Working women bridge the productive and
reproductive spheres of activity. Besides their contribution to economic growth
by producing goods and services, they are also centrally involved in biological
and social reproduction. Over many generations so forth, the status of women in
Indian society and economy has kept toggling between the phases of upliftment
and degradation.
In opposition to the unfair restrictions
imposed by social customs in every sphere of life, various laws and schemes,
national bodies have been framed to favor the participation of women in every
possible sphere such as The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 ( to provide for the
payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers and for the prevention
of discrimination), National Policy for the Empowerment of Women,
2001, The National Commission for Women, 1990, reservation of seats in the
local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities
for women, and Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.
But despite all these efforts, statistical reports still reflect the
backward economic position of Women in many parts of the world including India.
According to 1992-93 figures, it has been observed that only 9.2% of the
households in India were headed by females. Due to weak enforcement of laws
protecting them, women continue to have little access to land and property. The
2014 Gender Inequality Index (GII) of India ranks 130th out of 188 because men
continue to lead all our major institutions: politics, the judiciary, academia,
business, the professions, unions, sporting organizations, churches and so on.
The first principal cause of women's disadvantaged position is
traditional gender ideology that has rendered women's reproductive capacity
into a subordinated social position for women and a privileged position for men
in productive spheres resulting in a small percentage of 30 of female working
in the software industry in India. Women are more likely to be working under
minimum employment conditions and be engaged in low paid, casual and part time
work. They are more likely than men to work below their skill level in order to
achieve some sort of flexibility to care for their loved ones.
The second cause of women's disadvantage
lies in the nature of the economic reforms themselves. This includes
discrimination in the recruitment procedure, lesser wage rates for women in
certain sectors despite possessing same position and skills as that of
men. As far as social reforms are
concerned, many women do not currently have the resources to pursue legal
action or adequate legal representation or advocacy in tribunals and other
decision-making forums
All the above mentioned factors call for the need of
strengthening the role of women both in the society and the national economy through
up-gradation of existing reforms, laws and rights, provision of easy access to
knowledge and resources, freedom in decision making and life planning and
liberalization from restricting customs, beliefs and practices. Few such
measures to be incorporated in India may include:
1) Investments
in women's education and training: The strategy is
associated with the Nordic countries and the former state socialist countries
which led to high female labour-force participation, a rise in the age of
marriage, lower fertility rates, important economic and social contributions by
women, and a lessening of gender inequality.
In countries such as Tunisia and Turkey, foreign investments
contributing to increases in female employment represent an advance for women.
2)
Allotment
of specific job openings for women: In the years 1979-92,
China achieved an annual GNP growth rate of 9 per cent which is three times the
world average with an annual growth rate of 8.8 per cent by dedicating many of
the new job openings specifically to women because they learn fast and can
become highly productive. Cuba is another example to follow a government decree
in 1993 which encouraged women’s private businesses, and self-employment. A
similar manifestation in India can be seen in ‘Women Economic forum’, a Global
event hosted by ALL Ladies League (ALL) the world’s largest league of women which
shall be held in May 2017, New Delhi to provide job opportunities to women
worldwide with the support of 36 Theme Advisory Committees (TAC) and 5 Business
Advisory Committee.
3)
Introduction
of subcontracting arrangements and part time jobs:
The inspiration comes from Belgium, where the average earnings of a Belgian
woman reached 91 percent of the salary of
a Belgian man in 1999 due to the increasing availability of "part-time jobs
in services" for women.
4)
Improved
access to legal representation and advocacy: Human
rights legislation should provide education about Women rights and increase
funding to women’s advocacy services, community legal centres and legal aid to
ensure improved access to justice for women.
5)
Economic
Security: Under China’s planned economy, rural women were
employed by the production team as soon as they reached the working age and
were fully entitled to all forms of socialist welfare whenever they were ill or
gave birth to a child. Hence Economic Security in the form of maternity leave
benefits with job-back guarantees at workplaces, family allowances, childcare
facilities, and other support structures for mothers and children, inscribed in
labour legislation and social insurance programmes can prove to be an effective
measure.
6)
Reinforcement
of sex equality guarantees: The biggest success is Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms (1982 to 1985) which introduced two constitutional- equality
guarantees in Canada– 1) a general equality guarantee (on grounds including
sex) and 2) a specific guarantee of the rights and freedoms in the Charter to
men and women equally. It advanced women’s interests by placing legal
principles within women’s experiences and shaping them to be more responsive to
women’s needs.
7)
The
household responsibility system - In China, a general diversification
of ownership, household management, autonomy in production and distribution
according to output in 1979 has led rural women to take up a wider variety of
jobs and become the main force in agricultural production. The household
responsibility system, if introduced in India too can improve the social and
economic environment for rural women to undertake social production.
Presently,
India has various statutes and constitutional reforms already governing the
rights of women, but being a male dominated society, no success can be achieved
until women don’t use their rights. So this is the time when woman has to raise
her voice at all the stages whenever she is disgraced as ‘weak’, and is
boycotted from important roles to play and make her place in the competitive
world. The foundation for women empowerment is the awareness and awakening of
women itself towards her individual life. While laws are the pillars built on
that foundation to support the roof of success.
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