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By MeghnaDas, PG English, Roll No: - 0025

Less Equal Among Equals: Analysing Gender-Based Discrimination in India through Social and Legal Perspectives 

Undoing the Gordian knot of gender inequality has been a persisting challenge in India. For a nation whose culture and history is so deeply tethered to patriarchal ideologies, the promise for equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution is much like an effervescent dream. Operating within the very roots of the social structure, patriarchy configures the collective thinking of the nation to remain enmeshed in dogmatism under the garb of tradition. In effect, this causes the national identity to become contingent upon the perpetuation of forces which oppress the powerless on the grounds of gender, caste, religion etc. 

Indian legislation has long been hailed to be woman-friendly and is known for its contribution towards the emancipation of women. However, a nuanced examination might highlight certain lacunae which prevent it from reaching its desired target. While Article 15 of the Indian Constitution provides an overarching protection against discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, gender or place of birth, the Manu Samhita argues that immemorial custom is transcendental law. Such narratives relegate the marginalised and powerless into a realm of non-personhood as tradition,culture, customs and mores are weaponised to legitimise their oppression. 

Caged within the social expectations of marriage and motherhood, women in India often find that their education is grossly neglected in comparison to their male counterparts. This is reflected in the substantial differences between the state-wise literacy rates of the two genders.  Data collected by the National Statistical Office based on the last census in 2011 reflects that Rajasthan recorded the highest male-female literacy rate gap of 23%, followed by Madhya Pradesh which recorded a gap of 16%, while Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh recorded male-female literacy gaps of 17.7% and 16.7% respectively (Nath 2023).

Ideologically, the dominant patriarchal social opinion does not recognise women in an equal position with their husbands within the marital relationship. This finds its reflection in the general predominance of patrilocal households and patrilineal inheritance traditions. While the Hindu Succession Act,1956 recognises the parents of a male Hindu dying intestate as his legal heirs, in the case of a female Hindu, her husband’s heirs gain predominance over her birth parents in the matter of inheritance. The Hindu Minority And Guardianship Act, 1956 problematises the woman’s right to act as a natural guardian to her children. Section 6 of the said Act states that the natural guardian of a Hindu minor is “the father, and after him, the mother”. In exceptional cases of unlawful marriages of underage brides, the law recognises her husband as her natural guardian. Evidently therefore, while child marriage is severely criminalised in the country, the law bends before the traditions of a patriarchal society in order to provide legal recognition to these unfortunate child brides. According to a UNICEF report titled ‘Ending Child Marriage: A Profile of Progress in India’, 23% of “young women in India were married or in union before their 18th birthday” in 2023 (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, 2023). Despite being one of the crucial targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 5, that is, to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, India has failed to check the nefarious practice of child marriage due to its conflict with patriarchal customs. According to the report, the leading states which account for the maximum number of child marriages are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh. 

A woman’s inferior position within the marital bond is confirmed by the fact that according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 32% of Indian women are likely to experience intimate partner violence (Chandra et al., 2023). In 2022 alone, the NCRB recorded 6,450 cases of dowry deaths (National Crime Records Bureau, 2022). It may therefore be said that the numbers shared by the NCRB reflect the vast disparity between the legislative promises and the social reality for women in India. These numbers may therefore contest the rising neo-patriarchal narrative that women in India are sufficiently protected by its woman-friendly laws. 

The question of gender inequality in India however cannot simply conclude with the predicament of women and it must account for the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ individuals who are equally oppressed by patriarchal ideology. Indian patriarchal ideology typically relegates alternate gender identities to the social margin and denies them their due dignity as Indian citizens. Although the The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 guarantees the rights to residence, employment, education, health care and certification of identity, in practice transgender individuals are erased socially and politically. In absence of economic independence and social inclusion, the transgender community is dangerously exposed to physical and emotional abuse (Mugloo & Rafiq 2023).

In conclusion, despite its rapid progress as a global power, India is yet to deal with its unfulfilled promises towards its citizens. Despite legal measures, India remains strongly tethered to her traditions which operate on patriarchal common sense. Under this tradition women are expected to be naturally subservient, economically dependent wives and mothers, and the LGBTQ+ citizens are marginalised as the embodiments of a cautionary tale that threatens to pollute the sacred order of tradition. This however poses a massive challenge for the country to overcome as its ambition to emerge as a global presence clashes violently with the patriarchal ideology that informs the crux of the hegemonic Indian identity.

References:-

• Chandra, R., Srivastava, S., Singh, A., Mukherjee, S., & Patel, J. K. (2023). Locating perpetrators of violence against women in India: An analysis of married men’s characteristics associated with intimate partner violence. PLOS ONE, 18(8),
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
• Depanjolly Nath . (2023). Literacy Rate in India 2022. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research , 5(1), 4–5.
• Mugloo, S., & Rafiq, S. (2023, April 7).“They thought I was a curse”: Trans voices from India. OpenDemocracy.https://www.opendemocracy.net
• National Crime Records Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs) Government of India . (2022). Crime in India: Statistics, Volume I. In National Crime Records Bureau (pp. 211). https://ncrb.gov.in.
• The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, (1956).
• The Hindu Succession Act, (1956).
• United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund . (2023). Ending Child Marriage: A                  profile of progress in India. In UNICEF DATA. https://data.unicef.org