Target-Oriented Population Control during the Emergency Period (1975-1977)

A major breakthrough in the population control process took place when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced a nationwide emergency in 1975 and rigorously enforced mass sterilization programmes to bring down the population growth rate. About 6.2 million Indian men were sterilised in just a year which, according to a 2014 BBC news report, was 15 times the number of people sterilized by the Nazis. Vasectomy was a safer procedure than tubectomy, especially at that time, as it required less recovery time and follow-up hence poor men became the main targets of this gruesome campaign. The campaign to sterilise men involved many levels of harassment. There were even reports of police dragging the men to mass vasectomy camps. Men were considered easier targets for threats like job loss or fines, since they were more likely to be employed outside the home, to take public transportation and to go out or pick up government food rations.

Incentives and disincentives were given on a large scale for acts such as getting oneself sterilized or convincing other citizens to get sterilized. From offering plots of land in return for sterilization to threatening the loss of a government job for those who refused the procedure. While both men and women could be sterilized, the medical system was equipped to do many more vasectomies than tubectomies. Records have shown that the sterilization process mostly targeted the poor citizens and that wealthier Indians were able to buy their way out of the system. The coercive measures and the sterilizations caused a great deal of anger among the people. This unrest caused in the country is also considered as one of the reasons why Indira Gandhi’s government was voted out in the 1977 elections.

Voluntary Period since 1997

The next major breakthrough happened after the emergency period where the Indian government took a 180° turn and began to turn its family planning policy towards women. Female sterilizations became by far the most popular method of contraception. Family planning programmes further extended to rural areas through the network of primary health centres. The most fundamental change of the Indian population policy since 1977 was that family planning became mostly voluntary. The Indian government now put more emphasis on incentives to attract people to accept family planning voluntarily instead of forceful measures. During the Seventh Five Year Plan period between 1986 and 1991, the Indian government’s population control policy extended to including both long term and short term as well as specific goals. The long-term goal was to fix the net reproduction rate to be achieved by 2001 and the short-term goal focused on the female minimum age of marriage and the practice of contraception. The specific goal was to promote a two-child norm by increasing awareness among the people about family planning and responsible parenthood. The government efforts in population control now also extended to increase the literacy rate of the population and especially women.

Formation of the ICPD (1994)

The year 1994 is considered to be a noteworthy one in the history of family planning programmes in the world since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) convened under the United Nations at Cairo in 1994 made some recommendations that were accepted by many developing countries including India that changed the direction of family planning programmes. The conference recommended that family planning programmes should not be driven by demographic goals but instead, they should be based on women’s reproductive rights and reproductive health, keeping in mind the well-being of everyone (International Institute for Population Sciences, 2016).

Adoption of NPP in the year 2000

India adopted the National Population Policy (NPP) in the year 2000 which decentralized the decision making to local government and improved the coordination between the government and the local and non-government organizations. Stress was given to improve the status of mothers and children. The programme focuses on the improvement of health care infrastructure and services and the empowerment of women. It also gives more emphasis to use of contraceptive methods like IUCDs, promotes delayed marriage for girls, provides a policy framework for imparting free and compulsory education up to 14 years of age, seeks to achieve universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable diseases and to reduce infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live births. Insurance is provided for the deaths, complications and failures caused by sterilization; compensating those who accept sterilizations and increasing male participation in family planning. Family welfare is now promoted as a people-centered program.

Endnote

Overpopulation is the root cause of numerous problems like low per capita income, unemployment and overburdened natural resources among many others. Therefore, the need of the hour today is a more effective measure to reduce the population growth in Indian society. Importance has to be given to population education, achievement of equal status for women and lower caste people, development of economy, urbanization, and modernization of the whole society. When socioeconomic conditions improve, the birth rate will be lower and the overpopulation problem will be reduced (Population Control Policies and Implementations in India, 2019).

References

• Biswas, S. (2014). India’s dark history of sterilisation. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30040790
• Srinivasan, K. (2016). “India’s Population Issues and Policies: Professionals’ Perceptions”, Working Paper No. 11, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. https://www.iipsindia.ac.in/sites/default/files/IIPS_Working_Paper11.pdf
• Wang, G. T. Population Control Policies and Implementations in India. https://doi.org/10.15640/jssw.v7n2a14

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“It is very difficult for a woman to make up her mind to enter politics. Once she makes up her own mind then she has to prepare her husband and her children and her family. Once she has overcome all these obstacles and applies for the ticket then the male aspirants against whom she is applying makeup all sorts of stories about her. And after all, this when her name goes to the party bosses, they do not select her name because they fear losing that seat”

The above quote of late Sushma Swaraj gives a glimpse of reality that how women have to face so many problems and criticisms while entering politics.

Since pre-independence to till now it has been seen that women are always marginalized in the mainstream of politics and in decision making as well as in getting an important position in the political organization and also in our society. But it has been seen that men and women also played an equal role for the development of the nation, they have worked shoulder to shoulder in pre-independent as well as in post-independent India.

Indian constitution is one of the strongest law that provides equal opportunity to both men and women in socio-economic and political aspects. But our societal norms, customs and patriarchal set up treated them as subordinate to men. Their financial dependency upon men also keeps them away from political activities or affiliations. United Nation’s 2008 survey shows that India marked the lowest number of women’s participation in parliament i.e. 9.1%. Even a country like UAE marked better than India in the perspective of women’s participation in parliament i.e. 22.5%. It was seen that the 15th Lok Sabha election has recorded 59 women as a member of parliament highest since independence. India ranked 148 out of the 193 nations with 11.48 percent women in the lower house and 11 percent in the upper house.

Government Initiatives and Constitutional Provisions

The Women’s Reservation Bill which allows 33% of reservation for women in the elected bodies but the bill is still reserved in the Lok Sabha after it was passed from the Rajya Sabha. As it has been already stated that the constitution provides equal opportunity to all citizens of India, the constitution also called the state to take measure to neutralize the socio-economic, political, educational and political disadvantages faced by women.

