A vast proportion of women, especially but not necessarily the poorer ones, in India suffer from various kinds of discrimination that ultimately lead to a lowering of the standards of life not only for themselves, but also their offspring and hence the entire community. A woman who is uneducated, of poor health, and is not allowed to take decisions in certain matters is both a cause, and effect, of societal ignorance and backwardness. In a patriarchal society, male children are considered an asset and female children are thus neglected from birth, and often before. Widespread foeticide of female children have brought about a serious imbalance of India’s sex ratio, which presently stands at 933 females for every 1,000 males. To stem this discrimination against women, the government of India, and numerous non-government organisations, both global and local, are actively engaged in programmes to educate women, ensure that they are in good health, and also to enable them to participate in community affairs and decision-making processes.

The government of India has mandated that 33 per cent of seats in village level panchayat bodies be reserved for women. On the surface of it, this has been a successful measure as women are now well-represented in panchayats and are able to take part in local governance. But in many cases, that is only on the surface. In many regions of India, especially in northern states, the system of panchpati is prevalent, whereby elected women members of the local governing body are represented by a male member of the family, which could be the husband, father or a brother. Such empowerment is meaningless, and unless deep-rooted social changes take place, the position of women will always be secondary in society. Property laws and marriage laws, such as in the Muslim Personal Law are also severely discriminatory against women.

The focus of gender issues, as a necessity, cannot lie on women alone. The marginal position of women can often be a result of inherent underdevelopment of the society as a whole. But therein lies a great paradox. It is not only women in rural poor communities who are routinely discriminated against. Even in urban settings, among relatively well-to-do families, it has often been found that the position of women is significantly lower than their male counterparts, leading potentially to abuse and exploitation. Unjustified dowry demands and dowry deaths are a problem found more among the affluent than the poor.

Perhaps the most vulnerable of all are poor women from Dalit, tribal and minority backgrounds. With access to education and healthcare severely limited to begin with in most cases for the entire community, female members are particularly susceptible to exploitation and abuse, leading very often to sexual harassment. In cases of conflict, be it caste based or communal, it is the women who fall prey first as they are singled out for attack.

Gender bias in education, healthcare and professional careers stems from a mixture of all these factors and is a result of a combination of societal bias and household bias. Many households actively discourage female members from obtaining an education and from seeking appropriate healthcare and nutrition. In a society steeped in deeply-entrenched patriarchal values, such biases are reinforced on a wider scale. This can often have fatal consequences as in the case of treatment for HIV/AIDS, where infected women, once detected, have nowhere to turn to and are often deserted by their families.

While most NGOs active in the development sector also cover gender issues, and in fact, something as complex as this cannot be handled simply for its own sake, many steps have been taken, both by the government and civil society organizations, that seek to improve the condition for women. The government has come out with a number of policy documents on women, has set up regional and local bodies to handle women’s affairs and has incorporated gender issues in all development paradigm, no viable regulatory authority exists as of now that can specifically protect the rights of women who are exploited on a daily basis. NGOs have stressed empowerment of women through participation in local governance and through education, capital ventures and microcredit (See Micro-finance and micro-credit). Micro-credit, in particular, has proved to be very effective in empowering women and enabling them to take the course of their lives in their own hands, leading to a higher standard of living in the community.

However, a lot more needs to be done keeping in mind the limitations that women face in this country. Healthcare and education should be more widespread and flexible to the needs of women and girls. Alongside, it is also vital to inculcate gender sensitivity among the men in the community. More steps need to be taken to ensure there are adequate employment opportunities for both men and women as well, if they so wish.

(http://www.cwdslib@alpha.nic.in and http://www.cwds@sscwds.ren.nic.in )

( http://wcd.nic.in/childdet.htm )



(http://www.fcamin.nic.in/aay.htm)


(http://www.delhishomeless.org/index.htm)


(http://www.actionaidindia.org)


(http://www.usaid.gov/in)


(http://www.sevamandir.org)


(http://www.baif.com)


(http://www.careindia.org)


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