Women in India: A reality check

Shanthi Kunjan with mother © Priti David in 
“The forest in Shanthi Teacher’s classroom” on Ruralindiaonline.org >>
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Tracing the rise of patriarchy to class-based “civilisations” and the diminishing role of women in such societies, Chris Harman, in his book ‘A People’s History of the World’, says in hunter-gatherer societies, there was no male supremacy over women as there was almost always a division of labour between the sexes, with the men doing most of the hunting and the women most of the gathering. […]

New intensive production techniques tended to prioritise men’s labour over women’s. The use of the plough, for instance, encouraged an increased division of labour between the sexes, since it was a form of heavy labour not easily done by women bearing or nursing children. These new ways of production created new relations between members of the group.

Women everywhere lost out with the polarisation of society into classes and the rise of the state. From being co-decision-makers with men, they were thrust into a position of dependence and subordination. […]

Today, when most societies consider themselves highly advanced compared with our “barbaric” ancestors, the position of women in society has changed little. ‘Frontline’ takes a look at the position of women in India today.

Source: Women and Men in India: 2012, Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Source: “Women in India: A reality check”, Frontline Magazine (Cover), 25 January 2013
Address: http://www.frontline.in/cover-story/women-in-india-a-reality-check/article4275963.ece
Date Visited: 24 October 2015

Women across the country have taken to the streets demanding safety from violence and equality at work and in public life. Doctors have gone on strike for better working conditions. The outrage is important, says Vrinda Grover, a lawyer and activist: “It says this is wrong, and we as a society won’t condone this violence.”

Yet outrage has done little in recent years to improve the lives of Indian women. The number of reported rapes in the country was higher in 2022 than a decade before. That may be due to greater willingness to report such crimes, but it is hardly a sign that the risk of falling victim to one has been reduced. Public spaces still belong firmly to men, with women expected to keep themselves safe when they venture beyond the confines of home (which is often hardly safe, either).

Source: “The rape and murder of a doctor in India is fuelling outrage. But public protests about violence against women have not achieved much”, The Economist, 22 August 2024
URL: https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/08/22/the-rape-and-murder-of-a-doctor-in-india-is-fuelling-outrage | Repository backup
Date Visited: 1 September 2024

“Restoring land and livelihoods, empowering women, providing basic civic amenities such as fuel, water and sanitation are preconditions to advancements of rights of tribal children. Unless the government undertakes urgent steps to address these issues, its proclamations on child rights would remain examples of empty rhetoric and its actions would effectively continue to exclude those already sidelined.” – Archana Mehendale in “Isolated Communities and Ignored Claims: Tribal Children’s Right to Education in India” >>

“If women are empowered, there is more development in society” – Droupadi MurmuFind this and other speeches by the 15th President of India >>

  • India must ratify the International Convention against Torture
  • The National Human Right Commission regards crimes like rape, molestation, torture, fake encounter in police custody as manifestations of a systemic failure to protect human rights

National Human Rights Commission

As in the past, the Commission continued to receive complaints from different parts of the country on a wide range of issues where rights of the people had been violated or negligence was shown by a public servant in the prevention of such violations. These complaints included cases alleging custodial deaths, torture, fake encounters, police high-handedness, violations committed by security forces, conditions relating to prisons, atrocities committed on women and children and other vulnerable sections, communal violence, bonded and child labour, non-payment of retrial benefits, negligence by public authorities, etc. […]

The Commission once again calls upon all the aforementioned State Governments to take immediate steps for sending their compliance reports to the Commission and simultaneously take comprehensive steps for protection and promotion of civil, political, economic, social and health rights, along with special measures to prevent acts of violence and discrimination towards women, including those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. […]

Source: Annual Report, National Human Rights Commission (2014-2015), Chapter 2.12 “Number and Nature of Complaints”, pp. 9-12
URL: https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/NHRC_AR_EN_2014-2015_27022019.pdf
Date Visited: 13 January 2022

[Bold typeface added above for emphasis]

“Cover Your Country” by PARI: Rural people speak about their lives through photos, narratives, film, and audio materials >>

Video | “I saw women working 90 per cent of the time. They did backbreaking jobs for which you need an erect spine,” says P. Sainath in Visible Work, Invisible Women: Bricks, coal and stone | RuralIndiaOnline.org >>

In Marginalised but not Defeated, Tarun Kanti Bose (a seasoned public interest journalist) asserts that “the mainstream development paradigm is being questioned and new rainbows of collective, community reassertions are happening across the tribal belt in India. More so, in most cases, led by brave, empowered and resilient women.” | Learn more: https://countercurrents.org/2023/05/book-review-marginalised-but-not-defeated >>

“In less than 200 years, photography has gone from an expensive, complex process to an ordinary part of everyday life. From selfies to satellites, most of the technology we use and spaces we inhabit rely on cameras. […] While photographic documentation can aid in shaping history, it can also be a window into the horrors of the past.” – Read more or listen to Butterfly Effect 9 – The Camera on CBC Radio Spark 26 May 2023 >>

See also

Adivasi Academy & Museum of Adivasi Voice at Tejgadh | Lecture “A View of Higher Education in India”

Appropriate education for Adivasi children – the Vidyodaya School model at Gudalur

eBook | Background guide

Childhood | Children’s books | Childrens rights: UNICEF India | Safe search

eJournal | Writing and teaching Santali in different alphabets: A success story calling for a stronger sense of self-confidence

People’s Linguistic Survey of India | Volumes (PLSI) | PeoplesLinguisticSurvey.org

Games and leisure time

Multi-lingual education | Residential school | Ekalavya

Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning – Unesco

Santali education | Teaching Santal children by Boro Baski

Storytelling | Success story

Tagore and rural culture

Unesco | Unicef | Unicef India | United Nations

United Nations International Days and Weeks

Video | “Nations don’t make us human – languages make us human”: Ganesh Devy

Women | Safe search | President Droupadi Murmu on women’s empowerment