Pathways to Power Creating Sustainable Change for Adolescent Girls The State of the Girls in India 2014
Pathways to Power Creating Sustainable Change for Adolescent Girls The State of the Girl Child in India 2014
Foreword
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Foreword
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Preface Pathways of Power – Creating Sustainable Change for Adolescent Girls is Plan India’s sixth annual report on the State of the Girls in India. It looks at the dynamics of power and their impact on girls’ rights and empowerment. Power is the ability to shape one’s life and one’s environment. The lack of power is one of the main barriers that prevent girls and women from realising their rights and escaping cycles of poverty. Gender-based empowerment involves building girls’ assets (social, economic, political and personal), strengthening girls’ ability to make choices about their future, and developing girls’ sense of self worth and their belief in their own ability to control their lives. However, power cannot be given. To be truly empowered means that women and girls have to take power for themselves. The barriers preventing women’s and girls’ empowerment, however, extends beyond them. Families, communities, institutions - legal and political all effect the way women and girls perceive and access their rights to choose and take decisions on matters that impact their lives. For true and transformational change to happen in the lives of girls, therefore, we need to work at different levels: at the level of the girls, on their education and skills; with communities, challenging discriminatory attitudes and social norms so that families value girls more and treat them with equality and respect. And with the State – to advocate for laws and policies that support girls’ and women’s rights and prevent gender based violence. Plan India has a long standing commitment to promote and secure rights of girls through its programs on education and learning, building life skills, knowledge, self-esteem, confidence and leadership capacity of girls. Gender equality is a core principle of our Child Centred Community Development (CCCD) approach in all the communities that we work in across 13 states of the country. When we first began the report series in 2009, it was difficult coming across data outside of our program areas that looked at the lives of girls. Girls were classified either under “children” or under “women”. There was little understanding of their needs or their rights by age. Today with many programmes that focus on girls and particularly on adolescent girls, we have a much better understanding of the impact of gender and age on poverty and inequality. The primary survey conducted across 6 states and in Plan communities with young men and women who have benefitted from our programs would definitely inform our work. However the stories of our girls are the stories of millions of girls across the country and the findings of the report have a much wider implication and will find resonance with all the stakeholders we work with: girls and boys, their families and communities, the local, regional and national government structures, institutions, donors, corporate sector and civil society. We hope that the report will contribute to strengthening regional and national policy perspectives and help in developing programs that look beyond quantitative achievements and aim to bring about lasting qualitative changes in the lives of girls.
Bhagyashri Dengle Executive Director, Plan India iii
Acknowledgement This report was made possible with the advice and contributions of many. We acknowledge the patience of young women and men and their parents with whom we interacted through a series of interviews and informal discussions. This helped us comprehend the real challenges they face in their everyday life situations and the pathways to resolve them brick by brick. The report benefitted a lot from the discussions with Ms. Rashmi Singh, Director, National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) and her team. The discussions on the overall policy decisions of the Government of India, its framework and current challenges to reach out the unreached helped inform our section on the role of the government. The NMEW is very much aware of the existing milieu and the critical challenges that young girls and women face today in India and acknowledge that there is an urgent need to bridge public and private dialogue and establish meaningful partnerships for the best interests of society. Our sincere gratitude to Ms. Sunita Menon, Breakthrough for her valuable opinion, thoughtful deliberations, useful suggestions on the challenges of women empowerment in India and on the way forward. We acknowledge the support from Nielsen (India) team led by Mr. Tathagata Dasgupta in undertaking the study, maintaining a high quality of interactions at all levels and weaving together the stream of ideas and perspectives from our young adults into an analytical framework. A special thanks to the Plan India State teams across the study states: Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar for their support towards coordination of field visits and survey. Special thanks to Ms. Lilly Vishwanathan for her inputs, advice and value addition to the report. Plan India would like to thank Ashima Kumar for the design and layout. Subrata Banerjee our Manager, Research and Evaluation effectively coordinated and supported in the execution of the study. This report has drawn relevant content from the Plan International State of the World’s Girls, 2014 report. We express our appreciation and gratitude to the Plan International Research team that put together the global report.
Meena Narula Director Strategy and Policy, Plan India
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List of acronyms BIAAG
Because I am a Girl
CASP
Community Aid and Sponsorship Programme
CBO
Community Based Organization
CCCD
Child Centred Community Development
CEDAW
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
ILO
International Labour Organization
NCW
National Commission for Women
NRHM
National Rural Health Mission
NMEW
National Mission for Empowerment of Women
MDG
Millennium Development Goals
MOHFW
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
MSME
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise
MOEF
Ministry of Environment and Forests
MSJE
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
MWCD
Ministry of Women and Child Development
PRI
Panchayati Raj Institution (Local governance institutions)
PSK
Poorna Shakti Kendra ( Convergence cum facilitation centres)
SBMA
Sri Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram
SHG
Self Help Groups
SSA
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ( Education for All)
ULB
Urban Local Bodies
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Contents Section 1
Carving out Pathways of Power for our girls and young women – Introduction
Section 2
The role of the State –the bricks and mortar of gender Equality
Section 3
Attitudes, ideas and values – the inequality of the everyday- Factors influencing empowerment
Section 4
Gender Based roles of Women – The changing scenario
Section 5
Participation of Young Women in Governance
Section 6
Girls leadership and collective action – from participation to power – stories of change
Section 7
Conclusion and the Way Forward
Section 8
References
Section 9
Annexures
Photo credits: Plan India
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SECTION 1 CARVING OUT PATHWAYS OF POWER FOR GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN
“I am uncompromising in the matter of women’s rights. In my opinion she should labour under no legal disability not suffered by a man. I should treat daughters and sons on an equal footing” - Mahatma Gandhi The quest for gender equality and women’s rights – the carving out of their pathways of power has been a long and ongoing struggle in India as it has across most parts of the world.
About the State of girls in India reports Plan India has a long standing commitment to promote and secure rights of girls through its programs on education and learning, building life skills, knowledge, self-esteem, confidence and leadership capacity of girls. Gender equality is a core principle of our Child Centred Community Development (CCCD) approach in all the communities that we work in across 13 states of the country.
Girls’ lives continue to be limited by the double jeopardy of their being young and female. The combined effect of their gender with other social structures on account of caste, ethnicity, class, religion, disability, leaves many young women in India facing marginalization and multiple discrimination through their life cycle often denied their rights to survival, protection, participation and development. Given the deeply embedded social norms of patriarchy in the country reflected in son preference and low value placed on the girl child, girls and women are more likely denied access to health care, education, vocational training, employment and income generation opportunities besides being excluded from social and community activities when compared to boys and men.
Because I am a Girl (BIAAG) is a global campaign initiated by Plan to promote girls’ rights and draw attention to issues that adversely impact their sur vival, development, protection and participation. Aligned with this theme, Plan India conducts an annual research with specific focus on girls. This is Plan India’s sixth annual The State of the Girls in India report. In previous years we have argued for girls’ rights and for the kind of gender equality that would really transform the societies we live in. We have looked at gender discrimination in education, vulnerabilities that girls are exposed to in the very fast changing urban landscape and in the digital arena, roles boys and men can play towards achieving gender equality and opportunities, challenges faced by girls in gaining skills for life and the situation of adolescent girls facing disasters. We have showed that there has been progress, but argued that these have been far too slow. These reports have supported our advocacy for policy implementation with the government, the primary duty bearers and informed our own work.
Very often programs investing in what is called a strategy of ‘empowerment’ take a more limited view of empowerment, and are focused on building girls’ life skills through group formation and ‘safe spaces for girls’ .2 The outcomes of these initiatives have shown promise in terms of building a girl’s assets and strengthening her ability to make choices; promoting learning, and increasing her skills, knowledge, self-esteem, confidence and leadership capacity. While this focus on girls is a positive step, limited approaches to girls’ empowerment
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will not address many of the barriers to gender equality, which are structural rather than individual. They are not rooted in a girl’s lack of confidence or even skills and knowledge, but in the attitudes and institutions that deny her opportunities and undervalue her strengths and potential.
authorities, business practices, and legislative policy.
Power doesn’t operate in a vacuum; it plays out in a range of institutions that touch all of our lives. Visible and invisible forms of power over girls are reproduced and deepened through society’s most powerful institutions: households and communities, the economic institutions and the world of work, and the legal and political institutions of the state. All three areas are also critical dimensions of empowerment. How girls are valued is dependent on the attitudes and behaviours of the people surrounding them and it is girls who often pay the price for how power is wielded by parents, community leaders, local government
The dynamics of power depend very much on the type of space in which it is found, the level at which it operates and the form it takes1.
Table 1: The various dimensions of Power
Power takes different for ms Vis ibl e: ob se rva ble de cis ion making mechanisms Hidden: shaping or inf luencing the political agenda be hind the scenes Inv isib le: no rm s an d be lie fs, socialisation, ideology
in different Power is acted out spaces ade by closed Closed: decisions m groups d to Invited: people aske in set participate but with boundaries ss powerful Created/claimed: le e where they actors claim a spac enda can set their own ag
Source:
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Power occurs at different leve ls Household Local National Global
change through which women expand their ability to make strategic choices about their lives and to participate on equal terms with men in bringing about desired changes in the society in which they live.” She emphasises: “It is widely recognised that empowerment is a multi-dimensional process, encompassing changes in the political, social and economic spheres of life and that these different dimensions of empowerment are closely inter-related so that significant change in one dimension is likely to generate changes in others.”
Deconstructing Empowerment Empowerment in its broadest term can be described as the manner in which an individual’s personal, inter-personal or political powers are improved so that one can take steps to improve one’s life situations (Gutierrez, 1990). It is a process by which those who have been denied the ability to make strategic life choices acquire the ability to do so. The disempowerment suffered by women cuts across various economic, social and political dimensions. Deep rooted traditional belief of gender bias and discrimination coupled with poor access to health, nutrition, health services alongside exclusion from public and political spheres has adversely impacted women empowerment.
A better understanding of empowerment can be drawn if it is conceptualised in terms of the ‘ability to make choices among the given alternatives’. In other words, to be disempowered implies to be denied a ‘choice’. In this situation, choice necessarily implies the possibility of alternatives (not just yes and no choices) and can only be exercised on the basis of three inter-related dimensions: resources (pre-conditions), agency (process) and achievements (outcomes)2.
Discussions around power in relation to gender equality often centre on the notion of women and girls’ ‘empowerment’. It is an approach that can be used to reconstruct power. Social economist Naila Kabeer defines empowerment as: “The processes of
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The usage of the concept of empowerment is based on a particular understanding of power. It includes an unobservable decision making process as well as the ability to exert influence over the decisions made. Empowerment is thus, rooted in how people see themselves – their sense of self-worth and how they are seen by those around them and the society.
Resources include available human, financial and social capital that serve to enhance the ability to exercise choice. Agency refers to both ‘power to’ and ‘power over’. Resources and agency together make up for people’s capabilities and their potential for living the lives they want. The term ‘achievements’ refers to the extent to which this potential is realised. The three dimensions that make up the concept of empowerment can be seen as representing the pathways through which these processes of empowerment can occur3.
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Table 1: can we do this differently types of empowerment Economic
Social
Political
Legal
• Employability in formal sector
• Inclusive growth (health + sanitation + education + infrastructure facilties)
• Participation in political processes (voting etc.)
• Enabling legislations (should also ensure equal protection under the law for all)
• Increased asset base • Improve conditions of self employed women (including home based and small producers) • Work force participation • Financial Inclusion • Equal remuneration • Skill Development (which is not only gender based) • Provisons, aids schemes for female farmers • Social security for women in unorganised sector
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• Gender and age appropriate health schemes • Food Security • Enabling educational environment • Safe sanitation and transport facilities • Violence against women (early marriage, domestic violence, sexual and emotional abuse, trafficking) • Vulnerable women (diffrently abled, trafficked, SC/ST, widows)
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• Equal participation in political institutions/ local governance • Equal participation in decision making process • Important Political organisations: • Urban Local Bodies • Gram Panchayats (Meaning??) How about representation and active role in political institutions and local governance?
• Legal literacy • Awareness on women's rights • Gender sensitive legislative system • Redressal Mechanisms • How about active local level government redressal mechanisms
To bring about sustainable and transformative change therefore means an investment not just in girls themselves, but also a strategic shift in the external barriers that block their way to power. This involves working, of course, with girls, but also with the social institutions of families and communities and with the powerful political, economic and legal institutions that can either promote or impede girls’ access to equality and their exercise of real choice in the way they live their lives. . 3 As Plan’s global report on the State of the World’s girls, 2007 noted: “The layers of discrimination faced by particular groups of girls will only be changed by a combination of supportive and protective legislation and the promotion of attitudinal change.” 4 The structural barriers to achieving equality for girls and young women need to be tackled head on if there are to be any lasting change for girls.
About the Report Pathways to Power, Plan India’s State of the Girls in India, 2014 report is grounded in a conceptual framework of girls’ empowerment that is inherently multidimensional, and involves changes in the social, political and economic spheres of governance. It is based upon a holistic approach whereby change is only possible through tackling three interconnected dimensions of agency, social relations and structures The report looks at the influence of different forms of power in these public and private spaces, and what this means for the prospects of gender equality and for girls and young women in particular. We analyse the barriers that girls face on their own pathway towards empowerment. And we focus on how to challenge and change these realities of power, with girls’ collective action as a crucial part of the solution
As the world negotiates a new framework for poverty reduction at the end of the Millennium Development Goals after 2015, it is time for a new approach to gender equality: one which addresses the question of power directly, and creates an enabling environment for all women and girls in the 21st century. Otherwise, with every step forward, there may well be two steps backwards.
The report was developed through a syncretic approach combining literature and desk top review with a primary survey (qualitative and quantitative) with young women and men, their families and representatives of civil society and the government. It looked at the rights of girls and young women on issues related to education, early marriage, gender based violence and domestic work
Gender Transformative An explicit intention to transform unequal power relations. The focus goes beyond improving conditions for women and girls and seeks to change their social position – how they are valued in society – as well as fully realising their rights.
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geographical coverage, sampling and methodology adopted in carrying out the quantitative and qualitative research
Key components of the report 1. A literature review of existing laws, l e g i s l at i v e a n d p ro g ra m m at i c provisions for ensuring the rights of girls and young women in issues related to education, early marriage, gender-based violence and domestic work.
Section 2 (Global and National Instruments promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment) includes the documentation some key global and national policies, programs and legal provisions that recognize the agency of women and commit to their empowerment. A snapshot of National Policy for Empowerment of Women and a case of and an NGO’s take on Empowerment have also been documented.
2. An analysis of the role of local governance structures (communitybased institutions), women’s collectives and government in upholding the rights of girls (enabling factors and constraints).
Section 3 (Factors Influencing Empowerment) draws upon the findings from the primary survey, specifically with regard to the influence of education. It traces the impact of provision of incentives and the quality of skill training available. It also traces the implication of existing social and cultural practices such as early marriage and gender-based violence has also been analysed.
3. A documentation of perceptions, opinions and views of young women and men (18-25 years) and their family members on existing social and cultural norms on attitudes towards girls and factors influencing change (enabling or constraining) 4. Documentation of case studies from Plan program areas and control groups that demonstrate positive deviance or challenges faced by girls, boys and young adults on issues related to education, early marriage, gender-based violence and domestic work.
Section 4 (Gender-Based Role of Women) records the perceptions and attitude of young adults and their parents towards equitable gender roles, treatment of women in family and decision making capacity of young women in the family and society.
5. Recommendation on programs and policies towards creating an enabling and equitable environment for ensuring rights of girls and young women.
Section 5 (Participation of Young Women in Local Governance) looks at the extent of involvement of young women in exercising their civil rights, their participation in local governance and the presence of women in leadership roles. Additionally it also looks at the socio-political awareness of young women, their access to media and their participation in group actions
Structure of the report Section 1 ( Carving out Pathways to Power) of the report provides the background by setting out to define the different empowerment and the types of power the components and the scope of the study and the survey design that includes the Pathways to Power
Section 6 (Cases of Positive Deviance) documents three inspiring case studies of young women, who asserted their power within to change their lives, challenging family 8
decisions on early marriage, continuing with their higher education, participating in group activities and also a young women’s group that takes on social issues to spread awareness through street plays. Section 7 (Conclusion and Way Forward) The concluding section of the report analyses the existing barriers for young women in local leadership, the issues of adolescent health policy and the influence of social media as a platform for expression. It also outlines key recommendations for f u t u re a c t i o n b ot h at p o l i c y a n d programming level.
situation related to education, early marriage, domestic work, gender-based violence and decision making regarding girls and young women in their own lives, family and the community in which they live
About the Primary Survey Between _________, 2013 and _______ 2014, Plan India commissioned a primary survey in 8 program states and interviewed _______ young women and men in to assess the extent to which they perceive they are able to take decisions regarding their own life. The survey comprised of both qualitative and quantitative tools to draw out a comparative account of responses from young women and men (18-25 years) in Plan program areas and control group areas. The survey tools were designed to capture their ability to influence the
Objective of the survey The primary objective of the study is to explore the extent to which young women (18-25 years), benefitting from social development programs, are able to take decisions regarding their lives and the influence the perceptions and decisions of their family, community, local, institutional and political and governance on their lives and girls in their family and community
Scope of the study Objective 1 To undertake a literature review of existing laws, legislative and programmatic provisions (social security) for ensuring protection of girls and women Existing legal and legislative systems and social security programs to support and ensure girl’s and women’s rights Structures of Government / governance systems and if there are mechanisms through which the laws and social security programs implemented and their effectiveness
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Objective 2 To understand the strengths and limitations of key duty bearers such as local governance structures, women’s associations and government in upholding the rights of girls Perspectives of key stakeholders on effectiveness of the legal framework and provisions, policies and schemes Perspectives on hidden influential structures that need to be strengthened to ensure gender equality Meaningful participation of girls and young women in decision making bodies at different levels of governance systems Accountability of governing structures with regard to gender equality and ensuring rights of girls Objective 3 To understand, the social and cultural norms , attitudes and practices of families, communities, local governance structures and government Traditional, social and cultural norms responsible for girls and young women being treated differently Role and influence of social media, television, radio, print media in realising rights of the girls and young women Level of engagement of adolescent girls and young women in decision making process at all levels Barriers for girls and young women to local leadership in community, media and social activism Objective 4 Documenting good practices at the programmatic and policy level Presentation of case studies from Plan program areas and non-Plan areas on enabling and disabling factors for young girls Case studies of young people from communities in which Plan has worked/is working as aligned to the CCCD approach Objective 5 To derive programing and policy related recommendations towards creating an enabling and equitable environment for realising rights of girls and young women Effectively synthesise information to generate program and policy related recommendations towards realising the rights of girls and young women Pathways to Power
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Geographical Coverage The survey was conducted in the following Plan program states covering both urban and rural populations Table 2: plan program areas covered for primary survey State Andhra Pradesh
District / City RangaReddy
Name of PU / Partner CAP
Delhi
Delhi
CASP
Maharashtra
Pune
CASP
Bihar
Muzaffarpur
Adithi
Uttarakhand
Uttarkashi
SBMA (Uttarkashi )
Rajasthan
Bikaner
Urmul Bajju & Urmul Lunkaransar)
Udaipur
Sevamandir
Rural
Figure 1: Geographical coverage
Uttarakhand Delhi
Rajasthan Bihar
Maharasthra
Andhra Pradesh
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Location Type Urban
for them to realise their rights and be empowered, were also elicited. The interactions were also undertaken in the control areas to attempt to draw programmatic and policy related recommendations.
