It is nearly 50 years since ‘Towards Equality’ (1974), the report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India, set up by the Government of India to assess the status of women in different walks of life, was published. Coming a quarter century after the Constitution, which removed all hurdles to create a gender-just society was adopted in 1950, the report showed that “large masses of women had remained unaffected by the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution, and the laws enacted since Independence”. The Committee had also made several recommendations for making constitutional rights more “real and meaningful”. This is now an appropriate time to review how far we have traversed on the pathway to achieving gender equality, as envisaged by the ‘Towards Equality’ report.
In terms of numbers, achievements on the gender equality front are quite impressive in the half-century that has gone by. The sex ratio, which was only 930 females per 1000 males in the 1971 census, has gone up to 1020 females per 1000 males. In the period under reference, female literacy rate has increased from about 22% to 70%. In fact today, women’s presence at all levels of education is almost equivalent to that of men. New laws upholding their rights to equal share in ancestral property; protecting them from domestic violence and sexual harassment at the workplace have been enacted, and they occupy 50% of the space, at least in local self-rural and urban governance. The increasing visibility that women have gained, both in public and private domain, is indeed a point to be celebrated. However, it is also true that India is one of the countries with a large gender gap!
Even today, nearly 20% of the girls are out of school; 40,000 women and adolescent girls are being trafficked every year; 40% of women experience sexual violence at their workplace; about 25% of girl children are married before they reach the legally prescribed age, and there is a gradual reduction in the workforce participation rate of women. These are but a few indicators that numbers often do not convey the hidden faces of violence, which women and girl children experience, from the family to society at large.
As we move towards completion of a quarter century of the 21st century, it is time to raise fundamental questions about the undercurrents of gender bias flowing through all social institutions, and chart out a road map for breaking gender stereotypes and create a ‘next generation’ that imbibes a culture that respects both the concept and practice of gender equality. This especially becomes important as more than 50 per cent of India’s population is below the age of 25 years, and will have a critical role to play in rebuilding the social fabric.
The primary responsibility of socialising children to treat women as ‘equal partners’ and not ‘second-class citizens’ lies with two institutions -- family and education. Patriarchal values and practices are initially learnt in the way ‘family culture’ treats women by undermining their domestic responsibilities as unproductive, though these sustain the family and society.
It is also the family which is the focal point of unequal power relations, with women and girls being projected as ‘care providers’, and wifehood and motherhood being glorified as ideal roles. Male hegemony manifests itself in many ways, which include use of abusive language, depriving girls and women of the right to decide the course of their lives, and giving them the power to make decisions for themselves or the family. The young who engrain these gender prejudices practice the same in their day-to-day life and also carry forward the same unhealthy traditions outside the home, which include the workplace.
Educational institutions have tremendous power to build a gender-sensitive community, but have often failed to do so. School textbooks often perpetuate gender stereotypes by not portraying women and girls as primary members of social institutions. Pedagogical practices reflect disrespect for women by teachers, fellow students or school bureaucracy.
From ignoring the need to provide separate washrooms for female or LGBTQ+ students or teachers, to providing sanitary napkins or women’s common rooms, imposing dress codes only on female students and faculty, indulging in body shaming and even being silent witnesses to sexual abuse, educational institutions often turn into uncomfortable spaces for women and girls. NEP 2020, with its avowed commitment to creating a gender-equal academic space, must move beyond rhetoric and become a reality.
A gender-inclusive world can be created if in word and deed, all social institutions make a conscious effort to question gender-insensitive thoughts and behaviour, and instil in their members a respect for all genders.