her at the end of her
service.
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Not insured: Women especially house wives do not get themselves or their property insured
because of lack of knowledge and considering it as an unnecessary expense. This acts as a
drawback when they suffer any accidents/ unhappy incidents thus rendering them cashless.
Thus these were the constraints due to economic causes that act as a barrier to empowerment of
women.
E) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System from Social
Attitude:
Social attitudes towards women vary as greatly as the members of society themselves. From culture to
culture, perceptions about women and gender expectations differ greatly. In recent years, there has
been a great shift in attitudes towards women globally as society critically examines the role that
women should play in society and the value that women have. One of the major challenges of women
empowerment is to change the attitude of society towards women.
The following are the constraints to women empowerment from the societal attitude:
The discrimination that women face in the society has its roots in homes. It’s not just a few
individuals who criticize women who are going out for work but the entire society, especially
where a woman is a victim of social taboos like issues related to religion, status symbol, managing
at home, take care for their in-laws, family enhancement, child care etc.
Dependent human: Women in the society is considered as the dependant being. She is motivated
and even expected to be dependent on father in childhood, husband when young, and on son when
old. If not so she is pitied upon. The society does not accept the scenario of a male person being
dependent on women. He is looked down upon and disrespected. But the reality is that both the
genders are dependent on each other irrespective of their responsibilities.
Expectation from female child: The female child in rural, tribal and poor families is expected to
develop the qualities of inferiority; subservience and domesticity which place sever limitations on
her education and development.
No freedom: A women is never left alone on her own. She is expected to have the company of the
male member in her family be it be to drop and pick up from school/ college or work place.
No Schooling: The lower enrolment of girls in schools is one of the foundational factors which
stand as stumbling block for women empowerment.
Not allowed: The society does not allow and accept the entrance of women into religious places
like in mosque or temples. There are very few religious places that accept women as priest. She is
debarred from performing last rites to her parents/ relatives.
Women - The licensed home worker: In many societies, girl child plays the role of second
mother by shouldering the responsibilities of household work such as looking after the sibling,
fetching water, collecting firewood, bringing fodder for cattle, cleaning and cooking etc.
Women with disability: The disabled women are considered as a sinner in society. She is not
provided with the required opportunity. She is pitied down upon and is forced to form the
disadvantaged section of the society.
Expectation of society from women: The woman is expected to do 9 to 5 job or else is doubted
on her character. She is kept aloof in spite of no mistake of hers. She is not permitted to remarry,
raise voice against violence as the society expects her to be the goddess of patience.
Typecast for women: Jobs like receptionist, personal assistant, teacher, air hostess, nurse etc. are
labeled as feminine jobs by the society and are thought of perfect for women to do.
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Kept away from society: Women who fall prey to addiction, or who by force or will enter into
flesh job are not accepted in the societal set up and are kept away. They are not provided with any
kind of rehabilitation- (like job or basic facilities -to overcome their addiction or withdraw their
job) and are pointed as black mark in society.
There are many laws and there have been many amendments that have been carried out to end the
discrimination against women and empower women in all aspects of life. But all these laws and
amendments have become toothless as the fundamental problems lies in the attitude of the society
which is highly biased against women.
F) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System in the Field of
Elected Representatives at All Levels, Leaders, Politicians Etc.:
The term 'political participation' has a very wide meaning. It is not only related to 'Right to Vote', but
simultaneously relates to participation in: decision making process, political activism, political
consciousness, etc.The lack of representation for women in politics and other election representation is
an evident truth all over the world. It is only a variation of degree in which this fact changes all across
the world. So some countries may have relatively more women involved as opposed to some other
countries, but the basic fact that women are underrepresented remains unchanged. So even if a state is
democratic, this only helps to a certain extent. The situation is probably better than in countries which
are autocratic and undemocratic, where women may not get much access at all, as either voters or
candidates.
Decision making: Most often women think that they are unqualified for this position. The
environment is highly competitive; a blood sport; like football without a helmet. Thus they do not
feel the need to compete and thus take a step back.
Recruitment gap:Women are asked less often than men to run. Because of the picture surrounding
women of being less competitive, less confident, and more risk opposed then men, they are not
asked or preferred to be leaders.
Less exposed to networks: Being at the high positions or to get elected for the top positions one
must have a very good support of networks in terms of people, sources, investors, supporters etc.
Women are found to have less networks as compared to men. The reason being the traditional way
of growing them up in a conservative atmosphere.
Raising fund: Women are looked down upon in the society even today by both the sexes. People
do not feel confident enough to invest in work or projects lead by women. Many political projects
require investing in large amount for different works like campaigning, publicizing etc. Without
finance it becomes difficult to carry out those tasks. So women face difficulty in raising fun for
their work.
Securing Votes: Women have a hard time not only convincing male voters to vote for them, but
also in rallying the support of female voters. Women don't have a guaranteed vote bank through
other women. Women have to work as hard – and even harder sometimes - to garner female votes.
This is again, because patriarchy has reinforced a sense of inferiority within women.
Women’s attire: The attire of women at least in India does matter the number of votes she gets.
As soon as a woman is into some kind of election she is supposed to wear attire that portrays her as
a motherly figure or else she is given a tag as not a Bharatiyanaari.
Managing life and work: Women in politics are also subject to more stringent scrutiny of their
personal lives unlike their male counterparts. If a woman is unmarried and has an active sex life,
society deems her promiscuous and that promiscuity becomes her identity and repels her voters.
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And if the same woman is married, then the voters are concerned about how she would manage
both work and family at the same time. These trivial details of her personal life then define her in
politics rather than her stand on various issues which really matter.
Kinship ties: Many women attain political standing due to kinship ties as they have male family
members who are involved in politics. For example the Gandhi clan (Pandit Nehru- Indira Gandhi-
Rajiv Gandhi- Sonia Gandhi- Priyanka Gandhi)
No High Positions: Even once elected, women tend to hold lesser valued cabinet ministries or
similar positions. These are sometimes described as "soft industries" and include health, education,
and welfare. Far less often do women hold executive decision-making authority in more powerful
domains or those that are associated with traditional notions of masculinity (such as finance and
the military).
Attack on Personal life: Women are more often attacked on the personal fronts than males when
they reach a high position to get elected. Their past life tragedies, failures and other privacies are
tried to bring to notice of others in order to hamper votes in her favor.
So a combination of factors namely, the leftovers of patriarchal attitudes in society towards women,
women being subjected to different standards and the refusal to take women seriously raises the
general lack of participation of women as career in politics and other areas of elected representations
all over the world.
G) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System from
Administration and Employment Sector:
Though employment has a positive effect on the minds of women and their families but still they
encounter a number of difficulties and misperceptions that affect their performance in the workplace,
home and society. Apart from the fact that there are few women leaders in leadership positions in the
private sector compared to the public sector, the study findings showed that women leaders/managers
in the respective departments, are faced by a number of challenges.
Low self-esteem: Administrative work involves organizing and supervising an organization or
institution. Women because of lack of motivation and traditional background, develop low self-
esteem in themselves and doubt -whether they can handle this high position, will the workers listen
to their orders, will they be able to do this and so on...
Balancing home and work: Women generally do multiple roles like managing work at their
organization, manage family at home and fulfill other obligations towards the society. Working
women face a big dilemma in managing work-family conflicts. Working women with rigid
schedules report more family difficulties than working women with flexible schedules. These
problems arise due to the time-constraints a working women has while fulfilling the obligations
towards their family and work.
Strings in the hands of males: Though women are given a leading position in the administration,
but in most of the cases she is given no decisive power. The male members direct her and she
becomes a puppet in their hands following their wish and will.
Tagged as being bossy: Certain behavior is perceived differently when exhibited by men and
women. An assertive man may be perceives as a strong leader whereas similar assertive women
might be perceived to be ‘strident’ or ‘bossy’.
Insufficient maternity leaves: These are another major issue that is faced by a working mother.
This not only affects the performance of women employees at work, but is also detrimental to their
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personal lives. Many institutions sign an agreement with women that they cannot get pregnant
during their tenure of work.
Lack of proper family support: This is one issue that most of the working women suffer from.
At times, the family doesn't support women to leave the household work and go to office. They
also resist for women working till late in office which also hampers the performance of the women
and this also affects their promotion.
Time off from work: Women gets married, becomes pregnant and this acts as a hindrance in her
work life, where she has to leave her job at the peak of her career and spend time in marital life or
with the baby. By the time she returns, she has to start again from scratch.
Torn between family and job: Unable to give their full in family life, because of work pressures
and responsibilities, many women face divorce and marital conflicts.
Poor security: This is a major issue that women face in the workplaces. Women working in
corporate sector and other private organizations mostly fall victim of various crimes at workplace
and this is due to lack of security provided to the employees.
Discrimination at work place: Existing studies on women’s work-life balance efforts have
generally excluded women in senior positions. They are not being rewarded for their endless
efforts. It has been observed from various literatures that women are paying with low salaries in
comparison to men. Unequal pay is another issue that women face at their workplace. Even
though, women prove to be more efficient than male employees most of the time, they are not paid
equally. This creates depression and de-motivation among women leads to conflict in work –
family, and deterioration in their work performance. It leads to gender imbalances which are still
prevailing at the workplace
Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is a major issue that women face at their workplace and
many women fall victim of sexual harassment at workplace. At times employers try to take sexual
favors from women employee in return of other benefits and promotions.
Contrasting values at work places: Many jobs require women to be in a particular manner which
contrasts from the likes of societies to which they belong and thus are forced to withdraw or stay
back. (For example the athletes of Muslim countries are forced to wear hijab even during games;
airhostess belongs to a family where she has to cover her head.)
Thus, even if women have managed to be at higher positions in administrative/ employment sector,
she has to jump through many more hurdles to win the battle against the male dominated sectors.
H) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System in the Field of
Media and Technology:
The image and representation of women and girls in the media has long been a subject of concern.
Young children are especially vulnerable to the teachings of media and technology because they don't
have the critical capacity necessary to distinguish between fantasy and reality, to identify persuasive
intent, or to understand irony and disregard stereotypes. The cumulative and unconscious impact of
these media messages can contribute to limiting the development of a child's potential and the future
generation.
Portraying women: In everything from advertising, television programming, newspaper and
magazines, to comic books, popular music, film and video games, women and girls are more likely
to be shown: in the home, performing domestic chores such as laundry or cooking; as sex objects
who exist primarily to service men; as victims who can't protect themselves and are the natural
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recipients of beatings, harassment, sexual assault and murder. In South Asia, women are more
likely to be depicted in the media as ‘victims’, while in South East Asia and the Pacific they are
depicted as ‘family figures’. Women are also depicted as ‘sexual objects’.
No access to certain areas: Women are entering the media professional in large numbers, yet their
representation across all areas of the media remains inadequate. For example they are not preferred
for crime reporting or terror reporting, action movies, etc. Whereas in technology there are very
few women who consider themselves eligible to learn the know-how and take it up as their
profession.
Positions allotted: On average across Asia and the Pacific, women make up 28.6 percent of the
media workforce. The proportions are lower in decision-making roles in media organizations
where women make up 17.9 percent of executive roles, 19.5 percent of senior editorial and 22.6
percent of mid-level editorial positions.
Low Wages: There is a clear gender pay gap, with women on average earning US$70 less than
males per month.
Stereotypical beats: Women are stereotyped to jobs of the kind cookery shows, news reading,
entertainment shows etc. Women are not considered as fit or smart enough to handle the skills of
technology.
Job insecurity: Because of the many risks associated in the field of journalism, the interference
involved in personal life of the women in media and entertainment field, and the responsibility to
take care of family and being in the norms and regulation of the society creates an insecurity for
women and forces them to quit the job. The pressures of the jobs, the 9-5 timings and
commitments, the deadlines and targets, late night outs etc. makes the job not made for women
thus forcing her to drop out after marriage or at certain age group.
Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment and casting couch is prevalent in this field also. In most
of the cases, it is not reported fearing the damage of image and losing jobs and positions. The
advancement in technology, lack of awareness among women, and the use of internet in wrong
way make them to fall prey and become victims of harassments.
Although the media is a pervasive and profoundly influential socializing force, parents and teachers
can make a difference. The cumulative and unconscious impact of these media messages can
contribute to limiting the development of a child's potential. Thus care has to be taken by the media
and technology while portraying gender sensitive roles.
I) Constraints to Women Empowerment in the Socio-Political System in the Field of
Law and Judiciary:
Law is universal and affects many aspects of people’s lives, women and men alike. Access to justice is
important for gender equality. It enables equitable enjoyment of a whole range of rights and resources.
