There is no chance of the welfare of the world unless the condition of

women improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

INDEX
S.No.

Title

Introduction

Women status in
India

Page No.

3
4
5

Conclusion

References

INTRODUCTION

Remarks

Role of women in modern India can be called phenomenal. The transition of women from
the past to present is worth mentioning. The women who once were considered to be the
master in the art of home making, are now considered to be the forces that shape the country.
The total population of India as of August 20, 2016 is 1.33billion with male population of
691 million and female population of 647 million. Thus not only demographically, but
women are a vital human resource for the economic development of the country.
Today many women are well educated and are now getting into different professions. They
can manage a team, show leadership qualities and act tactfully during time of crisis. They
played a vital role in developing Akash and Agni missiles. In politics they paled a vital role.
For instance, Sonia Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj, Shelia Dikshit, Mamata Banerjee and many
more can be cited as powerful politicians. They are passionate about the work they do and
have established new dimensions in their life.
In universities and colleges, the percentage of women enrolment has become higher. Now
the women are becoming IPS officer, IAS officer, President, Prime Minister and many more.
Along with them they are participating in Olympic Games and state-level games like
Badminton, Chess, Boxing, Gymnastic and many more. For example, In 2016 Olympic
Games, P.V.Sindhu from Telangana, India has become winner in badminton.
Traditionally, an Indian woman had four fold status-role sequences. These were her role as a
daughter, wife, housewife (homemaker), and mother. The woman, whose status and role
traditionally was well defined and almost fixed in the society, is now experiencing farreaching changes. The woman in modern times is entering into certain new fields that were
unknown to the womans sphere of role-sets. They are activating participating in social,
economic, and political activities. The women of the present generation have generally
received higher education than the women of their preceding generation. There have been far
reaching consequences in the economic status of their families.
Woman as a wife enjoyed ideally a status almost equally to that of her husband and
performed both social as well as biological functions. Even today, the Indian girls are still
brought up on models portraying selflessness, self-denial, and sacrifice. The desire for
mutual affection and love is beginning to appear in their conception of their relationship with
their husbands. The husband-wife relationship has become more equalitarian in character and
much more companionable. More freedom of choice in marriage is thus an accompaniment
to the change in form of the family.

WOMEN STATUS IN INDIA:

PROBLEM AND EMPOWERMENT

HISTORY

S TAT U S O F W O M E N I
IN D IA

The history of status of women in India can be studied in three stages namely:
1. Status of Women in Ancient India
2. Status of Women in Medieval India
3. Status of Women in Modern India

STATUS OF
WOMEN IN
ANCIENT INDIA
STATUS OF
WOMEN IN
MEDIEVAL INDIA
STATUS OF
WOMEN IN
MODERN INDIA

I.

Status of Women in Ancient India

There are two opinions regarding the status of women in ancient India. Some scholars say
that ancient Indian women were almost the equals of men, while some others argue that
women were held not only in disrespect but even in positive hatred. The scholars have
selected some passages from our classical literature to prove their point. Example:

 Statements that reveal the higher status of early Indian women: (i) Apastamba had
prescribed: All must make a way for a women when she is treading a path (ii)
Yajnavalkya had said women are the embodiment of all divine virtues on earth.
Statements that reveal the degraded status of early Indian women: (i) Manu who had
praised women in some context had said in some other context that women are not fit for
enjoying freedom. (ii) In Mahabharata, Bhishma had said in some context: Husband
should regard his wife as an acquisition
These statement do not mirror the actual position of women: The statements and
opinions quoted above are only contextual and it is not proper to generalize on the basis
the real status of women. The real status of women could be judged by analyzing the
social, economic, political and religious rights they enjoyed over the years.
The status of women in ancient India can be better studied in the following stages. (i) Vedic
and post-vedic period (ii) Women in the period of Dharmashastras and epics; (iii) Women in
the puranic period and (iv) Women in the Buddhist

