Why is Gender Inequality still a big issue in India even after it's after 70 years of independence.
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Answer:
It have been 70 years of India's independence but still Gender inequality is a big issue. This is because gender discrimination has been deep rooted in our society. Illiteracy, blind faith, stereotypes, etc. In our country, women still lag behind men despite some improvements since independence. Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in the following ways :
• The literacy rate among women is 56.4 % compared with 76 % among men. Similarly, a smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies. When we look at school results, girls perform as well as boys, if not better than boys in some places. Many girls in India tend to leave their education midway because of economically weak parents who prefer to spend their resources and money for the education of their son as compared to that of their daughter. Also money that cab be invested for the education of a daughter is rather saved for her dowry and marriage.
• Women form a small potion among highly paid and valued jobs. Many girls are not able to pursue higher education in India due to early marriage, inaccessibility to higher education institutes or lack of money to pursue higher education. Therefore they do not have the qualification to apply for high paying jobs. Also people have preferential policy towards male applicants for jobs instead of females.
• On an average an Indian women works one hour more than an average man every day. Yet much of her work is not paid and therefore often not valued.
• The Equal Wages Act provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work. However in almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema, to factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when both of them do exactly the same work.
• There are instances of sexual harassment and domestic violence against women which deters the formation of a supportive environment for a woman to pursue her ambitions and fulfil her dreams as per potential. There conditions are created due to assumption of women being physically weaker, lack of protection from State agencies such as police and structure of the patriarchal society.
• There are sex - selective abortions in India. A girl child is aborted due to preference of a male child among several Indian parents and the assumption that a girl child will be a burden on the economic wealth of the parents. The sex ratio in India is 927 girls to every 100 boys which have fallen to even 800 : 1000 in some parts of India.