Law and justice institutions play a key role in the distribution of rights and resources among women
and men across all sectors. Women face atrocities and discriminations at a very high rate and are at a
higher need to seek legal help. While there are now in many jurisdictions laws that support the
advancement of women and gender equality, discriminatory laws also remain. Following are the
constraints that women face from law and judiciary:
Discriminatory rules and processes: Common cases include unequal legacy rights, unequal
rights and responsibilities in marriage, laws requiring women to obtain permission of their spouses
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for travel or employment, evidence given by a woman is not weighed equally as that of a man and
limited legal capacity for women.
Awareness and skills: Women may have less access to information about their rights and
entitlements as well as how to seek remedies. They may also be excluded from engagements over
matters external to the household, such as land and natural resources negotiations, business and
enterprises.
Financial Resources: Financial cost, especially in developing countries, is one of the reasons cited
by women for a failure or delay in seeking compensation. A study in Indonesia found that nine out
of ten female heads of household surveyed were unable to access courts for divorce cases mainly
due to financial costs, including court fees and transportation expenses. By failing to access the
courts, many of these women were failing to also benefit from government programs.
Mobility and geography: Where judicial structures are distant from communities, people,
including women are less willing to make claims. However, long distances can disproportionately
impact on women, where there are no childcare support facilities or where social practices limit
women’s ability to travel.
Lack of Support: Even if women are aware of their legal rights, they may not claim them due to
dependency, shame or fear. Women may not seek compensation due to an “ingrained dependency
or powerlessness: feeling that her situation is inevitable or that she feels incapable of changing her
life”. This is accompanied by unwillingness to sue a spouse or family member and the desire to
maintain the relationship.
Law in the hands of men: Decision-making is often in the hands of men. Women have low
participation as leaders or actors in justice institutions (e.g. as judges, prosecutors, police, heads of
agencies, village chiefs) and at various levels (e.g. national and local levels).
Gender-bias and lack of sensitivity: Justice Mechanisms may be gender-biased or lack gender
sensitivity. For example, there are still prevailing beliefs within justice institutions that domestic
violence and marital rape are private matters and not properly within their jurisdictions.
Even where judges, magistrates and justice personnel in general are not biased and understand
gender issues, they may not have the skills or the institutional capacity to address gender
inequalities (e.g. ensuring privacy and confidentiality to victims of violence, dealing with women
victim in a sensitive and sympathetic manner, no asking of indecent/ embarrassing questions, not
revealing the identity of victim etc.
Laws for women accused: It is under the Indian laws to treat women with due dignity
irrespective of the crime she has committed, women cannot be handcuffed, she cannot be called to
the police station before sunrise and after sunset, before the crime against her has been proved she
has to be interrogated at her home in the presence of a lady constable or her family members and
relatives. But because of unawareness most of the women fall prey to cruelty in the name of law.
J) Agencies Perpetuating Violence: Family, School, Workplace and Media (Print and
Electronic)
Students are asked to refer to notes A), H), G) from 4.1 and 4.2 for school
K) NGO’s and Civil Society:
Ref:https://thewire.in/gender/womens-ngos-changing-world-not-getting-credit
SVB’s SCER, Dombivli/SYBEd/SEM-IV/Course 11- Gender, School and Society /Module 2 Page 12
11.2.2: Constraints to Education of Women in India
A) Access and Retention in Education due to Remote Locations, Inadequate
Infrastructure and Poor Facilities in Schools:
“Our Constitution fathers did not intend that we just set up hovels, put students there, give
untrained teachers, give them bad textbooks, no playgrounds, and say, we have complied with
Article 45 and primary education is expanding…They meant that real education should be given to
our children between the ages of 6 and 14.”
– M. C. Chagla – Education Minister of India, 1963-66
Some of the reasons for retention of girls in schools for Education are as follows:
Remote locations: Most of the schools in rural areas are located at remote locations or deserted
places. Because of this many parents refrain from sending their daughters to schools as they cannot
turn up every day to pick and drop their daughters leaving their occupation.
Inadequate facilities: The lack of classrooms in the school meant that some classes are held under
a tree. The absence of a secure space for learning results in lack of concentration on lessons for
both boys and girls, but for girls this also engendered fear and tension. In the rural school, the
cramped classroom space means that girls and boys are crammed together on an inadequate
number of benches. The lack of adequate toilet facilities is well known as a deterrent to girls’
continue schooling. Dirty toilets, lack of water and lack of clean air act as a hindrance. The lack of
drinking water also is problematic for the girls, as unlike the boys they cannot go outside the
school to fetch water to drink on days when none was available in the school. Some government
schools in rural India are overly packed with students, leading to a distorted teacher- student ratio.
In such a situation it is impossible for teachers to pay full attention towards each and every student,
even if they are willing to help. Most textbooks are in English and since people in rural areas either
speak their native language or Hindi, but not English that defeats the purpose. This results in lack
of their interest in studies. Though some of the students from villages are really brilliant, as they
have a wealth of practical knowledge and know how to survive even in very harsh conditions of
life, difficultly in understanding their textbooks, lack of facilities and their poverty are a hurdle in
their education.
Commuting from home to school: Pupils who attended the rural school commute from either by
government or private bus or by the locally run ‘tempo travellers’ (mini-buses with a seating
capacity of 30 or less).These are always crowded and gives men a chance to get close to girls.
Thus the girls in the rural school mostly prefer to walk to school in the company of other girls even
though the road leading to school are deserted and the journey takes some of them 20-30 minutes.
B) Traditional Patriarchal Mindset and Discrimination:
Expectations of Domesticity: To start with, girls are expected to contribute to the household far
younger than boys are – the implicit understanding being that a girl is being trained for a role as a
wife, mother and daughter-in-law, whereas boys are being trained for an occupation. Girls get
married younger than boys do.
Assist in Earning: People belonging to remote rural areas have meager incomes, which at times is
too less to sustain a family of maybe four or five. Most likely, girls from these families won’t be
sent to schools, instead would be asked to assist the earning member of the family to add up some
extra income.
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Menstruation drop out: Menstruation is a normal, natural process that occurs in all healthy
adolescent and adult women who haven't reached menopause. Girls begin to menstruate normally
between eight and twelve years. Due to traditional mind set, many girls are forced to dropout once
they start menstruating.
Maltreatment and discrimination: Lack of encouragement and love from parents and caste
discrimination also hinders in learning for girls. This is especially obvious in the rural school.
Teachers also reflect prevailing caste attitudes and do not seem to consider acts of discrimination
between pupils worthy of scolding; Girls are generally regarded as more vulnerable to caste
discrimination since caste ‘values’ are associated primarily with household tasks such as fetching
water and cooking, for example where they sat, with whom they talked, ate food and drank water
was dependent on caste. Verbal abuse of low caste children by higher caste teachers has a critical
impact on the ways in which the former view themselves as learners.
