SERIOUS DRAFTING WORK GETS UNDER WAY FOR THE TEXT OF THE REGIONAL DECLARATION- @LSR
SOME VALIDATION COMES OUR WAY - WE DO THIS WITH GREAT DELIGHT, PRIDE AND PLEASURE
If the issue of women’s participation were only within the
realm of law and institutions, perhaps political representation would have been
sufficient, but factors such as culture, religion, the structure of society,
the nature of the regime, and women’s status in the society all have enormous
influence on the participation on equal terms by women. Legislative changes
that provide quotas for access are only one part of women’s access to public
spaces. The policies adopted with regard to family, marriage, divorce, child
custody and other related matters, strongly influence how social life is
structured and whether or not women have the ability to access the
opportunities without barriers. For instance, research has demonstrated that
women who are subjected to domestic violence or marital rape are less likely to
be able to participate to the fullest extent in the economy as workers. They
are also less likely to participate in politics or administration. In fact,
bodily integrity and good physical and mental health are crucial prerequisites
of any citizen’s participation in political life.
The human development indices reveal a disturbing trend.
South Asia is witnessing increasing feminization of poverty, agriculture, old
age, migration and HIV-AIDS. Sexual and Gender based violence remain pervasive
and the region is considered one of the most insecure places for a woman.1 The social and economic costs of this gender based violence
including sexual violence are enormous on the South Asian region. The
discrimination that girls face at a young age in terms of access to education,
denial of equal property rights, gender bias in access to livelihood
opportunities and limited participation in the public sphere all continue to
undermine women’s security and wellbeing.
While the experiment of reservations in local bodies in
India and other representative bodies in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh have
led to a number of good results, showing that women can learn political skills
on the job and become effective supporters of women’s interests, the critical
importance of education for women in making political opportunities
1
meaningful for them and in giving them voice once they attain a
political position cannot be underestimated. Education plays many valuable
roles in women’s lives, from opening up employment opportunities to giving
women more control over life choices. Here the role of family is central to
creating conditions for girls’ ability to access opportunities. Unless the
family provides both boys and the girls an education that can facilitate later
participation in politics, there is little room for hoping that women will be
able to cross the barriers they encounter on the way to life of dignity and
equality. It is therefore important to unpack the ‘private’ realm of family
which to a large extent renders women able or unable to function productively
in the public realm. There is an urgent need to explore the interstices of
right to equal political participation and women’s right to violence-free life
at home, in public and at the workplace.
Perhaps when women are full and equal participants in the
political system they will be able to bring about change in the substantive
content of laws with concerns of gender justice and sexual equality in view.
If recent
developments in India are an indicator of how this process could pan out in the
region, there is lot of hope. Making use of the public awareness and outcry
generated by the Nirbhaya Rape Case and the Justice Verma Committee Report,
women’s groups in India highlighted a disturbing legacy of violence against
women that is reinforced by cultures of impunity and silence. The debate and
public pressure led to the passage of two landmark legislations: Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act 2013, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Together, these two legislations have made
changes to the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act
and thereby sought to alter the experience of women’s security in public spaces
and at workplace.
India’s new law to punish sexual violence has also become a
rallying point for women’s groups in the South Asian region. It has catalyzed a
new movement that is bringing together women and male activists, scholars,
civil society stakeholders and disparate social movements. This moment in the
history of the women’s movement needs to be seized and multiplied in order to
ensure that it has enduring effect and transnational impact on the larger goal
of achieving gender justice.
To quote Justice Verma Committee Report, “Unless and until the
state pursues a policy of avowed determination to be able to correct a
historical imbalance in consciousness against women, it will not be possible
for men and indeed women themselves, to view women differently and through the
prism of equality. It isn’t enough that women occupy a few symbolic political
positions to evidence true empowerment of women in the country...the ethos of
empowerment of women does not limit itself to political equality, but also
extends, in equal terms to social, educational and economic equality.”2
The forthcoming roundtable seeks to provide a forum for
identifying pathways towards actualizing the vision that has been articulated
by the Verma Committee Report and which could go a long way in realizing the
vision of ‘50 by 50’ (having 50% women in public service by 2050) in South
Asia.
The roundtable
brought together academics, activists and grassroots practitioners drawing
inspiration from the statement made by Martha Nussbaum, a leading feminist scholar,
‘Good theory can illuminate the
directions practice has been taking and thus reinforce the struggle of those
who have been attempting to promote beneficial change, and map out directions
for policy that are productive and precisely targeted rather than obtuse and
neglectful.’
--
2
Report of the
Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law, Government of India, January 23, 2013:
p.8.
The program constituted
a series of dialogues over a two day period and was structured around different
thematic areas to explore how the leadership of women can alter the vision of
security for women—social, economic or political— and provide full and equal
citizenship. At each dialogue the senior experts shared their experience of
entering public service and foregrounded two or three lessons that had the
potential to redefine the way women’s security is understood.
The key
highlight remained the YOUTH SPEAK
Where time was set
aside for Youth to Speak, where young and mid- career professionals and
students were provided an opportunity to engage with the senior experts and in
the process enhance their own capacity to be future change agents.
The report is curated and submitted by Subi Chaturvedi
Asstt. Professor Journalism and Communication,
Lady Shri Ram College For Women
Delhi University
& Team Member
tweets @subichaturvedi
