INTRODUCTION:

“Just as a bird could not fly with one wing only, a nation would not march forward if the women are left behind.”

(Swami Vivekanand)

Ravindra Nath Tagore, has said, ‘We do not value Hinduism, we value human dignity …..we want equal rights in the society, we will achieve them as far as possible while remaining within the Hindu fold or if necessary by kicking away this worthless, Hindu, identity”

“Gender refers to the qualitative and interdependent character of women’s and men’s position in society. Gender relations are constituted in terms of the relations of power and dominance that structure the life chances of men and women”.¹ Gender divisions are not fixed “biology”, but constitute an aspect of the wider social division of labour which are rooted in the conditions of production and reproduction and are reinforced by the cultural, religious and ideological systems prevailing in a society”². The case of gender violence demonstrates the creation of new rights.

Women contend with violence in the family, in the community and from the government.³

The issue of violence against women has been in vogue since 1970, it emerged as a force only in 1990. Activists argue that violence against women is not generally perpetrated by states but by private citizens⁴. They argue that state’s failure to protect women from violence itself is a human rights violation.⁵ The conception of gender violence as a human rights violation expanded in 1990. A committee was formed in 1992 entitled Elimination of Discrimination Against Women formulated a broad recommendation that defined gender based violence as a form of discrimination, placing it squarely within the rubric of human rights and fundamental freedom and making it mandatory for the state to eliminate violence perpetrated by public authorities and private persons.⁶ “Within National legal systems, assault and murder are universally considered crimes, but wife battering is shielded by its location in a legally and culturally constructed private sphere”.⁷ Justice K. Ramaswamy has stated:

“Indian women have suffered and are suffering discrimination in silence. Self-sacrifice and self-denial are their nobility and fortitude and yet they have been subjected to all inequities, indignities, inequality and discrimination.”⁸

Illiteracy, economic dependence, caste restrictions, religious prohibition, lack of leadership qualities and apathetic and callous attitude of males in the society are the underlying causes for the inequities, indignity and discrimination. Sociologists take the view that gender is socially constructed that is differences between females and males are produced by social experiences rather biologically. They often question about people and social structure, the pattern of social relationship and behavior.

Violence against women is a universal phenomenon. Certain types of violence are gender based for example incest, forced prostitution, female genital mutilation, female circumcision, female child abuse, heterosexual partner or homosexual partner abuse etc. Despite its staggering prevalence, violence is thought to be the single most underreported crime because of social and legal barriers that impede the accurate collection of data. Complexities of gender violence vary from region to region. They have intricate connection to cultural practices and customs. Genital mutilation practiced in some parts of Africa, Honour Killings in India and Pakistan also deserve special attention. It is a violence against women which is circumscribed by traditions that enforce extreme seclusion and submission to men. Traditional perceptions of honour severely limit the rights of women be it in India or Pakistan. Every year hundreds of women are killed in the name of honour of the community and family. And it is unfortunate in majority of cases the guilty go unpunished. The number of such killings appears to be steadily increasing as the perception of what continues honour widens. The flimsiest of suspicions like rumours in the neighborhood and village, extramarital relationships and adultery is enough to elicit lethal violence. And the irony is that women are not given a chance to resolve possible misunderstandings.

The notion of honour is derived from twin concepts of “Honour” and “Commodification” of women. The stranger part is that standards of honour and chastity are not equally applied to men and women. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights created in 1948 as an international body of laws was meant to protect the integrity and dignity of human beings. These laws together with the 1979 Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women have been pivotal in the affirmation and implementation of human rights. These instruments have been continuously used to prove the violations of rights both in public and private domains. In economically developed societies domestic violence is rampant. Political leadership throughout the globe is often invisible or subsumed by the male dominated system. In Afghanistan, a radical Islamic movement (Taliban) came to power in 1994. In their regime, girls were denied education, health and employment. They were expected to be in veils or in common parlance burqua. Veiled body in fundamental societies has become a familiar issue of discussion in Televisions throughout the world. A veiled body is coerced into obedience, subjugation and male chauvinism. Trafficking in child prostitutes, wife battering in rural and urban areas clitoridectomies with broken glass are some of the many endemic violations of human rights tolerated by almost all the societies.

Poverty, violence, malnutrition and overwork are detrimental to health of women. The threat of violence is a potential hazard to their wellbeing. Since violence is based on abuse of power, it often targets the weakest member of the family and society- children, women and the elderly. Not only is violence a social problem, but it is a major burden on health resources. Women’s pursuits of health and access to health care affect the dignity and freedom of women worldwide. In this context, the extent of health care and the types of health care need to be identified in order to ascertain human rights of women worldwide. Women’s health is not only influenced by genetics, biology and physiology but also by women’s role in society. Women’s health has been defined as “facilitating the preservation of wellness and prevention of illness and screening, diagnosis and management of conditions which are unique to women, and are common and are more serious in women. Risk factors or interventions are different in women”.⁹ Women’s health also “recognizes the importance of the study of gender differences, includes the values and knowledge of women and their own experience of health and illness, recognizes the diversity of women’s health needs over the life cycle, sexual preference, levels of education and access to medical care and includes the empowerment of women.”¹⁰