Girls’ gossiping: There is unpleasantness caused by girls spreading rumors about other girls (such
as of this girl going out with that boy, of receiving a letter from him), disclosing secrets and
providing interested boys, even boys outside the school, with details of a particular girl’s
movement etc. However, gossip in an Indian context has much more serious consequences for a
girl, with parents possibly withdrawing their daughter from school if they came to hear about it.
Gender Stereotypes: Teachers, especially in the rural school, make negative comparisons of girls
with boys which reinforce gender stereotypes. These impacts negatively on their self-esteem and
motivation to learn, projecting the male as the norm and the female as not being fit to imitate the
male. For example, a girl might be told (Why do you behave like this, do you think you are a
boy?). Comparing a boy with a girl would constitute a reprimand for a boy, e.g. (Why do you talk
so much like a girl?).
C) Underestimation of women capabilities and intelligence:
Many a time women are underestimated of their capabilities and intelligence. This underestimation is
done not only by the male gender alone but by the females also.
Doubting own capabilities: While choosing field that is male dominated women do hesitate on
their own capability and doubt whether they will be able to do it or not. For example in fields like
civil engineering, heavy duty driving, night patrolling by police personnel’s, reporting on country
borders or terror struck areas, night shifts, enterpreneuring at the age of 40, etc are some of the
areas where women underestimates her own capability and discourages other females also.
Graduate House wife:Inspite of more graduating females year after year there is a decrease in the
number of women opting for jobs and increasing number of women settling for family interest.
Opting Female centric courses: Many women are encouraged to opt for courses that are female
centric like nursing, home sciences, teaching, day caring etc stating they have high genetic interest
and intelligence for these courses. Courses that require physical labor like in mechanical subjects
or ITI courses, etc are not preferred for women as these courses are considered not in the capability
level of women.
Considered weak & emotional: Also women are considered to more emotional than male thus
their intelligence getting affected in certain scenarios. For example in case of serious crime a
women lawyer is not preferred to fight the case claiming that she lacks the capability and
intelligence to handle such cases.
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Not trusted upon: In politics also the women are underestimated on their capabilities. For
example the fact the US had never had any female president till date clearly describes how women
are considered low on their capability and intelligence by the US citizens.
D) Undervaluation of Female Labor :
Undervaluation is paying less for the same level of efficiency within the same job. The following are
some of the ways how women labor is undervalued.
Low wages: Paying low wages for work equal to the level of to men. For example the women
working in construction sites are paid less for the same 8 hrs job stating they might have input less
labor compared to men due to physical capacity that women possess.
Physically weaker section: Not selecting women inspite of possessing all the required
qualifications. For example in joining the military the women are considered less fit after they
reach age of 35 whereas the male counterparts start their peak career at this age.
No credit: Crediting the male colleagues alone though team work included females.
No Promotion: Not promoting to high posts fearing the disagreement with male staff inspite of
possessing good performance and leadership quality.
Less Preference: Giving first preference to male counterpart for assigning task. In situations like
reporting a war or riots the male reporters are preferred over female.
Less valued: House hold work like cleaning, cooking, taking care of kids, elders etc are not
considered as a job or valued less as a simple task. The house wives are given no dignity in social
gatherings stating they are doing no great task or contributing to the society. Rather they are the
ones who shape the future citizens of nation by providing support to their male counterparts who
strive hard to contribute to the society without fearing a thing about their family life as there is his
wife looking after the ailing parents or growing their kids.
No remunerations: No extra money or appreciation is provided to women who looks after her
family, kids, and also manages jobs. Instead women are made to realize that looking after family
and house hold chores is a part and parcel of her feminine gender.
Income: The average income by male counterpart is quite more whereas by the female counterpart
is less as stated in researches. A research work done by Equal opportunity Commission EOC in the
year 2005 inScotland states that the facilities maintenance job by men is paid more as compared to
the classroom assistant job by women which is a job of comparatively more responsibility.
Thus the above all illustrations and situations clearly indicate the undervaluation of female labor.
E) Sexual Harassment and Violence in School Setting
Ragging by boys: What the girls find most unpleasant about school is that the boys who look with
bad eyes. Boys are said to tease girls, write love letters and notes which they passed to girls, buy
bangles for them, and write the names of the girls whom they ‘fancy’ on their hands or on the
school walls. They might compare a girl with a film star, sing film songs and so on, suggesting a
romantic liaison. This spreading of rumors is particularly alarming to girls. Boys also deliberately
bump into them in the school corridors and elsewhere. This affects the girls’ concentration in class,
especially if the ragging was from male classmates. More common however is harassment from
older boys and adolescent youths outside the school. To the boys, ragging appears to be driven by
peer pressure, as a ‘fashionable’ activity, and by curiosity and interest in the opposite sex. It also
appears to give them mental satisfaction as they knew that it troubles girls and made them
uncomfortable.
SVB’s SCER, Dombivli/SYBEd/SEM-IV/Course 11- Gender, School and Society /Module 2 Page 15
Lack of facilities providing opportunity for sexual harassment: The physical condition of the
school facilitates opportunities for harassment. The lack of classrooms in the school meant that
some classes are held under a tree, which the girls in particular find very disturbing, as it allows
passers-by to stop and stare at them. In the rural school, the cramped classroom space means that
girls and boys are crammed together on an inadequate number of benches, making the girls feel
awkward
Danger areas on way to school and at school: In one of the research conducted, when drawing
their school maps, the girls in the rural school placed the maximum number of red stickers
signaling unsafe areas around the school gate, where tea stalls and other small shops are located,
and inside the school at places that were away from main campus and deserted.
Violence by teachers: The other forms of abuse most significantly identified by the girls are harsh
treatment by teachers, including scolding hitting with the hand or ruler, corporal punishment and
verbal abuse by teachers etc.,
Fear of being withdrawn: Commuting from home to school many a times, are not pleasurable for
the girls, but they refrain from complaining to their parents. The fear of being withdrawn from
school looms large in their minds. Many do not share these experiences or complain to the teachers
as the culprits are respected people in their school or not from their school.
Sexual harassment by school staff: Many cases have been registered where the school staff -the
bus conductor, peon, office clerk, watchman, lab assistants, and shockingly even the teachers have
petrified the innocent girls with sexual harassments. They are found to blackmail the girls to do
sexual favors in return of marks or other cheap deals which the girls fall prey to.