Methodology The survey tracked young women and men (18-25years) living/ having lived in the communities where Plan works and those who have benefited from Plan programs for three to five years. Interactions were undertaken with them to understand the extent to which they are empowered to use information and skills acquired to positively influence decisions related to them and their siblings in their family and in the community. The discussions also captured the challenges faced by them once they phased out of program support. Their suggestions and recommendations on what needs to change
In addition to young women and men, their parents were interviewed to gauge the attitudes and prevailing practices in the households and community that enable or hinder the empowerment of young girls and women. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were undertaken (rural and urban areas) with young women in Plan program areas and in control group areas.
Table 3: Research method, target respondents and type of study tools Sl No.
Research Method
Target Respondents
Study Tools
1.
Literature Review
2.
Quantitative Research
- Young women (18-25 years) - Young men (18-25years) - Parents/guardians of young men /women
Structured Questionnaire
3a
Qualitative Research In-depth Interview
- National level functionaries of National Mission for Empowerment of Women - NGOs working in women empowerment
Semi-structured Questionnaire
3b
Qualitative Research = Focus Group Discussion
-
Discussion Guideline
3c
Qualitative Research Case Study-individual / community level
- Young women (18-25 years) - Women CBOs/SHGs
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Young women (18-25 years) Young men (18-25years) Parents of young men/women Women CBOs/ SHGs
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Discussion Guideline
(with 8.5% level of error) were interviewed.
Sampling Structured Interviews
• In the urban areas the numbers were 450 for women (with 6% level of error) and 150 for men (with 9.5% level of error).
A total of 2,800 young women (18-25 years) were interviewed (refer Table 3). The sample size was calculated at 95% confidence level having a design effect of 1.5 to provide meaningful estimate.
• In addition, 921 parents of young men and women were interviewed from rural areas and 708 from the urban areas.
• In the rural areas a total of 600 women (with 5% level of error) and 200 men
Following table shows the Plan Programme Areas covered for the quantitative study:
Table 4: Sample Coverage – Quantitative (Program and Control Group) State
District
Delhi
Program Areas (PLAN Programs)
Control Areas
Total
Male
Female
Male
Female
50
150
50
150
Rural
Urban 400
Maharashtra
Pune
50
150
50
150
400
Andhra Pradesh
Ranga Reddy
50
150
50
150
400
150
450
150
450
1200
Bikaner
50
150
50
150
400
Udaipur
50
150
50
150
400
Bihar
Muzaffarpur
50
150
50
150
400
Uttarakhand
Uttarkashi
50
150
50
150
400
Total Rural
200
600
200
600
1600
GRAND TOTAL
10 districts
350
1,050
350
1,050
Total Urban Rajasthan
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2,800
Qualitative Research The sample size for qualitative research is as per Table 4. Table 5: Sample Coverage – Quantitative (Program and Control Group) Samples Units
Program Areas Rural
Urban
Total
Control Areas Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
FGDs Young women (18-25 years)
4
3
3
2
7
5
Young Men (18-25 years)
2
1
0
1
2
2
Parents of Young Women
2
1
1
1
3
2
Women CBOs/ SHGs
1
1
0
0
1
1
Total
9
6
4
4
13
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IDIs Smt Rashmi Singh Executive Director National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW)
1
NGO Functionary (Ms. Sunita Menon, Breakthrough)
1
Total
2
Ethical considerations Adequate care was taken to conduct the research within the internationally accepted standards, particularly those in line with Plan’s child protection policy. All the respondents were provided information on the purpose of the study and informed consent taken rior to their participation. Also while reporting case studies the names of the young people has been changed to protect their identity
SECTION 2 THE ROLE OF THE STATE – THE BRICKS AND MORTAR OF GENDER EQUALITY (Global and National Instruments promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment)
“We’ve built an international architecture of laws and norms to protect women’s rights, but in many ways it remains a bare scaffold without the bricks and mortar needed to make those laws effective in people’s lives and turn our rhetoric into reality.” - Hillary Rodham Clinton and young women’s empowerment are to be overcome. We use the word governance to refer broadly to the formal or informal rules, systems and structures through which society is organised; in other words, the processes by which a state exercises power, and the social contract between the state and its citizens that should be acknowledged and fulfilled.
The process of women’s empowerment cannot be contained within a single term or dimension. While the power situation prevailing in society could be analysed using various dimensions of Power, it also enables a policymaker to strategize sustained and effective change. In this section, we look specifically at power as it operates in the formal and public institutions of the state. It is here, in the legal and political frameworks that govern the relationships between citizen and state, that power is most visible. It can be wielded both to protect girls’ rights and support their pathways to power, or to ensure that they continue to be second-class citizens. We examine the reality of how these frameworks actually operate in the daily lives of girls and women.
Much has changed for girls and women across the world and India and yet there remains so much to be done to ensure their equality and the achievement. Despite improvements in laws on gender equality in many countries, legislation has not made more of a difference to girls’ lives. It is important that laws exist, but it is equally important to look at how they are applied and enforced and how those speaking or interpreting law are influenced by their own views and prejudices.
Although it is not easy, addressing governance issues at all levels of society is essential if the structural barriers to girls’
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Girls’ lives – a brief review in numbers Changes for the better
only 92 girls in school for l – In 2000 there were oo sch ry ma pri to ing • More girls are go girls for every 100 boys. this had increased to 97 11, 20 by our force (in ys; bo 0 10 ry eve participating in the lab are 15 of e ag the ove n ab ntry – from • 51 per cent of wome erably from country to cou sid con ies var is Th n). me t of t in East comparison to 77 per cen ica to roughly 65 per cen Afr rth No and st Ea le dd the Mi as low as 22 per cent in -Saharan Africa. sub and ific party quotas to improve Asia and the Pac al, electoral or political on uti stit con e hav tly • 125 countries curren of March 2014). and national women’s participation (as hts at both international rig n’s me wo rt po sup to mestic in place legislation to combat do • A raft of legislation is of states with specific er mb nu the le, mp exa levels. For by 2014. ale Genital Mutilation violence increased to 76 ies have prohibited Fem ntr cou 25 st, Ea le dd with a history of • In Africa and the Mi 29 developing countries In 6 e.2 cre de al on uti now have laws or (FGM) by law or constit and Sierra Leone – 25 l ga ne Se a, eri Nig ing practising FGM – includ the practice. g those who perpetrate decrees aimed at targetin
What still needs to change
• While the Millennium Developmen t Goals have been successful in gett ing more girls into primary education, many countries will still not have reached gender parity. It is proj ected that 75 per cent of countries will have achieved parity in primary education by 2015, but only 56 per cent in lower secondary education.27 There are 65 million girls out of school, nearly one in five adolescent girls. • There is no country in the world where women and men have equal opp ortu nities, equal pay or equal distribution of assets. • Globally, women make up only 21.9 per cent of parliamentarians.31 In Feb ruary 2014, there were 19 female world leaders in power. • On average, women hold only 15 per cent of land titles; 86 out of 121 countries still have discriminatory inheritance laws or prac tices. • Across the world, over a third of wom en will experience gender-based violence from an intimate partner. • Son preference continues to prev ail. In many countries, more boys than girls are born and more survive. In China, figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics show ed that in 2011, there were 118 boys born for every 100 girls – one of the highest imbalances ever reco rded in a country. • One in five women still has an unm et need for family planning. • Domestic work remains largely the provenance of women and girls, ofte n on top of full-time paid work. • One in three girls in the developi ng world will be married by her 18th birthday. If nothing is done to stop current trends, more than 140 million girls will be married as children by 2020. That is 14 million every year or nearly 39,000 girls mar ried every day. • Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of mor tality for girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries.41 Infant deaths are 50 per cent higher among babies born to mothers under 20 than among those born to women in their twenties. Source : Pathways to Power- creating sustainable change for adolescent girls, Plan International report , 2014
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Population and Development - 179 countries agreed that population and development are inextricably linked, and that empowering women and meeting people's needs for education and health, including reproductive health, are necessary for both individual advancement and balanced development. Advancing gender equality, eliminating violence against women and ensuring women's ability to control their own fertility were acknowledged as co r n e r sto n e s of p o p u l at i o n a n d development policies.
The Global Commitments International human rights law clearly states that girls and women should be able to participate in public life at an equal level with boys and men. For example, Article 7 of the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) decrees that: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country.” The 1990's witnessed an increasing recognition of the centrality of women's empowerment to the success of development programmes. The empowerment of women was deemed essential to the declarations and platforms for action including:
• 1995: World Summit for Social Development – Identified that Gender equality and equity and the full participation of women in all economic, social and political activities are essential.
• 1990: World Conference on Education for All - The Declaration reaffirmed the notion of education as a fundamental human right with a focus on equity as a goal
The United Nation’s Initiatives on Women’s Empowerment Over the years the United Nations has taken significant initiatives and led global discussions on women’s rights and empowerment. Four world conferences on women’s rights have taken place in Mexico City in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in 1985 and Beijing in 1995. The last was followed by a series of five-year reviews4, which lead to a global commitment to gender equity.
• 1992: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development Acknowledged the need for a broad participation of women – as a major group – at all governmental levels and in all UN agencies related activities in sustainable development, as well as the need for the integration of a gender perspective on sustainable development planning and implementation • 1993: Human Rights Conference - the Conference took historic new steps to promote and protect the rights of women, children and indigenous peoples by, respectively, supporting the creation of a new mechanism, a Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, subsequently appointed in 1994. • 1994: International Conference on
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Table 6: International Commitment towards Empowerment of Women Key Features
Status
The Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
• Based on a principle of equality between men and women • Defines the concept of discrimination against women • Addresses the need to tackle power relations between women and men at all levels, from family, to community, market and State • Discards the distinction between the private and the public spheres, by recognizing violations of women in the private sphere
Ratified by India in 1993
The Mexico Plan of Action
• Aimed at increasing participation of women in labour force • Sought better treatment of women on the basis of ILO Conventions • Health and education issues addressed
Adopted by India in 1975
Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women
• Attributed most forms of inequality, particularly in the developing world, to “mass poverty and the general backwardness” • Identified “gender” differencessocially determined factors that lead to discrimination between women and men-as obstacles to equality • Recommendations organized according to the themes of equality, development and peace. • Key theme relating to women’s rights and empowerment was equality
Adopted by India in 1985
Sl. Commitment No. Document 1.
2.
3.
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Key Features
Status
Vienna Declaration And Programme Of Action
• Women’s rights were officially recognized as human rights for the first time on a global stage • Women’s human rights understood to be universal and indivisible and to include economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights • Inclusion of women as full actors in the human rights enterprise
Adopted by India in 1993
Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women and Platform for Action
• Commitment to equal rights as enshrined in the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, CEDAW Convention, Convention on the Rights of the Child • Recognize women’s human rights as universal, indivisible, inalienable • Take all necessary measures to eliminate discrimination against women and girls
Adopted by India in 1995
Sl. Commitment No. Document 4.
5.
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The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing was a major human rights accomplishment for women. The participating Governments acknowledged the diverse voices of women and recognized that despite progress, women still suffer obstacles to achieving equality with men and that further progress is hindered especially by the poverty suffered by so many women and children.
The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing sets strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas of concern: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Through the Beijing Declaration, governments re-committed to the full implementation of the human rights of women and the girl child as an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The governments also committed to:
9. 10. 11. 12.
1. Elimination of discrimination and violence against Women and girls. 2. Equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms for women and girls who face additional barriers because of race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion, or disability, or because they are indigenous people.
The Millennium Development and Gender equality Goal 3 - Promote Gender Equality And Empower Women
3. Equal access of women and girls to economic resources, including land, credit, science, technology, vocational training, information, communication, and markets.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment is the third of eight MDGs. It is an intrinsic rather than an instrumental goal, explicitly valued as an end in it rather than as an instrument for achieving other goals. Apart from this, Goal 2 also targets to achieve universal primary education for boys and girls alike. The implication of Goal 5, i.e. to improve maternal health also enables focused intervention at women health.
4. Adequate mobilization of national and international resources, as well as new and additional resources to the developing countries, from all funding mechanisms.
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Women and poverty Education and training of women Women and health Violence against women Women and armed conflict Women and the economy Women in power and decision-making Institutional mechanism for the advancement of women Human rights of women Women and the media Women and the environment The girl-child
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Target and Indicators of MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
TARGET: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education by no later than 2015
INDICATORS FOR MDG 3 1. Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education 2. Ratio of literate females to males of 15 to 24 year-olds 3. Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector 4. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
Source: ‘En-gendering’ the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Health, WHO
Fundamental duties and the Directive Principles. The Constitution also empowers the states to adopt positive discrimination in favour of women.
The goals tracks key indicators on achievement of education (primary, secondary and tertiary levels), improved wage employment of women in the nonagricultural sector, and proportion of seats held by women in the national parliament.
The Status of Adolescent Girls in India Adolescence (10-19 years) represents a critical stage of transition from childhood to adulthood. The physical and emotional experiences, knowledge and skills acquired during this phase of life cycle have important implications during adulthood. Gender-related challenges, such as restrictions on mobility, lack of family support for quality education or dropping out of school, early marriage and violence persist in creating unfair disadvantages for girls within this large group of adolescents in India. Preference for the male child and marginalisation of girls are widespread and reflected in wide gender disparities in education and workforce participation.
India is committed to fulfilling the UN declarations and conventions it signs or ratifies as a member state. National and state policies are to be accrued to these declarations and conventions, to meet its commitments at an international level.
India – National Policies and Programmes The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution, in its Preamble, Fundamental duties ensured that the Principle of Gender Equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble,
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World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescence both in terms of age (spanning the ages between 10 and 19 years) and in terms of a phase of life marked by special attributes. These attributes include: 1. Rapid physical growth and development 2. Physical, social and psychological maturity, but not all at the same time 3. Sexual maturity and the onset of sexual activity 4. Experimentation 5. Transition from total socio-economic dependence to relative independence
• In India, 22 women were killed each day in dowry-related murders in 2007.
Fact Sheet of Adolescent Girls and Young Women
• 47% of the adolescent girls in India are underweight9.
• In absolute numbers, India is home to more adolescents (around 253 million) 5 than any other country . Adolescent girls (10-19 years) constitute close to half (119.8 million)
• More than 60%of HIV-positive youth between 15-24 years are females. Challenges to Empowerment
• Girls’ primary school completion rates are 9 below 50% in sub-Saharan Africa .
The matrix of patriarchy continues to be the biggest challenge towards attaining empowerment for young women and girls. In India, the inter-sectionalities of caste, class and region subsume womanhood to a protected commodity that needs to be preserved within the dimensions of a tradition of power that has relegated it to a subservient position. Women have thus been devoid of an identity outside of the roles they are placed in both within and outside the household. Adolescent girls and young women tend to find themselves at the lower rung of this role hierarchy. The lack of girls/women empowerment is manifested in five key aspects of their lives - sexual health, early marriage and early pregnancy, domestic violence, education, productivity and income.
• By about 15 years of age, 57.7% of girls have dropped out; four out of ten times an adolescent girl misses school due to household work. • Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, have the highest rate of child marriages in India, with 64%, 58% and 52% respectively of adolescent girls married before the age of 18 years. • In India, less than 30% of the under-20years-old mothers in the poorest households are assisted during delivery by a skilled birth attendant, compared to 90% of young mothers in the richest households9. • According to country data, up to 70%of women experience violence in their lifetime from partners. Worldwide as well a s i n I n d i a 35 % w o m e n h a v e experienced Physical / Sexual violence6.
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Figure 2: Major Challenges Faced by Young Girls at Home, School and Workplace
Source: Empowering Adolescent Girls in India, Dasra
Existing Legislative System: Key Provisions
educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation and renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
Gender Justice is an essential component of women’s empowerment especially for girls and young adults who experience an increased vulnerability due to their age. Under the Constitution of India, all citizens are guaranteed social, economic and political justice, equality of status and oppor tunities before the law. The Constitution of India has distinct provisions for women and also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women.
Gender gap subindexes - India Economic participation and opportunity Labour force participation Wage equality for similar work (survey) Estimated earned income (PPP US$) Legislators. senior officials and managers Professional and technical workers. Educational attainment Literacy rate Enrolment in primary education Enrolment in secondary education Enrolment in tertiary education Health and survival Sex ratio at birth (feinaleirmale) Healthy life expectancy Political empowerment Women in Parliament Women in ministerial positions Years with female head of state (last 50)
There are 15 constitutional provisions (Article 14, 15, 16, 39, 39A, 42, 46, 47, 51A , 243D and 243T that are related to equity of women before law, in right to adequate means of livelihood and employment, equal pay at work and equal opportunity in securing justice. The articles entail special provisions for women and children to improve the nutrition level and standard of living, secure just and humane conditions at work and maternity relief; promote
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Rank 124 124 86 125
Score 0.446 036 0.62 0.27
120 123 1 111 107 135 33 112 9 106 100 1
0.057 0.68 1.00 0.79 0.73 0.931 0.89 1.02 0.385 0.12 0.11 0.72
the 20th week. The Equal Remuneration Act was also passed in 1976.
