Gender equality and Empowerment of women in rural areas

In the rural areas of India, gender inequality is one of the significant challenges in order to empower women. The poor education, inequality in employment as well as wages, and sex ratio are the major challenges that have to focus to eliminate the gender difference from the rural areas.

We cannot eliminate the gender equality from the society by any government law unless there should be a change in the patriarchal system. In a family, the food given to the girl child is comparatively less than the boy child. They are allowed to go school for not more than five to six standards. The rural people consider the girls as a liability, so they think there is no need of educating the girls. Women don't send their daughter to the school so that she will help them at work inside the home as well as outside the home in agriculture lands and fields. At the age of 15-16, the girls get married and become a mother after one year. And this results, the premature delivery or the underweight and weak baby.

In India, the female literacy rate (65.46%) is lower than that of the male literacy rate (82.14%). According to the report of U.S. Department of Commerce, the main obstacle to the female education is the inadequate facilities of the school (such as sanitation facilities). It is also seen that the in a same family boys were sent to the private school and girls were sent to the government school in the village, where no facilities were given to the students. The government of India has taken step for the protection and survival of the girl child, by the National Plan of Action for the Girl Child (1991-2000) for giving a better and bright future to the girls.

According to the National Family Health Survey-3 of 2005, the immunization rate is 41.7% for the 2year old girl and 45.3% for the 2-year old boy. The reason for the high mortality rate of women and children is due to the malnutrition. These factors are not controlled because of the gender biased as the family creates inequality even with their children and provide less food to their girl child. Maternal death rate is 437 per 100,000 live births, which is mainly caused due to the anemia, abortion, infection, hemorrhage and obstructed labor.

Sometimes, women are forced to abort the child, when a mother is carrying a girl child. This is the major problem of gender bias and decreased level of sex ratio. The female infanticide is the common problem of most of the states of India like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, and almost every women face in the rural areas. This type of cruelty against women leads to the increase in the female mortality rate and severe health problems. However, a forceful abortion is a crime, and a person can be punished under the Section of 312 and 316 of Indian Penal Code. If abortion is done without the consent of the mother carries the baby.

To stop the crime against women in the society a Women PowerLine number has started by the police of Uttar Pradesh to help women at the time of emergency. Women Power Line is a 24*7 helpline where women can register their complaint. The members of WPL effectively deal with the crime against women and ensure that they feel more secure. Women power line 1090 is also receiving calls from those teens who were forced by their parents to get married in at an early age and those women who are compelled to abort their girl child. Women Power Line is a gift for the women who protects them and provides safety at the time of emergency.

Empower women Empower Humanity

Empowerment of women is necessary to strengthen the current status of the women in our Indian society. We need to be aware and develop some strategy to find out a path where women are considered equal to men without discrimination. Women empowerment can be achieved through educating women so that they can be a part of decision and suggestion of the society. But, it is also necessary that women need to be physically fit for taking challenges of the society and able to represent herself equal to men.

In the poor societies of India, physical labor done by men is more than women. Deforestation causing the depletion of the woods, so women have to cover more distance for firewood, water is polluted so; again they need to cover more distance in the search of water supply. They eat less; do not have any health knowledge and education. Women get low wages than the men, and they have also to bear the responsibility of children and taking care of their family.

There are so many crimes against women like domestic violence, dowry, and no share in the property rights. Some crime includes the sexual exploitation of women for the economic gain like adultery, prostitution, trafficking of the girl child, rape, murder and wrong confinement, etc. These crimes are not only ruining the life of a woman but also the status of a society.

In India, according to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), about 1.5 lakh crimes against females are reported in a year out of which domestic violence cases are nearly 50,000. Women are considered weak and inferior whereas male member are the head of the family. Beating of women is the frequent violence against women in the rural societies. Similarly, when demand of dowry is not met, then the case of bride burning is common in the countryside. According to the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, Dowry is a social evil, but the practice of dowry is standard. It is a shame to mention here, the dowry demand cases are also seen in the higher middle class educated society. To eliminate this social evil from the country, government has to empower women economically so that they can protect themselves from the domestic violence and raise voice against dowry giving as well as taking.

