The Inferior Status of Women In India's Society

641 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The traditional status of women in India

Through child marriages, female infanticides, and child trafficking, women in India become oppressed. This oppression subjugates the status of women to a status inferior to men, thereby initiating a vicious cycle in which the status of women seems to continuously deteriorates.

The marriage of children has been traditionally prevalent throughout India. A child marriage is a marriage between an older man and a woman less than the age of eighteen. As a result of the insinuations of dowry, where the family of the bride are often expected to pay large sums of money to the family of the groom, female children are already stigmatized (Lawson, 2001). Even with governmental acts, such as the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, the practice of dowry continues to thrive in India, and thereby causes pressure to the parents of female children to marry off their daughters as soon as possible, as suggested by the large amount of child marriages in India (UNICEF, 2009). The high frequency of child marriages that occur despite being outlawed in areas such as Rajasthan, suggest that the status of females are not deemed significant enough to merit enough interest from the government. (Lawson, 2001) Unfortunately, as the disregard for the rights of females continues to grow, so does the inhumane act of child marriages within India.

Female infanticides, or the killing of a newborn girl, are also a prevalent concern within India. There is a high masculine sex ratio present in India, due to high levels of female infanticide. (Menon-Sen, 2001) Connecting with the prevalent issue of child marriages, the pressure of dowry seems to exert force at promoting female infanticides, and through extrapolation, sex-selective abortions. From what can be ascertained...

... middle of paper ...

...49.stm

Bedi, R. (1997, August 23). INDIA: BID TO PROTECT CHILDREN AS SEX TOURISM SPREADS. London’s Daily Telegraph.

Lawson, A. (2001, October 24). Child marriages targeted in India. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1617759.stm

McGirk, T. (1997, January 27). Nepal’s Lost Daughters, ‘India’s soiled goods. Nepal/India News.

Menon, M. (1997, July 27). TWILIGHT ZONE FOR WOMEN RED-LIGHT WORKERS ALONG INDIAN HIGHWAYS. The Hindu.

Menon-Sen, K. (2001). Women in India How Free? How Equal? India: Office of the Resident Coordinator in India.

Sudha, S., & Rajan, S. I. (1999, July). Female Demographic Disadvantage in India 1981–1991: Sex Selective Abortions and Female Infanticide. Development and Change, 30(3), 585-618.

UNICEF. (2009). Table 9. Child Protection [Fact Sheet]. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09_Table_9.pdf

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Story 'Just Frank'

    380 Words  | 1 Pages

    Bobby in the story symbolizes coming of age and being a single dad. Bobby has to raise a baby by himself when he lost Nia and now can't do the childish things as much as he used too. Bobby was now confused on where to go with Feather after high school. Bobby moves in with his brother so he can still have help with the baby. Bobby has now come of age where he has to make adult decisions for him and Feather.

    Read More

  • Reproductive Rights

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    In India, women are being manipulated to stop having children after their second birth. Officials claim that by regulating population and the pregnancies of women after their second child they will be able to empower women by offering them contraceptive choices and child care facilities. In reality, if women do not agree to be sterilized after their second birth they will be denied health care, rations for cheaper food, bank loans, and enrolment in government housing. Another major concern for women is the high rate of infant mortality in India. If women are sterilized after two births and lose one or both of their children, they will never be able to become pregnant again. Instead of the population control plan providing women with child care aid and options, they are removing their rights and their choices.

    Read More

  • Sex Trafficking in India

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    An article released by the BBC entitled “Horrors of India’s Brothels Documented” brought this shocking global issue to my attention. The article provides information about a young Indian girl who was only 11 when she was sold into sex slavery by her neighbor (who had persuaded her family to let her go with him to Mumbai); she was taken from her impoverished village in West Bangel. Brutally raped the first night she arrived in a brothel, Guddi is only one of 20,000 sex workers in that specific area [Kamathipura] (2013). The article elaborates on the history of sex slavery in India. It points out that laws have recently been put into place against human trafficking. However, the laws are not being strongly enforced due to the sheer number of the cases. Human trafficking is like a plague that is spread throughout the world, and India is one of the hardest hit places. This paper will elaborate on the reasons this condition exists in India, and explain the connections that India has with the rest of the world that stem from this issue.

    Read More

  • The Issue of Forced Marriage

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Girls all over the world are forced into marriages due to financial necessity, tradition and to ensure their future. Most of these girls married are at a young age: “One third of the world’s girls are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15”( “Child Marriage Facts and Figures”). The young ages of those being married reveal how crucial it is to resolve this problem. When child marriage occurs the parents of the bride usually chose the groom for their daughters; and these grooms can be three times older than the young brides. Some children are brought into the world of marriage at the of 8 or sometimes less depending on their cultural views. The following can be used to help reduce the impact of early marriage: reinforcing laws that are passed against child marriages, and providing information on contraceptives to victims of early marriage. The most efficient way of resolving the problem of child marriage is through educating the people who practice it about its adverse effects.