• Article 14 – It guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of law within the territory of India.
• Article 39(b) – has provision for equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
• Article 325 and 326 – They guarantee political equality equal right to participation in political activity and right to vote respectively.

Success Stories of Indian Women in Politics

There are many stories of success of Indian women in ancient, medieval as well as in the modern period. It is believed that administration and politics both are the arenas of men. However, in India, we have seen that many women have played and are still playing an important role in both the above-mentioned areas. Late Indira Gandhi has served the nation as the first PM of India and her daughter in law Mrs Sonia Gandhi is the present president of Indian National Congress and was the former chairperson of UPA. The first Indian to serve as the President of the United Nations General Assembly was a woman, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit. States like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir have had women as a chief minister in past. The highest decision making of CPI(M) i.e. Polit Bureau has two women representative out of its thirteen members body.

If we compare between two foremost national parties INC and BJP in respect of giving the nomination to female candidates, it shows that INC nominates more female candidates than BJP. It was in 2009 co-incidentally when both the parties gave the nomination to an equal number of female candidates i.e. 43.

Obstacles to Women Participation in Politics and the Role of Media in Changing the Societal Mindset

One of the main obstacles is the societal obstacle. It is mainly believed that the main work of a female is to do household chores and child care and keep herself within the boundary of the house. Managing the outside world is the work of a male. It is also believed that women have a lack of ability in case of giving leadership.

Due to the advancement of news media, print media and social media are playing an important role in changing the mindset of society. Women participating in mainstream politics not just of political awareness but also the role of media in breaking the stereotyped image of women. Undoubtedly media has played a vital role in creating awareness among women and in empowering them up to some extent. Media helps women in identifying and adopting the ways of self-actualization. Women are also becoming active in the journalism profession previously they were seen rarely in journalism. It is also criticized to sensationalize the issues and use women as a commodity for seeking the attention of viewers. Women’s image is seen as submissive to men. Women’s issues rarely got space in the leading stories of front pages.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, we can come to the conclusion that in spite of facing obstacles women in India is coming in the forefront and started demanding their own rights in various fields and many political and apolitical women organizations are acting as their agent in upholding their demands. One of the key thing that acts as an obstacle for women’s political participation in India is the lack of education. Women will come to know about their rights and privileges when they will get the proper education. With the objective of gender empowerment Government of India in 2014 formed a commission named National Mission of Empowerment of Women, but this project was not up to the mark.

Side by side governmental help is for the uprising of women empowerment. As discussed earlier there are my constitutional provisions which provide equality between men and women. Recently in Kerala, the Sabarimala case is an example of governmental help that provided to the women. For many decades women were not allowed to enter into the Sabarimala temple but the LDF government protested against this and provide the equal right to women as like men to enter into the temple.

Media has to some extent plays an important for women empowerment and truly highlighting their status in society. Establishment of women panchayat and 33% reservation of women into the local bodies is acting as an encouragement to women for taking part in politics and in the decision making process.                  

Reference

Alam Shah, January 2015, International journal of advanced in management and social sciences, Volume 4, no.1, page 78.

Nisha M.Ameen, Vezhaventhan. D,2018, International journal of pure and applied mathematics, volume 120 no. 5, page no. 4726.

Nisha M Ameen, Vezhaventhan.D 2018, International journal of pure and applied mathematics, volume 120 no. 5, page no.4728.

Kumar Amit, Dhamiya Somesh, Dhamiya Arun, December 2016, SIBM Pune research journal, volume XII, Page no. 6,

Alam Shah, January 2015, International journal of advanced research in management and social sciences, Volume 4 no.1, Page no. 81-82.

Nisha M.Ameen, Vezhaventhan.D, 2018, International journal of pure and applied mathematics, volume 120 no.5, page no. 4721.

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It has been brought to notice terms related to female genital mutilation have been used interchangeably in the past and one such term was “female circumcision” that was used because the surgery bore some resemblance to male circumcision. This not only raised questions about the term but also the misleading comparison made with male circumcision. Male circumcision involves removing only part of the foreskin of the penis without impairing sexual function. Male circumcision was carried out to avoid infections and make men superior to women, even with regard to having sexual intercourse. On the other hand, women were forced to undergo such surgery for curbing sexual desires, not keeping in mind the infections and the consequences. This practice experienced by girls is called ‘Clitorectomy’ or ‘Clitoridectomy’ where partial or complete clitoris or even parts of the labia are removed surgically with lifelong side effects, and significant health and sexual impairment. 

The Origin of Female Genital Mutilation

When we look back and try to trace the origin of female genital mutilation, a lot of researches that were held clearly denote that it existed before Islam and Christianity came into being. Some researchers have traced it back to Egypt (5^th Century BC) on the west coast of the Red Sea. There were a few more dots that could be joined to be more assertive about this statement like the Greek papyrus in the British Museum (163 BC) which clearly showed signs of Egyptian mummies of women who went through such surgeries. Strabo, a Greek geographer, on his visit to Egypt in 25 BC reported that circumcision of girls was a tradition widely followed amongst Egyptians. They even gave it an identity of its own by calling it the “Egyptian style”. Curiously, today FGM is referred to as “Pharaonic circumcisions” in Sudan and “Sudanese circumcision” in Egypt!

Four Broad Categories of Female Genital Mutilation

With the establishment of its internationally accepted definition came the differentiation. Hence WHO classified female genital mutilation into four broad categories in 1995 and again in 2007.

• First: Partial or total removal of the clitoris.
• Second: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora.
• Third: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice by cutting and creating a seal, with or without excision of the clitoris.
• Fourth: Every other harmful procedure of the female genitalia for non-medical purposes like pricking, piercing, and scraping.