The World Economic Forum has placed India in the 101st position among 136 countries in the 2013 edition of an annual report that makes a global assessment of the progress made in bridging the gender gap. The Global Gender Gap Index aims to measure the 'relative gaps between women and men' across countries in four key areas - health, education, economics and politics7. One area that India fares well (ranked 9)is in terms of the political empowerment of women.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act was passed in 1986 and amended in 2006. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was passed in 2005 to protect women (either wife or a live-in partner) from domestic violence. In 2006, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act prevented and prohibited child marriage and gave choice to the children in marriage to seek annulment. The Right to Free and Co m p u l s o r y Ed u c a t i o n A c t , 20 0 9 guaranteed every child (6-14years) the right to education. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 defines sexual harassment at the work place and creates a mechanism for redressal of complaints. It also provides safeguards against false or malicious charges.
Provision of reservation of not less than onethird (including seats for women belonging to the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes) of total panchayat and municipality seats has also been made and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat/municipality. The reservation also applies to offices of chairpersons in the panchayat/municipality at each level Increased attention to gender-based violence and the endowing of women with the ability to inherit land/property have proved to be pivotal markers of the empowerment of women in India. Since much of the discrimination against women takes place within the household, bringing protection of individual into the gambit of legal framework is an important aspect of legislative reform.
National Policy for the Empowerment of Women The National Policy for the Empowerment of Women was adopted in 2001 and was an important step taken for accelerating the pace of women empowerment. The policy was aimed at ensuring women empowerment through positive economic and social policies for the development of their full potential. The policy also assures women equal access to health care, education, participation and decision making in the social, political and economic spheres. The policy also spells out systemic interventions for eliminating violence against women.
Legislations impacting women The 1950s saw the drafting of the ‘Marriage Acts’ as well as The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act. The Maternity Benefit Act (1961) mandated maternity benefits to women employees. In the same year, Dowry Prohibition Act was passed and later amended in 1986. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act made termination of pregnancies for medical reasons legal until
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The rights of girls also find mention in the National Policy for Children currently revised. The National Youth Policy of 2001 was a step towards identifying adolescents and youth as a separate category..
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The National Policy for Empowerment of Women • Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for full development of women to enable them to realise their full potential. • The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres - political, economic, social, cultural and civil • Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic life of the nation • Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security and public office etc. • Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women • Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and involvement of both men and women • Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process • Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child • Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly women’s organisations
It was the Eighth Plan that marked the shift in approach from ‘development’ to empowerment’ of women. Subsequent Plans have envisaged the eempowerment of women and recognized their agency in deciding on issues affecting them. While the
The government has set up the National Commission for Women (NCW) , an apex national level organization with the mandate of protecting and promoting the interests of women. Budgeting for including the aspirations of women and girls for inclusive growth – The Five Year Plans
Key Strategies for Women’s Agency under the Twelfth Plan are:
There has been a progressive increase in India’s Five Year Plan outlays over the last six decades to meet the needs of women and children. The outlay of INR 40 Million (640,000 USD) in the First Plan (1951-56) has increased to INR 78.1 Billion (1.25 Billion USD) in the Ninth Five Year Plan, and INR 137.8 Billion (2.2 Billion USD) in the Tenth Five Year Plan. More importantly, there has been a shift from a “welfare” oriented approach in the First Five Year Plan to “development” and “empowerment” of women in the consecutive Five Year Plans.
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1. Economic Empowerment 2. Social and Physical Infrastructure 3. Enabling Legislations 4. Women’s Participation in Governance 5. Inclusiveness of all Categories of Vulnerable Women 6. Engendering National Policies/Programmes 7. Mainstreaming gender through gender budgeting
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2017), places inclusive growth8 at the centre of policy making and aims at mainstreaming gender concerns. The Plan places women’s empowerment as a necessary condition for development and underlines key strategies to ensure improving the position and condition of women by addressing structural and institutional barriers as well as strengthening gender mainstreaming. The thrust areas are:
Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007) saw the adoption of the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) proposed to undertake special measures for gender empowerment and equity. The Ministry of Women and Child Development made synergistic use of gender budget and gender mainstreaming process. The current Twelfth Five Year Plan (2013-
Programs and Schemes for girls and women Programme /Scheme
Key Features
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), 2000
Government of India’s flagship program to universalize elementary education and operational since 2000 provides for a variety of interventions for universal access to education and retention, bridging of gender and social category gaps
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), 2004
A scheme launched to set up residential schools at upper primary level for girls belonging predominantly to the marginalized communities.
Mahila Samakhya Programme , 1988
Launched to pursue the objectives of the National Policy on Education, 1986
Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
Enables groups of women to take up employment-cum-income generation programmes of their own, or to access wage employment by providing training for skill up gradation.
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), 2005
Safe motherhood intervention, under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and neo-natal mortality by promoting institutional delivery amongst poor pregnant women.
The Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls, 2002-03
Address nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY) Advance the nutritional, health and development status of adolescent girls. Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), 2010
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A Conditional Maternity Benefit Scheme that targets pregnant and lactating women (19 years and older with maximum two children).
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Programme /Scheme
Key Features
‘Dhanalakshmi’, 2008
Conditional cash transfer scheme introduced as an incentive to protect the birth of a girl child.
Short Stay Home for Women and Girls (SSH)
Extends temporary shelter and rehabilitation to women and girls who have no social support systems and facing abuse
Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG): SABLA (2011)
Promoting the holistic development of adolescent girls and aims at enabling their self-development and empowerment through improving nutrition and health, promoting adolescent reproductive and sexual health (ARSH), mainstreaming them into formal/non formal education and upgrading life-skills with the National Skill Development Program (NSDP) for vocational skills
The declining child sex ratio (CSR) across the states is a major cause of concern (927 in 2001 to 918 in 2011).The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (Save Girls, Educate Girls) seeks to arrest the trend, and over time reverse it. A 100 critical low CSR districts in all States and UTs have been identified for focused and convergent action by these Ministries. The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), the designated nodal Ministry will carry out training to stakeholders and mobilize and sensitize communities. It will also embark upon a range of advocacy measures and activities, not limited to the 100 low CSR districts but all across the country. All forms of media and social media platforms would be used to mobilize the initiative.
supply and (iv)lack of infrastructural support” Where programmes are concerned, the major challenge to convergence is the lack of infrastructural mechanism and an enabling environment (in the form of a Secretariat), where convergence at the National/State/District/Sub District level can be established amongst various departments. There is a need to avoid duplication Smt Rashmi Singh, the Executive Director of National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW). As with all spheres of social change in India, there is an undeniable gap between policy and practice. More notably, the deeply entrenched social hierarchies based on class, caste, ethnic and communal divisions leave many communities on the margins with little knowledge of their rights and even less protection from local, state and national governmental policies.
Identifying the Gaps ‘While legal provisions are the basis for addressing discriminatory practices, implementation of the law is the biggest concern. Some of the causes hindering implementation are (i) limited out-reach of Government services, (ii) lack of coordination with State Governments, (iii) wide gap between demand and
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The gap in policy and practice in women’s empowerment is most visible when it comes to the levels and types of violence girls and women face in India. Despite the policies,
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and the fear of abandonment by the family play a big role in women and girls remaining silent on the abuse they face in the public and private domain.
laws, and initiatives by civil society institutions, violence against women in India is widespread. The enforcement of laws and sentencing of perpetrators is a long and arduous processes and the gaps in these processes are further widened by corruption9.
A key issue that continue to challenge most policies related to adolescents and the youth is the varying definitions of age that appear on various legal and programmatic areas making it difficult to ascertain the clear boundaries within which these terms can be captured.
Another gap in implementing laws and policies is the inaccessibility of information on victims' rights among rural and less educated women. Additionally, the widespread acceptance of certain forms of violence as inevitable and the social stigma
The National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) The National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) is a unique initiative to bring about convergence across policies, programmes and schemes with gender focus across Ministries and Departments through inter-sectoral coordination with Ministry of Women and Child Development, the nodal Ministry to meet the larger objective of overall development and empowerment of women. The Mission’s mandate is to facilitate the reach of various services and programmes of the Central and State Governments to the target group of women through other measures as may be required. To facilitate inter-sector convergence various structures have been institutionalised at the National, State and District level.
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Table 7: Institutional Framework for NMEW Level
Participating Institute
National Level
National Mission Authority at the apex level • Chairman - Prime Minister • Members - Major participating ministries HRD, Finance, Housing, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Agriculture, MoHFW, MSME, Law, MoEF, Labour and Employment, Social Justice and Empowerment Inter- Ministerial Coordination Committee under the Cabinet Secretary • Secretaries of the participating Ministries reviews performance of the Mission The Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) headed by the Minister, WCD • Monitoring body of the Mission with representation from partner Ministries, Civil Society Organisations and Experts The National Resource Centre for Women comprising of various thematic experts • Supports effective implementation of the Mission through training and capacity building, innovation, action research and technical support to the NMEW Bureau, other units of the Ministry, the SRCWs, District level Poorna Shakti Kendras
State Level
State Mission Authority • Chairperson - Chief Minister/Administrator • Members - Ministers of the participating departments as members. State Resource Centre • Provide technical support to the SMA. • Establish linkages with District Legal Services Authority as well as local NGOs with a grassroots presence, address urgent issues like declining child sex ratio, domestic violence, child marriage, female literacy etc. The authority is headed by DM/DC with representation of line departments. Poorna Shakti Kendra (PSK) • Resource Centres for Women at the District/Community level for facilitation, outreach and convergence of schemes and programmes
been named Poorna Shakti Kendra or the PSK. Village coordinators at the Kendras reach out to the women with the motto “HUM SUNENGE NAARI KI BAAT!” (‘We will listen to the voices of women’). The PSK is an extension of the urban model of gender resource centers pioneered in Delhi, under Mission Convergence program.
Poorna Shakti Kendra (PSK) – Convergence cum Facilitation Centres - One of the important initiatives of the Mission is to set up convergence-cum-facilitation centres, for women at the district and sub district levels, to improve access to government schemes and programmes spread across different departments and create awareness on various social issues. These centres have Pathways to Power
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• Facilitate the availability and access to government programmes / schemes/ services across health, education, livelihood etc. sectors
Mission Convergence program PSKs offer • Information on all the government programmes/schemes/services for women
• Training and capacity building on various issues like leadership, legal rights etc.
• A database of target population • Awareness generation on legal rights and entitlements Figure 3: Inter-convergence Model of PSKs Poorna Shakti Kendra (PSK) - A Convergence Model of Women's Survival, Protection, Development & Empowerment Women
Key Indicators • Sex Ratio (Age 0-6) 919, Census 2011 • Maternal Mortality Ratio: 178 (SRS 2010-12) • Infant Mortality Rate: 42 (SRS 2010-12 • Children age 6-35 month who are Anaemic: 79% • Pregnant women age 1549 who are Anaemic 57.9% • Under-age marriage: Rural-26.9%; Urban11.0% • Gender Gap in literacy: 16.6% • Labor force participation Rate (NSS): Women: Total25.4; Rural-29.2; Urban14.6 • Violence against Women Physical Violence-26.9, Sexual Violence 1.8%
Needs safety & security; Reduce malnutrition; Freedom from Violence; Employment/Income generation opportunities; access to schemes/ programmes/Access to justice Proactive Approach Through PSK Poorna Shakti Kendira (PSK) Single Window Service Centre for women Coordingation and converagence with schemes/ programmes/ services • • • • • • • • • •
• • •
ICDS/ICPS NRHM/TSC/NNM IGMSY/JSY/Sabla Ujjawala/Swadhar STEP SSA NRLIM/NREGS RMK Short Stay home for women and girl Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme Mahila Helplines Police Leadership Training of PRIs
•
• • •
• • •
• • • •
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Strategies for Women Empowerment Access to justice through awareness on legal issues by Ahimsa Messengers PPP: Linkages with CBOs/CSOs/CSR partners Convergence Forums/Multi Sectoral Action Use of technology such as mobile services, messages/Community Radio/Helplines Awareness Campaigns on social issues Community Mobilization through volunteerism, Camp approach Mahila Sabhas/Naari Ki Choupal/Beti Janamotsav/Mobile vans (Chalta Phirta PSK) Behaviourial Change & Communication Training & Capacity Building/Gender sensitization Micro planning for area specific issues Follow up of outcomes
Outputs/Outcomes • Community better informed • Resources mapped • Improved access to rights & entitlements • Improved Community outreach • Capacities of field functionaries strengthened • Increased demand from community for availing services • Enhanced value of girls child • Reduction in violence • Grievance redressal Mechanism in place • Constant dialogue established among various stakeholders/line departments • A platform for constant dialogue & negotiations available • Availability of gender disaggregated data • Gender Concerns are integrated in existing platforms of Convergence
against women through multimedia campaigns including the very successful “ Bell Bajao” (Ring the Bell Campaign) that called out to individuals to step up and speak against violence, to challenge the status quo and take bold action for the dignity, equality and justice for all According to Ms. Sunita Menon, Director of Breakthrough the challenges that most women face in the country are:
The role of civil society in bridging the gap between policy and implementation “A woman is empowered if she can take decisions on various aspects of her life in all dimensions. Decision making ability should be restricted to certain areas/topics but must be wide ranging. Political participation is another important aspect for empowerment.”
• Having no voice : Not being allowed to speak or voice their opinion
- Ms. Sunita Menon, Director of Breakthrough
• Lack of safety and security for girls and women in the domestic and public spaces
Civil society across the world has played an important part in taking forward the agenda of human rights and have played various roles, transitioning from providing direct services to holding the state and duty bearers accountable for providing the entitlements to the marginalized as per the law. Women’s rights groups in particular have been in the forefront of ensuring that the rights of women and women’s issues are kept on the agenda of all government initiative.
• Lack of awareness on the various schemes run by the Government of India • Absence of support systems to motivate young women to access political power and stay on • Perception of homemakers / women as being non-contributing partners Breakthrough has adopted several intervention methods to promote the rights of women and achieve gender equality. Some of the key approaches adopted by them are:
Women’s rights groups work across the spectrum of issues affecting women. These include promoting gender sensitization, engaging with men and boys to promote gender equality, preventing gender based violence, equal pay for equal work, women’s reproductive and sexual rights
• Focused advocacy to build a woman’s personal identity: separate from the various social roles she is expected to play in her day-to-day life. • Development of knowledge and empowerment around rights
Making violence against women unacceptable – Breakthrough
• Building awareness on the notion of violence for women to recognize it
Breakthrough is a global human rights organization working to make violence and discrimination against women unacceptable. The organization has taken forward this agenda on the prevention of violence
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• Provide platforms and exclusive safe spaces for women to express themselves and voice their opinions
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Breakthrough follows a five-pronged approach to bring the issue of women development to the fore: • Media, arts and technology — music videos, video games, social media and more — to reach mass audiences where they are, challenge norms and make human rights values and issues real and relevant. • Train new generations of leaders in schools, neighbourhoods and civil society groups to facilitate change in the world around them. • Develop strategic partnerships with communities, governments, businesses entertainment leaders to reach maximum scale and lasting impact.
and
• Cultivate grassroots community engagement to raise awareness and inspire action for local and global human rights issues. • Measure the impact and share lessons learned in the broader field of innovations for social justice and human rights. Training and capacity building on various issues including leadership and legal rights etc.
Empowerment is one such example of convergence. The spheres of relationships, agency and structures need to be connected in order for girls’ rights to be realised. Each is reflected in another; the power balance in the family and community is reinforced in our public institutions because the attitudes that govern these have been learned in our homes, through the faith we profess and the media we are surrounded by. There is no magic bullet when it comes to ensuring that the state institutions that control and should protect us are gender equal and accountable. There is no fool proof mechanism that will distribute power more evenly. But having laws in place, more women in charge and training girls so that they know their legal rights, are all crucial. Above all, working with women’s and girls’ organisations, both locally and nationally, to demand that laws are actually implemented, is key to building the bridge between legislation and girls’ daily lives.
Conclusions This section has presented the status of adolescent girls across the world and has outlined the macro environment of International instruments and the State in providing for a legislative and institutional framework for ensuring the rights of girls and women. The review of provisions under the Indian Constitution, the budgeting for these actions, provisions under the Indian legislative system and social security schemes indicate the State’s intent to promote the empowerment of women and girls. And yet as the section on gaps shows that intent does not necessarily lead to action or change. There is a need to build convergence among the various ministries and governance bodies to ensure that the entitlements reach the most marginalized. The case study of the National Mission for
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SECTION 3 ATTITUDES, IDEAS AND VALUES – THE INEQUALITY OF THE EVERYDAY Factors influencing girls' empowerment
ensures equal opportunities. Improvements in education are not only expected to enhance the efficiency but also augment the overall quality of life. Apart from enhancing women's self-confidence, education provides greater access to information and resources and enables them to challenge various forms of discrimination and engage with the development process.
As we have seen in the earlier section, despite extensive legislation and years of campaigning, girls and women continue to face sexism, discrimination and violence. The idea that women are subordinate to men, and that men and women have completely different roles and responsibilities, is picked up by girls and boys from the beginning of their lives and continues to be reinforced – within the family, the local community, at school, through the media. Girls still continue to be seen as 'property”; they go from being economically dependent on their fathers to being economically dependent on their husbands. Their lack of economic independence, or empowerment, means that they stay subservient. Girls are simply 'less valued' than boys. The impact of this gender inequality is far reaching and pervades the social institutions which structure girls' lives in both private and public spaces. These norms are not easily changed, as the World Bank points out, “because they are widely held and practised in daily life, because they often represent the interests of power holders, and because they instil unconscious learned biases”.
“Education helps increase SelfConfidence” “Self-confidence is most important and it comes only because of education. Illiterate people also can survive in their life but we can live better lives with the help of education.” - Young woman from a Bihar village, who has completed 10th class
Young women and men contacted for the primary survey (urban and rural areas) unanimously expressed the view that education increases self-confidence. They opined that education helps individuals to: • Be in a better position to take decisions • Become well aware of his/her surroundings
The Millennium Development Goal on gender equality and women's empowerment has identified education, employment and political participation as indicators of women empowerment. This section presents the findings of primary research to establish the influence of family, community, local, institutional and political and governance on lives of young women (18-25 years) in their pathways to Power.
• Gain confidence to get a job and earn for the family • Gain knowledge about society and their rights • Be confident and participate in discussions and be able to voice opinions within and outside of family and in external forums Among the young men and women interviewed it was found that in the overall study area 61 percent of the young women had completed secondary education or above. This includes 29 percent women who completed higher secondary education and
Education – an Enabling Factor for Empowerment Education is an instrument of social change and eliminates gender disparities and
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Compared to the girls, over three-fourth (77 percent) of the young men interviewed have completed secondary education and above. This included 39 percent with higher secondary and 11 percent with diploma/ degree level education.