F) Reinforcement of Gender Roles in educational and career opportunities
Gender roles can be reinforced in educational and career in the following manner
Freedom to choose courses and career of interest: Providing scope to choose the career and
educational course based on interest and aptitude alone and not on gender based. For example
allowing women to choose male dominated educational courses like vocation in plumbing,
mechanics, wiring etc. whereas allowing males to choose courses like nursing, teaching, chef etc.
More institutes for women: Open the seats reserved for the particular gender, or the opportunities
provided in terms or training, guiding etc can also lead to reinforcement in gender role. For
example there are no or very few institutes that train a men to become make up artist or take up
roles that are defines for women. Similarly few people support women to take up lessons in
wrestling, or priest as a career etc
Opportunity to lead: The coach for the female members need not necessarily be a women and
vice versa for a male a male coach. In fact there are cases where a male coach trains a women but
the opportunity for women to train men are less. For example in sports. This also includes the
anchors in events like football and cricket, commentators, sports reporters which are done usually
by males. But in recent years this is changing as women are also stepping into these field which
has to be encouraged. Whereas male hosting cookery shows etc on the other hand to be reinforced
for the male side.
Overcoming barriers: Some countries do not allow their women to remove off their particular
dress code thus hampering their performance. For example in sports wearing a naquab can affect
the performance thus to reinforce these women they should be motivated to overcome those
barriers.
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Independent laws: In Saudi countries passports and identification cards are to be obtained with
the permission of a male guardian. Women are usually also not allowed to leave the home
alone. These laws have to be undone in order to encourage them to choose their work place
independently.
Initiatives in educational sectors: Including lessons on personalities who have broken the gender
stereotypes can help educating the students on the emphasis of gender roles in society.
Breaking stereotypes: Making students do activity that are not gender stereotyped like girls going
out on camps, boys cooking the camp fire dishes etc also contribute to positive gender role in the
students mind
Choice based courses: Allowing children to choose the courses of their choice like boys opting
for tailoring, indoor games etc has to be encouraged. The students have to be fed with the
knowledge that no job is any particular gender centered but it is the practice that makes them
perfect in it.
Ref:
https://www.thebetterindia.com/12401/women-dared-break-mould-took-unconventional-career-paths/
G) Reinforcement of Gender Discrimination and Stereotyping in the Present
Education System through Hidden Curriculum, Textbook, Teacher’s Attitude:
Gender issues are embedded in every part of a learning institution environment. Curricula, textbooks,
and other instructional materials depict males and females in different roles and interacting in different
ways. For example, ‘Girls are rendered as helpers of mother’ whereas ‘Boys to play games or tease
girls or being mischievous.’ Gender bias influence the way educators are trained and how they teach
and manage their classrooms. Many factors in our curriculum and text books affect access to a
learning institution and its courses. Extracurricular activities create inequalities between female and
male learners, girls are motivated to take part in dance while boys in sports. All these issues contribute
to the atmosphere created in the learning institution, which then affects learners’ self-esteem and
behavior, as well as, ultimately, their safety.
To enable all learners to reach their full potential, it is essential to examine all aspects of a learning
institution environment, and determine where improvements need to be made to eliminate gender
stereotypes and promote gender equality.
Reinforcement of Gender discrimination and stereotyping in the present education
system through Teachers Attitude:
Conduct of educators in relation to both learners and colleagues (as well as other learning
institution staff and parents):
Do not discriminate on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, culture, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, gender identity, physical characteristics, disability, marital or family status, age, or
socioeconomic status.
Challenge stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, and promote equal opportunities for
everyone.
Treat all learners and colleagues with respect and dignity, and protect their rights.
Do not commit any act of violence, abuse, bullying, harassment, or teasing, whether verbal,
emotional, physical, or sexual.
Use non-violent methods to resolve conflict.
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Address and report inappropriate, discriminatory, or abusive behavior regardless of whether you
are directly involved.
Conduct of educators in relation to learners:
Help each learner develop self-esteem and reach his or her full potential.
Make every effort to promote the well-being of learners and protect them from anything that is
harmful totheir learning, health, or safety.
Do not intentionally expose learners to humiliation or shaming.
Do not use corporal punishment.
Do not use coercion or favors in relation to giving grades.
Do not solicit, encourage, or engage in any type of sexual relationship with learners.
Do not exploit learners or use them for private advantage. This prohibits such activities as having
learnerscook, clean, or do heavy labor for educators.
Reinforcement of Gender discrimination and stereotyping in the present education
system throughHidden Curriculum, Textbook:
The curricula and materials should be free of gender stereotypes for example it should include
illustrations of mother going to work and father preparing meals, brother helping moms and sister
going for football tournaments.
The curricula and materials should promote positive roles for both female and male learners.
The inclusive language and images/graphics used should include femalesand males in equal
numbers and give females and males equal status.
Equal information should be included on contributions to society made by both females and males.
For example lessons on female achievers and male supporting her.
There should be some mechanisms used to challenge gender biases in the curricula and materials
used in learning institutions
There should be curriculum and materials on gender bias and equality.
There ought to be a curriculum and materials on learning life skills that promote gender
equality,including communication and relationship skills, assertiveness, cooperative and
nonviolent behavior, and conflict resolution
Female and male learners should have equal access to all subjects.
There should be career education that models and encourages equal opportunities for female and
male learners, examples of brave women in military and male chefs.
There should be equitable distribution of materials to female and male learners
Some other ways to remove gender stereotyping:
Equal opportunities for both female and male learners to participate in activities andspeak in class
should be provided
There should be proper structuring of groups and classroom seating
No bias should be followed in giving out assignments, including academic work and classroom
maintenancetasks
Equal and appropriate expectations of achievement, attitudes, participation, and behavior should be
done
Equal amount and type of attention should be given irrespective of gender.
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Positive feedback should be givenfor desirable behavior and good attitude
Negative feedback and discipline should be given to undesirable behavior and attitude
Proper reinforcement for learners equality should be promoted
Encouragement for the pursuit of further learning opportunities, e.g., courses andcareer education
should be given.
Criteria for assessing learners’ progress should be equal
Seven Main benefits of Girls’ education to Society
Education is central to a person’s ability to respond to opportunities and challenges that one
encounters in life. By equipping young people with a set of competencies and skills, behaviors and
attitudes, and a sense of cooperation and social responsibility that enable them to participate in society
as productive workers and responsible citizens, education contributes to economic development,
lowers poverty and inequity, and improves lives. The following are the benefits of educating the girls
in society.