Today’s Scenario

Even today as we speak of female genital mutilation we try coming in terms with reality and how gruesome the nature of this ancient practice can be that is still being carried out largely. Looking at the brighter side of the story we find many groups and organizations that have come together to work and eradicate this practice. They purposely made it a point to not refer to it as “Female genital cutting” out of respect for women who have undergone the ritual and do not wish to consider themselves mutilated. It is a highly sensitive issue and no woman wants to feel worse about it than it already is.

Female genital cutting is still prevalent in about 28 African countries, and among a few minority groups in Asia, affecting from 1% of women in countries like Uganda and Cameroon to about 98% of women in other countries such as Sudan. These practices might differ from country to country but the sole motive remains the same, some face limited or controlled forms of cutting in countries like Sierra Leone and others face extreme forms of surgery like Somali regions.

Female genital cutting is illegal in at least 26 of the 28 African countries in which it is practiced, and it has also been made illegal in several industrialized countries where immigrants or refugees from Africa may reside. FGM has no positive health values attached to it but its prevalence proves the value of women being closely intertwined with this tradition. A large number of girls drop out of schools after this procedure as education and schooling is not seen as a necessary part of their lives.

Female genital mutilation laws by country map

India’s Dawoodi Bohra Community

Right when we think India is not one of those countries that we look down upon for practicing female genital mutilation we realise it very much is! Such cruel practices happen not only in tribal societies or distant places like Africa but also by the Dawoodi Bohra community right here in our country. Young girls aged six and seven are regularly having to go through the unbearable pain of such surgeries without realising the impact that it leaves on women, both physically as well as mentally. About two million people belong to India’s Bohra community and between 75-80% of Bohra women are subject to female genital mutilation. The colloquial word for female genital mutilation inflicted on girls is ‘khafz’. The practice is kept secret and hidden from the public eye and media to keep it away from debates, disagreements, and criticisms. The mothers and grandmothers are usually at the epicentre of it to ensure that this practice continues decade after decade.

India does not as yet have a specific set of laws that criminalize FGM, mainly because the government still denies the existence of the practice knowing quite well about what goes on behind closed doors. Despite provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(PoCSO), the tradition has prevailed for decades together.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, myth-busting or a new law would not mean that all girls are safe. Almost all graphs and surveys fail to capture the real number of women who are subject to gruesome experiences as most of them are not allowed to even have an opinion about it and speak openly about it either. Changing a law alone cannot end the deeply entrenched practices, neither can it tackle questions about whether it can really legislate changes or not. It is often warned that any attempt to challenge such social and religious norms could incite a backlash or outlawing the practice would only drive it underground. As societies become more urban and industrialized, changes take place and bring in new pressures, pressures that require individuals and such communities to re-examine age-old beliefs, question traditional roles and reconsider established priorities with the view to make this world a better place.

Reference(s)

Murray, A., 2013. From Outrage To Courage. Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press.

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According to the World Bank, women make up 49.5 percent of the world’s population, however, there are only 3 countries (Rwanda, Bolivia and Cuba) in the world that have 50 percent or more women in Parliament in single or lower houses. It is important to identify why women don’t get into politics to combat these reasons and lead to the betterment of the whole society. 

Social Barriers

Firstly, the underrepresentation of women is caused by social barriers before their entry into politics. The general populace’s ideas of traditionally feminine characteristics are incompatible with the characteristics that people in positions of powers need to have. This does two things – from their childhood, girls are not encouraged to be leaders as much as boys are. They are instead taught to be docile and homely and puts them at a disadvantage from the very beginning. Parents, even today, bring up their daughters and sons in different ways. Since women are never made to believe that they can suit leadership roles, as well as men, can, they become less likely to enter politics. Moreover, this gender stereotyping leads to another phenomenon – when we eventually do see women in power, it causes people “discomfort” due to the mixture of two supposedly incompatible set of characteristics. This sentiment can be summed up by Alexandra Ocasio Cortez’s quote – “The idea that a woman can be as powerful as a man is something that our society can’t deal with.”

Unequal Starting Points

The traditional differences in the way that men and women are brought up also leads to a difference in their professions. Men are much more likely to have better careers and be in more positions of power. For example, there are less than 5 percent of women who head Fortune 500 companies.  This inequality can be a huge hindrance to entry in politics. Resources and money are important to become potential candidates for parties. There is not just a disparity in material resources, but also immaterial resources, such as time (women have to take on the burden of household responsibilities more), self-confidence (due to the earlier mentioned different upbringing for women which doesn’t help build their image as a leader) and networks. 

Often times political parties recruit their candidates from the corporate world. However, this is a field dominated by men which means that they have the upper hand in forming the right networks. This obviously makes it more likely that more men, rather than women enter politics. Moreover, political gatekeepers tend to be most often men who tend to recruit political candidates via their male-dominated networks.  Therefore, the fact that people who are into politics are mostly men kind of creates a cycle that prohibits women from getting into politics. 

Removal of men from political photographs shows the dire need for more women in politics.

Continuation in the Political Field

The gender stereotyping and the way we differently bring up men and women means that even if, despite these hindrances, a woman does get into politics, continuation is difficult. The discomfort that the voter base has with women in power means that they are held to a different standard to those of men. Female leaders are held more accountable than their male counterparts and the media is much harsher on them.

This uneven punishment is because the media and the people involved subconsciously do not think that women are cut out for politics, which makes them tougher on women in case they fail. The media especially can continue to treat female politicians poorly. The way the media presents female politicians shows us that they are not as worthy to be in power as men are, or that their priorities are supposed to be different – they are asked more questions about their families and personal relationships than male politicians are, and have their personal lives invaded. Their appearances are also given more importance than their substance. Despite all of these, some women still rise to enter politics.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is important for us to promote the representation of women in politics. But simply doing this is not enough – it is also important to promote it in the correct way. When we do commend women in politics, we tend to do it through a narrow scope – we view these achievements as individual efforts of exceptional women, whereas the truth is that there are also numerous parties at play here – women in political party backrooms, riding associations and women’s organizations.  Recognizing the efforts of everyone in promoting women’s participation is the first step to make sure we have more women and a better democracy.

