{"id":53839,"date":"2019-11-08T19:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T13:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=53839"},"modified":"2019-11-08T16:39:13","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T11:09:13","slug":"7-pm-the-business-case-for-gender-equality-in-our-society-8th-november-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-business-case-for-gender-equality-in-our-society-8th-november-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | The business case for gender equality in our society | 8th November, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>Gender\nequality in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gender\nEquality: <\/strong>Gender\nequality is achieved when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities\nacross all sectors of society, including economic participation and\ndecision-making, and when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of\nwomen and men are equally valued and favoured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fact-Sheet\nof position of Women in Indian Society:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Economic\nparticipation: <\/strong>Only 18% of India\u2019s GDP is from paid work by women,\ncompared to 40% in China. <\/li><li><strong>Labour\nforce: <\/strong>India\nranks 120 among 131 countries in female labour force participation rates. <\/li><li>In the past decade, while Indian GDP has\ngrown by around 6%, there has been a&nbsp;large decline in female labour force\nparticipation&nbsp;from 34% to 27%, compared to 48% globally.&nbsp; <\/li><li><strong>Wage\ngap: <\/strong>The&nbsp;male-female\nwage gap has been stagnant at 50%&nbsp;(a recent survey finds a&nbsp;27% gender\npay gap&nbsp;in white-collar jobs). <\/li><li><strong>Crime against women:<\/strong> The rate of crimes\nagainst women in India stands at 53.9 percent in India. In Delhi, the capital\ncity, 92 percent of women reported having experienced sexual or physical\nviolence in public spaces.<\/li><li><strong>Parliament\n: <\/strong>Only\n14% of India\u2019s elected members of Parliament are women compared to 24% of the\nmembers of the House of Representatives in the US.<\/li><li><strong>The&nbsp;2018\nGlobal Gender Gap report<\/strong>&nbsp;ranks India at a dismal 108 out of\n149 countries.<\/li><li>With a remaining gender gap of 34.2 per\ncent, India ranks fourth in the South Asian region, well behind Bangladesh, Sri\nLanka and Nepal. <\/li><li><strong>NITI\nAayog\u2019s Report: <\/strong>India\u2019s official think tank&nbsp;NITI Aayog has\nrecently released a&nbsp;report&nbsp;highlighting states\u2019 performance on\ndifferent indicators. Except two, all states fall in the red zone &#8211; a NITI\nAayog criteria for poor performers.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>NITI\nAayog has considered six criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>sex\nratio at birth (female per 1,000 male), <\/li><li>average\nfemale to male ratio of average wages, <\/li><li>percentage\nof married women aged 15-49 years who have&nbsp;ever experienced spousal\nviolence, <\/li><li>percentage\nof seats won by women in the general elections to state legislative assembly, <\/li><li>ratio\nof female labour force participation rate to male labour force participation\nrate <\/li><li>percentage\nof women in the age group of 15-49 years using modern methods of family\nplanning. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And the\nresults are worrying for all states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The\nrole of\ngender in the economy seen from the point of view of companies and society at\nlarge:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Companies across the world with more than\none woman on their boards have generated shareholder returns 3.3% higher each\nyear than companies with no women on the board.&nbsp;<\/li><li>A Harvard Business Review study shows that\ncompanies with women occupying 30% of leadership positions are 15% more\nprofitable than companies with no women in leadership positions.<\/li><li>The economic impact of achieving gender\nequality in India is estimated to be US$700 billion of added GDP by 2025. <\/li><li>The IMF estimates that if Indian women\nparticipated in the workforce to the same extent as women across the world,\nIndia\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) would be higher by 27% and grow an\nadditional 1.5% each year.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Women\u2019s\nparticipation in the labour force:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can be analysed\nacross three income levels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Low\nIncome group: <\/strong>Women in very low-income households work by necessity,\nmostly in the informal sector. <\/li><li>An\nestimated 120 million, or 97% of all female workers, fall into this category. <\/li><li>Here,\nparticipation rates of rural women are twice as high as those of urban women\nand they presumably work on agriculture or low-paying jobs.<\/li><li><strong>Middle income\ngroup: <\/strong>As\nfamilies become more prosperous and the need to generate income diminishes,\nfewer women enter the labour force. Societal norms favour women playing the\nrole of caregivers and home-makers.