In India, discriminatory attitudes towards women have existed for generations and affects women over their lives. Although the constitution of India has granted women equal rights but gender disparities remains.
There are limited opportunities for women to access resources such as education, health care services and job training.[1] Women are disadvantaged at work, and are often underestimated for their capabilities.[2] This has prevented Indian women from achieving a higher standard of living.
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The cultural construct of Indian society which reinforces gender bias against women,[3] have led to the continuation of Indian’s strong preference for male children. Female infanticide, a sex-selective abortion, is adopted and strongly reflects the low status of Indian women. Census 2011 shows a decline of girl population under the age of seven, with activists estimating that eight million female fetuses may have been aborted in the past decade .[4] The 2009 census shows infant mortality figures for females and males are 61 and 56, respectively, out of 1000 live births,[5] with females more likely to be aborted than males due to biased attitudes.
A decline in the sex ratio was observed with India’s 2011 census reporting that it stands at 914 females against 1,000 males, a drop from 927 in 2001 - the lowest since India’s independence.[6]
Education is not widely attained by the Indian women. Although literacy rates are increasing, female literacy rates lags behind the male literacy rate. Literacy for females stands at 65.46%, compared to 82.14% for males.[7] An underlying factor for such low literacy rates are parent's perceptions that education for girls are a waste of resources as their daughters would eventually live with their husband's families and they will not benefit directly from the education investment.[8]
Discrimination against women has contributed to gender wage differentials, with Indian women on average earning 64% of what their male counterparts earn for the same occupation and level of qualification .[9]
Discrimination against women has led to their lack of autonomy and authority . Although equal rights are given to women, it may not be well recognized. In practice, land and property rights are weakly enforced, with customary laws widely practiced in rural areas. Women do not own property under their own names and usually do not have any inheritance rights to obtain a share of parental property .[1]
Gender discrimination impedes growth; with lower female-to-male workers ratios significantly reducing total output in both agricultural and non-agricultural sector .[10] It is also estimated that growth in India would increase by 1.08% if its female labor-participation rate were put on par with the US .[11]
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