1. Women in Vedic and Post-Vedic Period:

The Indian cultural tradition begins with the Vedas. It is generally believed that the Vedic
period is spread over from 3000B.C. to 600B.C. Some general observations and broad
generalisations can only be made regarding the status of women during the vast period.
Freedom enjoyed by women: The degree of freedom given to women to move
above and take part in public activities gives a good idea of the nature of the status
enjoyed by women. Literary and historical researches have revealed that women
held a position of equality with men during vedic period. Widows were permitted
to remarry. Women were given complete freedom in family matters and were
treated as Ardhanginis.They also enjoyed freedom in areas such as education,
marriage, economic production, spending money, religious activities etc.
Equal Educational Opportunities for Women: Though male children were
preferred to female children, daughters were never ill-treated. They also received
education like boys and went through the Brahmacharya discipline including the
Upanayana ritual. The Atharva Veda observes how a bride had no chance of a
good match, if she had not been educated as a brahmacharini. The custom of
Upanayana of girls prevailed down to the sutra period.
Economic Production and Occupational Freedom: Vedic period had economic
freedom. They did not serve as occupants of some professions and earn wages only
because it was not necessary for them. Home was the place of production. Spinning
and weaving of clothes were done at home. Women however, helped their husbands
in agricultural pursuits. Some women were engaged in teaching work.
Property Rights and Inheritance: In property matters, there were disparities
between men and women. Womens rights were very limited in inheriting property.
A daughter had no share in her fathers property; but each unmarried daughters was
entitled to one-fourth share of patrimony received by her brothers. Women had
control over their stridhan but the bulk of the family property was under the
control and management of the patriarch. Later Vedic text expressly declared that

women had no right of inheritance as they were weak. An exception was, however,
made in favour of women brotherless daughter, who was allowed to inherit to the
patrimony.
Role of Women in Religious field: In the religious field, wife enjoyed full rights
and regularly participated in religious ceremonies with her husband. Vedic religious
ceremonies and sacrifices were performed jointly by the husband and the wife.
Women participated in religious ceremonies actively.

2. Women during the Epic Period:

Like women of the Vedic age, the women of Epic India held an honorable positions at
home. The two classical epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata have also given a respectable
place for women. In fact women are the focal points of both the epics. Sita in the
Ramayana and Draupadi in the Mahabharata, are the cause for the wars which occur at
the final phase of these epics. Both the epics make mention of the continuation of the
marital practice of swayamvara. In both of these we find vast references of the
expression of courage, strong will power, and valour of women like Sita, Kaikeye,
Rukmini, Satyabharma, Drapudi, Savithri and others.

3. Women in the Buddhist Period:

The origin of Buddhism has been treated as reaction to Hinduism. Many unjustifiable
social rigours, like introducing the practice of pre-puberty marriages and denying right
to freedom, right to mate selection, right to participate in the religious discourses etc.,
were imposed on women during the peiods of Brahmanas and Puranas. In the
Buddhist period, the status of women improved a little, though there was no
tremendous change. In the religious field women come to occupy a distinctly superior
place. They had their own sangha, called Bhikshuni Sangh, which was guided by the
same rules and regulations as those of the monks. The sangh opened to them avenues
of cultural activities and social service and ample opportunities for social life. In the
social field, they had an honoured pace accourding to the traditions of the Brahmanical
religion. The political and economic status, however, remain unchanged.

II. Status of Women in Medieval India

In the medieval period, the position of women became worse than what has been
mentioned under the Gupta period. In this period female infanticide, child marriage,
purdah, jauhar, sati and slavery were the main social evils affecting the position of
women.
The birth of a daughter was considered bad luck. Giving freedom to women was thought
of as the predecessors of doom. Women were largely uneducated and remained confined
to their homes. Conservatism, superstition and brief in magic, sorcery and witchcraft were
part of women existence.
During the British period some of the social problems that attracted the attention of
British administrators and enlightened social reforms were sati, child marriage,
infanticide, prohibition of widow remarriage.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century the practice of sati was confined to Hooghly,
Nadia and Burdwan districts of Bengal, Gazipur of U.P. and Shahabad of Bihar. In
Southern India it was practiced in Ganjam, Masalipatnam, and Tanjore districts. In
Rajasthan, Punjab and Kashmir, the practice was confined to high caste women. Three
fourths of the total incidents of Sati took place, during British India, in Bengal alone. The
phenomena was more prevalent among the Brahmins and Rajputs.
Child Marriage is prevalent even today. The institution is the result of hypergamy, dowry,
the notions of virginity and chastity. It has resulted in the problems of over-population,
poverty, unemployment, ill-health and dependence upon parents.
The first legislation to stop child marriage was passed in 1860, under which the minimum
age for consumption of marriage in the case of girls was raised to 10 years. In 1891, the
age of consent for girls was raised to 12 years. In 1929, the Child Marriage Restrain Act
(Sharda Bill) was passed raising the age of a marriage for a girl to 14 years and for a boy
to 18 years. The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 puts the minimum age of marriage for a
bride at 15 years and for a bridegroom at 18 years. This was raised later and today it
stands at 18years and 21 years for boys and girls, respectively. Even today, in rural areas
sanction against widow remarriage is quiet strong, although an act providing for widow
remarriage came quite early. With the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar, the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act was passed in1856. In 1861, a
Widow Marriage Association was formed. The Arya Samaj give top priority to this
programme.
Legislation for Hindu women in matters of marriage, adoption and inheritance are: Hindu
Law of Inheritance (Amendment), 1929, the Hindu Marriage Disability Removal Act,
1946, the Hindu Women Right of Property Act, 1937, the Special Marriage Act1954, the
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and many more Acts.

