Question

Evaluate the various forms and causes of gender discrimination in india.

Answer 1

1. Poverty:

In India of the total 30 percent people who are below poverty line, 70 percent are women. Women’s poverty in India is directly related to the absence of economic opportunities and autonomy, lack of access to economic resources including credit , land ownership and inheritance, lack of access to education and support services and their minimal participation in the decision making process. The situation of women on economic front is no better and men still enjoy a larger share of the cake. Thus poverty stands at the root of gender discrimination in our patriarchal society and this economic dependence on the male counterpart is itself a cause of gender disparity.

2. Illiteracy:

Despite the notable efforts by the countries around the globe that have expanded for the basic education , there are approximately 960 million illiterate adults of whom two thirds are women .Educational backwardness of the girls has been the resultant cause of gender discrimination.

The progress towards education by girls is very slow and gender disparities persist at primary, upper primary and secondary stage of education. Girl’s account for only 43.7% of enrolment at primary level, 40 .9 % at upper primary level, 38.6% at secondary level and 36.9% at degree and above level. More over girl’s participation in education is still below 50% Gender differences in enrolment are prevalent in all the state at all levels. They are not able to realize full identity and power in all spheres of life only due to illiteracy.

3. Lack of Employment Facilities:

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Women are not able to resolve the conflict between new economic and old domestic roles. In both rural and urban India, women spend a large proportion of time on unpaid home sustaining work. Women are not able to respond to new opportunities and shift to new occupations because their mobility tends to be low due to intra-house hold allocation of responsibilities.

Rights and obligations within a house hold are not distributed evenly. Male ownership of assets and conventional division of labour reduce incentives for women to undertake new activities. In addition child bearing has clear implications for labour force participation by women. Time spent in bearing and rearing of children often results in de-Skilling, termination of long term labour contacts. Thus women are not being able to be economically self sufficient due to unemployment and their economic dependence on the male counterpart is itself a cause of gender disparity.