Women Empowermwnt
Women Empowerment
Jawaharlal Nehru had said “You can tell the condition of the nation by looking at the status of women.”
And the following phrase of Manusmriti, “Na Stree Swathantryam Arhati” (woman is undeserving for independence), reflects our whole attitude towards women in our country. Woman suffers discrimination and injustice in all stages of her life.
Declining sex ratio portrays our discrimination shown towards her even at the stage of birth. Often the lame excuse is women are the ‘weaker sex’! But biological evidence proves, due to the presence of two X hormones women are more resistant to diseases compared to men. Life expectancy is a proof of this (In our country life expectancy of women is 65 whereas for men it’s only 60 years).
Census 2001 shows our national sex ratio as 921:1000 (921 females for 1000 males), and this will lead to detrimental social problems if not corrected. The main reason for this is female infanticide.
Gender wise abortions are on the rise. In economically developed states such as Haryana and Punjab the tendency is found to be more. Abortion though legal in our country, gender based abortion is a crime here. Strict measures should be taken for the implementation of Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation & Prevention of Misuse) Act 1994, which prohibits any prenatal diagnostic techniques and sex selective abortions.
A shocking study reveals that half of the world’s malnourished children live in India owing primarily to the lack of nutritious food available to the mother. In all the critical stages, be it infancy, childhood, adolescence or the reproductive phase many women suffer malnutrition purely due to the discrimination and the narrow mindsets of the society.
According to Mahatma Gandhi, “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family.” Our predominant patriarchal system doesn’t provide enough chances for women to have higher education even if...
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