A Sociological Analysis of Gender Discrimination and Violence against

Women

Dr. Pragyan
Assistant Professor, Dept of Sociology
Government PG College, Saidabad, Allahabad
tpragyan.105@gmail.com

A Sociological understanding and analysis stems from conceptualising violence against

women as a social phenomenon. As a social phenomenon it is deeply rooted in the gender
structure of power which is part of social structure of a society. Therefore, violence against
women is all about reinforcing realties of gender subordination and exclusion

General Outline
Sociological perspective tries to comprehend and analyse conceptual potential of sociological
study within the framework of normatively designed societal practices and patterns of group
behaviour

Sociological perspective is conducive to gender sensitive approach and attempts to transcend

gender sensitive approach from a peripheral position to the central focus of discussion.

Conceptualising Social Exclusion

 Conceptual understanding of gender structure of power and exclusion is required to be

examined as a form of social stratification
 So that interlink between gender stratification and gender violence can be seen in a
causal relationship
 one cannot understand concept of exclusion in bereft of its ‘social’ aspect
 Here exclusion is social, i.e. exclusion is designed along lines of a certain base of
social identity such as caste, gender or race
 In a comprehensive framework one cannot make a sense of exclusion without
incorporating concept of inclusion
 Social exclusion and inclusion exhibit two different aspects of one social reality i.e.
structural inequality

Three prime bases of structural inequality

Subordination and inequality can be examined in Indian context on the basis of following criterion:-

i. Caste
ii. Class
iii. Gender

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Social exclusion and subordination in a comprehensive framework:

 Concept of social exclusion pertains to the ‘social process’ of negating a group from
being part of a higher posited group within a society.
 Social exclusion operates in day to day life for that particular group who is present
(not absent) and exists in a society but its existence has assigned and attributed such a
lower status as its existence seems not only less significant but on the bankruptcy of
life chances in comparison to a group of higher status.
 It is evident that meaning of exclusion lies in somewhere else that it is a symbolic
though empirical token to facilitate some unequal structural arrangement.

Gender Structure of subordination

 In case of gender, the overall structural arrangement is unevenly organised framework
of relations between women and their male counterparts personally and
professionally.
 Therefore gender structure of power is not about women rather it is all about the
unequal relations between men and women.
 Thus, purpose of violence against women is primarily associated with the
reinforcement and maintenance of male dominated structure in a society.
 Unlike social differentiation, social stratification based on gender implies for social
aspect of inequalities between men and women rather biologically defined
differences.
 Natural differences between men and women are of least significance to qualify for
social stratification.
 However, when these natural differences are started being incorporated in a socio-
cultural and economic design of role and status wherein gender roles are defined not
only as distinct but also posited in a vertical stratum then it becomes a case of
stratification.
 Thus, social structure of unequal status and role seems the key to understand the inter-
relationship between subordination and exclusion of women and violence against
them too.
 This gender structure of stratification facilitates uneven distribution of social
resources like prestige, power, and wealth etc. to women.
 Men are deemed to be superior to women in a society is not treated in sociology as a
set of prejudices but a referent reality of societal totality in that society.
 Besides, unevenly posited statuses have a set of assigned obligations which are not
only part of social expectations for overt actions but also equipped with sanctions.
 Thus, role performance of a member, being located in a social position, is interwoven
with normatively expected and socially desirable behaviour
 For instance, socially constructed gender stereotypes and their enforcements in
everyday life.

Gender Subordination and Gender Violence

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Unequal gender relations are expressed in several forms that can be categorized as explicit
and implicit aspects.

The explicit measures can be better substantiated in differential indices as expressed in terms
of

 Adult sex ratio (India 943; Uttar Pradesh 912)

 Child sex ratio (India 913; Uttar Pradesh 902)
 Female literacy rates (India 64.64%; Uttar Pradesh 57.18%)
 Other health and nutrition indicators etc (Census India 2011)

Implicit measures are enrooted in power and socio-cultural life which in turn results into lack
of control over resources and decision making (Gendering Human Development Indices
20091).

 Gender based violence is a broad term that can be comprehend in a life cycle
approach of females in India context.
 First level of violence against gender begins at pre-natal stage due to son preference
i.e. female foeticide and pre-natal sex selection of child.
 In the adolescent phase of life cycle gender violence exhibits its multiplicity in the
form of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of girl child, differential access to food
nutrition and medical care, child marriage, higher dropout rate with advancement in
grades in schooling, child prostitution, pornography and child trafficking.
 India is signatory of International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) since 1980 and later ratified the
convention in 1993.
 However, previous studies described discrimination and neglect of girl child a
prevalent societal trend (Social Action Forum Report 2005)2.
 Besides, dating and courtship violence, incest and sexual harassment, forced
pregnancy, pornography, prostitution and trafficking are other cases in point.
 While during adulthood dowry, marital rape, abuse by intimate male partners, forcibly
showing pornography, sexual harassment at work place etc. display a wide spectrum
of gender violence.

Caste and Gender

 Rules of endogamy and commensality are some of the salient features of caste
stratification (Ketkar 19093; Baily 19604; Srinivas 19625).

