Are women being pushed back indoors? | CR Annapurna

There is an undercurrent of activism sweeping across India that is trying to push women back indoors. This patriarchal philosophy is targeting working women from various backgrounds to ensure that all their efforts in coming out of the clutches of orthodox compulsions are undermined by scuttling of the education and job prospects of young women across the country and denying them any bright future.

THE RECENT CASES of sexual harassment including rape, followed by gruesome murder of the female victims are a cause of concern in 21st century India. The series of cases beginning with Nirbhaya case in Delhi in 2012 to the recent RG Kar case a decade later has brought terror among the educated and working women. It takes a lot of hardship to get educated and reach a respectable position in society. Such cases of atrocities against women are becoming a matter of concern in civil society.

Senseless arguments

Senseless statements over the attire of women, their lifestyle and their being attractive continue to do the rounds without any understanding of the reality. There is a common belief that the status of women had been glorious in ancient India, and often, ancient texts are quoted to support this belief. In the same breath, it is bandied about that the condition of women in the subcontinent deteriorated with the invasions from the northwest, during the middle ages. But what many refuse to admit is that the condition of women has been degrading over the years, especially in the recent past.

Unforgettable efforts

A number of legal reforms were brought in during the early 19th century for the upliftment of women and the girl child in India. Abolition of sati, widow remarriage, abolition of child marriages and girl child education became important goals for many social reformers during this period. However, all these efforts will be in vain if the legal system is not strong enough today to strictly enforce the laws for the protection of women. And the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare continues to be a least-favoured ministry, both at the union and the State government level, because the