In India, rape is one of the most growing crimes compared to trafficking of the girl child, kidnapping, and murder. In every one hour, two women are raped in India according to the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). In 2012, the number of reported rape cases was 24,923 and in the year 2013, it is increased to 33,707. Similarly, crime like eve teasing, molestation, and kidnapping of women are also rising in the country. Acid attack is the cruelest crime against the women. The attackers mainly target the face, neck and head in order to make a woman ugly or blind. Stalking is another dangerous crime, and most of the women are facing this issue every day.

As we know there are lots of crimes against the women, so we need to empower women. It is the duty of all the citizen to take initiative steps and protect the women of our country. Women power line number of Uttar Pradesh has been designed to protect those women, who are being harassed, molested and need protection. They can feel safe by dialing the number 1090 and can share their problems with the Power Angles (Special female police officers).

Women Empowerment in India

 Women empowerment refers to the empowerment of women community because women are the necessary resource to the growth of every nation. India is in second position in terms of the population, but the sex ratio is 927 females per 1000 of males according to the Population Census of 2011. Population of women are decreasing because of female feticide , many girls are killed even before they are be born even in the 21st century. Gender disabilities and discrimination are found in India even in this modern age. People of India, worship Goddess and at the other side women are treated as the slave and girl child are killed soon after the birth.

Scholars believe that in ancient India women were getting equal status and considered as a symbol of respect. They played a vital role in the Indian society to build the golden culture of India. During 1500-1000BC, girl child was not considered as the liability and women had the freedom to choose partners for the marriage. However, later (approx nearly 500 BC), the status of the women were started declining day by day. After the 17th century, many of the females came forward as the women leaders. In Indus Valley civilization, many women had taken the active participation in trade and other social activities. Many Indian women leaders came forward and led the society like Rani Laxmi Bai, Sultana Raziya, Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, etc.

The best way for the women empowerment in India is to educate the females. Approximately 90million females in India are illiterate, and 20% of children between the ages of 6-14 do not attend the school. Education is the only weapon to eradicate this evil challenge of the Indian society. Recently, the Government of India has started a scheme “Beti Bachho, Beti Padhao” to create awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services meant for the women in the society.

Women should be economically empowered; as it is observed that the likelihood of a child’s survival increased by 20% when the mother controlled household income. Women invest a higher proportion of their earnings in their families and communities than men. They should also encourage taking part in the suggestions, recommendation and decisions in an organization. It is seen that women give great ideas. But despite a range of significant advances, many women still don't have the fundamental freedoms and opportunities and face enormous inequalities in the world of employment. Most of the women in India unable to join an organization because their family don’t support them. Family should never deter anyone in pursuing a career either women or men.

Women cannot be empowered by the women alone. In our society, men are sick with the mentality and their evil behavior outside the house creating an adverse environment in the community. In India, parents ask thousands of question from a girl when she came home late night but when a boy does the same thing no questions are raised. Even in the house, girls are not getting the equal rights. The parents often says to their son "Stop crying like a girl" because they thought boys are dominant from the birth, so they don't cry. And this thinking making the male sick, as well as dominant and they treat their wife as a slave. It’s should be the duty of each parent to teach their son to respect women, behave well with girls and treat them equal. If the society wants women to be empowered, then there should start with changing the sick mentality of men.

For the women empowerment, Super cops of Uttar Pradesh provided Women Power Line number 1090 for the safety of women when they are troubled or harassed by a man. The service is started to help those women who require any assist in the emergency. The victims can call to the Power Line number for the help. There is no need for reporting FIR, and the most important thing the identity of the women are not disclosed. The victims can seek help from the counselor with an anonymous identity. WPL don't call the victim to the police station, they help the victim through telephone and update their progress to the victim with regards to complaints. WPL attended 3lakh calls and satisfied more than 2.5lakh victims through the call. The member of WPL aims at resolving the problems of victims till their satisfaction.