7 percent who completed diploma/degree level education. Over half (54 percent) young women in rural areas as against 72 percent in the urban areas have completed education up to the secondary level or above. The proportion is 67 percent in Plan India program areas as against 56 percent in control areas.
Figure 4: Level of Education of Women (Program vs Control)
The data indicates that the proportion of young women reaching upto the secondary or higher secondary level is marginally higher in urban areas. This proportion is also slightly higher in program areas as compared to control areas in both rural and urban settings. One reason for this difference could be the awareness and intervention programs to keep children in schools carried out by Plan India and its partners in the Plan programme areas Figure 5: Level of Education of Women (Rural vs Urban)
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“I belong to a Muslim family and in our families, there is no point in going for studies, as girls would anyways need to look after the daily household chores.”
There are several factors that influence women's completion of education geographical, socio-cultural, health, economic, religious, legal, political/ administrative, educational (access, quality) and initiatives (by government and nongovernment bodies)10.
- Young woman respondent from Delhi
Most young women however do realize the value of education and their vulnerability towards oppression if they were less educated.
Amongst the women who had ever enrolled in formal education, a little over two-fifth reported having dropped out or discontinued their education. The primary reason cited by almost two-fifth young women was marriage (39 percent) followed by household work (35 percent). This was true for women across program and control areas in both rural and urban settings. Around 9 percent of the total of all the young women mentioned that distance of educational institute from residence and existing culture of limited mobility for girls outside the house as factors for discontinuing education.
“If a girl will study only till 8th then it is easier to keep her oppressed but this is not the case if she studies till 12th.” - Young woman respondent from Lunkaransar who discontinued education after marriage
However, majority of the young male and young women from Plan program areas are well aware of Right to Compulsory and Free Education and the value of education. “It (RTE Act) encourages girls to return to education so that those [girls] who earlier studied till 5th can now study till 12th”
“There were no school within 3 kilometers and no one to accompany us [while going to school]. Two years later a private school was set up in the village where I completed my secondary level of education.”
- 18 year old young women
- Young woman from Rajasthan
Only 3 percent of women compared to 36 percent of men cited their engagement in earning activity as a reason for discontinuation from school education. This leads to the question as to whether young women relate to education as a means of furthering their income generation abilities. Given the prevalence of early marriage, a few young women in the survey also indicated the futility of higher education for them since after marriage, they would be bogged down only in household chores.
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Receipt of incentives
The importance of incentives for girls in continuing their education
A high proportion of young women (97 percent) were aware of the various forms of incentives and scholarship programs run by the government. Overall, 81 percent (1750) of those girls who were aware of the incentives in the entire study area also reported receiving one or more of these incentives and scholarships.
A number of incentives are provided by the national and state governments to the students in order to ensure universal access and retention and bridging of gender and social gaps in elementary education. The incentives include resource support, textbooks, uniform, mid-day meal schemes, remedial classes, scholarships, infrastructural facilities and support for learning achievement11.
When comparing, the Plan program and control group, except for a higher percentage of young women in the program areas reporting availability/access to midday meals and scholarships (other than books and uniforms), other incentives were equally available in both program and control group areas.
The young women were asked about their awareness regarding these incentives. Discussions covered aspects, such as the role of incentives in helping to achieve higher education and the challenges they may have faced to receive these incentives.
Figure 6: Incentives Received by Young Women (Program vs Control)
A good proportion of young men also reported of receiving such incentives across the study areas.
“Incentives Allowed me to Continue/Complete my Education� The young women and men who reported having received any form of incentives and scholarships were further asked how the
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incentives helped them. Over 60 percent of the young women and men interviewed during primary survey cited that the incentives have helped them to continue/complete their education. Almost two-fifth of the young women contacted mentioned that the incentives have helped them continue education and perform better. Similar responses were recorded from the young women belonging to both the program and control area.
Young women and men agreed that education increases the decision making ability of women. Most of the young women recognised the importance of education to gain self-confidence and respect from the family and society. “An educated person has the confidence to step outside house alone.” - Young woman from Rajasthan
A considerable proportion of young women (68 percent) interviewed accepted that education has been instrumental in increasing their level of confidence and bringing about a positive change in their mindset and outlook. Young women also felt that education has led to improving their economic and/or social status. Similar responses were witnessed in the program and control areas.
Sixty percent of the young women in urban area reported that incentives have helped them perform better; this proportion was considerably less (around 29 percent) in rural area.
Education Improves the Economic and Social Status of Women
As reflected in the figure below a substantially higher proportion of young women in the urban areas reported that education has helped them to actively take part in household decision making and it has
“Education allows one to stand on one's feet” - Young woman from Rajasthan
Figure 7: Contribution of Education in Changing Life Situations (Program vs Control)
brought about a positive change in their mindset as compared to rural areas. Although close to half in both groups felt that education improved their economic and social status ,only 31 percent of the rural women and 19 percent of the urban women mentioned education as helping them achieve gainful employment
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Figure 8: Contribution of Education in Changing Life Situations of Young Women (Rural vs Urban)
work and make them employable for a broad range of occupation.
“We Can Use Acquired Skills to Earn Money”
According to the young women, higher education is not a prerequisite for financial independence. Therefore, they preferred pursuing vocational trainings.
“We can use the acquired skill of stitching in our profession, and earn money through it which will give financial independence and also save the cost of a tailor”.
“[In order to be successful in life] only being a book worm is not enough. One needs to have the knowledge of outer world.”
- Young woman from Bihar
Lack of adequate skills is one of the major impediments affecting women's participation in the work force, particularly in the secondary and tertiary sectors, perpetuating their concentration in low paid sectors.. Women across the study area have shown interest in participating in trainings in order to increase their income generation opportunities.
- Young woman from Delhi
In Plan program areas, Plan and its partners have implemented various market oriented vocational, business and life skills training initiatives to achieve their goal of empowering young men and women to get self-employment or formal employment, which is instrumental in bringing them out 12 of poverty .
The relevance of skill training (Vocational Training)
Figure 9: Vocational Training among Young Women (Program vs Control)
Vocational training, also known as career and technical education (CTE), prepares people for specific trades, crafts and careers at various levels including a trader, a craft, technician, or a professional position in engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine architecture, pharmacy and law. The primary purpose of vocational training or technology is to prepare individuals for the world of
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Around one-third of the women in the Plan program area reported to have attended technical or soft skills training in the last three years as compared to less than two-fifth of the young women in the control area.
young men out of those who acquired soft skill training have received it through Plan partner NGOs). Young women opined that due to poor functional status of government training institutes, outdated curriculum and less focus on practicums, youth showed more interest in private training institutes. They did not mind paying for the course, as they felt they get quality training in a shorter time span, which is not possible in case of government trainings.
Similarly more young men in program areas (31 percent) as against control (18 percent) areas attended technical training courses. A larger proportion of young women in the u r b a n a re a a s co m p a re d to r u ra l areas reported to have undergone vocational training.
Figure 10: Vocational Training among Young Women (Rural vs Urban)
In control areas the main provider of vocational technical trainings are private training centres, followed by government centres. While, in Plan program areas majority of the young women have acquired vocational trainings from Plan Partner NGOs. However, more (54 percent young men as compared to 26 percent young women) young men have taken technical trainings from private agencies. In case of soft skill trainings government agencies are the leading providers in control areas (around 60 percent of young men and women acquired training from government agencies) while Plan partners are the leading agencies in Plan program areas (around 80 percent young women and 65 percent
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Attainment of Vocational Education Vocational education implies a syllabusbased long term course after completing lower secondary or secondary level or a specialised diploma level course post higher secondary. The role of formal education in imparting skills among students was explored by asking students whether they have acquired any skill set through vocational education. Almost four-fifth of the young women in the overall study area revealed not having undergone any vocational education. The scenario was found to be similar in both rural and urban areas.
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percent reported (53 percent in program areas as against 13 percent in control areas) having acquired skills on health-hygiene followed by 38 percent in public speaking (52 percent in program areas as against 11 percent in control areas); while 34 percent acquired computer skill.
Development of Skills through Formal Education Young women and men were asked if they have acquired any soft or technical skills as part of formal education system. Around 25 percent of young women and men, who have attained formal education in program areas and around 10 percent young women and men in control areas reportedly developed technical and soft skills through formal education system.
Out of 126 young men who acquired vocational education and 215 who acquired vocational training, the major skill acquired by young men was knowledge of computers (39 percent and 52 percent respectively) followed by language courses.
Development of Skills through Vocational Training/Education
However comparing the rural and urban contexts, amongst the young women who reportedly received vocational training a substantially higher proportion of young women from rural area mentioned having acquired public speaking (rural= 49 percent and urban = 27 percent) and health and hygiene (rural= 53 percent and urban = 26 percent) skills as compared to their urban counterparts. On the contrary, knowledge of computers was major skill acquired by half of the young women in the urban areas (51 percent) compared to only 18 percent of young women from rural areas.
Among the 335 young women who reported receiving vocational education, 45 percent reported (53 percent in program areas as against 28 percent in control areas) having acquired skills on health-hygiene followed by 41 percent in public speaking (46 percent in program areas as against 28 percent in control areas); while 34 percent acquired computer skill. Among the 683 young women who reported receiving vocational training, 39
Figure 11: Skills Acquired through Vocational Education among Young Women (Program vs Control)
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Impact of Skill Enhancement
“I do tailoring as I have interest in these. That's what I want to do in future. But I will not open my boutique in here. I will open where I can get good customers and good money.”
During group discussion, young women have also reported of the importance of vocational training in bringing economic self-reliance. Many girls had taken vocational trainings on embroidery, beautician courses and computer training in both program and control areas.
She also wants to undergo a training [Saksham, Plan India] which provides basic English, computer education, personality development and life skills. She is keen to do the training as it offers placement after completion.
“I also do tailoring and embroidery. A center has opened in our area, which teaches tailoring and embroidery and beauty parlour work. We pay INR 200 to 300 (USD 3 to 5) per month to learn stitching or parlour work. Once I finish the stitching course, I will join the beautician course. The beauty parlour work particularly intrigues me more.”
Social and Cultural Norms Around Marriage – Still a Deterrent Factor
- An 18 year old Muslim young woman who had to discontinue education due to f amily pressure after class 10
Early marriage continues to be an impediment in girls and young women's attainment of higher education. Deeply entrenched cultural and social practices play a vital role in families getting their daughters married early. This despite the minimum age of marriage set by the Government for marriage and the prevention of child marriage. Young girls and women face health risks associated with early sexual activity and childbearing, leading to high rates of maternal and child mortality as well as sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. They are also more likely face domestic violence, sexual abuse and social isolation.
Most of the women reported to have aspirations for a better future and they believed that only studies do not help one to be established in life. Shaira (name changed) wants to be a fashion designer and open her own boutique. She hails from a family of limited means and knows that it is important to be financially established first in order to pursue her dreams. “I will work, no matter how small the job would be. Then I will save money and open my boutique with my own money.”
Early Marriage of Girls – the Bane Continues in Rural India
After her 10th class examination she took training on embroidery and tailoring from a local tailor and paid INR 500/- (USD 8) per month. She worked for next two months and earned some pocket money, then discontinued to accomplish further studies and be more empowered.
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Almost half of the women in both the program as well as in the control areas reported being married. Amongst the married women (44% in Program areas and 50% in Control areas), more than half of them, in both geographies reported that
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they were married before the legal age of 18 years.
the fact that girls or boys should not be married before the legal age.
Fewer young women in urban areas (38 percent including 37 percent currently married) reported being married as against rural areas (59 percent including 55 percent who are currently married).
“I know that the menstrual cycles are not properly developed in the girls below 18 years of age. I have read in a magazine that those girls, who are married before 18 years of age, get weak both mentally and physically.”
With regard to the marital status of young men, 22 percent amongst those contacted for the primary survey, reported being married, pointing to the existing gender discrimination and a higher vulnerability of girls to be victims of early marriage.
- Young woman from Delhi
When asked about the ideal age for girls to get married, young women responded that it should be at least after 21 years, as by that time they get the opportunity to complete their education and get some employment.
Knowledge and Attitude Towards Age at Marriage
“The girls become mature, both mentally and physically. They can have a say in getting a good life partner, of their choice. Even if she gets divorced or her husband dies, she can take care of herself financially and mentally.”
“The girls mind and body should be ready to get married….if the parents get their daughters married at an early age then she will inevitably become submissive” - Young woman from Uttarkashi
- Young woman from Delhi
Four-fifth (79 percent) of the women contacted for the primary survey (87 percent in program areas and 71 percent in control areas) was able to recollect the legal age for marriage of girls. Their awareness regarding legal age for marriage of boys was comparatively lower (63 percent overall; program areas-72 percent and control areas 55 percent). Higher levels of awareness can be attributed to the awareness generation, community mobilisation and sensitisation workshops and programs implemented in the program area by Plan India and other partner NGOs. The programs are aimed to promote girls' education and discourage the incidences of early marriage. Trends in rural and urban areas were similar to the overall awareness levels.
According to the young men early marriage also puts a burden on them and their education is affected as they need to fend for their families.
More Young Women Influenced Marriage Decision than Men In spite of having high level of awareness about legal age of marriage among young women and men, the incidence of early marriage was also found to be rampant, especially among young women. Deep rooted traditions compel families to continue the practice of early marriage despite its far-reaching consequences. Towards understanding the capacity of women in influencing marriage decisions at home either for themselves or others, the young
During group discussions women agreed to
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“My parents are very nice. They will not let me get married unless I become financially independent.”
women were asked if they have ever influenced a decision of marriage for anyone. In Plan program areas around 10 percent of them reported having influenced marriage decisions (2 percent in control areas). Interestingly, in comparison to 13 percent young women in rural areas, only 3 percent in urban areas reported that they were able to influence marriage decisions.
- Young woman from Delhi who is continuing her studies
“Even girls have the freedom to decide the counterparts for their marriage. If the girls are earning and self-independent then they can chose their own partners but otherwise they should not do that”
“In the village we have to follow our parents and we have to do what our parents say as we don't have any other option with us”(Young woman from Bihar)
- Young woman from control areas of Delhi
While the young men from Uttarkashi, during focus group discussions, opined that men and women have equal freedom to decide on their marriage, the young men from Rajasthan opined that their parents take a decision on the prospective bride but allow them to choose when they would like to get married. They also mentioned that the parents take into account, the girls' opinion on the prospective bridegroom chosen by them.
In comparison to women, only 4 percent young men (across program and control areas) have reportedly influenced a marriage decision either for himself or for someone else.
Boys can Refuse Marriage Decision but Girls have to Obey Parents “Girls cannot object to their parents decision…they have to marry if that is an order from their parents, but boys can refute by giving excuse of their job”
“If a girl will say that I want to do love marriage then they will not listen to her. If the girl says that I do not like the boy then they will listen to her that is not a problem”
- (Young woman from Andhra Pradesh)
Almost all the young women contacted for the primary survey agreed that the male members in their house have more freedom, when it comes to deciding on marriage as compared to the female counterparts albeit with few exceptions from urban areas like Delhi, where both boys and girls feel they are given equal choice.
- Young man from Rajasthan
Gender-based Violence against Women Continues Violence in any form constitutes a denial to the fundamental right to life, liberty, security and dignity, equality between women and men, non-discrimination and physical and mental integrity. Gender-based violence reflects and reinforces inequalities between men and women.
“Boys are given more freedom as when they have to get married and fend for his family” - Young woman from Uttarkashi
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The primary survey probed into abusive behaviors faced by young women. They were queried on their exposure to different types of abuse or violence, such as corporal punishment, beating, uncomfortable touch, sexually explicit comments/teasing, sexual behaviour, teasing/taunting, harassment/ criticism and stalking.
Domestic Violence Not Uncommon Gender-based violence was found to be a common phenomenon in both rural and urban areas. Says, a female respondent from Delhi, 'Women who do not earn or work, generally are unable to take action against domestic violence. She/they will have to face higher level of resistance and hurdle later on'.
Nearly 30 percent of the young women contacted for the study reported that they have been physically abused (beaten), f o l l o we d by te a s i n g / t a u n t i n g a n d stalking/bullying (about one-fifth young women). Women from program and control areas cited similar responses.
“The educated girls don't tolerate violence, but those who work as a domestic help don't go against it. They think if they take a step, they will lose their shelter. They don't earn so much to manage everything on their own. There are differences in the mindset of an educated and an uneducated girl.� - Young woman from Delhi
Figure 12: Experience of Abuse / Violence by Young Women (Program vs Control)
A comparatively higher percentage of young wo m e n f ro m r u ra l a re a s re p o r te d experiencing physical and emotional abuse as compared to those belonging to urban areas.
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Figure 13: Experience of Abuse / Violence by Young Women (Rural vs Urban)
violence be shared with family, friends and reported to the concerned authorities. It was found that almost one-third (32 percent) of the young women contacted for the p r i m a r y s u r vey m e n t i o n e d h av i n g shared the experience of violence (36 percent in program area, 27 percent in control area).
During group discussions young women in rural setting have mentioned that they feel safe inside their locality but not outside. However,safety is a bigger concern in urban setting. Domestic abuse especially among married women appears to be common. “I am basically a Nepali and my family is very frank. Even if I will come back home at 8 'o-clock, they won't scold me as they believe in me. But nowadays all parents are afraid for the safety of their daughters. From the time I have come in this locality, I have stopped going out most of the times. I now dress differently, mostly in salwar-kameez”
It was evident from group discussions that taboo attached around violence against women and the apprehension that parents might impose restrictions on the girl's mobility, keeps young women from reporting abuse...
- Young woman from control area of Delhi
“It (Sexual harassment) ) happens. The boys get too much freedom and tease girls. Many times the girls are not at fault, but they can't step out of their homes”
However, it needs to be highlighted that around 31 percent young women contacted for the study agreed that there has been a reduction in the incidence of violence against women in their area in the last three years.
- Young woman from Delhi
Among those who reported having shared their experiences of violence/abuse, more reported sharing the instances with their parents/guardians followed by the friends, was reported.
Shared Experience with Parents or Friends but Very Few Reported against Violence
Young men mostly confided in their friends while sharing experience of violence or abuse.
