Name - Neha Mohanty

Institutional affiliation-KIIT school of law

Course -Integrated BBALLB

Year of study -2020

Phone/whatsapp no.- 7978280148

Title of the blog- Constitutional status of women in India

Linkedin profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/neha-mohanty-4b6a021b5

Email address -mohanty.neha2001@gmail.com

 Abstract

The constitution of India guarantees the constitutional and legal rights of women. Women are
said to be the cradle of human progress and civilization. They have a crucial role to play in our
society. This article basically highlights the constitutional provisions of women in India as well
as the present legal status of women in the society. Women have always been considered a
vulnerable part of society. They have been subjected to various crimes and tortures. There are
various initiatives and the new laws which are passed by the government for the welfare of
women to protect their rights are described in this article.

The constitution not only guarantees the equal status to women but also empowers the state
to take proper actions on their behalf. Women must be respected in the society . Their main
role in building a family cannot be reduced. Women play a significant part of our society.Within
a framework of democratic establishment the various laws, policies and programs which are
implemented are aimed at promoting women at various fields.
 CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION:-

The constitution of India was adopted on 26th november,1949 and it came into force on 26 th
January, 1950.The constitution of India was written in a period when the status of the women
India was very impoverished and it needed recognition and sudden improvement. In earlier era
the women were ill treated and were not considered a respectful member in the society due to
which they were struggling for their status and position in the patriarchal society. In those
times the women of India were in need of new laws so that can protect them from harassment,
mental and physical torture, abuse and which will make them lead a proper and safer life and
can reform their social position in the society. D.r B.R.Ambedkar the chairman of the
constitution drafting introduced and took some drastic steps in favour of the Indian women and
campaigned against social discrimination and made them independent and powerful and
brought a revolutionary change because of which in today's world the position and image of
women in the society has changed they have now earned by themselves and have gained a
respectable position in the society and are now setting examples for people to follow. Now they
are also considered equal to men and no discrimination is done between men and women .
Nowadays women can be found in every fields such as in politics, business, entertainment
field , in defence and everywhere. They are now educated and are capable of earning and
taking their own responsibilities. In the last ten years the position of women has improved as it
was earlier but still now in this present world women are still struggling for their freedom and
for their honourability. The sexual harassment, domestic violence have become common
against women due to which they don’t feel safeguarded.

Law cannot be changed so rapidly. Many new provisions have been introduced through the
constitution for the improvement of the social conditions and status of women but still a lot of
things has to be implemented .

KEYWORDS:- constitution, fundamental rights, legal rights, gender inequality

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR WOMEN IN INDIA:-

The constitutional provisions have been introduced not only to ensure equality for women but
also to safeguard the dignity and self respect of women and also the constitution protects the
social and legal rights of the women as well as permits the state to adopt measures for the
women against the ill treatment ,socio economic discrimination faced by them in the society.

Here are some of the provisions which are enshrined in part three of the Indian Constitution as
fundamental rights in favour of women.

1) Article 14 of the Indian constitution:- it states equality before the law or equal protection of
laws within the territory of India. It is one of the most important right which is guaranteed in
favour of women which protects the women against any women based crime and also it
introduces various acts and laws for the enforcement of legal and social rights of the women

2) Article 15 :- The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on various grounds such as
caste, religion, race,sex, place of birth . No sort of discrimination shall take place against women
on the basis of these grounds . women shall be treated as equal as men.

3) Article 16:- It ensures equal employment opportunity at work places for every citizen of
India And there shall not be any gender inequality, discrimination at work places on the
grounds of religion,caste, descent, place of birth. Women should be given due respect at
offices, corporate sectors, at politics and in the present scenario the women are found capable
and doing great in all sectors.

4) Article 39(a):- It is enshrined in part four of the indian constitution under directive principle
of state policy ensures the state to implement policies for men and women the right of
sufficient means of livelihood and also guarantees equal payment of wages should be given to
both men and women.

5) Article 243:- It basically deals with reservation of seats for women in Gram Panchayats . After
the enforcement of this right the conditions of women have improved in rural areas.
LEGAL PROVISION AND STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA

Our constitution has enacted and introduced many laws and provisions for the protection of
women and to uphold their social and legal rights and have adopted many measures for equal
rights of women and also to oppose social discrimination and to stop violence against women.

Women are getting targeted to many offenses such as rape, murder, kidnapping, theft these are
cattegorised as crime against women which is divided into two types

Crime under the Indian penal code(IPC)

Rape which comes under 375 of the IPC “a sexual intercourse with a woman without her
permission by coercion, fraud .

Kidnapping under 363 is unlawfully detaining and confining a person against his or her consent.

Mental and physical torture which comes under section 498A of the IPC

Sexual abuse under 354 of IPC which is to use force upon one person or take advantage illegally
.

