Gender Inequality

AMR-APARD, Hyderabad
Gender inequality is not one affliction.
Prominent faces of gender injustice can
vary.
The effects of gender inequality can
impoverish the lives of men as well as
women.
Gender inequality hurts the interests not
only of girls and grown-up women, but
also of boys and men.
Kinds of Gender inequality
Mortality inequality
Natality inequality
Basic facility inequality
Special opportunity inequality
Professional inequality
Ownership inequality
Household inequality
Gender discrimination across
the life cycle
Discrimination of women based on their
gender occurs throughout their lifecycle

Survival itself is the first challenge
SEX RATIO:
India is one of the few countries worldwide with
an adverse child sex ratio in favor of boys.
Nationwide, 7000 fewer girls than expected are
born each day largely due to sex determination.
In 80% of districts in India the situation is
getting worse. For example, in 14 districts of
Haryana and Punjab, there are even fewer than
800 girls per 1000 boys.
While the PNDT (Pre-Natal Diagnostic Testing)
Act is passed in India in 1994, enforcement has
been lagging with only one conviction to date.
Gender discrimination across the life cycle

INFANT MORTALITY
- Gender differentials in infant mortality. After birth, son-
preference continues to persist leading to the neglect of
girls and their lack of access to nutrition, health and
maternal care in theses critical early year.
MATERNAL MORTALITY
- In the year 2000, India alone accounted for one quarter
of material deaths worldwide.
- Today, one women dies every seven minutes from a
pregnancy related cause.
- High rates of anaemia amongst pregnant women and
low proportion of births attended by skilled health
personnel. For example. In AP, 56.4% of pregnant
women aged 15-49 are anaemic but 74.2% of births are
attended by skilled health personnel
Gender discrimination across the
life cycle

EARLY MARRIAGE :
- Globally, 36% women aged 20-24 were
married or in union before they reached
their 18
th
birthday.
- An estimated 14 million adolescents
between 15 and 19 give birth each year.
Girls under 15 are five times more likely to
die during pregnancy and child birth than
women in their twenties.
If a mother is under 18, her babys
chance of dying in the first year of life
is 60 per cent greater than that of a
baby born to a mother older than 19.

Even if the child survives, he or she is
more likely to suffer from low birth
weight, under nutrition and late
physical and cognitive development.
Gender discrimination across the life cycle

EARLY MARRIAGE
Early age of marriage is also a contributing factor
to maternal mortality, as it results in early
pregnancy with girls giving birth before their bodies
are sufficiently mature.
In India, 45%bof women are still being forced into
marriage before the age of 18 in violation of the
law.
In Andhra Pradesh the average age a marriage
for women is 17.5 years
Gender discrimination across the life cycle

EDUCATION:

If a household has only one girl child the likelihood of
her being sent to school is 56%. The bigger the family,
and the more boys in it, the less likely the girls are to
go school.
Female secondary schooling delays the age of
marriage and provides women with the knowledge to
secure their children's well being in the form of
improved childcare.

-For example, In India, for those who are illiterate, the
average age of marriage is 17.6 years. For graduates
and the above the average age is 22.6 years.

Gender discrimination across the life cycle

EDUCATION:
over the past 15-20 years their has been a rapid
increase in the rates of enrollment in and completion of
girls in primary schools, clearly indicating a demand.
- however the transition to post primary education is
poor.
- if there are no toilets and there is ten mile walk that is
insecure, the likelihood of parents allowing their
adolescent daughters to continue their schooling is low.
- The lack of female teachers also serves as a major
disincentive, given that parents are often more
comfortable sending girls to their classroom with a
female teacher.

Gender discrimination across the life cycle

EDUCATION:
In the Indian context, gender disadvantage
intensifies with other forms of social inequality,
and education provides an important reminder
for the stark reality.
In scheduled Tribe communities only 54% of
females go to school, whereas 77% percent of
boys from the general population go to school.
Another striking comparison is the rate of primary
school completion, which is 68% for boys from
the general population, as compared to 48% for
an ST girl

Equality in the household decision - making

A growing body of evidence indicates that household
decisions are often made through a bargaining
process that is more likely to favor men than women.
In families in which women are key decision makers,
the proportion of resources devoted to children far
greater than in those in which women have a less
decisive role.
According to a study conducted by the IFPRI, if men
and women had equal influence in decision-making,
the incidence of under weight children less than
3years old in South Asia would fall by upto 13
percentage points, results in 13.4 million fewer
undernourished children in the region.

Equality in the household decision -
making

In India, family and other social structures
place significant responsibilities on women to
care for their families without the rights of
decision-making within the home.
- often decision to go to the healthcare center
is often not a womans own decision, but is
taken by her husband or mother-in-law.
- In the case of women who have pregnancy-
related complications, their lack of decision-
making power can cost them their lives.



Equality in the household decision - making

Economic security is also a critical factor that can
contribute womens greater status within the forms and
community.
- In India micro-credit initiatives offer women an important
window for collective action and economic
empowerment. The help women
- Get Income
- Build Assets
- Financial Security
- Enhancing Position
- Gaining respect and voice
- Andhra Pradesh leads the county in SHG movement
through half a million SHG groups formed.
Equality in employment

Women in India are primarily responsible for child
care and household responsibilities
In rural India, agricultural work performed by women
is often unpaid.
Opportunities for non-agricultural employment remain
very low. 86% non-agricultural women workers are in
the in formal sector, which involves difficult working
conditions, long hours, lack of benefits and no job
security.
Furthermore, there is a severe gap in wages between
men and women who do the same work, making
women economically undervalued.

Equality in Politics and governance

Women's involvement in politics-whether local or
national-can help advance legislation that is more
focused on women, children and families. When
women lack a voice in politics, children remain
unheard.
In India, 33% of Panchayats leadership positions
are reserved for women.
- Villages led by women in West Bengal
achieved twice the investment in drinking
water, increased visits by health workers, and
a 13% decreased in gender gap in school
attendance as compared to other villages.

Equality in Politics and governance

Building the capacity of women Panchayat
leaders and SHG members is key
strategy, as most women leaders are
entering public spaces in a position of
authority for the first time.
Nation wide, there is a movement favoring
the same 33% percent quota for women in
the national parliament . At the present
time, only 8.3% of parliament members in
the lower house are women.

What should be the immediate
action?

Address gender inequalities and the
vulnerability of women in different
sectors
Enable their greater and more active
participation in local governance.
Promote womens ownership and
control of economic resources.
Enhance their role as agents of social
change.


Strengthen the capacity of
government and its partner
institutions to mainstream gender
concerns to enhance the capacity of
UN
Create awareness among the policy
makers and civil society
organizations of the need to ensure
womens rights in rural development
and governance.
Strategies

Gender strategic studies and policy
analysis
Increasing development
effectiveness through gender
mainstreaming and gender
analysis.
Building partnerships, advocacy
and networking


Gender sensitization and
interventions for womens
empowerment in rural/tribal/urban
societies
Attention to promoting women's
capabilities legal and social
measures for womens rights to
productive resources
Eliminating violence against
women in the family, work place
and social sphere