III. Status of Women in Modern India

Women are not born, but made. What better than India to exemplify this statement by
Simone de Beauvoir. With the whole world celebrating International Womens
Day with great pomp and show, it would be only apt to analyze the position and space
Indian women occupy today, and comparing it to the times 60 years ago when the country
had just gained independence. With the women participating in nationalist movements to
being pushed into the domestic household space, to their resurgence as the super-women
today, women in our country have seen it all.
There have been innumerable debates about gender in India over the years. Much of it
includes womens positing in society, their education, health, economic position, gender
equality etc. What one can conclude from such discussions is that women have always
held a certain paradoxical position in our developing country. On other hand, the country
has seen an increased percentage of literacy among women, and women are allowed to
enter into professional fields, while on the other hand the practices of female infanticide,
poor health conditions and lack of education still persisting still continue. Even the
patriarchal ideology of the home being womens real domain and marriage being her
ultimate destiny hasnt changed much. The matrimonial advertisements, demanding girls
of the same caste, with fair skin and slim figure, or the much criticized fair and lovely
ads, are indicators of the slow changing social mores. If one looks at the status of women
then and now, one has to look at two sides of the coin; one side which is promising, and
one side which is bleak.
When our country got its independence, the participation of women nationalists was
widely acknowledged. When the Indian Constitution was formulated, it granted equal
rights to women, considering them legal citizens of the country and as an equal to men in
terms of freedom and opportunity. The sex ratio of women at this time was slightly better
than what it is today, standing at 647 million females per 691 million males. Yet the
conditions of women screamed a different reality.
They were relegated to their households, and made to submit to the male-dominated
patriarchal society, as has always been prevalent in our country. Indian women, who
fought as an equal to men in the nationalist struggle, were not given that free public space
anymore. They became homemakers, and were mainly meant to build a strong home to
support their men who were to build the new Independent country. Women were reduced
to being secondary citizens. The national female literacy rate was an alarmingly low 8.9
per cent. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for girls was 24.8 per cent at primary level
and 4.6 per cent at the upper primary level (in the 11 14 years age group). There
existed insoluble social and cultural barriers to education of women and access to
organized schooling.
A very few were allowed a public space, which she was expected to manage on her own
along with her domestic role as a homemaker. In spite of the Sharda Act which was
passed in the 1950s to raise the marital age limit for girls, child marriage particularly in
North India was quite prevalent though the average age at marriage for females was

increased to 18. Sprawling inequalities persisted in their access to education, health care,
physical and financial resources and opportunities in political, social and cultural spheres.
It was almost unthinkable for women to have a choice or a say in matters of marriage,
career or life. Rather she had no voice at all. The practice of dowry was as common as
ever.
And since men were better educated than girls, the demands were even more. The Dowry
Prohibition Act was finally passed in 1961, to protect women and promising severe
punishment, but the conviction rate of crime against women was, and still is very low in
India. Because of such inhuman practices which were normalized by our society, the birth
of the girl child was considered inauspicious. In villages as well as cities, the girl child
was killed either before birth or after it. Even till date, the practice continues. The United
Nations Childrens Fund, estimated that up to 50 million girls and women are missing
from Indias population because of termination of the female foetus or high mortality of
the girl child due to lack of proper care.
Though a number of constitutional amendments were made for womens social, economic
and political benefits, yet they were never effective to bring a radical change in the
situation. Women had only the role of a good wife to play, and if a woman ventured out
to work, she was seen as a bad woman, going against societal norms. Women were
expected to cook food and eat only after the men, with whatever meager amount of food
is left. This led to rampant malnutrition among women, and an extremely poor health
status. Around 500 women were reported to die every day due to pregnancy related
problems due to malnutrition, and getting married before 18. It was only by the 1960s,
that a few educated women began to see themselves increasingly change from a mere
guardian of home to a legitimate participant in the discourse of life. The country saw the
first undercurrent of female discontent with the system. Many women began to have new
dreams- of love, longing, and new possibilities.
With time, a lot has changed since those dark ages of the 1950s for the women. Though at
some levels like dowry, crimes like rape, sexual harassment at office or public places,
and molestation, eve-teasing, even after over sixty years of independence women are still
exploited, which is the shameful side of our country. Yet one cant deny that the situation
has improved since the earlier times. Women, who now represent 48.2% of the
population, are getting access to education, and then employment. From 5.4 million girls
enrolled at the primary level in 1950-51 to 61.1 million girls in 2004-05. At the upper
primary level, the enrolment increased from 0.5 million girls to 22.7 million girls.
The Modern Indian woman, does not let social constraints to keep her behind, but
prioritizes her education or her career before anything else. From a time when there no
woman writer in India who was taken seriously, today names like Arundhati Roy, Anita
Desai, Kiran Desai, Shobhaa De, Jhumpa Lahiri can put any other writer to shame. In the
field of cinema, women like Rekha, Smita Patil, Shabana Aazmi and Vidya Balan and
Konkona Sen are such names who dont play feminized roles, but have asserted
themselves over this male-dominated realm. In the field of Politics, from Indira Gandhi to
Shiela Dixit, Uma Bharti, Jayalalitha, Vasundhra Raje and Mamata Banerjee today,
women are making their presence felt.