    Read More

  • Child Brides and Marriage

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sagade, Jaya. Child Marriage in India: Socio - Legal and Human Rights Dimensions. Oxford University Press: 2005 edition. Print.

    Read More

  • Women's Social Status in the World

    1237 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women's status is a complex issue and a hard-to-define subject. Around the world, women's status in each society and culture varies in different ways. In some societies, women's status improved gradually, while in other, it declined or remained unchanged. What affects women's status in a society? In what kind(s) of society, /is women's status /is/ among the highest? And why? My research paper will focus on the relationship between women's status and the degree of stratification and wealth of a society.

    Read More

  • The Status of Women in India in the Past, Present and Future

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    The issue of gender inequality is one which has been publicly reverberating through society for years. Gender inequality is one of the most serious & ethical issues in India today. Gender inequality in India is described as a preferential treatment arising out of prejudice based on the gender. The aim of this research is to discuss the status of women in India in the past, present and future and discuss any political movements which took place in the society in order for Women to be regarded as equal.

    Read More

  • Women's suppression in india

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lakshmi, Rama. "Indian Supreme Court Recognizes Third Gender." The Washington Post, April 16, 2014, Suburban ed., sec. A.

    Read More

  • Gendercide Effect On Child Brides

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    A complete reversal in the natural mortality rate of men and women further proves how extreme the practice of gendercide has gotten in the country (Ferguson). India has disrupted its natural female to male balance so horrifically that child brides are being imported to the country to marry strangers who couldn’t find a wife in their villages due to the lack of women and overabundance of men (Anonymous). Knowing their daughters will be sent away to live with their husband’s family at a very young age makes it uncommon for the families of female children to develop strong relationships with their female children (Epstein).

    Read More

  • Rape in Modern India

    2103 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...s not exist. This is a complicated situation and it requires various actions. India is in a transitional phase, and there are many power struggles happening at the same time. Women are gaining influence in the country, men do not always respond well to that. High castes have lost the support of the government when it comes to their inherent social status. Muslims and Hindus have been fighting over control for decades, and the traditional values that were held for so long are at odds with the modern ways. Each of these contribute to the stabilization of violence against women, and solving this problem will not be a simple as we may like. It is easy to accuse Hindu-Indian culture of being compliant in the crimes committed against its women, but we simply cannot ignore all the other factors that play a role. Complex situations call for complex solutions, nothing less.

    Read More

  • Social Problems Of India Essay

    1507 Words  | 4 Pages

    Female foeticide has become a disgraceful and shocking reality of this nation. For centuries, families across many parts of India have look upon the male child as the superlative of the two sexes. A male child is seen as a blessing in the Indian society and since years people have made lavish offerings and numerous prayers in hopes for getting a son. These beliefs continue to remain even though times have changed and now much of the inequality is reducing. The Indian society recognizes a insightful faith in every individual’s right to life and dignity but this rights are dishonored when it comes to women and children in this society. A difference in a society’s ideal values and its reality is defined as a social

    Read More

  • Importance Of Patriarchy In Indian Society

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Indian society daughter is considered to be a burden as her contribution to the family is till her marriage. During marriage the brides’ families have to give certain amount of money or land or other tangible property as dowry to the groom’s family. And the bad thing is that, the property, which was given by the bride’s family to the groom’s family, the bride does not have any right on it even though it was given by her family. Though the system of dowry is prohibited in India, but still it is directly or indirectly prevalent in certain states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and

    Read More

  • Cultural Violence

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    Amanda Hitchcock. 2001. “Rising Number of Dowry Deaths in India.” Annual Editions: Anthropology 11/12, 34th Edition. Elvio Angeloni. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

    Read More

  • Female Infanticide

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    The practice of female infanticide is older than many cultures in today’s world, due to the traditional thinking that women are a burden on the family and are seen as less worthy. In many cultures that practice sex- selective abortions, also experience high poverty rates. Therefore many families who are poor want a child that can work to help increase the families overall income and power and women typically can not do contribute to this in these countries. In India when a woman gets married is in no longer apart of the family so unable to help the family. The women's family also has to pay her husband’s family a dowry. A dowry is property or money that is given to the husb...

    Read More

  • Child Marriage Essay

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    Child marriage is a popular practice in India and Middle Eastern countries. It is defined as “a formal union before the age of eighteen” (unicef). In some cases the husband can be more than twice the age of the young girl. The median age of women at the time of their marriage is starting to increase, although this primarily includes women in higher income families. Seen as taboo in western countries, the practice is common in rural towns in places like India and Yemen. As a result of the marriage many young girls get pregnant, which is a serious health risk due to their underdeveloped bodies. The practice of child marriage takes away a young woman’s right to an education and also poses serious health risks.

    Read More

More about The Inferior Status of Women In India's Society

Open Document