Consciously Biased

BY: Lucknow. Her basic edifice is her foe. Is what an Indian woman is.. The fight is not for human worth. The claim is not to end inequality of women, but to restore Universal Justice Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Women who constitute half of the worlds population and work two third of the worlds working hours, earn just one tenth of the worlds income and less than one-tenth of worlds property which is the clear reflection of gender based discriminated. In India, we have some time or the other heard the comment, that Gender is a Western concept; we dont need it in India. Even if we look back to Vedas and other religious texts explains that, India is the original home of the Mother Goddess. Stories from mythology and folklore are recounted to prove that women in India have always been honored and respected. We are proud of the fact that India was one of the first countries in the world to give women the right to vote. The Indian Constitution is one of the most progressive in the world, and guarantees equal rights for men and women. All this is cited as evidence to support the contention that Indian women are free and equal members of society. But the ship is not sailing as it looks, in India, in 2002 according to a report, every hour, two women are raped, there are three kidnapping and abduction case, one dowry death, four molestation cases, one case of sexual harassment and six cases of cruelty by husbands and relatives. The statistic thus show 17 crimes committed against women every hour. The Indian Judiciary enjoyed a reputation of being gender sensitive, despite the rights granted by the Constitution and special legislations; the reality is that there is widespread nonimplementation of the legislations, structural inequalities and power imbalances within the society. So we can say that, All law is not justice and all justice is not law. Justice is a combination of various factors; namely, good legislation, implementation, etc. and Law in action is more important than law itself. Even former J. R.C. Lahoti in a conference suggested that, while giving a judgment judges to keep the following points in mind whilst dealing with cases pertaining to women. Firstly, the issue of gender justice should not become a war between two sexes. Both should complement each other rather than suspect each other. Secondly, perception changes were needed for greater social awareness. There is no lack of legislation, but lack of implementation of the same, giving rise to gender inequality. In all fields of human and State activity, there has been increase in crime against women be it rape, molestation, eve-teasing, harassment at work place, dowry death, all, constituting criminal offences apart from being violation of human rights . Right to live with dignity in an atmosphere where there is no unlawful assault on her modesty. Students from RML National Law University,

Womens empowerment, however, has many other important dimensions. The handicap they face in education, healthcare and employment must be removed. They must be treated with respect and dignity both at home and in the public sphere. The most basic criterion of safety is, of course, the right to live. Therefore, inhuman practices like female infanticide and foeticide, which draw sustenance from indefensible cultural attributes such as preference for sons, can have no place in a civilised society. These social evils, however, cannot be eradicated through laws and governmental regulations alone. We need strong and sustained societal action, supported by proper public education.

What does violence means? "It is a matter of grave concern. When the police and the officials are expected to protect the young children and teenage girls at the orphanage, they themselves are turning perpetrators of this kind of injustice," ....NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas. Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women.. Violence against women is a wide spread problem. According to available statistics from around the world, about 33 per cent of the women have experienced violence in one form or the other in their intimate relationship at some point in their life. However, its actual extent is difficult to measure. It may be very much higher than that the reports indicate because many instances of violence against women are not reported. For a variety of reasons, women may fail to report violence that takes place in the family. This is an average based on available national surveys across industrialized and developing countries published in the report of the World Health Organization in 1997. Even our families socialize us to accept hierarchical relations expressed in unequal division of labour between the sexes and power over the allocation of resources. The family and its operational unit is where the child is exposed to gender differences since birth, and in recent times even before birth, in the form of sex-determination tests leading to foeticide and female infanticide Violence against women is partly a result of gender relations that assumes men to be superior to women. The subordinate status of women, much of gender violence is considered normal and enjoys social sanction. The expressions of violence take place in a man-woman relationship within the family, state and society. Usually, domestic aggression towards women and girls, due to various reasons remain hidden. Cultural and social factors are interlinked with the development and propagation of violent behavior. A female child grows up with a constant sense of being weak and in need of protection, whether physical social or economic. This helplessness has led to her exploitation at almost every stage of life. Radhika Coomaraswamy (1992) in the United Nations special report, 1995, on Violence against Women; points out that women are vulnerable to various forms of violent treatment for several reasons, all based on gender. 1) Because of being female, a woman is subject to rape, female circumcision/genital mutilation, female infanticide and sex related crimes. This reason relates to societys construction of female sexuality and its role in social hierarchy. 2) Because of her relationship to a man, a woman is vulnerable to domestic violence, dowry murder, sati. This reason relates to societys concept of a woman as a property and dependent of the male protector, father, husband, son, etc.