Child marriage:-

Child marriage is a dreadful offense against young child as it does not just destroy the life of
children but also harm social qualities. It is truly global problem that cuts across cultures,
religions etc. It basically refers to any ritual or casual union between a child under 18 years of
age.There are various ways to prevent it by empowering girls with various skills , by providing
economic support and incentives to their families,by properly educating them and enhancing to a
high quality based education and training.There are various laws that have been introduced by
the government and steps have been implemented to protect children from being subjected to it.

Domestic violence:-

The domestic brutality act,2005 has become an ardent issue for women. It implies violence or
abuse or torture which can be mentally, physically ,and conservative provocation to females.
Any kind of maltreatment that takes place in a homosexual or heterosexual relationship between
adults. This is happening because of lack of education,having low sense of dignity, patriarchal
society, and narrow mindedness of people. In India any kind of abusive behaviour is treated as an
criminal offense under section 498-A of the IPC.

And the other one is those crimes which are specifically categorized under special laws

There are various laws and acts which have been developed and are implemented by the Indian
Government for the protection and for the welfare of women in India such as Dowry
prohibition act,1961 , Protection of women from domestic violence act 2005, sexual
harassment of woman at work place (prevention,prohibition and redressal act ,2013,guardians
and wards act2019, maternity benefit act,1861. These were the acts which were introduced by
the Indian government for the protection of women's life .

Women reservation:-

During earlier years , women were not getting the privileges and same rights as men. They were
considered to be within the four walls of their house and do the household work of their family
members. They were not entitled to get any opportunities in social,cultural and economic
aspects. They were treated as untouchables. And their educational and job opportunities were
very limited. They were not getting the scope to excel. Reservation for women was introduced
to give vulnerability to women and to make the society realize that women are no less as
compared to men. The introduction of womens reservation bill for quotas in parliament and
assemblies have improved women electoral chances,and have raised hope and education for
the teenage girls. And also with the implementation of the reservation bill womens
involvement in politics is increasing more and more with strong and eligible female leaders in
our country.
Various initiatives by the state for the women

 National commission for women:- This statutory body was set up by the government in
January 1992 to study and to watch all the matters regarding safety and security of women

 Reservation for women in local self government:- This act was basically passed in 1992. The
73rd constitutional amendment act which aims to guarantee one third of seats in the
election in both rural as well as in urban areas.

 National plan for action of girl child :- This scheme was introduced in 1991-2000 which
aims at developing the overall future of the children with the main motive behind it was
to recognize the rights of the girl child and to protect them from illiteracy,exploitation and
to provide equal opportunity.

 National policy for women empowerment:- This was implemented for improvement,
empowering the women , to provide equal rights to women and for advancement of
women .

There are still various laws which are prevailing till now in many parts of our country . Until and
unless these laws are prevalent our women will not get justice and be treated equal as men

There are women who are tortured, sexually harassed by their husbands, family members out
of these many of them belong from rural uncivilized areas and there they don’t get the
privilege to take stand for themselves and also they don’t get any moral support from their
family members as well as they are unaware of the laws. Going by the statistics and the
conviction rate reported by the judges women after filing the cases they have to undergo from
humiliation from society as ,harassment in the hands of police officers, and they suffer
immensely before getting exonerated.

Opinion :-
In our country 80 percent of the total population worship goddess of different kinds, the social
status of women and what they represent in society have greatly varied from ancient to modern
times. The status of women in India has been subjected to many changes in its recent
developments. The Indian Constitution not only grants equality to women , but also allows the
state to adopt various measures of positive discrimination in favour of women . Indian
government has implemented many laws for the safety and welfare of women. Our constitution
guarantees equal status to all citizens enshrined under article 14 of the constitution .

CONCLUSION

Even though our constitution has introduced and enacted many laws in favour of women as
well as provided equality in many aspects but the effect of multiculturalism or globalization and
industrialization affected the status of women. Women are always considered as a weak part of
our society and are ill treated , They were not given any kind of recognition . But even after
facing such ill treatments and living in a patriarchal society they have fought for themselves
and have emerged as real heroes in their struggle. Today women are the pride of our country.
“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in this world “as said by Hillary Clinton.
The struggle of a women’s life is more than that of a man.Illiteracy is the root cause of all those
problems.To achieve the goal of social justice and equality the rights of women are approved at
national level make certain the development of women in various educational socio economic
fields.

End notes:-
Christine forster, jaya Sagade “women’s rights in India’’,1st edition, 244pages, august 27,2019
by rout ledge India

Shalu Nigam, “women and domestic violence law in India”, 1 st edition, 312 pg,april 1 st,2021 , by
rout ledge India

Kiran Saxena. “ EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN: THE INDIAN CONTEXT”, Indian journal of political
science vol 55 no.4 (IJPS) pg (391-400) , (October-december 1994)

Ila Patel “the contemporary women’s movement and women’s education in India, vol 44 no
2/3, pg 155-175. 1998