In order to put an end to abuse/violence, it is necessary that the acts of abuse or
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pertaining to their rights in the community, they were asked if the following practices were common in their neighbourhood:
The girls who are part of group activities generally confront the perpetrators as a group and try to help other group members. Some of the girls have undergone selfdefense training and are found to be more confident to handle such situations.
• Women equally participate in discussions in Panchayat/ULB/ward meetings as men • The participation of girls/ women is equal to boys/ men in group-based activities
“Now we don't tolerate anything. We have made a group of girls. If someone teases us, we call the group.”
• Girls are equally encouraged to participate in debates and discussions in school/college as boys
- Young woman from Delhi
When further enquired about formal reporting of instances of violence, a negligible proportion of young women reported these incidents either for herself or for someone else. However, they were aware about Mahila-thanas or Women Police Stations (police stations headed by women police officers, where registered cases are investigated by women officers).
• Opinions of female members of the Panchayat/ ULB are strongly considered in decision making process • Men receive higher wages than women for similar work • Women can go out of the house unaccompanied if they want • Women need permission from male members in order to go out of the house for any work
“We can go to police station to lodge. In such cases we are looked down upon by the society.”
The young women and men were given a choice of options on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 'never' to 'always', and aided by a show card. Wherever, the young women and men were not able to articulate the prevalence levels in their community as a whole, they were asked to reduce their circle to neighbourhood or close friends so that, they could project it to understand the prevalence in community as a whole.
- Young woman from Bihar
“My friend was the victim of domestic violence. She lodged a police complaint and now she is safe. She was married at a very early age. Now she is divorced and is independent” - Young woman from control area of Delhi
Four-fifth of young women and men in the overall study area were found to have a positive attitude towards the prevailing practices on women's rights.
Social and Cultural Norms Around Women's Rights
It is worth mentioning that the proportion was marginally higher among young women and men in the program area, where various intervention and awareness programs have been launched to break the system of
Women's Rights – Prevailing Practices are in a Positive Direction Towards understanding the perception of young women on the prevailing practices
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Figure 14: Prevailing Practices on Women's Rights among Young Women and Men (Program vs Control)
cultural silence and pave the way for women participation and exercising their rights. Figure 15: Prevailing Practices on Women's Rights among Young Women and Men (Rural vs Urban)
Comparing the rural and urban contexts, a marginally higher proportion of young women and men in the urban areas showed a positive attitude as opposed to their rural counterparts.
• •
Girls' rights are perceived as important among parents
• •
Towards understanding the perception of the parents on the importance of women's rights in the community, they were asked to what extent they felt the following are important on a five point scale ranging from “not important at all” to “very important”:
• • •
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class 10th before they think of getting them married Having a school/ college within the vicinity Having separate toilets for girls and boys in school Men and women taking on equal amounts of household chores Participation of women in household decisions Paying dowry during marriage Participation of women in political institutions Having a female Sarpanch so as to favour women's issues
Figure 16: Perceived Importance of women's rights among parents (Program vs Control)
• • • • •
A substantially higher proportion of parents contacted for the primary survey possessed a neutral attitude. The cultural barriers impeding upon women's rights and the existing socially accepted gender norms and values limits the scope of women and girls from exercising their rights, accessing services, and opportunities. The permissive levels of the families are also guided by these existing gender specific norms and discriminatory attitudes existing within the family and society.
The traditional role of the women, as embedded in the cultural norms still persists in several spheres. However it is encouraging to note here that changes are noticed in the perception of the parents. More than four-fifth of the parents contacted for the primary survey indicated having a positive attitude towards importance of women's rights.
Figure 17: Permissiveness of women's rights (Program vs Control)
Permissiveness towards girls rights – family bears a neutral attitude There is an inherent forbidding attitude that is noticed among the parents regarding matters pertaining to women and girls rights. Under this discriminatory social practice, girls and women of all ages are forbidden from travelling, studying, working or participating in any activity outside the house without the permission of the family or male members. In order to assess the level of permissiveness towards rights of girls and women in a family, the parents were asked to what extent girls are permitted or not to do the following in a three point scale ranging from “not permitted” to “permitted”: • Study after marriage • Defer marriage for education • Decide whom they want to marry • Join political parties/systems of governance Pathways to Power
Go to college Travel to school/college unaccompanied Girls and boys to eat together Take a lead role at the community level Women and girls to go out of the house without permission
Parents contacted for the primary survey reported a neutral attitude (73%), which is on similar pattern as in the rural (71%) and urban (76%) areas. The harmful gender attitudes and norms deeply ingrained across the fabrics of society, cuts across all the sections of the society. What is important to note from the figure is the strikingly low proportion of young women and men showing positive attitudes towards permissiveness.
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SECTION 4 GENDER-BASED ROLE OF WOMEN – The changing scenario
Different forms of inequality that persist between men and women across all societies restrict her access to and control over the productive resources. This limits the development of her capabilities. Socially-accepted gender norms and values which constitute acceptable behaviour and interpersonal relationships are instilled since childhood, where girls and women are looked upon as submissive group, majorly responsible for performing the household chores as opposed to their male counterparts. The understanding of womanhood and manhood establishes their positions of power and control in the family and society. deciding its share she will give it away in my name. That is the custom and also if she is married to a well-off family then she will not be interested in maternal property.”
Traditional Role of Women in Family – Changing but not Fast Enough
- Young man from Lunkaransar
Existing patriarchal mindset often confine women to the traditional role of a homemaker, with the man as the provider. Women are also perceived as being less capable, requiring the protection and guidance of men. However over a period of time, the status of women in India has been subject to many great changes. Increased educational opportunities has seen a shift in this role with women engaging themselves in domestic and employment outside the house
“[We] don't take it (the property) [as] it is in the father's name and after [our] marriage [it] goes to the brother.” - An 18 year old unmarried girl from Lunkaransar
Occupation Profile of Young Women In keeping with the age and marital status of the respondent, it is found that almost an equal proportion of young women and men reported being either a homemaker or a student (in program and control and in rural and urban areas).
Ownership of Land or Property is Male Prerogative Inheritance rights continue to be the prerogative of men despite equality before the law. The study findings confirm this with a mere 3 percent of the young women contacted for the primary survey reporting ownership of property or land in their name. There was no difference amongst the urban and rural populations.
Around a quarter of the young women contacted for the primary survey were involved in earning activity, the primary occupation being either working as domestic help, farming activity or casual labour.
Both young men and women felt that married women should not seek their property share from the maternal home.
Traditionally women in the society are assigned role as mothers and homemakers. These expectations determine the division of labour within the household, with women being assigned the household chores like
Gender Role in Domestic Work
“If she is a good girl then my sister will not take her share of property and while
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cooking, cleaning, fetching firewood and water, washing clothes and caring for younger siblings. In addition to this, in some areas they are also expected to participate in farming activities.
pursue an occupation. However, they also believed that if the other family members come forward and support women in sharing her household chores, then she can efficiently get into employment.
The primary household task of cooking and cleaning was done by almost all the young women contacted for the primary survey (95 percent). Other primary forms of domestic work undertaken by young women include fetching water from outside (57 percent).
The unmarried girls mentioned that they can balance household chores and group activities, however they also mentioned after marriage the pressure of household chores increases. “…Because of household chores, the older women of the house will be pushed forward and the young bahus (daughter-in-laws) will not be given a chance for political participation.”
The domestic work is usually divided between the female siblings and the mother of a household. However, during group discussions young women, who were continuing their studies, revealed that their parents did not insist them to do household chores before and during their examinations. The girls and young women usually formed a schedule to balance their work and studies.
- Young man from Lunkaransar
There is also a traditional belief that boys will work and earn while girls will get married and do household chores. This gender discriminatory role in a family demotivates the girls.
“For one month I had my board exams. I did no household work. My mother used to do all after coming back from work. She used to say: It is okay, you must concentrate on your examination.”
“What is the benefit of higher education? Anyway (a girl) has to cook at home only.” - Girl of 18 years from Delhi
- A girl from Delhi who appeared for 12th Examination
However, according to the young men and women contacted for the primary survey, the scenario has changed in the last few years and the domestic work is usually equally divided among the siblings. The boys or men can also confidently handle the household chores on a regular basis.
Contrary to the work taken up by young women, young men on the other hand reported primarily being engaged in grocery shopping (77 percent) followed by fetching water (around 60 percent). Young men did not perform domestic work, but in absence of any female members they reportedly do the household chores. They also mentioned that the biggest hindrance to women being engaged in employment is the time factor. After completion of their primary responsibility to do the household chores, they are not left with any time to
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Attitude Towards Equitable Gender Role of Women Change in attitude is the next step towards bridging the gaps and paving the way to power for women. Hence, an attempt was made to assess the attitudes of the young 55
women and men and their parents in this regard. The attitudes were assessed by reading out a series of statements to them:
The results from all composite index analysis for attitude towards gender role and empowerment are presented below:
• Regarding education
Attitude of Young Women and Men – Neutral to Positive
• Early marriage • Domestic work
While half of the young women and men were neutral towards equal gender role and empowerment, it is encouraging to note that almost two-fifth of them had a positive attitude towards the same. Due to active presence of the NGO, the program areas record marginally higher proportion of young women and men having positive attitude as compared to control areas. On the whole young women and men from rural and urban area displayed a similar trend like the overall study area. The attitude of men and women shows the same trend.
• Participation in local governance Their responses were obtained on a five point Likert scale, ranging between “strongly disagree” and “strongly agree”. They were shown the following Show card, which depicted the responses as below:
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Figure 18: Attitude towards Gender Role and Empowerment (Program vs Control)
Neither agree nor disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Parents of Adolescents and Youth take a Neutral Attitude Due to the prevalence of discriminatory societal norms and culture of gender inequality, a considerably lower proportion of parents reported having a positive attitude towards equal gender role and empowerment of women. The responses of parents in the program and control area are similar. The parents from rural and urban area gave similar responses.
In order to gain a cohesive understanding of attitudes towards gender role and empowerment, advanced multivariate analysis was conducted using Reliability Analysis (Chronbach's alpha), Factor Analysis, partial correlation and a composite three point attitudinal scale was derived, grouped as, negative, neutral and positive.
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Figure 19: Attitude of Parents Towards Gender Role and Empowerment (Program vs Control)
key elements in attaining gender equality and reducing disempowerment of women. The analysis of the data on the attitude of the young women and men on gender treatment around freedom and mobility revealed that almost three-fifth (59 percent) of the young women and men in the overall study area had a positive attitude, indicating a favourable shift in their mindset. This figure has been found to be more or less similar for both program and control area.
Gender Specific Treatment of Women in Family The preference and importance given to men in a family can have detrimental impact on women's self-esteem, health, well-being and overall development. These attitudes, perceptions and behaviours stand in the way to the freedom of movement, desire to pursue education and the willingness to have a say in their marriage decisions. The primary survey assessed the attitudes of young women, men and their parents on this topic. The attitudes were assessed by reading out a series of statements on a five point scale ranging from “never” to “always”:
However, actions and interventions are needed to positively change the mindset of two-fifth (41 percent) of the young women and men, whose attitude is negatively disposed. It is worth mentioning here that gender disparity in treatment of girls around freedom and mobility seems to be primarily a rural phenomenon as higher proportion of young women and men from urban populations reported having a positive mindset (67 percent) as opposed to their rural counterparts (53 percent) who are restricted within the boundaries of their house due to the prevailing practices and ideologies. The exposure and gender sensitisation and awareness programs in the urban areas to combat the social evils and practices might have been instrumental in bringing about a positive deviance in the attitude of the young women and men.
• Freedom of girls to go out than boys/husbands • Having more leisure time than brother/husband • To do the same kind of work outside the house as brother/husband
Perspective of Young Women and Men – Favours Freedom and Mobility of Women Eliminating gender differences in freedom of movement and access to basic rights are the Pathways to Power
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Figure 20: Attitude of Young Women and Men Towards Gender Treatment around Freedom and Mobility (Program vs Control)
• Gender treatment around freedom and mobility
Perspective of Parents of Adolescents and Youth – Neutral Towards Freedom and Mobility of Women
• Gender treatment around marriage decisions • Gender treatment around education
The parent's attitudes regarding the freedom and mobility and gender treatment around marriage decisions and education were assessed by reading out a series of statements on the prevailing social issues on a five point scale ranging from “never” to “always”:
Parental attitude and support has a great deal of influence on girl's freedom to access basic services and participation in activities outside home. It is evident from the figure that while young men and women in the overall study area bestowed a favourable or
Figure 21: Attitude of Parents Towards Gender Treatment Around Freedom and Mobility (Program vs Control)
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participation in group activities even if for social causes.
unfavourable disposition of attitude; parents on the contrary were found to have a neutral attitude in this regard.
The attitude of the parents is influenced and often limited by the existing socio-cultural traditional beliefs of the society. Their support is imperative to facilitate removal of barriers in the social and economic development of the girls.
Majority of the parents belonging to both urban (76 percent) and rural (71 percent) areas reported of taking a neutral stand in this regard. Also, the perception of a girl going out of home changes as she grows up. According to the young women most of the parents/ guardians do not object with their girls going out of home, when they are young. This openness wanes when the girls grow-up and society considers her to be ready for marriage.
Decision Making Capacity of Young Women It is imperative that all individuals, irrespective of their gender, have equal opportunities to participate in the decision making processes at the household and community level. Decision making capacity is a precursor to the empowerment of women as they exercise increased control over their own lives, bodies and environments. In order to assess the level of involvement of women in the decision making process a series of statements were asked in this regard ranging from “not involved” to “completely involved”. The decision making capacity was judged at two levels:
“He [my brother] will say if you are young then you can go out. But when you have grown up, there is no point going out of home. I have a younger sister, who is just one and half years younger to me. She goes out of home and is also studying. But in my case he does not agree” - A young woman from Delhi
Mobility of young women continues to be restricted outside her immediate neighbourhood and interaction with the opposite sex is still frowned upon as is girls'
• Household decision making capacity • Community decision making capacity
Figure 22: Decision Making Capacity of Young Women (Program vs Control)
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decision maker, due to the lack of knowledge or awareness about the topic.
As far as the level of engagement in family decision making is concerned with matters related to fixing of the household budget, spending that money for household needs, small and large purchase and other types of personal and household decisions, it was found that both in Plan program as well as control areas young women and men in almost equal proportion took negative, neutral and positive stance.
“I'd go to my father to take suggestion regarding my studies as he is more knowledgeable.” - A male respondent from Delhi
In terms of another critical decision making scenario, like a girl's marriage, the decision is usually taken by the family collectively mostly without the girl's involvement.
The situation was found to be similar in both rural and urban areas, with a slightly higher proportion of young women and men in urban areas to have negative attitudes (39 percent) as compared to their rural counterparts (33 percent). A higher proportion of men (30 percent) had a positive attitude towards their decision making capacity as opposed to their female counterparts (23 percent).
This situation is more or less similar in both urban and rural areas. The girls felt boys have comparatively more freedom to choose at least when they would get married, though the prospective match is being made by the elders in family.
Women Involvement in Community Level Decision Making is Very Low
Men are Chief Decision Makers Even at Household Level
At a community level the participation by women is less if not closely associated with a Community Based Organisation (CBO), SelfHelp group (SHG) or NGO. It has been found that due to the engagement of young and adolescents as a part of these community-based institutions, they have had an exposure and engagement in situations that call for exercising their decision making ability at group level. They are involved in decision making on the selection of social issues to be promoted through street plays, issues that need to be highlighted in the print media to increase the awareness of young women, which concerned official should be met to expedite the community sanitation work that requires immediate attention.
Most of the girls from urban areas like Delhi said that their opinion is taken into consideration when the household budget is being fixed. But, when it comes to taking financial decisions like buying property, insurance or taking loan the older male members are the chief decision makers. The discussion reveals that engagement of girls or women in family decision making is curbed in certain communities. “…not in our case, it does not matter if you earn or not…” - An 18 year old young woman from Delhi regarding earning wife having more ability to take part in household decision making
However, when it comes to taking part in decision making process for local governance, engagement of women is quite low. It has been emphasised by some young
Both the young women and men felt that the woman in the family is not the ultimate
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All decisions in such cases are taken up by the married woman's husband or any other male member of her house.
men that women are given representations in the local governance institutions (such as the Panchayati Raj institutions) due to the rule that women should have 33 percent reservations. However, our young people feel that besides this representation, women should be educated and motivated to take up leadership roles and engage (besides representation) in local governance. Young men and women also mentioned that there was nominal involvement of married women in the decision making activities of their office if they are elected as a Sarpanch or in a lead role for a local governance institution.
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“If the female Sarpanch's Sasur (father-in law) or Jeth (brother in law) is/are sitting there, she won't come in front only. She will remain in her ghoonghat (Veil) and whisper in her child's ear what is to be said. Or they will not ask her ‌and she will remain indoors.â€? - A young woman from Rajasthan
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SECTION 5 PARTICIPATION OF YOUNG WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
The Indian government has introduced a quota for women within the local government system, with a view to break down the traditional and cultural inequities. The conjecture is the following: elected women leaders may have immense potential to encourage the women of the village to raise their voices and demand their rights in a direct or indirect manner. They may approach village women actively as a friend/neighbour or village women may be inspired by the courage of the woman leader. This would empower local women. Though it is difficult to quantify empowerment, prioritising women issues and voicing them through political participation are important indicators of empowerment. Despite the high awareness level, more than half the young women (58 percent) reported that they have never cast their vote. Among the young women who never voted, around one-third (34 percent) were eligible to cast their votes in terms of age in the last held election (this excludes the recent election which coincided with the primary survey period). Young men performed only slightly better in terms of casting their vote (48 percent as against 42 percent of young women).
Exercising Civil Rights – Rural Women are Ahead of their Urban Counterpart The recently concluded Lok Sabha elections have been historical for various reasons one of which is the increased number of female voters. While the right to vote has existed for all persons since independence the number of male to female voters has always been skewed. Nonetheless, the exercise of this civic right is by no means a result of a lack of awareness of the minimum age of voting as almost 75 percent of young women and 87 percent of young men have recorded knowledge of the legal age to vote. The knowledge level has been found to be marginally higher in program areas for both young women and men. A considerably higher percentage of young women from urban areas (across program and control areas) had knowledge of legal age to vote (83 percent as against 69 percent in rural areas). However, it is interesting to note that men from rural areas showed higher awareness level than their urban counterpart to the opposite trend observed in control areas. The knowledge level of rural young men in control areas (83 percent) were higher than the urban counterparts (75 percent) while in program areas the similar awareness level prevailed between rural and urban young men.
