Page 14 - 31MAR2019E

CoverStory

magine when you think that you have made a of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
name for yourself, your family and made the nation Redressal) Act, 2013 was passed to protect women
proud by your accomplishments, you expect peo- from sexual harassment at their place of work.
ple around you to laud your achievements. They The Act came into force from 9 December 2013. Lat-
I will praise your work but in the same breath ask er an amendment made acid attacks a specific offense
you “Well you have achieved all this, but when are you with a punishment of imprisonment not less than 10
settling down?” For them settling down means getting years and which could extend to life imprisonment
married and having kids. Damn with your career, your and with fine. On 22 August 2017, the Supreme Court
ambition, your dreams, and your commitments to do of India deemed instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat),
something for your family and society. Even close rela- unconstitutional. In 2018, the Supreme Court of India
tives become part of that system if you don’t get married struck down a law making it a crime for a man to have
until a certain age. sex with a married woman without the permission of
Why marriage a defined path for every woman in India
to explain her personality? Nobel Prize winner, George
Bernard Shaw wrote, “It is a woman’s business to get
married as soon as possible, and a man’s to keep unmar- Gender pay gap
ried as long as he can.” That defines the psyche of patri-
archal society. remains high in India as
Why insist on marriage when data from differ-
ent sources show that nearly 74.1 million women in women in the country
India are either divorced, separated, widowed or have
never been married? Why marriage remains the only
acceptable fate for young women in India? Whereas a earn 19 per cent less
third of Japanese women and 11% of Sri Lankan women
aged 30-34 are single, less than 3% of Indian women are than men, and wage
single at that age.
Why women, whether single by choice or circum- inequalities in favour
stances, though professionally successful, are under
scrutiny by society? Is it blasphemous to be single in of men are present in
India?
Glorious past all the relevant sectors,
Women during the Vedic period enjoyed equal status
with men in all aspects of life. Women were married at according to the
a mature age and were probably free to select their own
husbands in a practice called “swayamvar” or live-in latest surveys
relationship called “Gandharva” marriage. A man was
not allowed to abandon his wife. There was no division
of property between a husband and a wife because they
were linked inextricably together and had joint custody
of the property.
The wife could make gifts and use the family wealth her husband.
on her own. Similarly, daughters would inherit property. The Indian Armed Forces began recruiting women
Also, in the “Puranas”, every God was shown in the con- to non-medical positions in 1992, while the Border Se-
sort of their wives — Brahma with Saraswati, Vishu with curity Force (BSF) began recruiting female officers in
Laxmi and Shiva with Parvati. Ideals of god and goddess 2013. On 25 March 2017, Tanushree Pareek became the
were depicted with equal importance to both genders. first female combat officer commissioned by the BSF.
The purdah system and Jauhar are aberrations. Women have come of age. As last year’s #MeToo
movement and Sabarimala protests showed, Indian
Constitutional Guarantees women are echoing their rebellion. Is it because
Article 14 of the Constitution of India guarantees to all- women have been suppressed for long and improve-
Indian women equality. Article 15(1) says there cannot be ment in their educational levels have made them
any discrimination by the State. Article 16 allowed equal- realize their potential? The moment “school chalen”
ity of opportunity while Article 39(d) gave equal pay for (let’s go to school) has brought out a transformation
equal work. In the recent past, the Sexual Harassment in girl education and girls are doing better than even

tehelka / 31 march 2019 14 www.tehelka.com