The Constitution of India was enacted on January 26, 1950. This was an era where the women of the country held low level of recognition. The social condition of the women in India was poor and hence it required an immediate reform. Women were tortured physically as well as mentally in the early times. At that point of time, women were in dire need of laws and reformations for the improvement in their social position and to ensure their safety against mental and physical torture. At that time, Dr. B.R Ambedkar ,author of our Constitution of India, took various constructive steps in favour of women in order to make them socially strong and a revolutionary change is being witnessed in present time.
It is ironical to understand the fact that women in India are worshipped and referred to as ‘shakti’ and yet they are being ill-treated. In earlier times, women were not provided education and therefore they were dependent on the men of their house for their day-to-day needs and other essentials for their survival. It is established that the education of women plays a significant role in raising the standards of living in our country. A literate women is thought to improve the living standards of life, both at workplace as well as at homes. An educated woman would encourage and promote educating her children, be it a male or female child which would further help in the development of society as well as the country.
But the status of women has definitely changed in the modern times and has raised towards the betterment of their social conditions. Today, the women in India are educated and earn their own livelihood. The basic difference being that women have to shoulder double responsibility in comparison to the men in the society. Women work outside the house to earn for a better living as well as bears the responsibility for all the household chores. Even after putting in so much effort ,both at workplace as well as at home, women have not been given the recognition and status that they deserve.
It can be said that the difference brought in the social position of women has been due to the laws and directives laid down by the Constitution of India. Law cannot be changed overnight. A lot has been done by the legal system for the betterment of living conditions for women but there remains a lot more to be done. The battle for justice against gender inequality has been long. Various constitutional provisions, laws and judgements have made significant contribution for the improvement of the status of women in India. Yet, there are major issues still unaddressed which need urgent actions.
Chapter-2
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN
The Constitution of India has done a great work in providing justice in cases of gender based inequality by instituting various provisions in the supreme law of the land. The Constitution of India empowers the state to take steps of positive discrimination for the betterment for status of women. The preamble of our Constitution of India underlines equality of status in all terms of social, economic and political justice. The Preamble itself considers women as a class and permits the enactment and implementation of laws favouring women.
Various provisions have been laid down in the constitution for improving the social conditions of women. Some of the essential provisions can be laid as follows:-
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS:- “Part III of the Constitution contains a long list of fundamental rights. This chapter of the Constitution of India has very well been described as the Magna Carta of India.” These fundamental rights provide an affirmative action in favour of women.
Article 14 of the Constitution of India talks about equality being provided to the people within the territory of India. This article ensures equality before law as well as equal protection of laws. The provision of this article in the Constitution of India is marked important for women as it provides equal legal protection to them against any women based crime. This article also enables the introduction and implementation of various legislations or other laws for providing protection and enforcement of women’s legal rights.
Article 15 of the Constitution of India ensures that no individual shall be discriminated on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any other ground for discrimination. Clause(1) of this article emphasises mainly on the prohibition of discrimination on the ground of sex. Clause(3) is considered to be of much relevance in protecting women against discrimination as it empowers the state to make special provision for women and make affirmative discrimination in favour of women. A varied lot of discrimination took place against women in earlier times, but these were gradually abolished on the introduction of Article 15.
Article 16 of the Constitution provides equal opportunity for employment to every citizen of the country. It states that a citizen shall not be discriminated on the ground of sex, caste, etc and be ineligible for any employment or offices which were under the state. In recent times, women are holding responsible positions under various Government offices.
DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY:- These are mentioned in Part IV of the Constitution of India. These are policies laid down for the State to follow. The makers of the Constitution intended to ensure equality in opportunity as well as in reality.
“Article 39 of the constitution says that ” The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing (a) that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means to livelihood;(d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women; (e) that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.”
“Article 42 requires the state to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.” Article 46 of the Indian Constitution directs the state to take steps for the promotion of education as well ascareful measures to be taken for improving the economic conditions of the weaker sections in the society. The aim of such provisions is to establish a society having gender equality.