Moreover, the discussion of female representation cannot end here. Caste, economic status, sexual orientation are all factors that affect the experiences of women in politics. Women from lower castes or lower economic strata will have a much harder time becoming politically successful. Similarly, the experience of a trans woman or a non-heterosexual woman is bound to be tougher due to ingrained biases. Representation of women in politics does not only help better women’s issues but leads to a betterment of society as a whole – in areas where Indian panchayats are headed by women, the number of drinking water projects was 62 percent higher than in areas with men-led panchayats. This is why it’s crucial to encourage women in politics and facilitate discourse related to this.

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  “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own”

This is 2020 and a 12-year-old Meera peeps outside her window for hours day after another. She sat through the morning sun and waited for the moon to set in and oh! She sighed as the autumn leaves fell on her window as she flipped through the pages of a book of Bengali poems, yesterday it was ‘Abhilash’ by Rabindranath Tagore and today it was ‘The fruit of the tree of knowledge’ by Kamini Roy. She wrote, “ The Male desire to rule is the primary, if not the only, stumbling block to women’s enlightenment. They are extremely suspicious of women’s emancipation. Why? The same old fear- the lest they become like us”

Meera thought to herself, what is enlightenment?

Women of Yesterday 

Enlightenment in 16^th-century Europe was one of many outcomes of 30 years war from 1618 to 1648, as a result, many authors like Hugo and John Comenius went ahead against tradition to question some of the most rational questions of time. However, there’s not much reference to the role of women in the period of enlightenment. The status of women during the period of enlightenment is highly debated in academia and many of their works remain rather unpublished to date, which makes it difficult to understand 16^th century Europe from the eyes of a woman. Enlightenment brought with itself ideals of tolerance, liberty and progress, but these ideals remained rather secluded to middle and upper-class women who were able to discuss issues like politics, equality and sexuality in salons, coffee houses and debating societies. Among enlightened philosophers was John Locke who believed that the notion of male superiority was created by men and on the contrary Rousseau believed that women were subordinate to men and women must obey men. It is surprising to note such contrasting belief systems, that also highlight the fact that maybe, we’ve come far from where we were centuries ago but often we see more of Rousseau than Locke even in 21^st century. 

Tracing The Legacy Of Women Issues In Mid-19th Century India

Modern Europe saw the rise of some of the most renowned feminists, however, we see flashes of feminism in India primarily beginning from the mid-19^th century, this was the time of reform movement centred around Indian freedom struggle when social reformers like Savitribai Phule, Kamini Roy, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Behramji Malabari among others talked of issues surrounding rights of women and social injustice. There was much hue and cry over the abolition of Sati but reformers like Ram Mohan Roy held their ground and even went ahead and said that “Sati was murder according to every shastra”.Issues like age of consent were debated in middle and upper-middle-class quarters, but such regulations did not reach the masses, it is astonishing to know that the practice of child marriage and crime against minor girls and children are on a rise even after over a hundred years of increasing the age of consent. Where did we go wrong? Before we try and analyse the answer let us look at some revolutionary women who changed the course of history for all women.

Mary Wollstonecraft 

Late 18^th century saw the first feminist philosopher in history, Mary Wollstonecraft, she was among the first women to openly publish under her name, she is widely known for the book, A vindication of the rights of women, it was a philosophical text for the education of women. She famously said “I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves” what she meant by this was that seeking the rights for women does not in any regard mean taking away rights of men, the essential purpose of all rights of women is not to control men, rather have the right over herself, her soul, her being, the very right that women over the world are still fighting for. For years altogether she wrote about how systematic patriarchy blinds women in the garb of obedience and how important it is for a woman to be strengthening their minds to become rational human beings. 

Kamini Roy 

Kamini Roy was born at a time when national freedom struggle was gaining ground but there was rather a lack of women participation in public life, born in a small village in present-day Bangladesh, Roy spearheaded the suffragette movement in India, after a long struggle, the Bengal legislative granted limited suffragette to women in 1925, she was among the first girls to attend school in British India. As a young woman she enjoyed writing and poetry, she quotes  “why should a woman be confined to the home and denied her rightful place in society?”  This was a revolutionary message for the time as it portrayed the zeal within young women who actively wished to participate in public life, who wanted nothing less than emancipation. 

20th-Century Position Of Women

20^th century was a period of decolonisation and formation of national boundaries. Ideas of sovereignty, republic, democracy were gaining ground, but rights of women remained at the periphery of nation-building. Hence, it is not surprising to know that most countries over the world, more or less, have ensured political rights but despite that remain the second gender, in the light of growing crimes against women it is natural to remember words said by Dr Ambedkar, he said “ political rights mean nothing in the absence of socio-economic rights” perhaps what he meant this was that political rights will only take an individual so far but real emancipation comes from social and economic rights. The example of this can very well be understood in the context of India. Even after over 70 years of independence women membership in the lower house remains at 12%, whereas Rwanda, a small country in Africa has 62% of women representatives. We will now look at how Rwanda achieved these feet.  

Women of Impact – Rwanda 

It is imperative to ignore how a small country like Rwanda can increase its women participation in a world where three nations; Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu have no women in their central legislation. A country like the U.S; the world biggest superpower has just 23% representation of women in the lower house. Whereas countries where there have been improvements in numbers of female legislators, they have had a long history of women’s inclusion in public life. One of the reasons for the high number of women legislators is rooted in the re-constitution of the Rwandan constitution post-genocide in 2003. The new constitution allowed leaders to include progressive measures like gender equality, mandating a minimum 30% quota for women in parliament. It is now documented that countries where there is a significant reservation of seats for women in parliament, there has been a jump in numbers, Nepal has 33% quota whereas Djibouti has over 15% women parliamentarians. Another reason for a growing women representation lies in the fact that Rwanda has a proportional electoral system where a percentage of government seats held by a party is roughly equal to the percentage of voters who support the party. Women’s caucus in Rwanda developed a strategy to increase participation of women, they had veteran lawmakers run for open seats whereas reserved seats were ushered by newcomers. The passing of the anti-violence legislation is among one of their biggest achievements. 