1
Summary Report (2009): Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, Gendering
Human development Indices: recasting the Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure
for India
2
Study on Discrimination of the Girl Child in Uttar Pradesh (2005), Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar,
New Delhi, https://www.ncw.nic.in discrimination_of_the_girl_child_in_uttar_pradesh.pdf accessed on
15/10/2015
3
Ketker S V (1909): History of caste in India, Ithaca, New York
4
Bailey F G (1957): Caste and the Economic Frontier, Manchester University, Manchester

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  These restrictions on social interactions and inter-dining between members of
different castes facilitate a working model wherein intra-caste relations have more
flexibility to engender intimacy in comparison to inter-caste relations.
 To quote Dipankar Gupta (20046) these restrictions and sanctions are not pointers to
“a scale of purity that is being invoked but one of pure otherness”. These are markers
to point out the distinctions between ‘we’ and the ‘others’ i.e., between members and
non-members.
 Members are provided with more and more opportunities to do things together/social
norms on the obverse some social practices are designed to cut short opportunities of
interactions between non-members.
 Here enters matrix of gender relations which is normatively designed to promote caste
stratification in a given rural society.
 Village study7 that is part of my doctoral work reveals a close nexus between caste
and gender inequalities by using interlink that Collins (19908) calls gender
commonalities across caste.
 Gender commonalities across caste refer to points of deriving women in a central
location within a society in spite of their respective caste-membership.
 It seems profitable in the sense that it serves like a horizontal section to understand
gender relations out of a vertical framework of caste.

For instance:

 It is observed that, purdah (the veil) is a common way of life.

 In general, girls are expected to talk least with villagers other than their immediate
relatives. Women talk to women frequently, but when it comes to social
communication between women and men it proliferates with gradual perplexing
restrictions. This aspect of restrictions on social interactions among various castes
can be seen with a ‘social cross-section’ of gender structure.
 Village study reveals that ‘purdah’ as a restriction on the freedom of women to go
outside home is emerged as a substantial mechanism to restrict social interaction
and reinforcement of social distance and exclusion. Term ‘social cross-section’
depicts that how vertical structure of caste transcends through the horizontal
structure of gender.
 Firstly, custom of purdah is practiced among all these castes but what matters for
concern is the increasing degree of its rigidity from lower to higher strata, along
lines of caste hierarchy.
 Secondly, rigidity of rules regarding purdah, moves along lines of relation to
which women belong to the village in particular. In general, all ‘daughters-in-law’
(irrespective of caste) have to practice purdah while for ‘daughters’ these rules are
somewhat flexible.

5
Srinivas M.N. (1962): Caste in Modern India and Other Essays, Media Publishers, Bombay.
6
Gupta Dipanker (2004): Social Stratification, in Oxford Handbook of Indian Sociology ed. by Veena Das,
Oxford University Press
7
Doctoral Thesis (2009): Social capital, Collective Action and Development: a Sociological Study,
(Unpublished), by Dr Pragyan, Department of Sociology, University of Lucknow
8
Collins Patricia Hill (1990): Black Feminist Thought, Unwin and Hyman, Boston

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  Interestingly, inter-caste interactions are allowed in general terms except among
women belonging to different castes. For instance, male counterparts can talk and
visit, their children can play outdoor games (not indoor games) with males
belonging to other castes.
 Besides, rules of commensality alter inter-caste interaction via putting some
restrictions on inter-dinning. But again this restricted arena of social interaction
has become smaller in case of women, particularly in case of daughters-in-law.

Now question arises that why do rules of purity and pollution vary in case of
women and men?

 In a patriarchal society it matters a lot because rules of patri-local marriage and patri-
lineage practice make it clear that daughters-in-law are permanent members of that
village.
 Daughters are part of their family of orientation until they remain un-married. Thus,
via exclusion of daughters-in-law from the people in general, stratification is being
provided a robust foundation to sustain, maintain and to continue.
 Although there is a clear emphasis on rules of purdah yet it seems profitable to cover
the original poser of exclusion in a comprehensive way.

Political Dimension

 Political dimension is associated with the functioning of panchayati raj institution i.e.
grass-root democracy. Reservation to women in PRI is being adapted in the gendered
process of democratic decentralization.
 Overarching impact of male counterparts over elected women as members of
Panchayat is another reality that highlights the discrepancy between socially assigned
and recognized roles of male dominance over female.
 These lady members of panchayat work on the directions of their male counterparts
and have no freedom from traditional role to perform their democratic role.
 It is providing a glimpse of cultural stereotype of role allocation and performance
within a democratic society (20099).

Economic Dimension
 Socio-economic dependency of women along with inheritance of property rights in a
patriarchal society is emerged key factor behind reinforcement of gender
subordination including violence against women.

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Doctoral Thesis (2009): Social capital, Collective Action and Development: a Sociological Study,
(Unpublished), Department of Sociology, University of Lucknow

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  Studies probing deeper into gender inequalities highlight that rural India has more
women at work however they are mainly employed in procurement of food and wage
employment.
 Due to lack of control over arable land and other resources of production this
engagement into production process does not ensure adequate returns to women.
 Therefore, mainstreaming of women in rural India is being adversely affected despite
of their involvement in the production forces.
 This inculcates gender subordination that ranges from poor access to life chances such
as food insecurity, over burden and lack of decision making (Krishnaraj 2005, Rao
200510).
 Therefore the process of food security is described as a ‘gendered process’. It
proclaims that food security process is inextricably interwoven with social and
political structure wherein market is situated. As a consequence study underscores the
displacement of women from rice mill labour while heavily employed in unwaged
worker in petty production (White 200511).

10
Krishnaraj Maithreyi (2005) EPW Vol. XL, No. 25, Gender and Food Security, Food Security: How and Far
Whom, June 18
11
White Barbara Harriss (2005) EPW Vol. XL, No. 25, Commercialisation, Commodification and Gender
Relations, in Post Harvest Systems for Rice in South Asia, June 18