{"id":54247,"date":"2019-12-27T15:49:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T10:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54247"},"modified":"2020-02-26T15:52:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T10:22:01","slug":"7-pm-disrupting-the-gender-blind-political-discourse-in-india-27th-december-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-disrupting-the-gender-blind-political-discourse-in-india-27th-december-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | Disrupting the gender-blind political discourse in India | 27th December 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:&nbsp;<\/strong>Women Empowerment and how democracy can facilitate\nthe process of empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More in news:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the recently released Global Gap\nIndex report 2020, India slipped to the 112<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;rank\nfrom its 108<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;position in the 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Women Empowement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Women\nEmpowerment refers to complete emancipation of women from socio-economic\nshackles of dependency and deprivations.<\/li><li>Often\nmade synonymous to gender equality, the term women empowerment encompasses a\nmuch larger set of principles that needs whole-hearted attention.<\/li><li>The\nconcept of empowerment flows from the word power. Empowerment of women would\nmean encouraging women to be self-reliant, economically independent, have\npositive self-esteem, generate confidence to face any difficult situation and\nincite active participation in various socio-political development endeavors.<\/li><li>The\ngrowing conscience is to accept women as individuals capable of making rational\nand educated decisions about them as well as the society, increasing and\nimproving the economic, political and legal strength of the women, to ensure\nequal-right as men, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and\nsustainability, and improve the quality of life for their families and\ncommunities.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Democracy as a form of government\nfacilitates social transformation as the basic feature. It is presumed that the\nsocial transformation will work for the betterment of every section of the\nsociety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Democracy to promote women\nempowerment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It\nis acknowledged that democracy should entail the elimination of religiously\nendorsed privileges, the ending of domination by some over others and a general\nushering in of equality of opportunity.<\/li><li>This\nprocess is abetted by economic growth and the emergence of markets, which\nenable people to shed the constraints that have held them back.&nbsp;<\/li><li>When\nwomen lead equally (as men) in the political arena, it makes for stronger\ndecision-making and more representative governance.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Democratic\nfeatures such as participatory and representative nature helps in promoting\nwomen participation in decision making. This helps in women empowerment in\nvarious other aspects like social, economic and health etc.<\/li><li>As\ndo democracy strenghthens women empowerment, so does women empowerment\nstrenghthens democracy.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"406\" height=\"311\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/111-1.jpg?resize=406%2C311&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54248\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Findings of Global Gender Gap Report\n2020:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The\nGlobal Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in\n2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and\ntracking their progress over time.<\/li><li>The\nindex benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, education, health and\npolitical criteria and provides country rankings that allow for effective\ncomparisons across regions and income groups.<\/li><li>India\nhas slipped to the 112th spot from its 108th position in 2018 in the Global\nGender Gap Index 2020, which covered 153 economies.<\/li><li>India\nhas closed two-thirds of its overall gender gap (score of 66.8%). However, the\ncondition of women in large fringes of India\u2019s society is precarious. It has\nlost four positions since the previous edition, despite a small score\nimprovement, as some countries ranked lower than India have improved more.<\/li><li>The\neconomic gender gap runs particularly deep in India. It ranks 149th in economic\nparticipation and opportunity, and 117th in wage equality for similar work.\nOnly one-third of the gap has been bridged (score of 35.4%, down 7 places).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"625\" height=\"237\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/222-1.jpg?resize=625%2C237&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54249\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Among\nthe 153 countries studied, India is the only country where the economic gender\ngap is larger than the political gender gap.<\/li><li>India\nranked 18th in political empowerment and 4th in the number of years a female or\na male ruled a state.<\/li><li>The\nsubindex where the average gender gap is the smallest is Health and Survival,\nwhere 95.7% of the global gap has been closed so far. However, four large\ncountries, Pakistan (94.6%); India (94.4%); Vietnam (94.2%) and China (92.6%)\ntrail behind, which means that millions of women in these and other countries\nare not yet granted the same access to health as men.