More educated girls and women aspire to becomeleaders and thus expand a country’s leadership
and entrepreneurial talent
It is the quality of schooling that really counts;economic growth is faster when girls (and boys)
learn.
More equal education means greater economicempowerment for women through more equalwork
opportunities for women and men
More educated girls and young women arehealthier—and as adults they have healthier children.
More educated mothers have more educated children,especially daughters
Education is valuable for girls in and of itself
More educated women are better able to protectthemselves and their families from the effects
ofeconomic and environmental shocks.
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Course 11: Gender, School and Society
Module 3: Dimensions and Movements for Women Empowerment
11.3.1: Concept, Importance and Dimensions of women empowerment:
a. Individual empowerment, b. Social empowerment, c. Economic empowerment,
d. Physical empowerment, e. Psychological empowerment,
f. Political empowerment
Concept, Importance and dimensions of Women Empowerment:
Empowerment – Literary Meaning ‘Power’ is the key word of the term empowerment. According
to the International Encyclopaedia (1999), power means having the capacity and the means to direct
one’s life towards desired social, political and economic goals or status. Thus, empowerment is a stage
of acquiring power in order to understand one’s rights and also to perform his/her responsibilities in a
most effective way.
Women Empowerment – Empowerment is an active, multi-dimensional process which enables
women to realize their potential and powers in all spheres of life. Power is not a commodity to be
transacted rather it has to be acquired and once acquired it needs to be exercised (trained), sustained
(continuous) and preserved (well-maintained).
Empowerment is enlightenment and there is no development without enlightenment; it is the quality of
life measured not in terms of rising money incomes, rather by the autonomy (self-sufficient,
independent) and security enjoyed by women everywhere.
Empowerment as a concept was introduced at the International Women’s Conference in 1985 at
Nairobi (largest city and capital of Kenya). The conference defined empowerment as a redistribution
of power in favour of women. The different factors of empowerment are –
Enhance self-esteem and self-confidence in women.
Build a positive image of women by recognizing their contributions to the society and economy.
Develop in them an ability to think favourably.
Foster decision making and action through collective process
Enable them to make informal choices in areas like education, employment and health.
Ensure equal participation in the development process
Provide information, knowledge and skill for economic independence.
Empowerment helps to reduce in domestic violence due people promote and give the value to
women.
Thus, women empowerment is the stage which can be acquired through providing encouraging factors
like opportunities, resources, and skills.
All the initiatives taken for the empowerment of women should result in the overall development of
the women which convert them to be the ‘contributors/participators’ in the nation building process
rather than mere beneficiaries of certain welfare schemes/programmes.
Dimensions of Women Empowerment-
Empowerment is multi-dimensional as it covers different areas like, individual empowerment, physical
empowerment, psychological empowerment, economic empowerment, social empowerment and
political empowerment.
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a. Individual Empowerment:
The personality structure, as we know, is significantly influenced by environmental conditions. A
person is not formed only by heredity and conditions of growth and care, but also by opportunities and
experiences in the world around him. Among these, especially important to us is the ability to make
decisions and to act in order to attain goals. This ability (or its absence) shapes the person’s character
and influences the degree to which she will be the effective actor in her life. Empowerment is an
interactive process which occurs between the individual and his environment, in the course of which
the sense of the self as worthless changes into an acceptance of the self as a self-confident citizen with
socio-political ability. At an individual level, as immediate outcomes, people may feel an increase in
self-efficacy or self-confidence, motivation and intention to participate in community problem solving,
which evolved from collective action.
Individual empowerment is an expression on the individual level of a multi-levelled process which
may be applied to organizations, communities, and social. Empowerment is a process of internal and
external change. The internal process is the person’s sense or belief in her ability to make decisions
and to solve her own problems. The external change finds expression in the ability to act and to
implement the practical knowledge, the information, the skills, the capabilities and the other new
resources acquired in the course of the process.
b. Social Empowerment:
The social empowerment of women includes better status in the family, freedom for marriage, right to
property, social mobility, social freedom, family welfare, and gender equity.
Social empowerment of women refers to Education for women, health of women, mobility of women,
participation of women in various fields and also protection of women against Gender based violence.
Social empowerment means a more equitable social status for women in society because the primary
responsibility of any human society is to ensure human self-respect to all members. The approach to
gender equity is based on the recognition that all interventions in favour of women must ensure an
environment free from all forms of violence against women and also ensure the participation.
The universalization of elementary education, enrolment and retention of girls in the schools,
promotion of balwadis and crèches, increasing the number of girls’ hostel, women’s polytechnics and
multi-purpose institutions , non-formal adult education and, open and distance education programmes
were some of the other steps taken to boost women’s education leading to social empowerment
c. Economic Empowerment:
The economic empowerment of women includes ownership and control of right to property,
employability, and improvement in the standard of living, fulfilment of basic needs, entrepreneurship
development and improvement of bargaining power of women.
Economic Empowerment All the poverty alleviation programmes were focussed on women as they
were economically more disadvantaged than men and as their upbringing and mainstreaming are
critical for the economic development of a nation. Economic empowerment is nothing but making
women aware about their role / importance in economic development and provide them space for
attaining financial independence and account their significant contributions to the production process.
Economic empowerment is a process as well as a stage which is to be reached by designing strategies
focusing on building credit worthiness and financial independence among women by removing all the
gender-specific barriers which prevent women from gaining access to their rightful share in every
spheres of life. Rural women have less access to the resources to generate stable incomes. House hold
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income is a poor measure of women welfare because the distribution of income within the household
may be quite unequal. Various studies of intra house hold resource allocation indicates that in many
regions of the world, there exist a strong bias against women in areas such as nutrition, medical care,
education and inheritance. Consequently, in the development discourse, most of the poverty alleviating
programmes carries an implied agenda of women empowerment, which starts with access to credit and
involvement in income generation which was accepted as sure strategies for economic empowerment.
Thus economic empowerment is a necessary condition for enabling women to seek justice and
equality.
d. Physical empowerment:
The physical empowerment of women includes food, nutrition, health, sanitation, life expectancy and
growth.
When we talk about female physical empowerment we are talking about physical power. This is power
in its rawest form. Men have dominated physical power for thousands of years. As a result, all over the
world, women are still afraid. Afraid of the man on the bus, the man near their car, and the man
casting a second glance. No matter which country they come from, most women experience that sense
of helplessness.
However, rather than being taught to defend themselves, from a young, sensitive age, girls are taught
to wait for a man to come and save them. So many fairy tales and movies tell of a beautiful damsel
who finds herself in distress, waiting for the impeccable timing of a certain Prince Charming to jump
in and save them.
