2.a. Women's rights in India

At national and state level the Indian government has passed many Acts designed to address women's rights, e.g.

- The prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 - The Dowry Prohibition Act, 2008 - Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act and Rules, 2013

What is the percentage of women in India's upper house?

10.6%

On the 21st of April, India's Cabinet approved a host of new amendments to sentences carried for sexual attacks on women and girls. This was in response to widespread outrage and protests over a series of recent cases. Give some examples of these changes.

> rape of girls below 12 will carry the death penalty; > rape of a girl below the age of 16 - minimum punishment will go up from 10 to 20 years; > rape of women will be raised to 10 years from seven

Its estimated that 14.3mn people, mostly women and girls, were subject to modern slavery in India in 2014. What does this include?

> trafficking for sexual exploitation > early forced marriage > forced labour.

How would you criticise the Indian government's amendments to the new rape penalties.

Children's rights activists, solicitors and victims' families said the introduction of the death penalty would make no difference as it wouldn't bring systemic changes in a justice system where victims lack protection and have to face years in court.

The Indian government has also joined UN treaty Bodies like the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against...

Women (CDEDAW). In consultation with the Indian government, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women visited the country in 2013.

Long-term shifting of norms and effective application of the law requires a more practical, 'on the ground' approach -Interventions by NGOs in implementing development projects are taking a gendered approach. For example, the International Centre for Research on...

Women (ICRW) is working in Delhi neighbourhoods. ICRW has set up a 'Safe Cities' project working in partnership with UN Women, the Indian government and a New Delhi-based organisation, Jagori. This has led to women slowly gaining the confidence to report more crimes and to speak up for their rights in their communities.

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was revised in 2016 to include acid attack survivors as physically disabled. What does this provide?

access to education and employment, with 3% of government jobs reserved for acid attack victims. But the law only recognises those victims who have been blinded by the acid attacks.

Long-term shifting of norms and effective application of the law requires a more practical, 'on the ground' approach - 2014: the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs launched an anti-trafficking portal. This involves expansion of...

anti-trafficking police units, specific training of police units, more accurate reporting of crime, a victim support programme including temporary accommodation and co-operation with Bangladesh at the border.

Violence against women is underpinned by persistent social norms. According to UNICEF, 52% of women in India think its justifiable for a man to...

beat his wife. UNICEF research also indicates that domestic violence is tolerated by communities, and to some extent by the state.

Limited access to the work force further adds to dependency on their husbands. Added to this, many women have...

been coerced into sterilisation schemes, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

Women have been subject to murder and disfigurement, mostly by...

burning, when their family can't meet the demands for a dowry by the husband.

Limited education and poverty especially among the rural poor has adverse...

effects on maternal and child nutrition and contributes to India's high infant mortality rate. Furthermore, in this patriarchal society, women have been subjected to sex-selective abortions in the desire for male offspring.

India has one of the world's fastest growing economies. Between 2008 and 2014 GDP/Capita increased from US$863 to US$1165; there has been significant change in sectoral...

employment structure with decline in agriculture and growth in services; and total value of exports increased from US$15bn to US$28bn.

In 2016, India recorded 300 attacks but many go unreported, so the actual number could...

exceed 1,000, according to Acid Survivors' Trust International based in the United Kingdom.

Women can be subject to honour killing by their family members for not agreeing to arranged marriage or for not conforming with...

gender norms. Many women are beaten in the domestic home, are subjected to sexual violence and lead a life of servitude and harassment.

Gender discrimination in health care is closely related to the cultural norms in Indian Society in which women...

have little influence. According to CARE International, nearly a 1/3 of all households in Bihar don't access government health services.

The problems faced by women in India result from entrenched gender-based norms which favour men. Though problems persist, some gains are being made as a result of...

intervention by strengthening the rule of law, increasing numbers of laws and treaties, and by the work of NGOs in local communities, improving education and through the influenced of the media.

India has ratified a number of international human rights treaties. This means the government agrees to incorporate the principles and international laws bound by these treaties into...

its own national laws and to uphold and implement them. E.g. the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. Along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), these constitute the International Bill of Human Rights.

A chain of cafes called "Sheroes Hangout Cafe," are...

managed by acid attack survivors. This project aims to imbue skills and self-confidence on victims of acid attacks from all backgrounds.

Discrimination in the workplace is common practise. Maternity benefits are denied by many employers and most women don't return to work after childbirth. In Delhi only 25% of...

married women returned to work after childbirth, including those who can afford to pay for child care. The social conditioning is that its their responsibility to raise children.

Women's health is at risk during and after pregnancy; there's high incidence of...

maternal mortality and morbidity and this places existing children at further risk.

Nationally, 70% of girls attend primary school, but the figure is...

much lower at secondary. Strong opposition from families and communities, poverty and cultural beliefs are restrictive factors.

Long-term shifting of norms and effective application of the law requires a more practical, 'on the ground' approach - 2014: Delhi police increased the number of female police officers and overall police force in outer city districts. This was in response to findings that crimes like rape and molestation were reported as...

near absent in Central Delhi but most prevalent in West Delhi and South Delhi. The shortfall in policing had arisen due to rapid urbanisation with unregulated urban growth in the rural-urban fringe of the city.

At national and state level the Indian government has passed many Acts to address women's rights. But long-term shifting of...

norms and effective application of the law requires a more practical, 'on the ground' approach.

There are deeply entrenched patriarchal and customary practises in India which are...

perpetrated by husbands, in-laws and other family members.

Women have very few rights in ownership of land and...

property and, in practise, inheritance is invariably patriarchal.

Long-term shifting of norms and effective application of the law requires a more practical, 'on the ground' approach - Some large companies are beginning to...

provide child-care facilities and to organise flexi-work options.

2012: there were 8,233 dowry-related deaths in India, affecting almost every state, with highest rates in the north and west in Uttar Pradesh and Orissa (between 1 and 1.4/100,000 women) and least in...

the south and east like in Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala. The effect is disproportionate on the lower castes and tribes, including Dalit and Adivasi women.

Even women who have received a full secondary or tertiary education still don't enter the...

the work force, finding it hard to conform to social norms or marriage and immediate motherhood.

How is marriage often used by husbands in India?

to obtain property and other assets form his wife and her family.

There have been increases in dowry killings and increases in rape and...

violence outside the home, e.g. against women using public transport.

Gender inequality is perpetuated by the lack of...

women in government at all scales.

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India ranks 149th (11%) in a list of 193 countries in terms of...

women's representation in the lower or single house of parliament (Lok Sabha, in India's case) as of July 1, 2017.

There's gender inequality in India's labour market. Women have limited access to employment opportunities and are often expected to remain at home, raise children, conduct domestic chores and...

work in subsistence farming. This is especially true of the rural poor.