<\/li><li>India\nranks a low 150th on the Health and Survival subindex (94.4), as a result of\nthe skewed sex ratio at birth: there are 91 girls born per 100 boys born, a\nratio well below the natural one. Violence, forced marriage and discrimination\nin access to health remain pervasive. The situation and the trend are more positive\nin terms of gender gaps in education. The country ranked 112th in educational\nattainment<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Political Empowerment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The\nConstitution of India attempts to remove gender inequalities by banning\ndiscrimination based on sex and class, prohibiting human trafficking and forced\nlabor, and reserving elected positions for women. Women&#8217;s involvement in\npolitical parties is tied to the increasing demand for equal rights. In spite\nof constitutional provisions of gender equality yet only a few women have been\nable to make decisions by themselves in legislature. Indian women are\nrelatively disempowered and they enjoy lower status than that of men from times\nimmemorial.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/333-1.jpg?resize=614%2C421&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54250\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>78\nof these women have been elected to the Parliament in 2019 general elections, a\nslight increase from the 2014 polls where 62 women parliamentarians were\nelected.<\/li><li>While\n2019 Lok Sabha elections witnessed the highest number of women candidates\nsecuring seats in the lower house of the Parliament, equal representation of\nwomen in Parliament still has a long way to go. A 2018 study by the United\nNations University World Institute for Development Economics Research estimates\nthat \u201cwomen legislators in India raise luminosity growth in their\nconstituencies by about 15 percentage points per annum more than male\nlegislators.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What limits women representation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Political\nparties in India tend&nbsp;not to follow provisions&nbsp;in their constitutions\nreserving seats for women in different committees. The Women\u2019s Reservation Bill\nis pending since a decade in the Parliament.<\/li><li>The\nsecond barrier is&nbsp;the lack of education and leadership training<\/li><li>Additionally,\nsince women are&nbsp;not integrated&nbsp;in any local political process\ninitially, and, unlike men, are not part of the relevant social and power\nnetworks, women leaders are prone to inefficiencies.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;Economic survey for\n2017-18&nbsp;tabled in Parliament said&nbsp;factors such as&nbsp;domestic\nresponsibilities, prevailing cultural attitudes regarding roles of women in\nsociety and lack of support from family&nbsp;were among main reasons that prevented\nthem from entering politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The survey said there are\ndeveloping&nbsp;countries like Rwanda&nbsp;which has&nbsp;more than 60% women\nrepresentatives&nbsp;in parliament in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way Forward:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Affirmative\naction can empower more women:&nbsp;<\/strong>The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008, commonly\nknown as the Women\u2019s Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve one-third of all\nseats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies has been\nstill pending. Passage of such a inclusive bill will help in enhancing the\nprocess of women empowerment.<\/li><li><strong>National\nPolicy for the Empowerment of Women (2001)<\/strong>: The policy has been envisioned to bring about the\nadvancement, development and empowerment of women. However, there is need to\nimplement the policy in a more stringent way.<\/li><li>Inclusive\neconomic institutions and growth both necessary for and dependent on social\nempowerment require&nbsp;inclusive political institutions.<\/li><li>Political\nparties should come forward to&nbsp;increase women representatives.&nbsp;The\nabsence of critical mass of women representatives has pushed women to the\nfringes in power sharing and has adverse impacts on their overall political\nstatus.<\/li><li>Gender\nstereotypes&nbsp;which perceive women as weak representatives should be changes\nthrough awareness and education. Efforts need to be taken to enhance the\nparticipation of&nbsp;women in governance in large numbers.<\/li><li>Women\nPanchayati members&nbsp;have to be trained to analyse and understand their\nroles and responsibilities given in the 73rd&nbsp;amendment act.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/disrupting-the-gender-blind-political-discourse-in-india\/article30405483.ece\">https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/disrupting-the-gender-blind-political-discourse-in-india\/article30405483.ece<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context:&nbsp;Women Empowerment and how democracy can facilitate the process of empowerment. More in news: In the recently released Global Gap Index report 2020, India slipped to the 112th&nbsp;rank from its 108th&nbsp;position in the 2018. Women Empowement: Women Empowerment refers to complete emancipation of women from socio-economic shackles of dependency and deprivations. Often made synonymous to&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-disrupting-the-gender-blind-political-discourse-in-india-27th-december-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | Disrupting the gender-blind political discourse in India | 27th December 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,955,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-7-pm-brief-infograph","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704942913},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54247","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=54247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}