Women are still waiting all over the world for men to 'rescue' them. However, women cannot wait for
laws and the police (who tend to be men), to defend them from rape. For one thing they are not around
when the act is occurring and for another, the judicial process is often completely humiliating and
undignified for women.
Men tend to have greater upper body strength than women so to equalize these imbalance women need
the tools to strengthen their ability to defend themselves. Karate, Aikido and other martial arts show
that a weaker opponent can overcome a stronger one. Women need to be taught self-defence at
schools, the workplace from childhood onwards! Even if only 10% of women are able to defend
themselves that works as a blanket protection for other women as men will not know which women
can take them down!
A woman who possesses the ability to defend herself, most likely has a handful of other traits such as
greater confidence, and sense of self-value.
The Way It Could Be
The Pink Saris: Also known as the Gulabi Gang, a group of women based in several districts of
Uttar Pradesh, India. Started in 2006 by a brave woman named Sampat Pal Devi, she observed a
woman getting abused. After approaching the man, she too began to be abused by him in broad
daylight. The next day, Sampat returned the next day with five other women armed with bamboo
sticks, and gave him a beating of his own. Today, over a decade later, she works throughout various
districts of India to fight various types of women's social injustice. They conduct their work draped in
bright pink Saris, accumulating the title.
Setting up a Female Self Defence School or Classes: There are more numerous methods
and strategies for a female to defend herself as opposed to running or submitting. In developed
countries there are community resources that offer free or donation-based self-defence classes Most
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have a target audience of women as young as 13 and up! Options such as basic fighting classes, Rape
Aggression Defence (R.A.D. Training), and even training to identify a situation before it has the
chance to increase. These resources for physical female empowerment allow women to fight back and
defend her at any age, any place, and any time.
e. Psychological empowerment:
Zimmerman defines that psychological empowerment ’refers to empowerment at the individual level
of analysis.
The various psychological benefits which are required by women are like self-awareness, high self-
esteem, self-confidence and courage, understanding about own rights, privileges, roles &
responsibilities, power of self-determination, positive attitude, risk taking ability, the power to face
challenges of daily life, gaining knowledge and new ideas and skills, great relief from mental stress
and anxiety, leading a happy and satisfied life and so on.
Psychological empowerment involves following component:
Intrapersonal component: Intrapersonal empowerment can be understood as the emotional
component of psychological empowerment and focuses on a person’s feelings about their inner world.
Intrapersonal empowerment describes people’s one beliefs and about their ability to control their
environment and achieve their goals. Psychological empowerment often included measures of self-
esteem, self-efficacy and sense of control over a given condition when constructing intrapersonal
empowerment.
For example- for women responding to domestic violence, individual empowerment may be
measured by their sense of control over the relationship, their sense of self-efficacy in responding
effectively to domestic violence, and their sense of self-esteem
f. Political Empowerment:
The political empowerment includes political reservation, political participation and political
leadership development of women.
Political empowerment is a process that enables women to increase their mobility and break their
isolation, to develop their self-confidence and self-image and to establish their public presence
whereby they participate in decision making in an expanding frame work of awareness and critical
analysis to control and influence the direction of development.
Participation of women in Panchayati Raj Institutions has been recognized as a step towards equality.
Today, one of the issues of concern is the level of women’s participation in political life. Political
participation includes the right to vote, right to contest, right to candidature, their role as women as
campaigners, members and their involvement in the decision making process and appointment of
women at all levels of government. Reserving seats for women in the political institutions will provide
them an opportunity to raise their complaints and other related personal and social problems in a
formal manner.
Importance of Women Empowerment:
To have the bright future in family, society and country empowerment of women is essential. Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru had said that to awaken the people, we should first awaken the women, because once
a women has been awakened then the whole nation and family gets awakened with her.
In India, women have been always made a subject of honour killings and they have never been given
their basic rights for proper education and freedom. They are victims who have to face day to day
violence, abuse and other several ill treatments in this male dominated society and this patriarch
SVB’s SCER, Dombivli (E)/Course 11- Gender, School and Society /Module 3 Page 4
society. Thus, in order to empower women in our country we need to get rid of all demons in our
society who are suppressing women and killing them. In India, there is a high level of gender
inequality where women are maltreated by their family members as well as outsiders.
The real meaning of women empowerment is to make them well educated and leave them free so that
they are capable to take their own decisions in any field. In all, we are in need to empower women so
that they can be independent and not rely on men of our country to support them and take care of
them.
The women of our country should be strong broad minded and mature in taking their own decisions.
Decision making in national topics or any other topics of our society should also encourage
participation of women.
Conclusion
Empowerment involves gaining a sense of knowledge, skill, and competence. To achieve this women
and girls should be given opportunities to build and expand skills and resources by involving them in
social and economic decision making process at all levels and imparting education.
11.3.2: Some landmarks from social reform movements with focus on women's
education and social status: 1. Raja Rammohan Roy, 2. Tarabai Shinde,
3. Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve, 4. Savitribai and 5. Mahatma Phule
1. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian socio-educational reformer who was also known as ‘Maker of
Modern India’ and ‘Father of Modern India’ and ‘Father of the Bengal Renaissance.’ He was born on
May 22, 1772 into a Bengali Hindu family.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy is a great historical figure who put laudable efforts to transform India and dared
to defy the age old Hindu traditions. He undertook a lot of social reforms to change the society and
worked to uplift the status of women in India. Roy fought against Sati system. He was the first one to
raise his head against the barbaric practice of ‘Sati’. This ‘Sati’ was a practice in which, according to
tradition, the wife was to be put with her dead husband on the burning pyre, and the corpse of the
husband would burn with the wife alive put with him. He mobilized a strong revolt against this
process, and finally did succeed to a great extent in getting the system of ‘Sati’ abolished. He made
sure that the British Government passed a law against the system of ‘Sati’.
He was also a great scholar who translated many books, religious and philosophical work and
scriptures into Bengali and also translated Vedic scriptures into English.
He was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj at Kolkata in 1828. His efforts actually led to the resumption
of the ethics principles of the Vedanta school of philosophy. He co-founded the Calcutta Unitarian
Society.
