Women, who broke their silence and called out their abusers, have given millions of adolescent girls and young women the confidence that they, too, can raise their voice against discrimination and abuse. We must build on this momentum and realise that gender equality can be achieved only if we treat both boys and girls equally
I have just returned from Kerala, where one of the largest women’s collectives in the country — aiming to provide postflood relief, building resilience and confidence among children and women from the most marginalised communities — is under way. At an event presided over by the State Finance Minister, over 3,000 women gathered and demonstrated the power of engagement and empowerment, to be the change-makers for themselves, their families and the community at large. The energy in the room filled with these fantastic women was palpable. They danced, cheered and applauded the role that women from within their collective played to rebuild the State after the devastating impact of the floods. It left me with a mixed feeling: India is making progress for our girls and women but the progression is not uniform and is not moving at the pace it should. This means that more needs to be done.
International Women’s Day is a celebration of the rights of women and an occasion to remember the battles that still lie ahead to realise true gender equality in every sphere of life. It is a day to renew our vows to make the world a safer, better and fairer place for women and girls.
The theme for Women’s Day this year is #BalanceforBetter — underlining the great inequity and inequality that prevails between men, women and others, who espouse other gender-based identities. This year India will also celebrate the 187th birth anniversary of its first woman educationist, Savitri Phule, who faced severe social oppression when she started a school for girls along with her friend Fatima Sheikh in the 19th century. We have indeed come a long way since then but have miles to go before we achieve true equality.
We have achieved almost universal enrollment for girls in primary school but not all of them go on to complete their schooling. Every one out of six girls in the age group of 15-16 years drops out of school, almost never to return. Similarly, while India has had an anti-child marriage law for almost a century now, 27 per cent of all marriages still happen before 18 years of age. While today more women are joining the organised job sector, they grapple with invisible glass ceilings and discrimination at the hands of male colleagues. While there is greater awareness about the rights of the girl child owing to campaigns like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the sad fact is that over the last few years, the national Child Sex Ratio has declined from 887 in 2014 to 877 in 2016. Moreover, much of this decline comes from the ‘developed’ States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
These States traditionally had a more balanced sex ratio at birth but economic anxieties and deep-rooted social bias against the girl child have meant that more parents are accessing sex-selective procedures like amniocentesis and sperm or embryo selection to prevent the birth of a girl child. This is a serious cause for concern. It means that development, education and economic growth alone are not enough to ensure gender equality. The role of education is crucial in the empowerment of women and remains the most effective driver of change. But without an equally strong gender-equal foundation, it does not bring lasting change as far as gender balance is concerned. Why else do we still bear the ignominious label of being ‘no country for women’?
The impunity with which parents abort female foetuses; relatives, family friends, neighbours and strangers abuse girls; and the sickening misogyny that exists in our public life point to the gender battle that remains half-won. The violence, intimidation and discrimination that our girls face remain a blot on India and its people.
A 2018 study, World of India’s Girls, on the perception of safety among girls, found that half of the surveyed adolescent girls fear they would be groped, assaulted and even raped in public spaces. More tellingly, perhaps, for our own collective mindset, almost half of the girls felt that their parents would respond to such instances of abuse by curbing them inside homes. The survey also revealed that one in five parent marries their girls early in the interest of their own safety and well-being. Similarly, brothers of girls, who were part of the survey, felt their sisters ought to dress only a certain way and not go out of the house unaccompanied. In brief, the study revealed that anti-women attitudes remain entrenched in our collective psyche.
Interaction in public spaces is a crucial component for the development of girls in their early and late adolescence as they prepare for a life of adulthood. The opportunity and ability to interact in public spaces enable them to get their education, exchange ideas and thoughts with their friends and peers and offers overall development. It is essential for the girls to develop a world view, to pursue a career, or even go out for recreation or run errands. Such exposure is paramount for girls to become self-confident in their interaction with the world outside their homes and to become capable to pursue gainful employment and become self-reliant.
As a major signatory of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework, it is incumbent upon India to achieve gender equality and equally empower all girls (SDG 5 and SDG 10). These global goals give us — the civil society and women and children’s rights movements — the perfect tool to ensure that no girl is left behind in the march of progress and development. Between the last Women’s Day and the one this year, the Indian #MeToo happened and jolted ‘powerful’ men used to getting away with exploitation of their women colleagues and juniors. It also shook the public from their silence of convenience and made them face the elephant in the room that gender-based abuse and discrimination is. Through the power of social media, it provided a great fillip to the movement for equal rights for women and girls across India.
The courageous women, who broke the silence and called out their abusers, have given millions of Indian adolescent girls and young women the confidence that they, too, can raise their voice against discrimination and abuse. We must build on this momentum with new rigour and must realise that gender equality can be achieved only if we treat both boys and girls equally. Because balance can only be for the better.
(The writer is CEO, Save the Children)