THE CONSTITUTION (73rd AMENDMENT) ACT,1992
Part IX consisting of 16 articles and the Eleventh Schedule had been introduced through this amendment. This Part included article 243 which includes various provisions relating to Panchayats in India. Various clauses under this article such as 243-D(3), 243-T(3),243-T(4),etc provide reservation for women in various offices of the Panchayat such as providing reservation for one-third of the total number of offices of chairpersons in the Panchayat, etc.
Chapter-3
LEGAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN
Various legislative measures have been taken to ensure protection of women against discrimination and ensure just implementation of their legal rights. These legislations have been made under the Indian Penal Code as well as other Special Laws. Some of these laws providing positive discrimination for their protection can be enlisted as:
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (1956) has derived its formulation and implementation from Article 51:A of the Constitution of India which asserts to renounce practices which are derogatory to the dignity of women. This act, being a women specific legislation, primarily prevents trafficking of women and girls from sexual exploitation for commercial purposes such as those of prostitution, etc. This law provides protection to women, thereby, upholding their dignity, social status , safety and self-respect and their right to a dignified livelihood which has been talked about in Article-21 of the Constitution of India.
Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (1994:- “This act was formulated and implemented to prevent the women- based crime of female foeticide. This means’ distinguishing and murdering female baby before they take birth.” In old days, females were considered as liability on the family and male child was thought to be the successor and the care-taker of the family, and hence girl child was aborted in the womb of the mother before its birth. This practice violated Article 14 of the Constitution of India. To ensure equality and prevent abortion of girl child by pre-natal diagnosis, this act was implemented deriving its formulation from the constitution itself to uphold the principles laid down in Article 14.
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) was passed in relevance to Article 253 of the Constitution of India ,which provides the Parliament to make laws in pursuance of international conventions, treaties, pacts, etc. This act was passed to follow the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the CEDAW. It is a comprehensive legislation to protect women in India from all forms of domestic violence. “It also covers women who have been/are in a relationship with the abuser and are subjected to violence of any kind—physical, sexual, mental, verbal or emotional.” This act was passed to guarantee the fundamental rights to women provided under Article- 14,15 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Indian Penal Code: This legislation was enacted in 1860 and contains various provisions for women-centric crimes which can be enlisted as:
Rape:- The laws relating to rape have been included in Section-376 of the Indian Penal Code. These laws provide protection to woman’s dignity and are woman-centric in nature.. These laws have been enacted as the crime infringes Article- 21 which talks about the right of an individual to have a dignified life.
Dowry Death: The description and punishment for this crime has been mentioned in Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code. The meaning of the ‘dowry’ is same as that mentioned in section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Acid Attack: The provision for the offence of acid attack was recently introduced as a separate offence under the Indian Penal Code. This was done through the Criminal Amendment Act,2013. Section 326A deals with the punishment for acid throwing which is 10 years of imprisonment and can extend up to life imprisonment. Section 326B deals with the punishment for an attempt at throwing acid.
In Laxmi Vs Union of India , a petition was filed by an acid attack victim for the regulation on sale of acid and adequate compensation foe to victims. The Supreme Court imposed strict regulations on the sale of acid in 2013.
Maternity Benefit Act (1961):- The enactment of this legislation owes its existence to the provision of Article 51A in the Indian Constitution. Article 51A being a fundamental duty mentions that every citizen shall perform the duty of renouncing practices which are derogatory to the dignity of women. Also, this act has been formulated to uphold the principle laid down in Article 42 which requires the state to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. This Act provides protection to the employment of women in their face of maternity and combats the biases that a woman faces during her pregnancy as well as after the birth of her child in their workplace. This act has provisions which provide maternity benefit to women in cases of wages, leave grants, work from home options, etc. Earlier, women had to quit jobs or were suspended from their employment places in their maternity phase but the enactment of this legislation has provided support and equity to women as well as upheld the principles laid down in the Constitution.
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal). Act (2013): This act aimed at providing protection to women at the place of their work and attempted to prevent cases of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment at workplace violates the right to equality, life and liberty of women.
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