Women Issues and Sporadic Movements

Sporadic spo-ra-dic, spo..ra..dic.. ! What is wrong with this person must be your question now. But let me assure you that there is nothing wrong with me. What I am trying to point out is sporadic (again that word) are the movements in which women raise voices for their rights. The movement in consideration is one undertaken by South African women on August 9, 1956. It is rightly argued by Ms. Kalpana Sharma (August 20, 2006, The Hindu) that the women movement in South Africa, which led to acceptance of women as equal partners with 1/3rd representation in Parliament, 43 percent in Thabo Mbeki’s cabinet has achieved more in 12 years from its start than we have in 59 years of our independence.



On the contrary, the mindset of India is male-dominated which leads to wide and even open discrimination of women against it. The women in India are deprived of their social and domestic rights because of this gender bias. This bias exists even after the Indian Constitution enshrining the principle of gender equality in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles of State Policy. This traditional partiality ridden mindset gives preference to sons over daughters. Sex-determination is often practiced and female foetuses are terminated. The middle and upper class people are the worst offenders of this crime. This kind of discrimination has reduced our sex ratio to 933 females for every 1000 males as compared to 972 at the start of the century

Women’s lot is that of the most deprived, repressed, exploited and abused one be it at family level , kin group level, community level or even at the national level. Both in cases of public rights and private rights the darkness prevails. To few this thought may seem Neanderthal when Indira Nooyi is showing a modern face of our nation but this case is again among the sporadic.

All the Five-year plans have given importance to the problems of women. Even after these efforts we are not able to secure due representation for women in Indian Parliament.
Thanks to the male chauvinism, which was and is clearly reflected in the mindset of our politicians. Women participation as the grass root democracy level may have seen an increase but that is not empowerment in the real sense because they are simply manipulated as puppets by their husbands. in laws and parents.

Awareness can play a pivotal role in women empowerment. At the family level understanding of the emotional needs of women can lead to a greater improvement in the prevailing conditions. As far as domestic rights are concerned, mere awareness is not sufficient. Because of economic dependence Indian women is suffering domestic violence at a callously high level. Sex-abuse and violence against women are still very common. Thousands of women die every year because of rapes, homicides, mental illness, unwanted pregnancies, commercial exploitation etc.

The women like widows, women ex-prisoners, destitute and deserted women, victims of sexual abuse and crimes, refugee or migrants women, mentally challenged women etc which are in more difficult situations are highly vulnerable to suffer further social and economic distress thus causing feminisation of poverty. This economic distress leads them to the streets for begging or in brothels for prostitutions.

Since independence, position of Indian women has improved to a considerable extent. The Indian constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Men and women are equal before law. There is a provision for equality in payment of wages. Women are guaranteed equal opportunities in the field of education, employment, social, economical and political opportunities.

Women folk in India now definitely enjoy better status than ever before. Mahila Samkhya – Education for women’s equality, Child Survival and Safe Motherhood (CSSM), Swadhar – A Scheme for women in difficult circumstances, Integrated Women Empowerment Programme (IWEP) are few important steps in desired direction. Right to Information Act can make a tremendous positive difference to the status of women in our country. While pursuing this direction, care should be taken that propaganda is not given more value than the methods for the solution of these anguished cries and the targeted interventions are not some stopgap arrangements for temporary gains.


Harshal Ravindra Mahajan
A/25, Nav Mauli ,
Ramchandra Nagar,
Manpada Road,
Dombivili (East)
Thane District
Maharashtra
Pin 421201

Phone 9820 376950
(0251) 2440335