Status of Women in the 21^st Century 

Women form almost 50% of the world population, any significant growth cannot be realised without the participation of women as a global citizen but before we focus on that, the world needs to give the status of a human being to a woman. The moment women are considered human beings and not just a commodity, probably half the race will be won. The other has to be won by working on multiple levels, ranging from strong legislation for crimes towards women to gender sensitisation in primary, secondary and high schools. The concept of consent is gaining ground and ever more important, especially in a world where most crimes against women are committed by a known entity. This only strengthens the notion that sensitisation at school might be the first step in the right direction but there has to be ensured gender sensitisation of parents right after the birth of a child. State and non-state actors, media, celebrities across the world and people like us who are part of society must do our bit in ensuring that women are given their due status in society not because they are women but rather because they are human beings. 

What Will The Woman Of Tomorrow Want?

For every 1000 baby boys, we have 940 girls. For starters, women of tomorrow must want to bridge this ratio. Women of tomorrow will want to not only be born and be granted the rights that already exist for them but also occupy more and more public spaces, women of tomorrow will want to be writers, a politician, scientist, musician, painter, journalist, a homemaker, teacher, work in an MNC but all by her choice, and not by compulsion. She will want to occupy not just public space but also live a life without the fear of harassment, she will want to take a sanitary napkin to the washroom without the fear of a male guardian knowing that she is on her period. Women of tomorrow will always be like the woman of today and yesterday, their demands might change over time but at the heart of it, she just wants to live a life of dignity, she only wishes to a life she chose for herself. 

As for Meera, let’s just hope she gains the true meaning of enlightenment in a few years, and let us make sure it remains only a few. 

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When we talk about India, we do have a provision for abortions, sections 312-316 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 covers the abortion laws in India. The IPC sections 312-316 criminalise abortion; “the person undertaking the abortion as well as the doctor (or registered medical practitioner) facilitating the abortion are liable to be prosecuted.”

The government of India, though in 1971, enacted the MTP Act as an exception to the IPC. The act was enacted to exempt medical experts from the criminal obligation on the condition that they terminate the pregnancy as per sections 3 and 5 of the act. The prelude to the act expresses that it is, “An act to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered medical practitioners and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” Therefore this whole system of legal abortion is doctor centric and prescribes abortion in specific circumstances.

The Proposed Amendment 2020

The MTP act was enacted in 1971 and hence the law needed changes, activists in India for the last decade have been pushing for legislative changes to the law.

The central cabinet’s sanction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020 was reported on January 29. According to Prachin Kumar, “The amendment was long due and has made some anticipated changes demanded by women’s groups and courts, including the Supreme Court.”

Vrinda Grover in her column for the Hindustan Times wrote in March, that it’s a welcome amendment. She further states that the bill among other things, “proposes to place an unmarried woman and her partner at par with a married woman and her husband, in securing abortion due to contraceptive failure.” This is an idea that carries forward the rationale of the domestic violence act. The law on domestic violence makes no distinction between the rights and protections available to a married woman or a woman who is in a live-in relationship.

The Press Information Bureau on 29th January 2020 published the amendment, it stated that “The salient features of this act is enhancing the upper gestation limit from 20 weeks to 24 weeks for special categories of women which will be defined in the amendment to the MTP rules and would include vulnerable women, including survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women like differently-abled women and minors.”

The MTP (amendment) bill still requires or rather proposes that a doctor sign off on termination of pregnancies up to 20 weeks old, and two doctors do the same for pregnancies between 20-24 weeks old.

The bill also intends to expand access to “safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian or social grounds”, in case of foetal “abnormalities”. The proposed amendment makes it mandatory for the government to set up a medical board in all the states  and union territories. The responsibility of the board will be for the diagnosis of substantial foetal “abnormalities” that need termination after 24 weeks.

These are some of the proposed changes in the law. Now although there are certain good points in the amendment, a lot of activists think that this amendment missed to address some of the important issues.

Criticism of the Amendment

Shampa Sengupta in an online session organised by the Centre for Health Law, Ethics and Technology at Jindal (CHLET), Global Law School, Sonipat, strongly objected to the language used by the PIB in its announcement of 29th January 2020 regarding the amendment. “It’s not from the department that looks into the disability affairs.. But that does not mean you can use a word as ‘differently-abled’, it is not legally accepted in our country”, said Sengupta about the announcement.

Dr. Aqsa Shaikh in the same series of sessions organised by the CHLET said that it’s very unfortunate that it took almost 50 years for the government to realize that the MTP Act needed some changes. According to her, these changes are still insufficient, stakeholders have not been consulted, and a very patriarchal approach has been adopted. Shaikh further stated that “Under the MTP, the pregnant person does not have a choice, the person must seek permission. If the permission is granted then the doctor will conduct the procedure, else, the doctor will not. So that approach has to change.”

Tejasvi Savekari of Saheli Sangh in the session pointed out that during this Covid-19 pandemic, and because of the resultant lockdown, a lot of abortion cases have been seen. In most of these cases, safe abortions could not be done because of a lack of access to safe abortions.

She raised a very valid question, “who will take responsibility for this? Instead of simplifying the system, the law is making it more complicated. Firstly one has to take permission from two registered doctors and then from the medical board. So much time will be lost in all this, so will a woman be able to get a safe abortion done? Does she not have a right over her own body? Is she not capable enough to make her own decisions?” She asserted the fact that there are absolutely no answers to these questions. She said that it’s unfortunate that the law had no consultation and it saw no protest at all.