The influence of these factors is seen in the form of diseases among women, violence against women, domestic abuse and violence, sexual molestation, rape , sexual harassment, female circumcision, honor killing, dowry murders, gender discrimination, coerced prostitution, and torture, infringement of reproductive rights, limitations on access to health care and drugs and underrepresentation of women in clinical trials. They earn less money, are economically dependent, attain a lower educational level and have fewer legal rights. In many areas “social and cultural factors deny girls and women the same nutrition, health care and other support that males receive”¹¹. Inequalities in the social and economic status of men and women disproportionately deprive women and their children of good health.¹²

Gender must be linked with human rights issues-whether violence, health care or access to power and education. In certain countries abuses of women’s rights is a rampant issue yet the international community response is not adequate. Violence committed against women is rampant. Public institutions have failed to act to prohibit these abuses and to detain and punish perpetrators. Acts of violence, whether by private people or government agents will continue so long as the perpetrators are not punished? Government action to stop them will not occur unless there is a demand for justice inside the country supported by international community. What is needed at this point of time is a practical model of change so that obstacles to women’s advancement, whether deriving from a countries laws and customs or practical barriers be lifted around the world.

The objective of these writings has been to draw the attention of scholarly community to the gender based abuses that cut across cultural, social and political lines. Widow burning and honour killings in India are just two such extreme examples which discriminate against women as equal partners and citizens. The issues presented in this paper demonstrate the oppression and plight of the women regardless of culture, religion or levels of education in India in 20^th century. The social and demographic variables is also fundamental to any analysis of gender development. The key point is that “development” needs to be disaggregated into specific components before any role of migration in the relationship can meaningfully be assessed. Migration is a process where social networks and social capital play a vital role and they provide initial social support to the newly migrants at the place of destination. Some scholars argue that people migrate from less developed areas to the more developed regions as the opportunities for gainful employment at the place of their origin are relatively very less. Certainly, this idea contains an element of truth, but closer investigation reveals that rarely the poorest migrate and rarely people from the poorest countries participated most in the global migration system. Research conducted on migration and development revealed the following important findings: firstly at the pace of origin the developmental processes did not reduce as a consequence of outmigration but the outmigration often, initially at least, accelerated the development as a consequence of the continuous remittances by the migrants to their families residing at the place of their origin that could be invested in human development. Secondly the consequences of migration on areas of origin could also be interpreted as positive but cannot be negative always. The migrants learn not only newer skills that are relevant to his newer job but also newer forms of normative interactions with their superiors and co-workers, both genders, specifically at the work place and also in general at the place of destination and adoption of such normative patterns of interaction at the place of origin may influence the processes marginalization and empowerment of weaker sections of society and weaker gender. Lastly but not the least the migrants regularly keep in contact with their home communities and transfer the relevance of particular skills in getting employment at the place of destination besides newer ideas and normative patterns of interaction that are imbibed at the place of destination to the community of his origin. Such continuous interactions have a bearing on the family, distribution of land, participation of women and weaker sections of society in economic activities, their empowerment, health, marginalization, education, intergenerational relations and poverty of both the families having migrants and not having migrants from the communities. The process of migration itself is a complex one involving social networks/ social capital on the wheels of which migration to certain places is mostly preferred than to other places. Given such differential consequences of migration, both positive and negative, on the place of origin these social networks/social capital could be channeled into those specific directions that could promote development at the place of the origin of the migrants also. While negative consequences were still recognized, the view evolved that policy could promote the positive and reduce the negative aspects of migration.

REFERENCES:

1. Lise Ostergaard, Gender and Development, A Practical Guide, 1992 , Routledge, London, pp 5-6

2. ibid

3. “Women’s rights are Human Rights” AI International Newsletter Focus: AI Women’s day Leaflet 30 no2, (March 2000)

4. Thomas, Dorothy, and Michele Beaseley, “Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Issue” Human Rights Quaterly15 (1993) pp 36-62

5. Bunch, Charlotte “ Women’s Rights as Human Rights: Towards a revision of Human Rights” Human Rights Quaterly12 (1990) pp 489-498

6. Cook, Rebecca J, “State Responsibility for violations of Women’s Human Rights” Harvard Human Rights Journal 7 (1994) pp 125- 175

7. Report of the Secretary General From Nairobi to Beijing: Second Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, New York, United Nations 1995.

8. AIR 1996 SC 1864.

9. National Academy of Women’s Health, Medical Education, Women’s Health in the Curriculum: A Resource Guide for the Faculty, Glenda Donoghue, ed. (Philadelphia,1996 pp 10.

10. National Academy of Women’s Health, Medical Education, Women’s Health in the Curriculum: A Resource Guide for the Faculty, Glenda Donoghue, ed. (Philadelphia,1996 pp 10.

11. United Nations, World’s Women 1970-1990: Trends and Statistics, Social Statistics and Indicators Series K no 8 (New York 1991)

12. Julie H Levison and Sandra P Levison, “Women’s Health and Human Rights” in Women Gender and Human Rights: A Global Perspective, Rawat Publications , India,2003 pp125- 151

Received on 11.09.2014 Modified on 22.09.2014

Int. J. Rev. & Res. Social Sci. 2(3): July- Sept. 2014; Page 180-182