The slogan of international conferences, summits, voluntary organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is directly related to issues of injustice with women as the central theme to act.
Despite all of these efforts, the atrocities like dowry deaths, sexual harassment, female feticide, molestation, rape, women trafficking, domestic violence etc are coming into surface increasingly from each and every corner of India, to assess the real picture of female gender.
The shocking statistics of sex-ratio in the state of Jammu and Kashmir: 883 per 1000 boys is below the national average of 914 per 1000 boys and out of world’s one billion illiterates, 2/3 is women. A study has revealed that 57% of boys were breast fed as compared to 30% of girls.
The stereotype mindset of people that boys are assets, while girls are considered as an additional burden on the parents as they have to spend massive money on their marriage and dowry. Women as individual and as a group are among the most discriminated sections of world population. Today’s women are kept away from the position of power and decision making.
The economic dependence of women makes them subjugated and vulnerable to emotional and psychological violence. The society should change its negative mindset towards business women.
Men should leave bias and strengthen women entrepreneurs and help them to be the job providers and not the job seekers. The entire edifice of social movements in India, which wanted to change the status of women, has been raised on the principle of equality.
Societies across the globe have shown preferences for boy child and have gone to the extent of killing girl child in the womb itself. A woman does 3/5th of world’s work but earns only 1/10th of world’s income and owns only 1/10th of world’s assets.
The religion , polity and society are so organized historically as to make her position vulnerable in the society. Women being treated as the second sex in material terms and is quite often denied political, economic and cultural rights.
Changing conditions of women and their status constituted the core of the social reform movements in the early decade of nineteenth century, however, by the early decade of the twentieth century this core is enlarged by bringing two issues: equality of women in modern political, social and cultural realm and women’s role in the development process, into its ambit.
The year 1975 was declared as the world women’s year by the United Nations. The women’s decade, 1975-85, witnessed women related activism by feminist groups as well as political parties. contemporary position of a women in our society is that the big obstacle in the way of approaching banks for financial assistance is that women are asset less and they cannot keep anything as mortgage against the sanctioned loans. Islam has provided women more rights than men but it is unfortunate that Till date Women have never enjoyed her Life under the shade of Security and always discriminated .
Violence comes in many forms and, like the sea, a life that is serene and beautiful can quickly become turbulent and terrifying. Often we cannot leave the place where disruption rules, but we can leave to go deep inside and remain unaffected.
Syed Karar Hashmi is RTI and Social activist, presently studying at Jamia Al Mustafa (s.a.w) International University Qom Iran.