IMPORTANT CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROVISIONS FOR WOMEN IN INDIA

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles . The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the tate to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women! "ithin the framewor# of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, Plans and programmes have aimed at women$s advancement in different spheres! India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights of women! %ey among them is the ratification of the Convention on &limination of 'll Forms of Discrimination 'gainst "omen (C&D'") in *++,!

1.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

The Constitution of India not only grants equality to women but also empowers the tate to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women for neutrali-ing the cumulative socio economic, education and political disadvantages faced by them! Fundamental Rights, among others, ensure equality before the law and equal protection of law. prohibits discrimination against any citi-en on grounds of religion, race, caste, se/ or place of birth, and guarantee equality of opportunity to all citi-ens in matters relating to employment! 'rticles *0, *1, *1(,), *2, ,+(a), ,+(b), ,+(c) and 03 of the Constitution are of specific importance in this regard!

Constitutional Privileges (i) &quality before law for women (Article 1 !

(ii)

The tate not to discriminate against any citi-en on grounds only of religion, race, caste, se", place of birth or any of them (Article 1# (i!!

xiii

(iii)

The tate to ma#e any special provision in favour of women and children (Article 1# ($!!

(iv)

&quality of opportunity for all citi-ens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the tate (Article 1%!

(v)

The tate to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally the right to an adequate means of livelihood (Article $&(a!!' and equal pay for equal wor# for both men and women (Article $&((!!

(vi)

To promote 4ustice, 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 4ustice are not denied to any citi-en by reason of economic or other disabilities (Article $& A!

(vii)

The tate to ma#e provision for securing 4ust and humane conditions of wor# and for maternity relief (Article )!

(viii)

The tate to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the wea#er sections of the people and to protect them from social in4ustice and all forms of e/ploitation (Article %!

(i/)

The tate to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people (Article *!

(/)

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 #1(A! (e!!

xiv

(/i)

5ot less than one6third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the cheduled Castes and the cheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panc+a,at to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panc+a,at (Article ) $ -($!!

(/ii)

5ot less than one6 third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panc+a,ats at each level to be reserved for women (Article ) $ - ( !!

(i/)

5ot less than one6third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the cheduled Castes and the cheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every .unici/alit, to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a .unici/alit, (Article ) $ T ($!!

(/)

Reservation of offices of Chairpersons in .unici/alities for the cheduled Castes, the cheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the legislature of a tate may by law provide (Article ) $ T ( !!

).

L01AL PROVISIONS

To uphold the Constitutional mandate, the tate has enacted various legislative measures intended to ensure equal rights, to counter social discrimination and various forms of violence and atrocities and to provide support services especially to wor#ing women!

'lthough women may be victims of any of the crimes such as 78urder7, 7Robbery7, 7Cheating7 etc, the crimes, which are directed specifically against women, are characteri-ed as 7Crime against "omen7! These are broadly classified under two categories!

xv

(*)

The Crimes Identified 9nder the Indian Penal Code (IPC)

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii)

Rape ( ec! ,:2 IPC) %idnapping ; 'bduction for different purposes ( ec! ,2,6,:,) <omicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts ( ec! ,=3>,=06? IPC) Torture, both mental and physical ( ec! 0+@6' IPC) 8olestation ( ec! ,10 IPC) e/ual <arassment ( ec! 1=+ IPC) Importation of girls (up to 3* years of age)

(3)

The Crimes identified under the pecial Aaws ( AA)

'lthough all laws are not gender specific, the provisions of law affecting women significantly have been reviewed periodically and amendments carried out to #eep pace with the emerging requirements! ome acts which have special provisions to safeguard women and their interests areB

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii)

The &mployees tate Insurance 'ct, *+0@ The Plantation Aabour 'ct, *+1* The Family Courts 'ct, *+10 The pecial 8arriage 'ct, *+10 The <indu 8arriage 'ct, *+11 The <indu uccession 'ct, *+12 with amendment in 3==1 Immoral Traffic (Prevention) 'ct, *+12

xvi

(viii) (i/) (/) (/i) (/ii) (/iii) (/iv) (/v) (/vi)

