Author- Amrendra Nath, law student, Sai Nath University, Ranchi
Introduction
Male dominance over females is a very critical issue in Indian society that has existed for centuries. It is deeply ingrained in the patriarchal structure and traditional beliefs that give men higher social status and privileges over women. This article would try to explore these issues deeply and highlight the various aspects of male dominance over women, its history, situation, solutions and laws for the welfare of women living in India.
History of this problem
In Indian society, a history of male dominance over females can be traced back easily from our ancient history. Our traditional social structure revolved around the concept of patriarchy, which means a society where males held positions of power and authority over others while women were expected to be submissive, inferior and subordinate to them. This patriarchal system was deeply ingrained in religious beliefs and was perpetuated through cultural texts, norms and practices.
The oldest Indian text, the Rigveda portrayed women as objects of desire or sources of temptation. Even Tulsidasa used shloka “Dhol Ganwar Shudra Pashu Nari, Sakal Taadana Ke Adhikari.” to address untouchables and women in his famous religious ccreation ‘Ramacharitamanasa’. This shows the situation of women in the ancient period of our history. Women were expected to prioritize their roles as daughters, wives, and mothers, placing their family’s needs above their ambitions and desires. This create and propagated the idea that women’s prime duty is to serve and support men.
Arranged marriages were the most common way to oppress women. They get forcefully married at a young with a man chosen by their family. It doesn’t matter how his husband treats him, she had to spend her whole life with that man. Divorce was not acceptable, due to which women were left trapped in unhappy or abusive marriages.
Throughout the years, several social reform movements have tried to address the issue of male dominance over women and tried to neutralize and eliminate these patriarchal norms. The struggle and hard work of social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Mahatma Gandhi played a crucial role in the struggle for gender equality. Over time, with the help of the sacrifice of Dr B.R Ambedkar, many legislative changes happened, it was Dr Ambedkar who first proposed the idea of women’s rights and the Hindu Code Bill in the Parliament which got rejected at that time in the Assembly. Even, The head of Assembly Dr Rajendra Prasad was against giving rights to women. Organisations like RSS and Vishva Hindu Mahasabha started protesting and burning Dr Ambedkar’s statues. Due to the rejection of the bill in the Assembly, Dr B.R Ambedkar resigned from his post of Law Minster. Later, on 17 July 1956 approximately 5 months before the death of Dr Ambedkar Assembly accepted the Hindu Code Bill under the leadership of Pt. Nehru. After the introduction of the Act for the first time in thousands of years women got property rights, the right to divorce, right to remarriage ( widow). The Act includes the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956 which have attempted to address and fight against gender discrimination in Indian society.
Current situation of women in different fields as compared to men
In various fields of society, women continue to face challenges and discrimination as compared to men. Here are some examples of where women face disparities:
1. Women are still facing challenges in getting sufficient education and before completing their education they get forcefully married.
2. Women remained underrepresented in Employment fields and Career Advancement. It is rarely seen that a woman is in a leadership position.
3. Very less representation of women in our country’s assembly.
4. Media and Entertainment industry portrays women as lust objects and shows them in inferior, negative and disturbing roles.
5. Less coverage of women’s sports, giving less funding and praise to women athletes.
Is women empowerment in work?
Women empowerment is an ongoing process to give women the type of society they deserve. In many surveys, it is found that as compared 90the situation in 90’s, more women are getting employed and educated. But, the issues like gender-based violence and discrimination still exist in our Indian society. Apart from women-related development issues like the pay- gap, and fewer opportunities, male preference still exists. Our Patriarchal society and cultural beliefs are the major factors that are creating resistance in the path of women’s equality.
To achieve a perfect women-empowered society we need continuous efforts from individuals, organisations, and Government. Promoting gender equality, fighting stereotypes of society, and equal opportunities will provide an ideal environment for women’s empowerment in Indian society.
So, we could say the women empowerment programmes made a lot of progress in the development of women’s situation in society but still a very long journey remained uncovered.
Solutions
To stop and fight against the oppression of women in our male dominant society. We need to encounter and break many cultural and social norms of our Indian society. Some of the solutions which could help women to get a strong stand in front of men are as follows:
1. To give Education and awareness of gender equality to both boys and girls from an early age
2. To promote Legal reforms and enforcement of laws that fight against discrimination against women in our society.
3. To give economic empowerment to the women by giving them their actual deserving salaries or pay cheques.
4. By giving women political representation to women in the country’s and State’s assemblies.
5. By eliminating a patriarchal mindset of our own.
6. By promoting Social campaigns which are fighting for women’s rights and the media should too give them representation in front of all citizens about the need for gender equality and women’s rights.
7. By eliminating the social and cultural beliefs that violate women’s rights and equality.
8. By giving women the stand to raise their voices in front of society and the country.
We should understand that eliminating the male-dominant mindset from our society needs constant and non-stop tries from all individuals, organisations, and Governments. It needs a strong determination from all citizens to give our mothers, sisters and daughters a society where they could live and enjoy a healthy life without any kind of oppression by any male.
Laws for women’s empowerment
To fight against the issue of male dominance over females in Indian society, several laws were introduced to empower women and promote gender equality. The Domestic Violence Act, 2005, The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013, The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (amended in 2005), The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013, etc. are some important laws made by the legislative to address the challenges created by our Patriarchal society. This helps women in our society to stand against discrimination, biases and oppression done with them.
We know that the effectiveness of these laws is not very strong in our society, but they have played a crucial role in spreading awareness and fighting against our male dominant Indian Society.
Case laws in women’s support
There have been several landmark case laws in India that have played a crucial role in supporting women’s rights and empowerment. Some remarkable case laws include:
- Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan (1997): This landmark case is very important as in this case, the supreme court held that the harassment of women in the workplace is a violation of a woman’s fundamental right given under the constitution. This case gave Vishakha Guidelines to women who used to work as an act for women’s safety and protection until the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace ( Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 act came into force.
- Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration (2010): This is a remarkable case in Indian history as previously women were seen as an instrument of giving birth. It doesn’t matter whether women want to give birth or not. In this case, the court held that it would be the women’s decision whether she want to give birth or abort the child but with some exceptions decided under the law. The reproductive rights of women fall under personal rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- Laxmi v. Union of India (2013): This is a remarkable case for the victims of the Acid attack. In this case, the supreme court held that the central government and state government have to provide free medical treatment and rehabilitation support to the acid attack victims. And, along with that supreme court set many guidelines on the sale of acid to prevent it to get into the hands of people with malicious minds.
- Independent Thought v. Union of India (2017): As a result of Minor marriage, girls of little age had to go into situations like forceful sexual intercourse by their husbands. It doesn’t matter if it was consensual or forceful, the girls couldn’t able to seek legal remedies against their husbands. But in this case, the Supreme Court held that irrespective of marriage sexual intercourse with a minor girl would be seen as a Rape
Conclusion
These court judgements helped to strengthen and empower women’s rights in Indian society. These judgements set precedents and laws for upcoming women’s rights cases which would help in giving more accurate decisions in the favour of women.