Rights Of Women In The 19th And 20th Century

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Reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries led by great social reformers mentioned previously provided boost to women’s legal status and rights in India. Independence of India heralded the introduction of new laws relating to women. The Constitution of India provided equality to men and women and also gave special protection and privileges to women to realize their interests effectively. At the international level, the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) sought to guarantee to secure better legal status to women.
The theoretical fundamentals of development discourse have experienced many changes over the decades. The role of both men and women in the development process has received much attention in the last few decades. Although the principle of equality was recognized as early as in 1945 in the UN Charter. The new theory argues that a person’s role was specified under a patriarchal framework where the scope of gender -masculine or feminine- was limited within the biological understanding of sex (male/female). …show more content…

Some women leaders with the support of the Congress party, demanded right of franchise and representation in legislatures.
It could be said that Indian women’s movements worked for two goals: one, liberation or upliftment of women, i.e., reforming social practices so as to enable women to play a more important and constructive role in society; and two, equal rights for men and women, i.e., the extension of civil rights enjoyed by men in the political, economic and familial spheres to women

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