The 8aternity ?enefit 'ct, *+2* ('mended in *++1) Dowry Prohibition 'ct, *+2* The 8edical Termination of Pregnancy 'ct, *+:* The Contract Aabour (Regulation and 'bolition) 'ct, *+:2 The &qual Remuneration 'ct, *+:2 The Prohibition of Child 8arriage 'ct, 3==2 The Criminal Aaw ('mendment) 'ct, *+@, The Factories ('mendment) 'ct, *+@2 Indecent Representation of "omen (Prohibition) 'ct, *+@2

(/vii) Commission of ati (Prevention) 'ct, *+@: (/viii) The Protection of "omen from Domestic Ciolence 'ct, 3==1

$.

SP0CIAL INITIATIV0S 2OR 3O.0N

(i)

National Commission 4or 3omen

In Danuary *++3, the Eovernment set6up this statutory body with a specific mandate to study and monitor all matters relating to the constitutional and legal safeguards provided for women, review the e/isting legislation to suggest amendments wherever necessary, etc!

(ii)

Reservation 4or 3omen in Local Sel4 51overnment The :,rd Constitutional 'mendment 'cts passed in *++3 by Parliament ensure one6third of the total seats for women in all elected offices in local bodies whether in rural areas or urban areas!

xvii

(iii)

T+e National Plan o4 Action 4or t+e 1irl C+il( (1&&15)666! The plan of 'ction is to ensure survival, protection and development of the girl child with the ultimate ob4ective of building up a better future for the girl child!

(iv)

National Polic, 4or t+e 0m/owerment o4 3omen7 )661 The Department of "omen ; Child Development in the 8inistry of <uman Resource Development has prepared a FNational Polic, 4or t+e 0m/owerment o4 3omen8 in the year 3==*! The goal of this policy is to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women!

GGGGG

Women at work the grim global picture

It is now more generally accepted that most women work, even when they are not recorded as workers by official and other data gatherers. The tasks associated with social reproduction and the care economy are largely (though not solely) borne by women, but in many societies these are not counted among economic or productive activities. imilarly, many women are engaged in what is recognised otherwise as productive work but as unpaid household helpers who are, therefore, only marginally seen as workers in their own right. The general invisibility of women!s work is itself a mostly accurate reflection of their status in society" where women!s official work participation is low, this is typically a sign of less freedom and mobility of women, lower status and lower empowerment. Indeed, where more women are active in the labour market and are employed (especially in formal activities), the share of unpaid work tends to come down and even the unpaid labour performed by women is more likely to be recognised and valued. This is why looking at the e#tent, coverage, conditions and remuneration of women!s work is often a useful way of $udging the e#tent to which their broader status in society has improved.

xviii

This is important in the conte#t of the Third %illennium &evelopment 'oal, which is e#plicitly about empowering women. The indicators and specific targets that were taken into consideration for this goal were rather limited but to the e#tent that they also focussed on work it is worth e#amining whether recent global trends indicate a real improvement in this regard. WIDE DIVERGENCE (hart ) provides data on employment to population ratios of people of working age by se#, for the world as a whole. (&ata for all charts has been taken from the I*+!s 'lobal ,mployment Trends for -omen, &ecember ./)..) In the last si# years, employment rates have fallen slightly for both men and women, but the fall has been somewhat sharper for women, such that the gender gap in employment has actually increased. 0ear in mind that this refers to only paid or recognised employment, and often leaves out a significant chunk of household labour for domestic work or the care economy. 1owever, this global pattern masks very wide divergence across regions, as is evident from (hart .. 'ender gaps in employment rates (measured as the difference between male and female work participation rates as percentage of the male rates) are lowest in ,ast 2sia, where they have gone up slightly. They are highest 3 in fact, e#ceptionally high, indicating complete lack of recognition of much women!s work and many restrictions on work done outside the household by women 3 in the %iddle ,ast and 4orth 2frica, where they have however come down a little bit. 0ut they are also 5uite high (more than 6/ per cent) in outh 2sia, where they have increased throughout the recent period. In general, the only region where there has been notable improvement in this regard is *atin 2merica and the (aribbean, which is also the region where many countries have instituted policies to draw more women into formal work by increasing the provision of public social services, formalising certain types of employment, including domestic work and raising minimum wages. 7nfortunately, there has not really been much improvement in the regions where there was already a significant gap, suggesting that much more needs to be done if recognising women!s work, easing the constraints upon women!s involvement in labour markets and improving the conditions of women!s recognised work are genuinely seen as common social goals. SOME !O"S#O"S$