3) Because of the social group to which she belongs, in times of war, riots. Or ethnic, caste, or class violence, a woman may be raped and brutalized as a means of humiliating the community to which she belongs. This also relates to male perception of female sexuality and women as the property of men. Combining these types of abuse with the concept of hierarchical gender relations, a useful way to view gender violence can be done by identifying where the violence towards women occurs. Despite the apparent neutrality of other terms, domestic violence is nearly always a genderspecific crime, perpetrated by men against women. From a feminist standpoint, it could be said that the occurrence of domestic violence against women arises out of the patriarchal setup, the stereotyping of gender roles and the distribution of power, real or perceived, in society.

Violence upon a female at various stages of her life:While She was a child: Childhood is the stage where the child remains dormant about what is happening around and what all she observes with the passage of times continues to be a part of her outlook. To this day, in India, the blessing for a pregnant woman is to borne a baby boy only whether she is being blessed by her mother-in-law or her own mother who themselves are women. The birth of baby boy is cherished so much that the whole family will have their own interest in rearing the child and if it is a baby girl it is vice-versa. When a girl child is born, asserted to be delicate and physically weaker, her toys are generally dolls, dresses, flowers, and cosmetic-set, kitchen-set, cradles. Very rare is the occasion, when a girl child is gifted with toys like an airplane, a motorcar, a gun or a bat-ball. The collection of gold and other things to be included in her belongings during her marriage starts at the cradle stage itself, irrespective of any class. This is the most common form of biasness done by us between a boy and a girl in our daily life. The status of a girl-child in a lower or lower middle-class family is a burden since her birth. And this is slowly inflicted into her brain during the process of her growth. Even when a girl grows, the attitude of parents towards the girl is different from that of a boy. Girl is restricted to move outside of the house in night but the boy is not, even sometimes a younger boy controls his sister movement from the house. The other means of exploitation include a big issue of child marriage. A girl too young to take life seriously, a girl too young to understand the meaning of life and marriage, has to step into the world of thorns. Violence when she gets married: Marriage in India is regarded as the social alliance between two families instead of two individuals. The bride is expected to serve her husband and his family and ensure their happiness and well being. There was no question of her happiness, expectation or content. In India the bride is subjudicated by her mother-in-law and other members of her husbands family, most of the time including even her husband. She is expected to observe purdah, not to speak to elders, speak in low voice to younger members of family, not to speak or meet her husband except midnight and bear all harsh words and sufferings for even minor fault and above all never to express her sorrows or utter a word of distress to anyone. The degree of satisfying her in-laws depends on the fact as to how much dowry she is able to procure from her parents. She is under the false belief, identify with the opinion that once married to her husband, she have to appease him in every way possible. She perceives it as their duty to go through the atrocities committed by partners, since he attains the place of God rather Pati Parmeshwar.

Violence struck by husbands on their wives: Verbal abuse- like name calling, threatening, intimidating. Emotional abuse- criticizing constantly, displaying extreme jealousy, publicly humiliating, isolating the partner, domination. Financial abuse- controlling the money, concealing joint assets, keeping the other impoverished, using partners money without consent. These abuses though may be witnessed in an infant form in the initial stages but in later stages they might take an inhumane form as listed below. Physical abuse- pushing, slapping, hitting, kicking, choking, puling hair, biting, using weapons, tying the partner up, locking the partner in a room with denial of food. Sexual abuse- raping, physically attacking sexual parts, forcing the partner to perform sexual acts.

In India, the woman victim transforms her pain into punishment, pleasure, inevitable and natural. Instead of speaking out, she tries to suppress her pain.

Safeguards for a woman in India: Criminal and Civil safeguards: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights supports the crusade against domestic violence since it favors protecting the basic right of everyone to live a dignified life .CEDAW (Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women) makes it mandatory for its member nations to make laws prohibiting domestic violence. India is a member of CEDAW. In 1999, the Lawyers Collective came out with its draft law on domestic violence after nation-wide consultations with many women's groups. It was drafted in accordance with the UN Framework for Model Legislation on Domestic Violence. After much pressure from women's groups, the Government of India introduced a Bill on domestic violence in the Lok Sabha, titled 'The Protection from Domestic Violence Bill 2001. The Act was passed by the Parliament in August 2005 and assented to by the president on 13th September, 2005 which aims at protecting women from verbal, economic, emotional and sexual abuses. Domestic Violence Act is significant because for the first time the term domestic violence has been widened in meaning and scope from the culture specific restriction of dowry deaths and penal provisions to positive civil rights of protection and injunction. It was the first substantial step in the direction of vanquishing the questionable public/private distinction traditionally maintained in the law, which has been challenged by feminists time and again. Previous to this act in 1983, domestic violence was recognized as a specific criminal offence by the introduction of section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. It highlights the criminal dimension of mental and physical cruelty inflicted by the husband or his relatives over a woman. The punishment is imprisonment for up to three years and a fine. The complaint could be lodged by the person itself or by any relative on her behalf. But the IPC never used the term domestic violence to refer to this objectionable practice. In fact, the only similar class of offences addressed by the IPC dealt with cruelty to married women. This posed a problem especially where the victims were children or women who were dependant on the assailant. But Domestic violence Act also extends its provisions to those in live-in relationships, and to provide for emergency relief for the victims, in addition to legal recourse. One of the most important features of the Act is that it also provides a woman a right to reside in the matrimonial and shared household, whether or not she has any title in the household. In addition to physical violence of beating, slapping, hitting, kicking and pushing, the Act also covers sexual violence like forced intercourse, forcing his wife to look at porn or any other obscene pictures or material and child sexual abuse. It also includes in its ambit sexual abuse like marital rape also. Another significant step has been to recognize Economic Violence. Under the Act, Economic Violence is: Not providing money, food, clothes, medicines, causing hindrance to employment opportunities, forcing a woman to vacate her house, not paying rent.

