Gender Inequality And Discrimination In India

Introduction

Forty-three years ago, the United Nations first decided to celebrate March 8th as International Women’s Day . This marked a “historical transition in the feminist movement” . However, “gender remains a critically important and largely ignored lens to view development issues around the world” .

In particular, gender inequality and discrimination has been an issue in India for many decades. This is an issue that has been engrained deeply in the Indian society. Women are discriminated against from even before they are born. From time and time again, stories are seen on the news where a girl child was killed soon after birth or a mother carrying a girl child was forced to abort her baby. Girls are often considered a burden.

Although work has been done over the years to address the injustice, reaching and maintaining the stage of complete gender equality and impartiality will still require tremendous effort. Of course, the complication to resolving this issue completely may have to do with the fact that gender inequality and discrimination is a multi-faceted issue in India.

Definition

The term “gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships of and between groups of women and men” . Gender inequality is defined as “allowing people different opportunities due to perceived differences based solely on issues of gender” . Gender discrimination is described as the “prejudicial treatment of an individual or group due to gender” .

Statistical Overview

India is a country that is advancing at a very rapid pace. However, even with this growth, there are still concerns in regards to the increasing gap between genders. In various sectors of society in India, women and girls are doing much worse than men and boys. For example, in the areas of education, health, and employment, statistical data shows that women and girls in India do not have the same access to these resources as men and boys. Data shows that gender inequality in India is an issue that needs immediate attention . The magnitude of the gender inequality in India can be expressed through various factors, some of which will be addressed below.

Education

In India, the discrepancy between male and female education is huge. Out of the total population of India, 11.49% of males who are above the age of 25 have Bachelor’s degrees. This, compared to only 6.72% of women having Bachelor’s degrees, provides insight into the gender inequality in an educational setting as well. The amount of males with degrees is almost double the amount of what females with the same.

Over the last few decades, specific education state-led programmes have been implemented to increase the enrolment levels of girls in primary schools . Although the female enrolment levels have gone up since then in the primary schooling system, there has been a struggle to see the same increase in the secondary and tertiary levels . A significant gender divide is seen at these levels of education, which contributes greatly to the lower overall female literacy rates in India .

Health

Both males and females have the same life expectancy at birth in India. However, this trend does not last as females get into their childhood and reproductive years. It is around this time in a girl's life when the inequalities in the health care system come to the fore front. “Indian women have high mortality rates, particularly during childhood and in their productive years. The health of Indian women is intrinsically linked to their status in society. The women in India belong to various socio-economic backgrounds and are sometimes marginalized or neglected when it comes to basic healthcare.” The neglect towards women’s healthcare has gotten so bad in India that they are even called an economic burden.

Employment

A particularly alarming statistic is related to unemployment rates in India. Between 2005 to 2010, it has been noted that the rate of female unemployment has gone up. When looking at the same for males, however, the statistics show that there has been little to no change at all in unemployment rates over these same few years. . This discrepancy shows the underlying truth in India, which is the fact that gender inequality is ever present, and often it is overlooked by governments and society as a whole.

Reasons for gender inequalities and discrimination

There is not a single reason as to why gender inequalities exist in India today. Instead, it is constituted by a multitude of factors that have developed over time. To understand the dynamics of gender inequality in India, it is first important to understand Indian culture. “Gender inequality exists in India because historically, in a paternalistic society, it has been socially and culturally acceptable to undervalue women’s contributions to society. These norms are deeply embedded in Indian culture and are seemingly almost unshakeable.” Society and culture are to blame for what is transpiring in India today because the lack of acknowledgement for females is preposterous.

Potential Solutions

Many ideas have been proposed to tackle the problem of gender inequality in India. By putting women in the forefront and more visible to the people, it can help tackle the issue of inequality. Only 11% of the total police force is made up of women, which is an alarmingly low number. Another way to tackle this issue is to ensure that people can raise their voices without fear.  “In the last election, the National Dalit Election Watch (NDEW) recorded 263 incidents of election violence against Dalits, formally known as untouchables, in India. The violence manifests in several forms with Dalits being threatened, abused, and prevented from voting and also violently attacked after the polls.” By having a platform to speak which does not condemn fear, it can go a long way in overthrowing this patriarchal society which has overlooked gender inequality for far too long. These are all viable opinions on how to overthrow gender inequality. However, until the people of India themselves do not stand up and say enough is enough, these opinions will remain such and gender inequality will continue to persist.

References

Batra, R., & Rieo, T. G., Jr. (2016). Gender Inequality Issues in India. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 18(1), 88-101.

Mehrotra, D. M. (2012). An Evaluation of Major Determinants of Health Care Facilities for Women in India. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(5), 1-9. doi:10.9790/0837-0250109

Mohan, D. (2017, September 29). India's Gender Inequality in Ten Charts. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://thewire.in/economy/ten-charts-gender-inequality

Ravi, S., & Jayaraman, N. (2017, September 13). Gender issues in India: An amalgamation of research. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.brookings.edu/research/gender-issues-in-india-an-amalgamation-of-research/

Parziale, A. (2008). Gender inequality and discrimination. In R. W. Kolb (Ed.), Encyclopedia of business ethics and society (Vol. 1, pp. 978-981). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9781412956260.n365