CASES REGISTERED IN INDIA

Crime against women by husband or relatives
A total of 1,18,866 complaints of cruelty against women by husband or relatives were
reported in 2013.
West Bengal

18,116

Rajasthan

15,094

Andhra Pradesh

15,084

Uttar Pradesh

8,781

Assam

8,636

Maharashtra

8,542

Gujarat

7,812

In terms of total number of cases of crimes against women in 2013, Uttar Pradesh tops the list with
32,546 cases followed by Andhra Pradesh (32,809) and Rajasthan (27,933).
Assam tops in the rates of crimes which is measured based on the total number of crimes reported per
1 lakh population of women. In Assam it is 113.93 followed by Tripura (89.75) and Rajasthan 83.13.

RAPE CASES
NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of rape cases in 2013,
followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, according to a report by the
National Crime Records Bureau. The report says a total of 33,707 rape cases were filed
across the country last year.
States with most number of cases
Madhya Pradesh

4,335

Maharashtra

3,063

Rajasthan

3,285

Uttar Pradesh

3,050

Assam

1,937

West Bengal

1,685

Delhi

1,636

Andhra Pradesh

1,635

Chhattisgarh

1,380

Kerala

1,221

Jharkhand

1,204

Bihar

1,128

Karnataka

1,030

Haryana witnessed 971 rape cases in 2013 followed by Tamil Nadu where the total number
of cases was 923. Punjab (888), Gujarat (732), Jammu and Kashmir (378), Himachal Pradesh
(250) and Uttarakhand (22) are the other states with most number of rape cases registered.
Kidnapping and Abduction
The NCRB report said the country registered 51,881 cases of kidnapping and abduction in 2013
with Uttar Pradesh topping the list.
Uttar Pradesh

9,737

Bihar

4,419

Assam

4,222

Rajasthan

4,047

West Bengal

4,047

Madhya Pradesh

2,873

Gujarat

2,230

Odisha

2,067

Haryana registered 1,957 incidents of kidnapping and abduction of women, 1,881 in Chhattisgarh,
1,874 in Maharashtra, 1,595 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,516 in Tamil Nadu.
Dowry death cases
The NCRB report says a total of 8,083 incidents of dowry death were reported in 2013.
Uttar Pradesh

2,335

Bihar

1,182

Madhya Pradesh

776

Andhra Pradesh

492

West Bengal

481

Rajasthan

453

Jharkhand

307

PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN IN INDIA

REFERENCES
http://www.indianetzone.com/
http://www.indianetzone.com/67/condition_women_india_through_ages.htm
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2012/03/heres-how-the-status-of-women-has-changed-inindia-since-1950-till-date/
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/women/status-of-women-in-modern-india/47637/
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/33707-Rape-Cases-Registered-in-India-in2013-MP-Tops-List/2014/07/02/article2311178.ece
http://www.dnaindia.com/topic/rape
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_India
http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/india-current-population.html
http://www.saarthakindia.org/womens_situation_india.html
http://www.importantindia.com/20816/women-in-india-role-and-status-of-women-inindia/
http://www.india.com/sports/pv-sindhu-final-match-badminton-live-score-olympics2016-badminton-pv-sindhu-vs-carolina-marin-19th-aug-live-updates-1419496/
http://www.olympic.ind.in/
INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM BY RAM AHUJA
SOCIOLOGY BY D.C. BHATTACHARYA
SOCIOLOGY OF INDIAN SOCIETY BY C.N.SANKAR RAO
INDIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE BY VINITA PANDEY