GENDER DISCRIMNATION IN INDIA.

What is gender discrimination?

"When you grow up, you can be whatever you want to be." Little girls in the United States hear this all the time, from their mothers to teachers to "Sesame Street" characters. Almost everywhere they go, they are encouraged to believe that girls can be just as smart, athletic, and successful as boys. 

In India, discriminatory attitudes towards women have existed for generations and affects women over their lives. Although the constitution of India has granted women equal rights but gender disparities remains.

There are limited opportunities for women to access resources such as education, health care services and job opportunities to women as they decide the future of India.  Women are disadvantaged at work, and are often underestimated for their capabilities. This has prevented Indian women from achieving a higher standard of living

GIRLS IN INDIA-HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS

Girls Household Servants: When a boy is born in most developing countries, friends and relatives exclaim congratulations. A son means insurance. He will inherit his father's property and get a job to help support the family. When a girl is born, the reaction is very different. Some women weep when they find out their baby is a girl because, to them, a daughter is just another expense. Her place is in the home, not in the world of men. In some parts of India, it's traditional to greet a family with a newborn girl by saying, "The servant of your household has been born."

A girl can't help but feel inferior when everything around her tells her that she is worth less than a boy. Her identity is forged as soon as her family and society limit her opportunities and declare her to be second-rate.

A combination of extreme poverty and deep biases against women creates a remorseless cycle of discrimination that keeps girls in developing countries from living up to their full potential. It also leaves them vulnerable to severe physical and emotional abuse. These "servants of the household" come to accept that life will never be any different.

EDUCATION

Education is not widely attained by the Indian women. Although literacy rates are increasing, female literacy rates lags behind the male literacy rate.

Literacy Rate Census of India 2001 and 2011 Comparison

Literacy for females stands at 65.46%, compared to 82.14% for males An underlying factor for such low literacy rates are parent's perceptions that education for girls are a waste of resources as their daughters would eventually live with their husband's families and they will not benefit directly from the education investment

CONSEQUENCES

Gender discrimination impedes growth; with lower female-to-male workers ratios significantly reducing total output in both agricultural and non-agricultural sector . It is also estimated that growth in India would increase by 1.09% if its female labor-participation rate were put on par with the US 

Federal Laws Strongly Prohibit Gender Discrimination

Since the social unrest of the 1960s, the federal government has been actively involved in preventing gender discrimination in the workplace. The most important law covering gender discrimination on the job is the Civil Rights Act of 1964—specifically, Title VII of that act, which strictly prohibits all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in all aspects of employment.

Written during a tumultuous period in American history when many people expected the federal government to right social wrongs, the law was a monumental piece of legislation that changed the American employment landscape.

The law was passed after heated debate in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It stated that it was unlawful for an employer to "fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges or employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The law covers hiring, dismissals, compensation, and all other aspects of employment, while also covering actual employment opportunities that are available. Examples of gender discrimination or sexual harassment that would fall under the scope of the act include:

An employee who alleges that his or her manager only promotes male employees and keeps females in entry-level positions. An employee who alleges that a manager or other person in power tells jokes or makes statements that are demeaning insulting, or offensive to women.

Although socially women have been at a disadvantage but the Indian laws highly favor women. If a husband commits adultery he will be jailed, but a women can not be jailed for adultery and neither will be punished by courts. In most child custody cases the children are given to the wife. In most divorce cases mostly the child is given to the mother.

Women can jail husband family for dowry related cases by just filing an FIR. The law IPC498A demands that the husband's family be considered criminal by default unless proven clean. According to one source, this provision is much abused as only four percent of the cases go to court and the final conviction rate is as low as two percent

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

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