Gender Equality in India

 GENDER EQUALITY IN INDIA

Gender equality in India is the most desired state of form, which our Nation is craving to

have for since long. Gender equality is no more a moral pressure or social issue but also a

social, economic challenge.  Gender Equality leads to human development and the overall

development of the Nation. India being a Nation full of achievement, still lacks few

appreciations in the case of Gender Equality in India.

Our NGO, Hindrise Foundation, is committed to supporting gender equality in health,

education, social protection, and labor. Our NGO’s social strategies and programs in these

sectors aim to reduce disparities between men and women and across population groups. To

achieve this, the NGO’s assistance in these sectors includes expanding access to family

planning and reproductive health services, promoting gender parity in education, providing

social safety nets and insurance and aiding people to acquire needed resources and skills.

In India, discriminatory attitudes towards males or females have existed for generations and

affect both lives. Although the Indian constitution has granted both men and women equal

rights, gender disparities continue to live and rule. Indian society has always been the hub of

this discrimination, making women its victim. In the land where women are Goddess’s, the

same Nation leaves a blot of atrocities and inequality.  It is a sad truth of society.

Recent research reveals gender discrimination mostly in favor of men in many realms,

including the workplace. Discrimination between men and women affects many aspects of

women’s lives, from career development and progress to mental health disorders. While

Indian laws on rape, dowry, and adultery have women’s safety at heart, many highly

discriminatory practices are still occurring at an alarming rate. Gender Equality in India is the

most desired state of the form to achieve other goals for its development.

IS GENDER EQUALITY A CONCERN FOR MEN?

The achievement of gender equality in India implies changes for both men and women. It is

crucial not to overlook gender as an aspect of men’s social identity. This fact is ignored

because the tendency is to consider male characteristics and attributes as the norm.

But the lives of men are as strongly influenced by gender as those of women. Societal norms

and conceptions of masculinity and men’s expectations as leaders, husbands, or sons create

pressure on men and shape their behaviour. Men are expected to concentrate on their

families’ material needs rather than on the nurturing and caring roles assigned to women.

Socialization in the family and later in jobs promotes risk-taking behaviour among young

men. So the lifestyles that men’s roles demand often result in more exposure to more

significant morbidity and mortality risks than women. These risks include ones relating to

accidents, ignorance, violence, and alcohol consumption.

Men also have the equal right to assume a more nurturing role, and opportunities promoted

for them. However, men have responsibilities regarding child health and their own and their

partners’ s health. Addressing these rights and responsibilities entails recognizing men’s

specific health problems, as well as their needs and the conditions that shape them. Adopting

a gender perspective is an essential first step; it reveals that there are disadvantages and costs

to men accruing from patterns of gender difference. It also underscores that gender equality is

concerned with the roles, responsibilities, and needs of women and men and their

interrelationships.

STATUS IN INDIA

India has the highest levels of sex discrimination at birth. According to the 2017 analysis of

demographic data, India shall continue to have the worst sex ratio in South Asia, even in

2050. The heart wrenching 918 girls for 1,000 boys ratio as per 2011 has urged the Indian

government to take action in the movement of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ program to

ensure survival, safety, & education to the girl child. The Beti Bachao program fights bias

and offers benefits to fight female foeticide.

To ‘Educate the Girl Child and Save the Girl Child’ believes that massive awareness, large-

scale female welfare services across districts shall ensure Gender Equality in India. ‘Gender

inequality’ is the oppression of girls and women of society in all stages and spheres of their

lives. While the concept of Gender Inequality is prevalent among the lower strata of society,

it is also seen in the upper-middle class. Gender inequality is so deeply rooted in an Indian

culture that it has become normalized.

Women face gender inequality in almost every stage of life. In India, sex discrimination

begins with the womb. Women in India are getting better prenatal care when expecting male

babies. Women pregnant with boys attend prenatal care appointments, take prescribed

medicines, and opt for institutional delivery. But the case is not the same if she is giving birth

to a girl child.

PROGRESS

The status of Gender Equality in India has been progressing over the last decades. More girls

are going to school, and very few girls are forced into early marriage. Women are serving in

parliament and leadership positions, and reformation of law is initiated to advance gender

equality. Despite these benefits, challenges continue to remain: discriminatory laws and

social norms remain pervasive, women continue to underrate at all levels of political

leadership, and one in five women and girls between the ages of 15-49 report experiencing

physical or sexual abuse by their partners.

India has recently been ranked 112th among 153 countries in the annual Global Gender Gap

Index for 2020, as per the publications of the World Economic Forum (WEF). India

has slipped to the 112th spot from its 108th position in the previous times; India was ranked

relatively higher at 98th place in the 2006 Report. India has been rated below countries like

China (106th), Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal (101st), Brazil (92nd), Indonesia (85th), and

Bangladesh (50th).