He extensively studied Christianity and other religion. This made him realize that some Hindu
traditions and superstitions were required to be reformed. He came to this conclusion while working
for the East India Company. Apart from this he was born into a family with religious diversity which
probably controlled his thinking. Roy was against idol worship and propagated the oneness of God
through Brahmo Samaj
SVB’s SCER, Dombivli (E)/Course 11- Gender, School and Society /Module 3 Page 5
The title ‘Raja’ was given to him by the Mughal Emperor. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the first
educated Indian to travel to England. He went to England as an ambassador of the Mughal emperor
Akbar II.
He wanted to combine the righteousness of Western and Indian culture. He was against traditional
Hindu practices and echoed his voice against Sati system, polygamy, caste rigidity and child marriage.
He was greatly moved by his sister-in-laws death who became Sati.
He put remarkable efforts in the education system of India. To modernize the education system, Raja
Ram Mohan Roy established many English schools. He set up the Hindu collage at Calcutta in 1822.
He assisted Alexander Duff to establish the General Assembly’s Institution. Roy promoted and urged
that science, technology, western medicine and English should be taught at Indian schools.
To politically educate people, Raja Ram Mohan Roy even published magazines in different languages
including English, Hindi, Persian and Bengali. Noticeable magazines published by him were the
Brahmonical Magazine, the Sambad KaumudiandMirat-ul-Akbar.
2. Tarabai Shinde
Tarabai Shinde (1840-1910) was an inspirational women’s activist who was known for her fiery
personality, outstanding self-confidence, and strong sense of independence. Her invigorating book is
considered the first modern Indian feminist text where she passionately fights to help women gain
privilege and end oppression.
Shinde is widely known for her creative, fierce, and controversial book, “A Comparison of Men and
Women,” where she critizes the patriarchal society in which she grew up where the differences
between the two genders was atrocious. Shinde wrote A Comparison Between Men and Women in
response to the unfair treatment of women in nineteenth century Indian society. Vijayalakshmi, in
Surat, was an upper-caste widow who was sentenced to death for having an abortion. After
Vijayalakshmi’s death, an article was published insulting women for their “new loose morals,” and
portrayed Indian woman as detestable. Shinde wrote her book in response to this article to show Indian
society that there are double-standards for men and women, and that women deserve equal rights.
Shinde raised awareness on the double-standards of men and women in society. She also discussed the
unfair treatment of the different castes in India. This allowed citizens to begin to question the
standards they had set for women.
She was home-schooled by her father, Bapuji Hari Shinde, who taught her Marathi, Sanskrit, and
English. Shinde was recognized across the world for being the first feminist writer of nineteenth
century India to write against men and the caste system; however, she did not receive any awards
because of her controversial writing.
Tarabai Shinde was an associate of the activists Jotirao and Savitribai Phule. She received most of her
experience through her work with them who shared the same ideas of the oppression of gender and
caste in Indian society. She was a member of their Satyashodak Samaj (“Truth seekers society”)
organization. She helped the Phules start a school for Untouchable girls in 1848. She also helped to
start a shelter for upper-caste widows in 1854 when they were forbidden from remarrying.
About remarriages, she has written, “The system of keeping away remarriages has spread like leprosy
in many races. It is unimaginable to think of the sorrow millions of women have suffered and will
suffer after becoming widows and how terrible are and will be the consequences of it.”
Writing about the pain and agony suffered by widows, Tarabai says, “Women, who collect the bundle
of widowhood in the cloth of their saree, keep talking about good and bad qualities of their dead
SVB’s SCER, Dombivli (E)/Course 11- Gender, School and Society /Module 3 Page 6
husbands and die bearing the ill treatment of the members of the family and society.” Because
remarriages are forbidden, a large number of young widows are going astray and abort their unborn
children, killing them. Lok-hitwadi, a well known scholar of the time, had sent a report to the
government that in those days approximately about a thousand fetuses were removed only in Pune
district. The fear Tarabai Shinde had expressed in her book was thus supported by Lok-hitwadi’s
letter.
It is not only illogical but also unrealistic to forbid remarriages; so she asks, “Arre, have your
ancestors brought in a certificate from God to state whether a wife should die before her husband or a
husband should die before his wife? Living and dying is only in the hands of the all powerful
Almighty.” In this connection, she asks, “Why should women forever live in a dark room after losing
their husband like a criminal worse than murderer all their life? Why should they be under the
pressure of guilt they have not committed?” She has presented many points in her book in support of
argument how a woman’s life has become meaningless in the male dominated system of patriarchy.
The time has now come to change all this. She demanded in the book that the British government
should pass a law allowing widows to remarry.
Being a woman, she wrote the book out of her genuine concern for all women. The books is a proof of
how Tarabai was a versatile woman having balanced thought and rational attitude towards life. She has
quoted many references from scriptures and ancient books to put forward truth. This proves how her
reading was vast and balanced. She had also read stories and novels of the times keeping her eyes
open. She vehemently attacked the portrayal of women suffering from the weakness of sexual desire
written from the point of view of male psychology in novels like Muktamala, Manjughosha,
Manorama, and Vidagdha Shreecharitra. She clearly stated that the descriptions in those novels were
imaginary, fanciful, unrealistic and downright defamatory for women.
Although her criticism in the book A Comparison of Men and Women (Stree-Purush Tulanaa) is
expressed in candid and attacking words, she has never propagated total freedom for women or
uncontrolled man-woman equality. She is not partial in blaming men for all problems either. The style
of the book is smooth and felicitous. The writing has become effective because of the imagery used
from the sphere of her life experience and the use of proverbs and sayings often used in the speech of
womenfolk of the times. It is unbelievable to accept why Tarabai Shinde, who is considered the first
feminist woman writer in Marathi owing to her book Stree – Purush Tulanaa, did not write anything
else in later life.
Savitribai was also the first woman in India to enter into the male bastion and light her husband’s pyre.
Her choice to light her husband’s funeral pyre, which would still be considered audacious, must have
sent shock waves across the land at that point in time. This act portrays her subjectivity and tells us
that she was not a conventional Indian Pativrata (devoted wife) following in her husband’s footsteps.
She became a breadwinner after her husband’s death and took the leading role in running
Satyashodhak Samaj. Her compassion was seen during the draught of 1896.
Savitribai and Tarabai were revolutionary leaders in their own right. Despite tremendous odds, They
rose to become productive, inspiring and capable teachers, leaders, thinkers and writers. Their life
shows that the strongest dent against the patriarchal system has to come by a woman herself. Savitribai
Phule and Tarabai Shinde were perhaps the greatest female leader of colonial India who thrashed upon
the age old patriarchal system by linking caste to patriarchy.
SVB’s SCER, Dombivli (E)/Course 11- Gender, School and Society /Module 3 Page 7
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