<\/li><li><strong>College\ngoing women: <\/strong>In this last category of college-going women, one\nobserves a curious phenomenon. While 44% of graduating college students are\nwomen, only 25% of entry-level professionals are women. This indicates yet\nanother cultural norm of early marriage and home-based roles for women.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Legal\nand Constitutional Safeguards against Gender Inequality:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Indian Constitution provides for positive\nefforts to eliminate gender inequality:<\/li><li>the\nPreamble to the Constitution talks about goals of achieving social, economic\nand political justice to everyone and to provide equality of status and of\nopportunity to all its citizens.<\/li><li>Women\nhave equal right to vote in our political system.<\/li><li>Article\n15 of the Constitution provides for prohibition of discrimination on grounds of\n<em>sex <\/em>also apart from other grounds such as religion, race, caste or place\nof birth. Article 15(3) authorizes the Sate to make any special provision for\nwomen and children.<\/li><li>The\nDirective Principles of State Policy also provides various provisions which are\nfor the benefit of women and provides safeguards against discrimination.<\/li><li>Various protective Legislations have also\nbeen passed by the Parliament to eliminate exploitation of women and to give\nthem equal status in society. For instance:<\/li><li>the\nSati (Prevention) Act, 1987 was enacted to abolish and make punishable the\ninhuman custom of Sati;<\/li><li>the\nDowry Prohibition Act, 1961 to eliminate the practice of dowry;<\/li><li>the\nSpecial Marriage Act, 1954 to give rightful status to married couples who marry\ninter-caste or interreligion;<\/li><li>Pre-Natal\nDiagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Bill (introduced in\nParliament in 1991, passed in 1994 to stop female infanticide and many more\nsuch Acts.<\/li><li>&nbsp;the Parliament from time to time brings out\namendments to existing laws in order to give protection to women according to\nthe changing needs of the society, for instance, Section 304-B was added to the\nIndian Penal Code, 1860 to make dowry-death or bride-burning a specific offence\npunishable with maximum punishment of life imprisonment.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Potential\nAreas of Focus:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Legislation at the national or state level\nmandating gender equality can go a long way in removing these hurdles. <\/li><li>Better education for the girl child,\nremoval of barriers to entrepreneurship and other such legislative actions make\nthe system more conducive for women to succeed in.<\/li><li>Corporations can come in support for women\nemployees in the form of child care, maternity leave and flexitime can go a\nlong way in this regard.<\/li><li>The private sector and business community\nwill be crucial in helping bridge the gap between skills and jobs and enable\naccess to decent work for women. <\/li><li>Vocational and technical training, life\nskills and financial literacy programmes for women to help them develop\nmarketable skills and better decision-making abilities cannot be undertaken in\na meaningful way without the involvement of industry. <\/li><li>The Government of India\u2019s MUDRA scheme to support micro and\nsmall enterprises and direct benefit transfers under the Jan Dhan Yojana seeks\nto empower women. Women entrepreneurs account for about 78 percent of the total\nnumber of borrowers under MUDRA.<\/li><li>Companies can also invest in women\nentrepreneurs through microfinance, and bring their goods and services into\nsupply chains. <\/li><li>Enhancing women\u2019s access to the internet\nand ICT can create a merging market of connected women who can be linked to\nbusiness opportunities. <\/li><li>In addition, as employers, the private\nsector can invest in women\u2019s security against violence at home and in public\nspaces, and take steps to ensure their mobility through inclusive transport.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion:\n<\/strong>As\nrightly said by Swami Vivekanand, &#8216;Just as a bird cannot fly with one wing\nonly, a Nation cannot march forward if the women are left behind&#8217;. Men and\nwomen are the two holes of a perfect whole. Strength is borne of their union\ntheir separation results in weakness. Each has what the other does not have. Respect for women\nand their freedom is something we must build into our society &#8211; for society\u2019s\nsake more than for women\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/opinion\/online-views\/the-business-case-for-gender-equality-in-our-society-11573147376502.html\">https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/opinion\/online-views\/the-business-case-for-gender-equality-in-our-society-11573147376502.html<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Gender equality in India. Gender Equality: Gender equality is achieved when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision-making, and when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men are equally valued and favoured. Fact-Sheet of position of Women in Indian&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-business-case-for-gender-equality-in-our-society-8th-november-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | The business case for gender equality in our society | 8th November, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704956491},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}