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Interestingly, both young women and men in control areas (rural and urban) reported a higher voting turnout as opposed to program areas. The gap between control and program areas is even wider in the urban areas.
Participation in Local Governance Establishing quotas for women’s representation at different levels of government has been a strategic tactic in achieving some semblance of gender equality in many countries. In India, the Constitution (73rdAmendment Act), enacted in 1992, mandated the reservation of a minimum of one-third of seats for women (both as members and as chairpersons) within all of India’s locally elected
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governance bodies including Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). However, while affirmative action in terms of reservation for ensuring women’s political representation is an imperative step; it is not adequate to promote women’s leadership and their participation in governance.
Active Participation in Gram Sabha or ULB Meeting Still Low for Women Affirmative action to ensure women’s political representation is an important step in democratising and engendering local governance. However, it does not guarantee effective participation or ensure that issues of concern to community and women will automatically be addressed by local governing structures. For both rural and urban areas the participation of women in local governing structures remains abysmal with only 14 percent women in rural areas and 10 percent in urban areas taking part in Panchayat or ULB meetings. A majority of this participation comes from the program areas for both urban and rural populations.
Women face social, economic and various other forms of institutional barriers to entering PRIs and even in performing their duties as elected representatives. Important limitations to women’s participation include the terms of inclusion, the rules of decentralisation, gender-based division of labour, the policy of rotation of seats etc. Social barriers, such as lack of education, oppressive patriarchal and caste structures, lack of respect of women in PRIs, physical violence in public and domestic spheres, local politics based on caste/class/religious dynamics also affects the participation of women adversely. Further, uneven and limited devolution of powers and resources in the States, with no untied funds adds to the constraints13.
Since the domain of politics has been dominated by men, it is not surprising that the participation level of men in Gram Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies (ULBS) is far higher than that of women. Within a
Figure 24: Participation of Young Women in ULB/Panchayat Meeting
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system that practices both physical and mental seclusion of women, the overwhelming numbers while not surprising are definitely a cause for concern. In program areas as a whole, men’s participation (35 percent) is almost double that of women’s. The same is true for both urban and rural areas. However, the figures for control areas are absolutely overwhelming where men’s participation rates are more than four times that of women.
Active Involvement in Beneficiary Committees Formed by Local Governing Body Participation of women in beneficiary and user committees has been just as limited with program areas recording 20 percent involvement and control areas at half of that 10 percent. In both urban and rural areas the participation of women in user/beneficiary groups can only be seen in program areas. However, rural areas (20 percent) record twice the participation level of urban areas (10 percent).
“I want to go and attend such kind of meetings but my mother doesn’t allow me to go, however our parents attend those meetings”
While politics has often been believed to be a man’s domain the numbers for young men participating in user and beneficiary groups remain about the same as women for program areas (15 percent). In control areas however, the participation of men (27 percent) is more than five times that of women (5 percent). This difference is seen in both rural and urban sections of the control areas where participation of men far exceeds that of women.
- Young woman from Bihar
“We go and sit in gram sabha meetings. Whatever new programs are being run they are told in those meetings. We have taken up issues related to roads” - Young man from Rajasthan
Figure 25: Participation of Young Women in User/ Beneficiary Group
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No significant variations were seen in the participation of young men and women, participation of men being marginally higher than women.
Knowledge about Participation of Women in Local Governance – Higher in Rural Areas Despite the low levels of participation in meetings and local bodies, more than 50 percent of the young women in both program and control areas were aware whether female members are present in the Panchayati Raj institutions or not. Due to the active nature and presence of Panchayati Raj Institutions in villages, rural areas (67 percent) have recorded a far higher awareness level than urban areas (36 percent) for both program and control areas.
Women in Leadership Roles While the participation of young women in group-based activities of the youth clubs is on the lower side, their participation in leadership roles for the same is much better. In program areas, of the total young women who have taken part in youth clubs only about 41 per cent have ever volunteered to take up leadership roles for the same. If seen in comparison to the number of men who have volunteered for leadership roles, the situation is almost the same. About half the men who have participated in youth clubs have volunteered for leadership roles.
Young men, due to their high participation levels also displayed a high awareness regarding the presence of female members in the Panchayat.
Participation in Political / Social Campaigns – Higher in Urban Areas
Overall, only about one-fifth of the young women have reportedly received exclusive leadership training. Relatively, the proportion was negligible in control areas. Also comparatively lower proportion of young men reported to have received such trainings. However, this training has not been effectively translated to taking up leadership role in society.
Participation of women in political and social campaigns has been found to be extremely poor. Only 14 percent of the young women in program areas and 2 percent in control areas confirmed their participation. Participation in urban areas (both program and control) was higher (program-22 percent and control-12 percent).
Figure 26: Participation in Political/ Social Campaigns by Young Women
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Right to Information
Socio-political Awareness
The Right to Information Act (RTI) grants upon every citizen of India the right to request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or "instrumentality of State") which is in turn required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days.
Right to Education Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. The Right to Education Act was passed in 2009 to endow free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 in age appropriate classes.
There is moderate awareness regarding the RTI in program areas (39 percent) as compared to control areas (21 percent). The same pattern is observed for both the rural and urban areas as well. Here too, the awareness levels for men are higher than women for both program (76 percent) and control areas (62 percent).
Awareness regarding the Right to Education (RTE) exists in both program and control areas although the margin for program areas (61 percent) is slightly higher than control areas (45 percent). The same pattern can be seen for both urban and rural areas as well. The awareness level of young men as compared to young women is, however, higher in both the program (76 percent) and control areas (62 percent).
However, despite the difference in awareness levels the percentage of young men and women who have sought information under the RTI are almost the same. In fact the percentage of women (17 percent) in program areas is minutely higher than men (16 percent).
Figure 27: Young Women Aware of Right to Education
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Figure 28: Young Women Aware of Right to Information
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The awareness level of Mid-day Meal, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Indira Awas Yojana and Janani Bal Suraksha Yojana were high in both program and control areas. It is interesting to note that for all these four schemes, awareness level among both young women and men is much higher in urban areas as compared to rural areas. Both in program and control areas awareness level among young women and men about Apki Beti Yojana or Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme is comparatively higher in urban areas as compared to rural areas.
Awareness of Social Security Programmes There are several government schemes and programs that aim to improve the lives of women and in the process contribute towards their empowerment. While the effectivity of the schemes remains to be seen, the awareness levels of women regarding various schemes is quite high for both program and control areas with the mid-day meal scheme being the most widely known in both areas. More than 90 percent of the young women in program areas are aware of the mid-day meal scheme in both rural and urban areas, though the awareness in urban areas (88 percent) is somewhat less than rural (95 percent).
Access to Social Security Programmes Keeping in line with awareness levels, the mid-day meal scheme has been availed the most by the young women in both program and control areas, whereas, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the second most availed scheme for both program and control areas. One can conclude that the
Even amongst the young men the awareness of mid-day meals was the highest for both program and control areas followed by the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA scheme. The awareness levels of men (95 percent) in the program areas are slightly higher than that of women.
Figure 29: Awareness of Schemes Among Young Women
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program and control areas. The awareness level for AWWs is almost 100 percent in all the areas while ASHAs record closer to 70 – 80 percent.
awareness of a scheme is therefore directly proportional to its accessibility as lack of i n fo r m at i o n p reve n t s wo m e n f ro m understanding the benefits of the scheme and the manner in which to avail them.
These numbers are considerably lower amongst men ranging from 67 percent in control areas to 78 percent in program areas for AWWs. However, men display a relatively high level of awareness when it comes to the Panchayat Pradhan/ Ward Councillor in both program (83 percent) and control (86 percent) areas in comparison to women who record less awareness about local governing functionary (about 55 percent) for both program and control areas.
However, if we compare the levels of awareness to the levels of accessibility, the numbers are far less. While the awareness levels for mid-day meal is 92 percent in program areas, its accessibility remains at 67 percent. Similarly, in control areas while awareness of the mid-day meal is 85 percent, the accessibility is only 49 percent. The same is true for urban and rural areas for all the schemes. Lack of knowledge or awareness is therefore not the only factor that hinders accessibility. Other social factors and barriers also prevent women from being able to access the various social security schemes that have been laid out for them.
This difference is mirrored for both rural and urban areas as well.
Access to Media During the past decade, advances in information technology have facilitated a global communications network that transcends national boundaries and has an impact on public policy, private attitudes and behaviour, especially of children and young adults. The potential exists everywhere for media to make a far greater contribution to the empowerment of women.
Access to Community Frontline Workers The young women did not only display a high level of awareness of social schemes but about community frontline workers as well. There is an extremely high level of awareness with regard to the local anganwadi and ASHA worker for both
Figure 30: Young Women Aware of Community Frontline workers
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77 percent each while in urban areas mobiles (74 percent) are more popular than newspapers (64 percent). In control areas mobiles are popular than newspapers for the rural population, however, for urban young women newspapers (81 percent) are more popular than mobiles (73 percent). On the whole in urban areas, newspapers enjoy a greater majority though only by a small margin.
Access to Social Messages through Electronic and Print Media Traditional forms of media like print, radio and television continue to remain relevant sources of information. For the most part they cut across class, caste, age and literacy boundaries. In addition, Internet and mobile phones have also become important sources of social awareness. Access to these sources is then a must for individuals to be able to avail the various social programs and schemes and as well gain an understanding of various social issues and evils.
Men reported a greater access to all forms of media in comparison to women. For men as well, television was the most accessible media platform for both the program (95.7 percent) and control (91.7 percent) areas. The same was observed in both urban and rural areas with men’s access to television in particular and media in general being greater than that of women.
In both program (89 percent) and control areas (82 percent) young women have highlighted television as the most accessible media platform. This is followed closely by newspapers and mobiles in program areas at
Figure 31: Access of Young Women to Media
Figure 32: Access of Young Women to Media (Rural vs Urban)
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Wall paintings (of social messages) have been found to be the most accessible form of alternate media for both program (85 percent) and control (74 percent) areas. The visual appeal of wall paintings coupled with its easy accessibility makes it an ideal form of alternate media. Charts and posters are the second most accessible form of alternate media for both programs (81 percent) and control (67 percent) areas. The same is true for the urban and rural areas.
Access to Social Messages through Alternative Media Platforms Apart from traditional forms of media, there exists a wide range of media platforms that reach out to people on a more personal level and engage people more intricately than the common mass media platforms. Alternative media can be more effective in mobilising people at a local level as they are more likely to be attended to by the sensibilities of the community than television or radio or the Internet where the messages are more likely aimed at a mass appeal.
Figure 34: Access of Young Women to Alternate Forms of Media
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Here as well, young men continue to outnumber young women with regards to access by at least double if not more. Facebook continues to be the most accessed new media platform. Out of young men who were aware of social media platforms, 67 percent in program and 65 percent in control areas have been accessing Facebook. The trend is similar in rural and urban areas.
Access to Social Messages through New Social Media (Digital Platform) All over the world in recent years, the impact of new media has been evident, with online platforms becoming increasingly powerful mechanisms for mobilising peoples for social campaign. New Media have a huge potential for the empowerment of women, however the overall use of this media by women is comparatively low.
With regards to viewing any social messages, out of the young women who ever used any social networking sites, 66 percent in program areas and 68 percent in control areas have seen some form of social content on Facebook. Out of those young men having used social media the proportion is 83 percent in program and 76 percent in control areas. Facebook being the most widely used new media is therefore the most popular source for information regarding any social message. About 7 – 10 percent young women having knowledge of social media platforms, recorded viewership of YouTube and Twitter as compared to 25 – 40 percent young men. Urban areas recorded a higher viewership overall in relation to rural areas.
Figure 35: Access of Women to Digital Media
Engagement in Media and Social Activism
As per our findings, although the awareness and usage of new social media by young women was low, a few of them had used Internet as a medium to gather information related to their education. Also they have acknowledged having heard about or seen social campaigns on the Internet.
The presence of mass media and newer avenues like social media is changing the way women are living their lives today. These media have given the young women and girls the voice and opportunities they need to fight for their rights.
The most common form of new media that women have access to in both program and control areas is the popular social networking site Facebook. This is true for both rural and urban areas though understandably the percentages for urban areas are slightly higher than rural areas.
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Young women in Delhi were found to have actively taken part in community media clubs and street theatre groups. There are many young women who in spite of initial family hurdles came out to take part in group activities. In some cases they were
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Balika Diwas (International Girls’ Day); shouted slogans some of which were made by the girls themselves. There have been rallies for Polio in Bikaner, where three of the girls participated.
able to gain the support of family but in few cases still they are trying to evade the family pressure. “My brother asks me to stay at home ….. He does not even know I come and participate in media clubs.”
Participation in Group-based Activities in Community
- A Muslim young woman from Delhi
The young women have mentioned that they reveal the hurdles of their day to day lives through media clubs or theatre groups. They have also participated in social activism keeping in their boundaries. Many have informed that after the upheaval on women protection issues in Delhi the young women took part in candle protest march in their locality in support of women rights and demand for protection.
Actions in empowering adolescent girls can be sustained through an enabling environment that is favorable in all aspects. This means girls need to be free to express themselves, move around and participate in civic life within their communities. Participation in group and community based activities is essential for young girls and women to find an avenue to voice themselves and develop a sense of self and understand their own strengths first as individuals and as a gender identity.
“As a media club reporter, I find out all the social concerns in my society. In case of issues such as someone not sending their children to school or sending them to work, I try to know more about the particular issue. We try to make friends with the child and find out more in details and make a report which I submit here. Our editor selects some reports and those are published in the yearly magazine called ‘Bachho ke kalaam se (From the pen of Children).”
Participation in Youth Clubs is Considerably Hin Plan Program Areas Encouraging young girls and women to step out of their homes and participate in meaningful group/club-based activities is no small task, given the norms of spending most of the free time within their homes. However, despite prevailing practices or ideologies many young women in Plan program areas, in both urban and rural settings, have participated in activities outside the household.
- Young woman from Delhi who is local media club reporter
The young women from Rajasthan have also taken out rallies for awareness on Mahila Diwas (Women’s Day) and International
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Figure 37: Participation in Youth Club by Young Women
Among youth participating in various activities undertaken by groups, awareness generation activities are most common in the program areas: 77 percent (rural-75 percent and urban-83 percent). Figure 38: Activities Performed in Youth Club by Young Women
Figure 39: Activities Performed in Youth Club by Young Women in Program Areas (Rural vs Urban)
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Figure 40: Membership in Women's Organisations
Awareness programs on health and hygiene promotion, sanitation issues, social issues, sports and cultural events, vocational trainings, volunteering camps (blood donation etc.) and monitoring of public services, such as schools are the common activities undertaken by these groups.
micro financing programmes strengthens women’s self-esteem and self-worth and instills a greater sense of awareness of social and political issues leading to increased mobility and reduced traditional seclusion of women. Most importantly microfinance programmes enable women to contribute to the household economy, increasing their intra-household bargaining power.
Participation in Women Groups is Considerably Higher in Plan Program Areas Women’s organisations/groups have been an essential component in the empowerment process as they seek to empower women by not only creating economic self-reliance but also by providing them a ‘space’ where they can voice their thoughts and opinions. These groups essentially come together for the purpose of solving their common problems through self-help and mutual help. A key component of most women’s groups and organisations is the process of micro-financing that encourages women to pool together their economic resources. The social processes of
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Memberships in women’s groups and SHGs are comparatively low in both program (21 percent) and control (8 percent) areas. The level of participation of young women is higher in rural areas (27 percent) as compared to urban (16 percent). SHGs surprisingly show a much lower level of membership than women’s group in both program and control areas with the same being replicated in rural and urban areas where rural (20 percent) membership is almost two-thirds more than that of urban (8 percent).
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Figure 41: Activities Performed By Women's Groups
reported in the program areas for both rural (69 percent) and urban (46 percent) areas. However, in control areas where poverty alleviation is a key concern, income generation activities are almost double that of awareness programs amongst both rural and urban young women. What is surprising though is that despite the investment in income generating activities by these organisations, fewer activities are carried out for skill development.
Since Women’s Groups and SHGs are exclusively women centric spaces it is not surprising that a large part of its activities are focused on awareness generation. Combating social evils and practices requires a constant engagement with young women and for this reason awareness generation is understandably the most common activity that is carried out in the program areas (79 percent) in both rural (78 percent) and urban (85 percent) sectors. Income generation activities were also
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SECTION 6 GIRLS LEADERSHIP AND COLLECTIVE ACTION – FROM PARTICIPATION TO POWER – STORIES OF CHANGE
Young women in our communities have recognised the role and reach of mass media when they wish to raise their voices for any social cause. This realisation has motivated some of these girls to form groups to report about various social concerns through media forms like media club or street theatres. These women groups at different locations list out the social issues, ranging from importance of education, protection of women, gender equity etc. within the area and work towards collecting information on these issues. The information thus collected is reported or published in the local magazines by them. The topics for writing such articles are decided jointly by these women and the editor for the magazine. Some young girls even mention about considering Internet as a medium to propagate about the various social issues
Wajood (Identity) – young women ‘created their own identity’ “My husband had an affair with another woman. My in-laws used to treat me very badly” – Malti (name changed), Mongolpuri resident, Delhi.
After having to bear this for a long time and unable to take it any further, Malti was compelled to ride against the tide. One of her friends had spoken of a ‘unique – not heard of before’ group in their locality, comprising of women members, who sit together, talk about the abuses and trauma faced by each and weave their stories of pain and agony into a full-fledged theatrical performance, street plays. This was how ‘Wajood’, meaning ‘Identity’ was formed in the year 2004 in one of the dilapidated houses in the narrow ghettos of Mongolpuri. With no formal training, but believing in the fact that their stories need to come out of the narrow lanes and by-lanes of Mongolpuri, they took to ‘Theatre’ – the most effective form of communication. With 10 members in their team, this group has been instrumental in bringing to light the deeprooted social evils that are ingrained into socio-cultural norms and practices, such as discrimination on the basis of caste, class and gender. “This is the best way to get a message across to the people in an effective manner for it is staged right in the middle of people and not on an elevated platform, creating distance between the performers and audience. More so, it could be staged at the shortest of notice, without the paraphernalia associated with organised plays staged at predetermined venues” – Gayatri (name changed), one of the oldest members in the group
Under the aegis of Dr. AV Baliga Memorial Trust’s various awareness programmes, this group has groomed itself as a strong street theatre group in the area. In 2009 Wajood became an ‘all girls’ group. The members have been trained on various skills of street theatre to engage crowds,such as scripting, voice modulation, body language, forum theatre, magic tricks, using props creatively etc. to develop their skills. Plan India and Baliga Trust are now exploring options to register the group as a professional theatre group.