xix

&espite the problems associated with recognising women!s work, it is also the case that women are more likely to be openly unemployed 3 that is, actively looking for paid work but not finding employment. (hart 8 shows that global youth unemployment rates are significantly higher (nearly double) than those for adults, but in both cases female rates are higher than those for males. This is also notable because studies have found that women are more likely to withdraw from the labour force in case of prolonged unemployment (the discouraged worker effect). There are some regions that are particular hotspots with respect to very high rates of open unemployment among the youth. The %,42 region (%iddle ,ast and 4orth 2frica) is one such region as shown in (hart 9. The association of recent social and political turmoil with these high rates of open unemployment among the youth is too obvious to go unnoticed. It is worth remarking that open unemployment rates among young females is even higher than for young males, typically more than double, pointing to a huge waste of productive potential in these societies. %OW&GR'DE SERVICES %eanwhile, in the developed world, recent economic processes have generated high rates of open unemployment among young people of both se#es. (hart 6 highlights the increase in open unemployment among young women in particular, so much so that the rate is now higher than in the central and east ,uropean countries, when it was lower $ust a few years ago. -hile there has been some decline in open unemployment in recent years in the latter region, the rate still remains higher for young women. ,ven when they are recognised as being employed by official statistics, women workers tend to be disproportionately concentrated in primary activities and in low: grade services. (hart ; indicates that while the share of agriculture in total employment has come down for both men and women, it is still higher for women. 2nd services are more overwhelmingly dominant for women workers. The concentration of women into agricultural activities is particularly marked in some regions. This is evident from (hart <. In the developed world including all of ,urope, as well as in *atin 2merica and even in the %,42 region, the share of women workers involved in agriculture is relatively small. =urther, it has come down substantially in the past two decades in ,ast 2sia and outh:,ast 2sia, although the proportion in outh:,ast 2sia is still close to half. 0ut

xx

in outh 2sia and ub: aharan 2frica, agriculture still accounts for around two: thirds of all women workers, and the rate of decline in this share is also 5uite slow. This is closely aligned to another indicator of the 5uality of employment" the proportion of workers who are engaged in vulnerable work, that is self:employed or workers or unpaid helpers in household economic activities. 2s might be e#pected, women are much more likely to be engaged in such work in most regions, e#cept for where (as in %,42) their work is not recognised. (hart > suggests that there has been some recent improvement in this indicator. The data suggests a decline in the e#tent of vulnerable work for the world as a whole for both men and women, and furthermore a decline in the gender gap in this regard as well. (The gender gap is here defined as the proportion of women in vulnerable work minus the proportion of men in such work, divided by the proportion of men in such work.) -hile such a trend is to be welcomed, the data should be interpreted with caution. =irst, this e#cludes a lot of other work that is also vulnerable" part:time work, employment in insecure contracts, and so on, and there is other evidence that these types of work have increased in recent years. econd, as shown in (hart ?, some regions of the world still have very high proportions of women workers involved in such work, particularly outh 2sia, ub: aharan 2frica and outh:,ast 2sia. +verall, even a cursory e#amination of the trends suggests that if labour market involvement and conditions of work are to be taken as criteria, the world is still very far from achieving any kind of gender parity or true empowerment of women

xxi