Sex Workers and Their Plight

The life of a sex worker is not easy. There are various stereotypes associated with the profession and the sex workers have to deal with stereotypes when it comes to their abortion rights as well. Kiran Deshmukh of National Network of Sex Workers CHLET session revealed that sex workers are always treated unfairly and are discriminated most of the time.

Deshmukh said that when a sex worker is pregnant and when she goes to a civil hospital, the staff of the hospital does not treat her well because they know that she is a sex worker. The strong stereotype that a sex worker can’t have a child is visible in the actions of the hospital staff. According to Deshmukh, matters get worse when a pregnant person is also HIV positive. Then that person is discriminated against more than anyone else. She stated that “we consider this form of discrimination as violence and this violence will not end till we do not collectivize. Collectivizing is very important if we want to fight against this violence. The womb is mine, it is my right to decide to continue or to terminate the pregnancy. But the doctors do not listen to us, especially in civil hospitals.” She further added, “when we collectively say the same thing, they have to listen to us, and provide us services because the power of a finger is different from the power of a fist.”

The government has not taken into account the problems of the sex workers as is clear from Deshmuk’s statement and above discussed amendments.

No Consideration for Differently Abled

The proposed amendments have not given due consideration to the needs of the differently-abled persons. Rupasa Malik of CREA is of the view that proposed amendments to the MTP Bill 2020 are limited and that it, in no way, reflects the ‘transformative changes’ which are vital to the MTP Act which is extremely dated. Malik said, “there exists this idea that all women and girls with disabilities are asexual and, therefore, what is the need for even thinking about them in this context of abortion access?”

Shivangi Agrawal of Determined Art Movement, in another session organised by the CHLET on the topic ‘A Disability Rights Perspective on Abortion: A Nuanced Understanding’, said “When I first read the MTP Amendment, it said to me that disabled people are irrational for having lives, for existing in the world. I feel like the government has continuously ignored disabled activities and they do not value the decision-making capacity that disabled people have.” She further added, “I feel like this bill encompasses the idea that providing for disabled people is too much.”

Dipika Jain in her column in TheWire mentioned about the ‘abnormalities’. She wrote “disability rights advocates have argued that foetuses with potential disabilities should not be singled out for abortions. This reinforces the notion that persons with disabilities have less value than persons without disabilities, and that all fetuses with ‘abnormalities’ should be terminated. It should be the sole discretion of the pregnant person, in consultation with their doctor, to carry a pregnancy to full term or to abort, even if the foetus has a potential disability, cognitive impairment and/or other medical conditions.

Conclusion

Abortion is a matter of rights of a woman. Even the Supreme Court of India has recognized that in the landmark case of 2009, Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration. The court said, “There is no doubt that a woman’s right to make reproductive choices is also a dimension of ‘personal liberty’ as understood under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It is important to recognise that reproductive choices can be exercised to procreate as well as abstain from procreating. The crucial consideration is that a woman’s right to privacy, dignity and bodily integrity should be respected.”

In 2017 in the case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, the SC identified privacy as a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. The right to privacy within its scope includes the rights to bodily integrity, reproductive choice and decisional autonomy. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud cited the landmark 2009 case Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration, in the Puttaswamy case.

It’s unfortunate that even after such decisions, the proposed amendments continue to maintain the original paternalistic doctor-centric framework of the MTP Act. The decision to terminate is still in the hands of the doctor and not the pregnant person. This needs to change.

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In India, four months have passed since the initial nationwide lockdown implemented by the Government of India on 25th March 2020 and now preparation for Unlock 2.0 is beginning, with relaxed restrictions barring a few services such as of Cinema halls, theatres, bars, educational institutes, swimming pools, and other similar services.

Amidst the new policies announced and regulations updated, the role of women, and the economic impact on them is undervalued at an unprecedented rate in India. In a recent policy brief on ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Women’ by the United Nations on 9^th April 2020, it was stated that “Women will be the hardest hit by this pandemic but they will also be the backbone of recovery in communities.” 

The threat of the pandemic worsening the pre-existing gender inequalities is rising, with a risk of erasing the limited gains of women liberation made in the past few decades in India and worldwide. It is widely known the abysmal manner in which the center handled the migrant labour situations, but often the cases of women migrant labours are overlooked in the broader term of this case.

Women’s Position in Coronavirus

Unpaid care work has increased for women, within households, and informal care jobs. Established gender norms have added responsibilities to women performing the majority of the household chores and care work, and sadly these are not paid and invisible in the economic sense of nature. Women perform 9.6 times more unpaid care work than men, according to a report by the International Labour Organization.

Teachers and nurses are underpaid in the formal care sectors, and even though educational institutes are closed, some teachers still have to go to school for administrative purposes. Sanya Bannerjee, a preschool teacher in a well-reputed school in Vadodara, Gujarat is a single mother of an 8-year-old son. She recounts her experience, “We teachers don’t have to go to school every day, maybe twice or thrice a week. I have to leave my son with the neighbors as the school crèche is closed. I cannot avoid my work as it is my only source of income now. Earlier, I used to take tuitions, but that has stopped since March. I am worried about the health of my son, but I have to go to work for both of us.”

Around the world, women earn less than men and are more likely to be employed in the informal sector, especially in south-Asian countries. With reduced social security and entrenched gender norms, their ability to absorb economic shocks is less than that of men. The pandemic and the economic crisis in India has created a detrimental atmosphere for the single-parent household.

Deepali a domestic helper from Khar, Mumbai says, “I haven’t worked for three months. Out of four houses, only one house paid my salary all these months. In the beginning of the year, I had got a job for washing dishes. But you know, these rich people get to know everything first, and they made some absurd reason and asked me not to come to work in the middle of February. Now I cannot go looking for jobs. Many societies here have rules not to allow people like us to enter because we come from Jhopar-Patti areas. It has been very difficult for me to make ends meet. I am desperately in need of work.” Deepali worked in houses in Santa Cruz and Bandra. She adds that once she was given 3kg of dal and rice from an NGO, but now Deepali and her daughter survives on rice water and boiled vegetables.