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Being theatre actors, they believe that change is each and everyone's responsibility, and whoever wishes to see it, needs to add their bit. They believe in raising the voice and bringing to the fore different issues that plague our society, and the small steps that can be taken towards larger and greater solutions. They have received a tremendous response from the community they live in – some good, some bad. Initially being an all girls group, they faced a lot of ridicule when performing in front of their neighbours and friends. Their courage, however, never wavered and now they are feted wherever they perform.
The Change…. “My father married a second time after divorcing my mother. He and my new step mother used to torture me and my sister. He used to beat and lock us up without food. After joining the group, I was aware of my rights and what I could do. I pulled up all the courage in the world, filed a police complaint against him and my step mother and the situation has changed for the better since “ – Sunita (name changed), one of the lead actors in the group
This issue has been scripted and transformed into a play and also staged in a number of places, evoking strong reactions from the audience. “My parents forcefully fixed my marriage to a man. Members of my group went to check the person’s background and found out he was having an affair with his cousin sister. They recorded the entire conversation and shared the recording with my parents, saving my life” – Savita
Malti is planning to file for a divorce. She will claim alimony and is also looking for a job. The intervention of Plan India, through their partner NGOs has brought changes in the lives of many young girls and boys. In Rajasthan, a girl was able to continue her education against all odds and has been able to get a grip of her life.
Anandi the crusader for education Anandi (name changed), now a 21 year old, completed a bridge course in Urmul Setu Sansthan in 7 months and returned to school in class 5. However, after she completed her middle school there was a lot of pressure from the community members on her mother to get her daughter married off as she had attained marriageable age. For them learning household chores took precedence over continuing education. She remembered how society and people around influenced her mother to refrain her daughters from going to school, for the fear that they might run away with someone if sent to the town for further studies and bring shame for the family.
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“unko sheher mat bhejo, kisi ke saath bhaag jayegi aur muh kala karke aayegi” (Don’t send her to town, she’ll run away and will make the family ashamed) – Neighbours told her mother
At that juncture, she felt she would never be able to continue her studies as her mother was under the apprehension that her biggest fear might come true and she was prepared to discontinue her daughter’s education and get her married off at the earliest. Anandi remembered how her father intervened and convinced her mother to allow her to study further. Though she could further continue studies, her elder sister could not, as her mother was determined to get one of the daughters married off. Eventually her elder sister became a victim of early marriage and also faced torture and abuse at her in-laws place,being young and not well educated. The plight of her elder sister further motivated Anandi and instilled within her the confidence to fight against all odds and adversity to continue her education and get employed before getting married. She had even taken up ways to influence her mother’s conventional mindset to make her realise the importance of girl’s education. “Agar hum padhai nahi karenge toh humko humesha zulm sehna padega, isse aapko kabhi khushi nahi milega, hum wada karte hain ki hum sirf apni padhai karenge, lekin kabhi koi galat kaam nahi karenge, aap jaha bolo wahi shaadi karenge, lekin hame apni padhai poori karne dijiye” – (If we don’t study then we’ll always have to bear injustice, you will never be happy. I promise you that I’ll only concentrate on my studies and will never do any wrong. I’ll marry wherever you say, but please let me study!) – Anandi told her mother
Anandi later completed her class 9th-12th in a school in Lunkaransar. She further continued her studies to complete her graduation from Dungur college of Bikaner and one year B.Ed. course form Bikaner. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Hindi Literature. Anandi is now a confident and well educated young woman who feels that today there has been a lot of change in the thinking and mindset of her family who feel proud for their daughter which in a way inspires her to excel in her work. Even her family consults her in all matters of decision making at household level and supports her to study up to her desired level. She has undergone the RKCL course (computer certificate course compulsory to apply for Government jobs in Rajasthan) and has given 2nd grade exams for teachers in government school. She aims to be a successful teacher someday which she feels will impact her decision making capacity, boost her self-confidence and give her the power to voice her opinions and views publically, without the fear of being subdued. She is confident to continue her profession even after her marriage even if her in-laws opposes. Given a chance to take part in local governance, she wants to take up the roles and responsibilities and use the platform to spread awareness about the importance of girl’s education which she feels is the only weapon to fight all menace against women and gender inequality. She believes that education is the pathways to correct information and
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knowledge which empowers women to raise voice against social evils, even in front of the elders of the community who might have little knowledge about it and will in a way give respect to your opinion. “Agar ladki padhi likhi hogi toh woh har mushkil ka sammna kar sakti hai, warna log usse bewakoof aur sirf paon ki jutti samajhte hain” (if a girl is educated, then she would be able to face any problem in life; otherwise people consider her stupid and worthless) – Anandi
Roshni (name changed), a 22 year old resident of Mangolpuri in Delhi, has been lucky enough to get her family support in terms of her education and social participation. However, the involvement in ‘Young Health Programme’ of Plan has given her the platform to effectively interact with people and provide her with required training to perform in street theatres.
The story of “Roshni” (the Light) “Mera pati main khud chunungi” (I, myself, will select my life-partner), says 22 year old Roshni (name changed) with ease and aplomb, coupled with a determined face, when she was asked whether she would marry to her family’s proposition or not. Roshni has been the peer-educator in her area in Mongolpuri. She has actively participated in the activities of YHP (Youth Health Programme), conducted by Plan India. She is one the few members of the organisation who is associated with it for all the 3 years that the organisation has come into existence in Mongolpuri. She mentions participating in a rally on TB, for which she had visited door-to-door to invite, inform and gather the listed participants. – “Mera kam tha sare bacche ko ek sath lana – is rally me kareeb 300 bacche hissa liya tha” (My job was to make sure that children participate in the rally – almost 300 boys and girls took part). She also talks about the street plays training that she has received from the organisation. This training has helped her to participate in several street plays on a variety of topics to spread awareness amongst youth. Participating in these street plays has helped her to increase her self-confidence and be more vocal about social issues that girls encounter. Roshni has also been a part of the NSS (National Social Service) in her school. She is one of the 10 leaders who have worked on the school-related issue of plantations in school through this group. Even outside of her school, she has taken initiatives with her family and the NGO to work on other social issues of cleanliness and child marriage. “Mera sab se acche dost, Ruchi ka shaadi kar diya gaya tha jab hum Class 10 me parte the”. (My best friend Ruchi was married off when we were studying in Class 10). “I still remember
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the tears in her eyes, when she had to quit studies because of her marriage at 16 - this was really an eye-opener for me and I decided to fight it till the end”. Till date, Roshni has conducted around 30-35 street plays, bringing to the foray the menacing issues of child marriage, drug abuse, trafficking and child labour. Although Roshni has not herself experienced any gender-based violence, she has nevertheless seen this problem in the society around her. She is well aware about the necessary measures to be taken in this regard to arrest any such happening. She has formed a group with 9 other school friends to fight any such violence related cases. Roshni has been a true leader, a peer educator in the true sense of the term.
Suggestions and Recommendations • The local bodies and government need to patronise the artists and encourage this medium. • The concept of street theatre has been proven very effective. Hence, due encouragement is solicited at all levels. • Support from the family to come forward and take up this medium to raise one’s voice
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CONCLUSION AND CALL FOR ACTION
“Pathways to Power” has attempted to explore the extent to which young women (18-25 years), benefitting from social development programs, find themselves able to take decisions and influence the perceptions and decisions of their family, community and local institutional and political governance on their and other girls’ lives in the family and community. Empowerment is conceptualised as the ‘ability to make choices among the given alternatives’, and the study tried to explore the impact of Plan programs in providing “power to” young women to make their own life choices and the efficacy of building “power within” to gain the sense of self-identity, confidence and awareness. The young women and men identified the importance of education in developing the “power within” that is required for their participation in their personal and public spaces. Yet only 3 in 5 young women interviewed had studied upto the secondary or higher level of education. The study also indicated that when people are aware of incentives and programs, they tend to access them. In our study the young women also admitted to the contribution of these incentives in keeping them in school. Most of the young women and men interviewed had a positive response to acquiring vocational training and education. Young women and men indicated a preference for acquiring quality skill training through shorter duration market-oriented courses and expressed their willingness to even spend a little more for such a training. Plan India’s programmes on providing job-oriented skill training found a resonance with young men and women alike and needs to be scaled up to include more young persons. On a positive note, with more girls attending schools and acquiring education and life skills, translate to them getting the opportunities that their grandmothers and mothers may not have had. Yet there remains much to be done. Young women and men are aware of their rights and the rights of girls and women to take control of their own lives and impact the decisions. However, families and communities continue to have a strong hold on how they lead their lives. Society’s “power over” girls and women continues to exert its dominance and girls find themselves unable to challenge existing norms. Young adults are aware of the legal age of marriage, they also understand the physical and emotional benefits of delaying the age of marriage - yet are unable to resist social pressure. Compared to young men, young women continue to inherit domestic roles from their mothers while young men tend to inherit ancestral properties from their fathers. Barely three percent of the young women interviewed had any property registered in their names. The difference between theory and practice is demonstrated again in the findings that while parents may agree on the importance of women’s education and the rights of their daughters, in practice they continue to impose restriction on their daughters’ mobility and interaction with their male peers. At the household level, decision making process, financial decisions like buying property, insurance or taking a loan are majorly taken by the older male members. Age also plays a
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role here with most of the young women and men confirming that they are not the ultimate decision makers. The same trend is seen with regard to making decisions about marriage. The new generation seems to be failing to challenge the traditional beliefs of older generation. The involvement of young women in community level decision making was found to be very low with most still occupied with their domestic roles that kept them confined to the homes. The participation of women in gram-sabhas, ULB level meetings and in political and social campaigns is abysmally low. Despite the one-third reservation of seats for women in local governing bodies, very few young women interviewed aspired to take on these leadership roles and get into governance. Mere tokenism is the main reason women hold the post while in reality their husbands take the decisions. Yet as we find time and again, young women are finding their ways to break free of the stereotypes that society forces on them. The ray of hope lies in “power with” women groups – the synergistic effect of collective power through collaboration. It is encouraging to note that, despite prevailing practices or ideologies, many young women in Plan program areas, in both urban and rural settings, have participated in activities outside the household, whether through youth clubs or children and adolescent groups. However, they hope for a more sustained parental support in this endeavour. Many of the young women in Plan program areas, have taken to social causes realising its relevance in taking forward their own struggles with power. They are using social messaging forms, like media clubs or street theatres. The members of “Wajood” (Identity) – a theatre group based out of a slum in Delhi is one such example of this collective power where the members showcase deep-rooted social evils leading to discrimination on the basis of caste, class and gender. Significant progress has been made in India with respect to policy and programmatic interventions aimed to achieve gender equality. Since the first Five Year Plan period, the welfare oriented approach towards women’s issues have taken a definite shift towards empowerment approach through gender mainstreaming process. As shared by Smt. Rashmi Singh, Executive Director, National Mission for Empowerment of Women, some of the limitations in implementation of policy provisions towards achieving women empowerment include limited out-reach of Government services, lack of coordination with State Governments, gap between demand and supply and lack of infrastructural support. The current focus of the government is thus, is to address the structural and institutional barriers by promoting women in leadership roles at all levels and inter-sectoral convergence at the National/State/District/Sub-District amongst various departments for unified and synergistic actions.
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The Way Forward Plan India has a long standing commitment to promote and secure rights of girls through programs on education and learning, building life skills, knowledge, self-esteem, confidence and leadership capacity building. Through the interventions we have learnt that i) empowerment for girls involves strengthening their ability to make choices about their future and developing their sense of self worth ii) girls and young women are a diverse group with factors, such as caste, poverty, ethnicity and sexuality affecting their empowerment iii) girls empowerment flourishes in societies where girls’ and women’s rights are fulfilled and where girls are valued equally with boys. Girls’ empowerment requires an enabling environment where families and communities value girls and believe in their potential and where institutions enact laws and policies that promote gender justice.
For real and sustainable change to happen in the lives of girls, there is a need to challenge and reconstruct the way power operates, within families and communities in terms of how girls are valued, and also within the law, policy and the institutions of the state and the market. Alongside this, we need to build the power of girls through programmes that enhance the agency of girls – the ability to make decisions and act on them – and the capacity of girls to organise and advocate together. Building an enabling environment is a complex, long-term and multi-dimensional process. It must be based on strengthening the capacity of girls and young women to act collectively; on engaging men and boys in the struggle for equality; and on strong public policies that protect and uphold the human rights of women and girls, including their right to freedom from violence and discrimination. Transformative change is possible. Political leadership, backed up by dedicated resources, has played, and will continue to play, a fundamental role in seeing this aspiration become a reality. We have seen in this chapter and throughout this report how girls and young women are speaking out, claiming new spaces and pushing for change. They are doing this individually and collectively. But, they still face many structural and institutional barriers. There is opposition from parents or leaders in their communities, including religious leaders, and this cannot be overcome in seclusion.
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Overcoming the challenges faced towards women’s empowerment requires a distinct focus on effective communication with the key influencers in the lives of adolescent girls and young women. Families and communities are the key influencers, especially on aspects of schooling, marriage and mobility. Building a dialogue with them on constraining cultural practices and changing their behaviours is a crucial step in ensuring that adolescent girls and young women live better lives. Community mobilisation is an essential aspect of empowering young women as one cannot engage them outside of their social situation. The community based approach adopted by Plan and its partners has allowed girls to access various resources by creating an enabling environment within which they can exist and function. The way forward lies in transformative change, where policy makers, various government departments and non-governmental organisations need to function synergistically. Plan, based on its programme experience and on research with communities, with young women and men, could be an agent for this transformative change. The transformative change can be organised as under: • Attitudinal Change: social, family and community – transforming the public and private spaces where social norms and behaviours have become entrenched, and where gender inequality and power relations are reproduced. • Political Action: intervention at grass root level for effective percolation of public policies and laws to reinforce and protect girls’ rights. There is scope for expanding reach of guidance on gender sensitisation for local authorities and civil society organisations seeking to advance the gender equality agenda with special focus on need of adolescents. Providing increased access to justice for girls and young women is also required. • Economic Empowerment: equal opportunities, decent work and real choices – education and employment that works for young women. • Participation: engaging girls in collective action – information, mobilisation and respect for rights. A focused approach to bringing the access of World Wide Web under the reach of adolescents and young adults, especially young women would increase their participation. Encouragement is required for young women to participate in local governance. Focused attention is required to involve young women in political decision making. Finally the involvement of women’s group in local governance could channelise the “power with” in helping young women tread pathways to power and transform it to “power within”.
Call for Action Over the years of working on gender equality we have learnt how difficult it can be to change attitudes. It is not possible for any one organisation to work in isolation and expect to bring about sustainable change. In our programmes we work closely not only with communities but also with research partners and regional and national governments. A multi-dimensional approach is needed to ensure girls’ rights and empowerment .
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Advancing gender justice requires improving the condition and position of girls and women and changing how they are valued in society to transform unequal gender power relations. Research for this report indicates that working locally with key power holders, identifying women leaders and active women’s groups, supporting girls’ leadership, participation and education, is key to the transformative change that will give girls choice, freedom from violence, access to education, decent work and the ability to make decisions. It is clear that while the key barriers to girls’ and women’s access to power and decision-making are sociocultural, the “principal solution lies in the political dimension”. Therefore, while by no means it provides the whole solution, government action remains critical. For this reason, the chapter sets out three key recommendations to translate ambition into action. To support these recommendations, we also look at some practical steps that the government, as well as corporate and institutional donors and civil society, can take to develop an environment where gender equality can be realised.
Recommendation 1: Gender Equality and Adolescent Girls in the post2015 Framework • Commit to actively support a post-2015 framework that includes transformative stand-alone goal on gender equality, full realisation of women’s and girls’ human rights and empowerment of women and girls. • Ensure the rights and needs of adolescent girls are explicitly reflected in the post2015 framework.
Recommendation 2: Accountability to Women and Girls The Government must increase accountability to girls and women by strengthening data collection methods and practices. This includes a commitment to: • Increase data quality and raise standards on data collection and ensure that quantitative and qualitative data, disaggregated by sex, age, location, wealth quintile and disability, at a minimum, is used to capture nuanced and complex information, such as changes in attitudes of women and men and girls and boys, shifts in social norms and the impact of women’s and girls’ participation. • Invest in rigorous evaluations of interventions that work, particularly around social norm change, collective agency, gender-based violence, and multi-sectoral programmes on gender equality. This is a core part of data collection, and policybased research is needed to expand the evidence of interventions that show promise in terms of innovation, results and scaleability. • Undertake a review of sector plans and budgets, including education sector plans to ensure that legislation, policies and programmes are gender-sensitive and promote equality, non-discrimination and human rights. Identify the steps necessary to implement the findings and attach adequate resources and effectively delivering
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progress. It is critical for gender-response budgeting to focus on allocations beyond health and education ministries – to ensure that government budgets address the specific rights and needs of girls and women.
Recommendation 3: Intensify efforts on gender-based violence Government, corporates and civil society must intensify efforts to end violence against women and girls. In particular, commitment and investment are urgently required to: • Develop and implement integrated national action plans focused on violence prevention, response and the provision of appropriate services. Action plans should be gender-responsive, take into account the diversity of experiences and needs of marginalised girls and boys and look specifically at the school context. • Take all necessary measures to prevent gender-based violence as an urgent priority by targeting multiple entry points; supporting and investing in public education campaigns at the local and national levels; and making full use of media, including social media, to challenge social norms which perpetuate gender-based violence and gender inequality. The Government of India has initiated a national campaign to prevent violence against girls. This must be fully resourced with appropriate financing and investment to match strategic intention. • Remove the barriers that prevent girls’ and women’s access to justice by investing in one-stop centres for integrated medical care, psycho-social counselling, legal and other support. Around the world, the vast majority of women and girls who experience violence never seek help, access justice or report the violence to anyone. • Invest in girls’, transition to and completion of, secondary education in a safe and supportive environment. Women with completed secondary education have an 11 to 36 percent lower risk of experiencing violence, compared with those without education. • Identify and support local power holders, both male and female, who champion the human rights of women and girls, promote efforts to create community action plans and make public declarations in support of gender equality. • Fund work with traditional, religious and community leaders to challenge and change the harmful social norms driving child marriage and gender-based violence. The pathways to power is a long one. But with supportive adults, both women and men, and collective organising, girls and young women are finding a way through. It is not just the girls responsibilty, but, families, communities and policy makers must acknowledge girls’ low status and the barriers and limitations that they experience and enable them to overcome the constraints. Discrimination against girls and women has been part of the structure of our society for generations. Girls’ empowerment, and the transformative social change that this requires, remains one of the greatest challenges of our generation. Girls’ rights are human rights and it is time this became a reality in the lives of girls everywhere.