The Act thus deals with forms of abuse that were either not addressed earlier, or that were addressed in ways not as broad as done here. Women and Fundamental Rights: There are various legislations that have been passed in India with a view to curb the imbalance in gender hierarchy and aid in womens empowerment. The constitution of India guarantees various rights for women in this regard. Article 14 states that there shall be equal protection of the law and equality before the law which means that the Courts or any Law enforcement agency should not discriminate between a man and a woman. Article 15 guarantees the right against discrimination. Article 15(3) talks about the special protection for women. Article 16 provides the right to equal opportunity in terms of public employment irrespective of the sex of the person. Article 19 guarantees freedom of speech and expression. This article fosters the right to equality, by providing the necessary freedoms needed to live in society. Article 21 guarantees the right to life, it includes The right to be free of violence (In Francis Coralie Mullin v. Union Territory Delhi), The right to dignity (In Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation v. Nawab Khan Gulab Khan), The right to shelter (In Chameli Singh v. State of U.P.) Article 39 talks about the certain principles of policy that need to be followed by the state which are securing adequate means of livelihood equally for men and women, equal pay for equal work among men and women, and the health and strength of workers, men and women are not abused. Article 42 requires the state to make provision for securing humane conditions of work and maternity relief.

Other enactments which are reflective of the aim of gender justice: Trafficking in women have been dealt with by specific acts such as the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986 and Section 294 of the IPC which relates to obscenity. For the issue of sati, the Commission of Sati (prevention) Act was passed in 1987, even though Sati was abolished in 1829.

The Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention) Act was passed in 1994 to curb the rise in female foeticide. To secure gender justice for working women, the related enactments are; Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, Factories Act, 1948. For enhancing social justice for women, enactments such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which made the marriageable of women 18, now its been amended to 21; The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 ensures womens right to inherit parental property; The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act, 1956 legalised widow remarriage.

Protection provided to women by the International Associations:Globally, the United Nations has established a strong mandate for gender justice. The focus on gender equality and gender justice has been there since the inception of the UN. In 1946, a separate body was formed to work on the advancement of women. The Decade for Women (1976-1985) and four world conferences on women (between 1975 and 1995) contributed significantly to raising awareness and commitment to gender equality and gender justice. In 1995, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action had been framed for guiding work at national level. The human rights treaty on gender equality The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has been ratified by 185 states and the optional protocol by 90 states. Since 1995 and the adoption of gender mainstreaming as a critical strategy for achieving gender equality, intergovernmental bodies such as the General Assembly, the ECOSOC and the Commission on the Status of Women - have worked to mainstream gender perspectives as an integral part of all policy areas. At the 2005 World Summit, world leaders reiterated that progress for women is progress for all. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) also has the Gender Development Index (GDI).

Conclusion: As we can notice in the above mentioned facts that all around the world it will not be a problem for people to judge that the position of women is downtrodden in most of the countries. Also it will not be a problem to opine that the preferential part of the society is formed by the men. And especially when we turn our heads towards India we get to see that most of female population is always looked down. Whether she is an infant girl child or a grown up lady, she has to face the bars of the society because of the virtue of her gender. The position of women in India can actually be regarded to be in a confused state. In the rural societies the female is given the status of a goddess on one hand and she is looked upon as a curse on the other. And in the urban societies it goes nearly on the same lines. In these places mostly the women are seen in a materialistic manner. All what can be derived from the scenario is that there is gender discrimination been practiced on a very large level which cannot be curbed in a single day. We cannot go around changing the psychology of the people in regards to this. All what can be done is to introduce the Gender Biased Laws. These laws will help to uplift the position of women and bring them on par with the men and bring them to equal strata. Please mind it that they are your mothers, sisters, wife (Life partners). If we able to mend our ways, the restoration of their rights to them would be meaningful.