According to a recent article on the New York Times, it was reported that female labour participation decreased to 21% from 32% from the year 2005 to 2018 in the country. Women are at a much higher risk of losing their existing jobs and the lack of employment opportunities is said to make it tougher for Indian women to re-enter professional workspace.

Women and girls perform three times more unpaid care and domestic work than men. In the informal sector, they have limited access to social protection and paid sick leaves. While this invisible economy has a positive impact on the formal economy, it has a much greater negative impact on women’s lives.

The mental strain on women worrying about their job security is causing major anxiety-related mental health issues. Due to a low or negligible support system, they are truly in a vulnerable position. The social distancing rules have induced an undesirable effect of a safety norm since it has created a greater physical divide for women to reach out for help. Lack of a support system and negligible safety nets has created a catastrophic environment for women like Deepali and Sanya. 

The discussion of the drawbacks of policies by the government in this period of the pandemic in gender-neutral terms has downplayed the economic impact on women’s lives.  The national media and prominent political figures often wash away the unique issues and situations faced by women due to the systemic social disadvantage. It is imperative to address challenges faced by women and form policies keeping their needs at the center of it.

Conclusion:

A major economic recession announced by the International Monetary Fund, and it is deemed to be unique than any previous global recession. This likelihood will bring challenges to the vulnerable and weaker members of our society, especially women. The progress in women empowerment over the years is likely to be erased in these difficult times as women are burdened with more unpaid care work, domestic labour and gender pay gaps. Women are distanced from NGOs and other organizations for help in current times, which is likely the cause of the rise of domestic violence. Policies should be formed, taking the sensitive issues faced by women, as they have comparatively weaker social safety nets.

The post HOW IS THE CORONAVIRUS ECONOMY MORE CATASTROPHIC FOR INDIAN WOMEN? appeared first on WISER WORLD.

• Sukanya Samriddi Yojana- This scheme is for your daughter’s education and marriage they want to convey that parents can secure and plan their daughter’s life more effectively. It provides an annualized return of 8.1%. 
• National Pension Scheme – It fulfills the needs of retirement needs. It provides the tax benefits for investment up to Rs 50,000 under section 80CCD in addition to Rs 150000 under section 80C. 
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana – This scheme caters to the needs of the economically weaker section of the society and helps them with basic banking services like a savings account, insurance, pension, etc. The minimum contribution is Rs 1000 while there is no cap on the maximum contribution.
• Public Provident Fund – It is a long term saving scheme that benefits the self-employed people to save for their retirement. It offers tax benefits under 80 C of the Income-Tax Act and provides a tax-free return on maturity. Tax-free interest on maturity and provides an annualized return of 7.6%. 
• National Savings Certificate – It is a small savings and tax savings investment. It is issued for 5 and 10 years and considered as a government saving bond. Provides annualized return of 7.6% and qualifies for IT Rebate under 80C
• Atal Pension Yojana – It is targeted to the unorganized sector and provides pension benefits with a minimum contribution per month. Suitable for all individuals between 18 to 40 years of age.
• Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana – It is a life insurance scheme which was introduced by our late finance minister Arun Jaitley to increase the number of insurances in the country which is very low. The premium is Rs 330 every year.

These schemes are for both men and women but there are few social security schemes for women empowerment as well these schemes are as followed: 

• Mahila E-Haat – It is an online marketing platform which is launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to support women entrepreneur. Women can register themselves at www.mahilaehaat-rmk.gov.in for showcasing their work to a larger audience. This initiative also comes under ‘Digital India’. 
• Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao – This was launched in 2015 the initial funding of this scheme was 100 crore. It targets the clusters in  Punjab, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. To bridge the gap between the birth of a girl child and boy government came up with this scheme to ‘Save Girl Child’. 
• One-Stop Centre Scheme – This scheme was implemented with the ‘Nirbhaya’ fund. This scheme is for the victims of violence and it provides services like shelter, legal, medical and counseling services under one roof. The toll-free helpline number is 181. 
• Working Women Hostel – The objective of this scheme is to promote safe accommodation for women in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. 
• Swadhar Greh – The Swadhar scheme was launched by the Union Ministry of Women and Child for the rehabilitation of women in tough circumstances. The beneficiaries include food, clothing, the shelter of vulnerable women. Mainly for a dowager, women released from jail and without family support. 
• Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) – The Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) emphasizes on providing women with the necessary skills that give employability to women. This project will be for up to 5 years. Includes sectors like agriculture, horticulture, food processing, handlooms, tailoring, stitching, embroidery, zari, etc, handicrafts, computer & IT enable services along with soft skills and skills for the workplace such as spoken English, gems & jewellery, travel & tourism, hospitality, etc.

But even after these security schemes for women, there are still lakhs of workers who are not well known with the schemes. They need proper comprehensive documents and other information which usually they are not able to provide. There needs to be a proper layout of how these schemes should be known by all the workers and for that, the government has to take various measures such as Simplification of default penal charges, the mode of payment, removal of the closure of account after 24 months and conducting a meeting with the State Governments. 

In India, almost 94% of total women workers are engaged in the informal sector. Which constitutes a massive part of the informal sector. Due to the current pandemic, the situation in the informal sector has been devastating for workers especially women workers as not only do they face higher risks due to their social disadvantages but also they have fewer resources as compared to men working in the informal sector. It is time for our government to go beyond these schemes measures for formal sectors but also an emphasis on the informal sector as most of the people belong there. 

We Need a Comprehensive Social Security Schemes for Women

The Directive Principles of State Policy in Article 41 of the Constitution says that within the limits of its economic capacity, the State would provide “public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness, disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want” It is the responsibility of the state to provide with a social security scheme and shouldn’t be treated as a burden. Social Security Schemes for Women in India should be based on ILO’s social protection floor framework. It should be universal and should provide vulnerable groups with immediate reliefs. The state should also support the women’s participation in all aspects of administration as well as the informal sector including anganwadi workers.