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Annexures 1 Policy Provision for Women Empowerment in Ddifferent Five Year Plans: India Plan
Provisions
First Five Year Plan (1951-56)
It was mainly welfare oriented as far as women’s issues were concerned. The Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) undertook a number of welfare measures through the voluntary sector. The programmes for women were implemented by the National Extension Service Programmes through Community Development Blocks
Second Five Year Plan (1956-61)
Efforts were geared to organise “Mahila Mandals” (women’s groups) at grass-roots levels to ensure better implementation of welfare schemes.
Third, Fourth and Fifth Plans (1961-74)
They accorded high priority to women’s education. Measures to and other interim to improve maternal and child health services and supplementary feeding for children, nursing and expectant mothers were also introduced.
Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85)
This is regarded as a landmark in women’s development. The Plan adopted a multi-disciplinary approach with a three-pronged thrust on health, education and employment of women.
Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90)
Development programmes for women were continued, with the objective of raising their economic and social status and bringing them into the mainstream of national development. A very significant step therein was to identify and promote “beneficiary-oriented programmes” which extended direct benefits to women.
Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97)
It attempted to ensure that the benefits of development from different sectors did not bypass women. Special programmes were implemented to complement the general development programmes. The flow of benefits to women in the three core sectors of education, health and employment were monitored vigilantly. Women were enabled to function as equal partners and participants in the developmental process with reservation in the membership of local bodies. This approach of the Eighth Plan marks a definite shift from ‘development’ to ‘empowerment’ of women.
Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002)
The Ninth Five Year Plan envisaged : a) Empowerment of women and socially disadvantaged groups, such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and Minorities as agents of socio-economic change and development.
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Plan
Provisions b) Promoting and developing people’s participatory institutions like Panchayati Raj institutions, cooperatives and \-help groups. c) Strengthening efforts to build self-reliance. d) The convergence of services from different sectors. e) A women’s component plan at the Central and State levels
Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007)
The Tenth Five Year Plan was formulated to ensure requisite access of women to information, resources and services and advance gender equality goals. Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) The Eleventh Five Year Plan proposes to undertake special measures for gender empowerment and equity. The Ministry of Women and Child Development would make synergistic use of gender budget and gender mainstreaming process.
Twelfth Five Year Plan (2013-2017)
The vision for the Twelfth Five Year Plan is to ensure improving the position and condition of women by addressing structural and institutional barriers as well as strengthening gender mainstreaming. The thrust areas are: • Economic Empowerment - increase their presence in the work force but also improve the quality of women’s work and ensure their upward mobility on the economic ladder • Social Empowerment– provide health services, education, housing, drinking water, sanitation and energy • Gender-based violence and discrimination against women - provide a safe and protective environment to women both in the public and private arena • Promote women’s leadership and their participation in governance • Focus on Vulnerable Women (Single women, widows and deserted women, women from SC/ST and economically backward communities, women from HIV/AIDS affected families • Gender Responsive Budgeting • Strengthen National Women’s Machineries
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Annexures 2: Existing Constitutional Provisions for Women Article Number
S.No. Constitutional Provision 1.
Equality before Law for Women
Article 14
2.
The State not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them
Article 15 (I)
3.
The State to make any special provision in favour of women and children
Article15 (3)
4.
Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State
Article 16)
5.
The State to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally the right to an adequate means of livelihood
Article 39 (a)
6.
Equal pay for equal work for both men and women
Article 39 (d)
7.
To promote justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and to provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or scheme or in any other way to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities
Article 39A
8.
The State to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief
Article 42
9.
The State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation
Article 46
10.
The State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of Public Health
Article 47
11.
To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women
Article 51(A) (e)
12.
Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every panchayat to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat
Article 243 D (3)
13.
Not less than one-third of the total number of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at each level to be reserved for women
Article 243 D (4)
14.
Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every municipality to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a municipality
Article 243 T (3)
15.
Reservation of offices of chairpersons in municipalities for the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes and women in such manner as the legislature of a State may by law provide
Article 243 T (4)
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Annexures 3: Existing Legislative Provisions for Women S.No. Low 1.
Protection Of Women From Domestic Violence Act 2005
Provisions • Provides protection to the wife or female live-in partner from domestic violence by the husband or male live-in partner or his relatives, the law also extends its protection to women living in a household such as sisters, widows or mothers • Domestic violence under the act includes actual abuse or the threat of abuse whether physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic • Harassment by way of unlawful dowry demands to the woman or her relatives would also be covered under this definition
2.
Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 (Amended in 1986)
• Prohibits the request, payment or acceptance of a dowry, "as consideration for the marriage", where "dowry" is defined as a gift demanded or given as a precondition for a marriage • ‘Burden of proof’ falls on the bridegroom and his family • Non-bailable and non-compoundable
3.
The Sexual Harassment • of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 •
The Act defines sexual harassment at the work place and creates a mechanism for redressal of complaints. It also provides safeguards against false or malicious charges The definition of “aggrieved woman”, who will get protection under the Act is extremely wide to cover all women, irrespective of her age or employment status, whether in the organised or unorganised sectors, public or private and covers clients, customers as well asdomestic workers
• The Committee is required to complete the inquiry within a time period of 90 days. On completion of the inquiry, the report will be sent to the employer or the District Officer, as the case may be, they are mandated to take action on the report within 60 days 4.
The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
• Does not legalise trafficking but allows for the exchange of sex for money • Soliciting however is criminalised under this act and anyone living off the earnings of a sex worker is also liable to be punished
5.
The Indecent Re• Prohibits indecent representation of women through presentation of Women advertisement or in publications, writings, paintings, figures (Prohibition) Act, 1986 or in any other manner • Also extends to audio-video and electronic media
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S.No. Low 6.
Provisions
The Commission of Sati • Prevents the practice of Sati or the voluntary or forced (Prevention) Act, 1987 burning or burying alive of widows • Also prohibits glorification of this action through the observance of any ceremony, the participation in any procession, the creation of a financial trust, the construction of a temple, or any actions to commemorate or honor the memory of a widow who committed sati
7.
The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
• Regulates the employment of the women and maternity benefits mandated by law • Any female employee, who has worked in any establishment for a period of at least 80 days during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of her expected delivery, is entitled to receive maternity benefits under the Act.
8.
The Pre-Conception • Bans the use of sex selection techniques before or after and Prenatal Diagnostic conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic Techniques ACT technique for sex selective abortion (PC-PNDT Act)
9.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
• An abortion can be performed in India until the 20th week of pregnancy. The opinion of a second doctor is required if the pregnancy is past its 12th week. • The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was amended in 2002 and 2003 to allow doctors to provide mifepristone and misoprostol (also known as the “morning-after pill”) on prescription up until the seventh week of pregnancy • If a woman is married, her own written consent is sufficient. Her husband’s consent is not required • If a woman is unmarried and over 18, she can provide her own written consent
10.
Child Labour (Regulation and Prohibition) Act, 1986 (Amended in 2006).
• Prevents any child under the age of 15 to be employed in any hazardous labour, this includes working in tea stalls and as a domestic servant
11.
Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
• Under this act no employer is permitted to pay any worker, employed by him in an establishment or employment, remuneration at rates less favorable than those paid to the workers of the opposite sex in such establishment or employment for performing the same work or work of a similar nature. • Instills the constitutional provision of equal pay for equal work
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S.No. Low 12.
Provisions
Prohibition of Child
• Prevention and prohibition of child marriages
Marriage Act, 2006
• Protection from the marriage by providing the choice to the children in the marriage to seek annulment of marriage • Providing for maintenance and residence for the female contracting party
13.
The Special Marriage Act, 1954
• Any man above 21 and any woman above 18 can get married under this act • A total of three witnesses are required to attest to the marriage
14.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
• Applies to anyone who is a Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion. The wife can present a petition for the dissolution of marriage on the ground of if the husband marries again after the commencement of his first marriage or if the husband has been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality • Newly married couples cannot file a petition for divorce within one year of marriage
15.
The Hindu Succession • The previous version of the act in which inheritance was based Act (Amendment), 2005 on the principle of mitakshara and dayabhaga was amended to include daughters to inherit the ancestral property
16.
The Married Women’s Property Act, 1874
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• Married women’s earnings to be their separate property
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Annexures 4: Existing Social Security schemes / programmes for Women S.No. Schemes
Benefits
1.
Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)-A Conditional Maternity Benefit Scheme
IGMSY a flagship program of the Government of India introduced in 2010 is a conditional cash transfer scheme that targets pregnant and lactating women 19 years of age and older who have had two children. Its goal is to partly compensate them for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices
2.
Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG): SABLA
SABLA is a centrally sponsored program of the Government of India initiated in April 2011. It aims at: • Enabling adolescent girls for self-development and empowerment • Improving their nutrition and health status • Promoting awareness about health, hygiene, nutrition, adolescent reproductive and sexual health (ARSH) and family and child care. • Upgrading home-based skills, life skills and integrate with the National Skill Development Program (NSDP) for vocational skills • Mainstreaming out of school adolescent girls into formal/non formal education • Providing information/guidance about existing public services, such as PHC, CHC, Post Office, Bank, Police Station, etc.
3.
Swadhar
Swadhar is a Central sector scheme for providing holistic and integrated services to women in difficult circumstances, such as destitute widows, women prisoners released from jail and without family support, women survivors of natural disasters; trafficked women/girls rescued from brothels or other places or victims of sexual crime, mentally challenged women who are without any support etc.
4.
Working Women Hostel It aims to provide a safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women, with day care facility for their children, wherever possible, in urban, semi urban or even rural areas where employment opportunities for women exist
5.
Support to Training and Launched in 1986, STEP aims at: Employment Programme • Mobilising women in small viable groups and making facilities for Women (STEP) available through training, access to credit and other inputs • Providing training for skill up gradation • Enabling groups of women to take up employment-cumincome generation programmes of their own, or to access wage employment. • Providing support services for further improving employment conditions of women and for access to health care, literacy, legal literacy and other information.
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S.No. Schemes
Benefits Ministry is examining the feasibility of introducing more employment oriented programmes for women, such as IT, NITES, Gems and jewelry, transport and tourism, apparel and garment making etc.
6.
Integrated Child The ICPS was adopted by the Central Government in 2009.The Protection Scheme (ICPS) specific objectives of the scheme are: • To institutionalise essential services and strengthen structures • To enhance capacities at all systems and persons involved in service delivery • To create database and knowledge base for child protection services • To strengthen child protection at family and community level • To coordinate and network with government institutions and non-government institutions to ensure effective implementation of the scheme • To raise public awareness about child rights, child vulnerability and child protection services
7.
Short Stay Home For The SSH scheme for women and girls extends temporary shelter Women and Girls (SSH) and rehabilitation to those women and girls who have no social support systems due to family problems, mental strains, social ostracism, exploitation and other causes. It aims to create a space for women to socially and economically equip themselves to face the challenges. Objectives are: • To provide temporary shelter and support to women and girls who have no social support systems to rely on • To rehabilitate the women and girls socially and economically by provision of skill training, counselling
8.
Gender Budgeting Scheme
Gender Budgeting is a powerful tool for achieving gender mainstreaming so as to ensure that benefits of development reach women as much as men. Objectives of the scheme include: • Initiate an integrated approach and guide the Gender Budgeting Cells (GBCs) setup by different Central Ministries/ Departments • Coordinate and monitor gender budgeting exercises of GBCs and facilitate gender budgeting analysis • Encourage State Governments and PRIs in evolving plans and strategies for undertaking gender budgeting by providing assistance, support and consultancy services • Conduct gender-based impact analysis, beneficiary needs assessment and beneficiary incidence analysis • Collate and promote best practices on gender budgeting
9.
Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY)
KSY aims at empowering adolescent girls so that they may become responsible citizens. It looks at all aspects of adolescent girl development. The large objective of the scheme is to
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S.No. Schemes
Benefits advance the nutritional, health and development status of adolescent girls, support increasing knowledge of health, hygiene, nutrition and family care, and to integrate them with opportunities for learning life skills, going back to school, helping girls grow to understand their society and become prolific members of the society The scheme functions within the existing ICDS infrastructure.
10.
Nutrition Programme for The Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls was launched in Adolescent Girls (NPAG) 2002-03 to address nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Under this scheme, 6 kg of foodgrains were given to under nourished adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers according to their weight
11.
Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme for the Children of Working Mothers
The RGNCS was established to meet the care needs of women. It provides crèche and day care services for both working women and women from low income families.
12.
Dhanalakshmi
‘Dhanalakshmi’ was introduced by the Government of India in 2008 for incentivising birth of the Girl Child. It is a conditional cash transfer scheme that provides money to the family of a girl child on fulfilling certain conditionality relating to registration of birth, immunisation, enrolment and retention in school till class VIII; and an insurance coverage if the girl remains unmarried till the age of 18
13.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan SSA has been operational since 2000-2001 to provide for a (SSA) variety of interventions for universal access to education and retention, bridging of gender and social category gaps in elementary education and improving the quality of learning
14.
Mahila Samakhya Programme
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The National Policy on Education, 1986 recognised that the empowerment of women is possibly the most critical pre-condition for the participation of girls and women in the educational process. The Mahila Samakhya programme was launched in 1988 to pursue the objectives of the National Policy on Education, 1986. It recognised that education can be an effective tool for women’s empowerment, the parameters of which are: • Enhancing self-esteem and self-confidence of women • Building a positive image of women by recognising their contribution to the society, polity and the economy • Developing ability to think critically • Fostering decision making and action through collective processes • Enabling women to make informed choices in areas like education, employment and health • Ensuring equal participation in developmental processes
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S.No. Schemes
Benefits • Providing information, knowledge and skill for economic independence • Enhancing access to legal literacy and information
15.
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) is a scheme which was Vidyalaya launched in July 2004, to set up residential schools at upper primary level for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities KGBV ran as a separate scheme but in harmony with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) and Mahila Samakhya (MS) for the first two years, but since 2007 has merged with the SSA programme as a separate component of that programme
16.
Indira Awas Yojana
IAY is a social welfare programme, created by the Indian Government, to provide housing for the rural poor in India. It is one of the major flagship programs of the Rural Development Ministry to construct houses for BPL population in the villages. The houses are allotted in the name of the woman or jointly between husband and wife Sanitary latrine and smokeless chullah are required to be constructed along with each IAY house for which additional financial assistance is provided from Total Sanitation Campaign and Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana respectively
17.
National Rural Health Mission – Janani Suraksha Yojna
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery amongst poor pregnant women which was launched in 2005
18.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Initiative.
The adverse and declining child sex ratio (CSR) across the States is a major cause of concern as it has fallen from 927 in 2001 to 918 in 2011.The BBBP seeks to arrest the trend and over time to reverse it. A 100 critic allow CSR districts in all States and UTs have been identified for focused and convergent action by the Ministries The Ministry of WCD is the nodal Ministry for this initiative and will carry out training to stakeholders, community mobilisation and sensitisation. It will also embark upon a range of advocacy measures and activities, not limited to the 100 low CSR districts but all across the country. All forms of media and social media platforms would be used for this.
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Annexures 5: Gender Equality and Adolescent Girls in the post-2015 Agenda Plan believes that adolescent girls were a neglected group within the existing MDGs, and given the particular constraints faced by adolescent girls at a critical time of their life, they must receive increased and explicit attention in the new post-2015 agenda. The post-2015 framework provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reaffirm and advance commitments to achieve human rights and sustainable development for all. It must be grounded in existing international human rights frameworks and commitment to gender equality. A truly transformative approach, one that empowers women and girls in all contexts throughout their lives, and that addresses the major underlying and structural causes of poverty and inequality, will be crucial to any success of the post2015 agenda.
The Way forward Plan, together with key global partners, has put forward the following indicative goals and targets to be included in the post-2015 framework: Gender goal: Attain gender equality, achieve women and girls’ human rights, and empower women and girls everywhere. • Target 1: By 2030, end all forms of discrimination against women and girls. • Target 2: By 2030, eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spaces, in all settings. • Target 3: By 2030, eliminate all harmful practices against women and girls, including child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation. • Target 4: By 2030, ensure full, equal and effective economic, social and political participation and leadership of women and girls at all levels of decision-making in the public and private spheres. • Target 5: By 2030, ensure universal sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a particular focus on adolescent girls. Education goal: All girls and boys complete a free, inclusive and quality primary and secondary education in a safe and supportive learning environment, with opportunities for life-long learning.
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References 1
Gaventa, John; Finding the Spaces for Change – A Power Analysis; IDS Bulletin Volume 37 Number 6 November 2006 2 Kabeer, Naila; Resource, Agency, Achievements - Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment; Development and Change Vol.30; 1999 3 Kabeer, Naila; Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment – A critical Analysis of the third Millennium Development Goal; Gender and Development Vol. 13, No. 1, March 2005 4 http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/worldconferences-on-women 5 Progress for Children - A Report Card on Adolescents (UNICEF) 6 Violence against Women Prevalence Data: Surveys by Country. (http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-andfigures/) 7 The Global Gender Gap Report 2013, World Economic Forum 8 Inclusive growth is a concept which advances equitable opportunities for economic participants during the process of economic growth with benefits incurred by every section of society. 9 Upadhyay, Reecha – Women’s Empowerment in India – an analytical overview, Asia Foundation 10 Education Research Paper No. 09, 1993 11 Mehrotra, 2006; Dreze and Kingdon, 2001; PROBE, 1999 12 http://planindia.org/about-plan/media-centre/news/saksham-a-youth-employmentinitiative-for-skill-development-and-livelihood-promotion 13 XII Five Year Plan - Report of the Working Group on Women’s Agency and Empowerment
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