Gender discrimination in India

In India, discriminatory attitude towards men and women have existed for generations and affect the lives of both genders. Although the constitution of India has granted men and women equal rights, gender disparity still remains. Gender discrimination violates human rights. These are mostly seen in family land sharing among sisters and brothers.

There is specific research on gender discrimination mostly in favour of men over women. Due to a lack of objective research on gender discrimination against men, it is perceived that it is only women who are suffering. ^[1] Women are perceived to be disadvantaged at work.^[2] Indian laws on Rape, Dowry and Adultery have women's safety at heart, but these highly discriminatory practices are still taking place at an alarming rate.

Discrimination against women

Infancy to childhood

Both women and men are important for reproduction. The cultural construct of Indian society which reinforces gender bias against men and women, with varying degrees and variable contexts against the opposite sex,^[3] has led to the continuation of India’s strong preference for male children. Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion is adopted and strongly reflects the low status of Indian women. Census 2011 shows decline of girl population (as a percentage to total population) under the age of seven, with activists estimating that eight million female fetuses may have been aborted in the past decade.^[4] The 2005 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 child sex ratio(0–6 years) was observed with India’s 2011 census reporting that it stands at 914 females against 1,000 males, dropping from 927 in 2001 - the lowest since India’s independence.^[6]

The demand for sons among wealthy parents is being satisfied by the medical community through the provision of illegal service of fetal sex-determination and sex-selective abortion. The financial incentive for physicians to undertake this illegal activity seems to be far greater than the penalties associated with breaking the law.^[7]

Childhood to adulthood and education

Education is not widely attained by Indian women. Although literacy rates are increasing, female literacy rate lags behind the male literacy rate.

Literacy Rate Census of India 2001 and 2011 Comparison

Literacy for females stands at 65.46%, compared to 82.14% for males.^[8] An underlying factor for such low literacy rates are parents' perceptions that education for girls are a waste of resources as their daughters would eventually live with their husbands' families and they will not benefit directly from the education investment.^[9]

Adulthood and onwards

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.^[10]

Discrimination against women has led to their lack of autonomy and authority. Although equal rights are given to women, equality may not be well implemented. In practice, land and property rights are weakly enforced, with customary laws widely practised 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]

Discrimination towards men

Although socially women have been at a disadvantage, Indian laws highly favor women. If a husband commits adultery he will be jailed, but a woman cannot be jailed for adultery and neither will she be punished by the courts. There is no recognition of sexual molestation of men and rarely the police stations lodge an First Information Report (FIR); men are considered the culprit by default even if it was the woman that committed sexual abuse against men. Women can jail husband's family for dowry related cases by just filing an FIR. The law IPC 498A demands that the husband's family be considered guilty by default, unless proven otherwise, in other words it implements the doctrine of 'guilty unless proven innocent' defying the universally practised doctrine of 'innocent until proven guilty'. According to one source, this provision is much abused as only four percent of the cases go to the court and the final conviction rate is as low as two percent.^[11]

Judiciary discrimination

There are many laws including 498a, false rape laws etc, favoring women to greater extent. If a man files a rape complaint, it's not considered as rape, since rape clearly is for men and not for women. If a woman rapes man then court cant punish her.

Rape Law

Section 376: Rape is defined as....

(1) Whoever, except in the cases provided for by sub-section (2), commits rape shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may be for life or for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine unless the women raped is his own wife and is not under twelve years of age, in which cases, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both: Provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than seven years.

(2) Whoever,— (a) being a police officer commits rape— (i) within the limits of the police station to which he is appointed; or (ii) in the premises of any station house whether or not situated in the police station to which he is appointed; or (iii) on a woman in his custody or in the custody of a police officer subordinate to him; or (b) being a public servant, takes advantage of his official position and commits rape on a woman in his custody as such public servant or in the custody of a public servant subordinate to him; or (c) being on the management or on the staff of a jail, remand home or other place of custody established by or under any law for the time being in force or of a woman’s or children’s institution takes advantage of his official position and commits rape on any inmate of such jail, remand home, place or institution; or (d) being on the management or on the staff of a hospital, takes advantage of his official position and commits rape on a woman in that hospital; or (e) commits rape on a woman knowing her to be pregnant; or (f) commits rape on a woman when she is under twelve years of age; or (g) commits gang rape, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may be for life and shall also be liable to fine: Provided that the Court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment of either description for a term of less than ten years. Explanation 1.—Where a woman is raped by one or more in a group of persons acting in furtherance of their common intention, each of the persons shall be deemed to have committed gang rape within the meaning of this sub-section. Explanation 2.—“Women’s or children’s institution” means an institution, whether called an orphanage or a home for neglected woman or children or a widows’ home or by any other name, which is established and maintained for the reception and care of woman or children. Explanation 3.—“Hospital” means the precincts of the hospital and includes the precincts of any institution for the reception and treatment of persons during convalescence or of persons requiring medical attention or rehabilitation.]

Breach of promise of marriage

This is considered as rape by many High courts. Only in the Honourable Supreme Court of India, one might expect justice, by then half of the guys life would have gone for a toss.

http://www.thehindu.com/data/the-many-shades-of-rape-cases-in-delhi/article6261042.ece

498A

Out of 100 cases filed under this section in India, only 4% is the conviction rate. Parliament is still holding its firm stance on this law. This is being more misused than being used in proper way.According to the National Crime Records Bureau statistics, nearly 200,000 people, including 47,951 women, were arrested in regard to dowry offences in 2012, but only 15% of the accused were convicted. Arrest in Dowry offences in 2012 is 9.4% more than in 2011 and it is continuously increasing. [14]^[12]

Consequences

Gender discrimination impedes growth; with lower female-to-male workers ratios significantly reducing total output in both agricultural and non-agricultural sector.^[13] It is also estimated that growth in India would increase by 1.09% if its female labor-participation rate were put on par with the US.^[14]

See also

• Gender inequality in India
• Women in India
• Female infanticide
• Female foeticide in India
• Women's Rights
• Centre for Social Research
• Dowry law in India
• Women in agriculture in India

References