These government-sponsored schemes are made to promote social welfare for women and for reducing poverty, malnutrition and improve the basic healthcare structure but due to ineffective implementation and inefficiencies in the system, we failed. These failures adversely impact the lives of women. The parameters and approach to social security schemes for women are guided by the Ministry of Labour and Employment but are also shaped with international standards which include nutrition, healthcare, housing, education, water and sanitation. The equalisation of schemes should also be considered and focused upon. There is an urgent need to effectively implement these social security schemes for women and to bridge the gap.

Strategy to Implement 

• The government should give the workers the right to leave with pay during the lockdown. The minimum wages for women workers should be increased by giving them a brief understanding about the different investment and security schemes. 
• States like Kerala have implemented recovery funds set up which help the workers recoup with the disposition of assets. 
• A reliable healthcare sector which has been given to the formal sector should be extended to the informal sector as well. 
• The scheme should not just be economically driven but should also be given on providing them with social equality amongst men. 
• Pension should be given importance as it is an integral part of social security. It should be examined with the central government and should be given at the right time and explain them in a simple manner.

For many years the Ministry of Labour and Employment is working on bringing a common body for universal social security. It’s high time the government implements it. Since independence, we have come a long way ahead and now we understand the needs of our workers who are the backbone of our country. Now we just need to act on it. 

The post A SOLUTION FOR SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES FOR WOMEN IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR appeared first on WISER WORLD.

Confinement in homes, and lack of steady incomes, seems to have been fostering tensions and frustration in households and strain due to concerns over health and security. The lockdown is also putting women in isolation with violent partners, with nowhere to turn to for help. In India, the National Commission for Women has reported a 200 per cent increase in the reporting and stress call numbers of domestic violence on their helpline in the month of June alone.

Even before the lockdown was imposed, domestic violence was one of the most prevalent violations of human rights and a key impediment to the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with one in three women have experienced it at some point in their lives. Economist Amartya Sen has estimated in 1990 that more than 100 million women are ‘missing’ — that includes those that never lived because of sex-selective abortions and infanticide, child neglect and maltreatment. That number was revised in 2015 to 136 million – this just shows how females have been subject to violence, at times even before they are born, at an alarmingly high rate.

Furthermore, it is essential to address that violence against women not only affects individuals, but also households, families and communities. However, the only way to change this stark reality is to hold the aggressors accountable and ensure that the problematic social norms that perpetuate the instances of violence are also tackled in an inclusive manner. The SDGs act as an apt framework to work off of, in order to shape a violence-free world – here’s how:

SDG 1: No Poverty

Women’s work – in agriculture, in communities, and at home, fuels economies and yet, isn’t regarded as ‘economic activity’. The exposure of females to incessant discrimination and mistreatment at the workplace makes them vulnerable and susceptible to gender-based violence. Women and girls are four per cent more likely to live in poverty and poor living conditions, a risk that rises up to twenty-five per cent as we factor-in other inequalities. Financial independence for women creates new opportunities and avenues for them to reject typical gender norms and leverage independence against violent partners. It also helps them to create a mentality of freedom and a sense of self for themselves. As a result, the reduction in poverty proves to be a catalyst towards enabling women in societies.

SDG 4: Quality Education

An estimated 246 million girls and boys experience school-related violence every year and one in four girls say that they never feel comfortable using school washrooms, according to a survey on youth conducted across four regions by the United Nations. Quality education is essential to ending violence against women. Educated girls are more likely to make their decisions towards family planning and managing finances, it is fundamental for the development of aspirations and skills, and children of educated women are more likely to have been safeguarded against malnutrition and illiteracy. Educational exposure also enables women to get access to leadership and decision-making opportunities. Hence, it propels them into a cycle of development that helps them create barriers to economic violence at home or in their communities.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

According to a 2018 report by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in India, 18 per cent of women and girls aged between 15 and 49 years of age have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or family member in the past twelve months. Further, someone is known to them – every day kills more than 137 women around the world. These figures represent a fraction of the discrimination against women in terms of opportunities, wealth, inheritance, safe access to public spaces, lack of decent work, and safe and healthy environments of living, learning, working, and engaging with their communities. These inequalities leave them extremely vulnerable to gender-based violence.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Unsafe and poor working environments affect women regardless of their age, location, income, careers, or social standing. As of 2020, 18 countries have laws that enable husbands in preventing their wives from going to work. UN Women estimates that the economic costs of violence and harassment amount to US$12 trillion every year. As of 2018, 59 countries do not have laws protecting women from sexual harassment in the workplace. Economic growth cannot be achieved without the inclusion of women and their contribution to sustainable development in an empowering work environment.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

In developing countries, concerns of safety and restricted access to public transport reduce the probability of women participating in the labour market by 16.5 per cent. As the processes of urbanization and industrialization catch up to tier two and tier three cities, the UN estimates that more than 5 billion people will reside in cities by 2030. This becomes an essential notion to address in the light of crimes against women that are prevalent in most urban regions. Further, there is widespread human rights abuse in many industries, such as fast fashion, many of which employ women in majorities. Women may be subject to exploitation in such circumstances and need to be safeguarded against such instances.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

In 37 countries, rape perpetrators are exempt from legal prosecution if they are married to, or subsequently marry the victim. Improving access to justice for survivors, and strengthening the legal framework against violators is an essential step towards making justice accessible for women – be it against violence, sexual misconduct at the workplace, or any crime against them. It is further imperative for women to mobilize and advocate support for their personal rights and those of their communities. This can be done digitally, individually, or at any level.  

Conclusion

At this point in time, COVID-19 is already testing humanity in unprecedented capacities. The shadow pandemic that we have had to face additionally is a mirror to the kind of societies we have built for ourselves so far. As we emerge from the pandemic, we must renew the outlooks towards inequalities and factor them into our responses to create a more equitable and sustainably sound world.

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