The UNDP Development Indices for India presented a large gender divide in India forcing us to acknowledge that in times of increased economic growth, women in modern India continue to face systemic discrimination and are disempowered.

While South Asia has among the worst gender divide (worse than Sub-Saharan countries), India’s numbers are among the lowest, only slightly better than Pakistan.

Women in India, on the average, are paid less than 40% of what men are paid. Sex ratio in India is among the poorest in the world; there are over 100 million fewer women in India. Female infanticide continues to be amongst the highest in the world. Both economically and health wise, women in India, thus, find themselves systemically or socially discriminated against more than anywhere else in the world. Studies claim that this is closely tied to literacy; figure 1 shows that infant mortality rates are closely tied with the literacy levels in women. In India, however, women have among the lowest literacy rates. Enrollment level of women in schools is more than 20% lower; adult literacy levels are more than 30% lower.

Sex ratio is a strong indicator of the state of women in a particular region. It points out systematic discrimination against women – through negligence in nutrition and health care, active killing through female infanticide as well as more indirect discrimination through limiting of opportunities whereby they can empower themselves and make decisions about their own lives and conditions.

In an extensive study, Amartya Sen points out a marked sex divide in India – see figure 2. Some of the lowest sex ratios occur in the Northern and Western sections of the country while the Southern and Eastern parts have much better ratios. The sex ratio of Kerala is the best and compares well with countries in EU and North America. One has to ask – why this divide?

One of the first answers – economic development – falls short. Figure 3 presents the per capita income across India. States like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra with among the highest per capita income, have among the lowest sex ratios. On the other hand, states such as Orissa, Jharkhand, and Chattisgarh, with the lowest per capita incomes, still have a more equal sex ratio.

Female literacy, by itself, is also not the answer. Figure 4 presents the percentage of literate women in a state. Again, states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat have among the best female literacy rates in the country; Orissa and Andhra Pradesh have among the worst.

The answer is not simple. Literacy might play some role; however, as argued in a paper on women’s education in India by Victoria Velkoff, literacy is not enough to help empower women to make decisions with regards their own lives – higher education is necessary. It is for this reason that the Central Advisory Board of Education is considering recommending to the Government of India that free secondary education be made accessible to all and become a fundamental right. In addition, the social and cultural context becomes very important. For example, while the rest of South India has higher sex ratios, Tamil Nadu lags behind. One reason could be the high rates of female infanticide; it is socially acceptable to kill female infant in numerous communities around the state. The same is true in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and other parts of North India where communities actively kill female infants or abort female fetuses (even though both are illegal). Unless the social conditions that make this acceptable, even preferred, are challenged, literacy cannot change this balance.

In his article, ‘More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing’, Amartya Sen argues that there seems to be a strong correlation between regions of India that have a low sex ratio and those regions that are engaged in sectarian politics strongly based on religion and caste. What cause-effect relationships might exist, though, is not completely clear.

Sen posits that women face seven different kinds of inequality:
Mortality inequality – where women are more prone to dying early owing to female infanticide, less importance given to their own health, nutrition, etc.
Natality inequality – where male children are preferred and female children are often aborted.
Basic facilities inequality – where females have less access to education and learning or less opportunity to enhance their talents and skills.
Special facilities inequality – where even though females may have access to basic facilities, primary education, they may not be allowed to do other things – like higher learning, or learning in sciences, etc – because the culture does not see it as ‘feminine’.
Professional inequality – where women find it more difficult to get certain kinds of jobs or to advance at the same rate as men.
Ownership inequality – where women do not have the same rights of inheritance or ownership as men.
Household inequality – where even though there may not be overt inequalities vis-à-vis access to education within a home, specific roles are set aside for girls and boys within the house of in a certain culture.

While education for the girl child is certainly one of the most critical solutions that needs to be implemented to address serious disempowerment of women in India, other campaigns necessary to address a variety of inequalities are also necessary. These include campaigns on ownership and inheritance, overturning or religious, social and cultural mores that disempower women, gender awareness campaigns for men as well as awareness campaigns regarding roles and their enforcement in homes.

Related Articles and Links:
Women’s Education in India, Victoria Velkoff
More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing , Amartya Sen
Many Faces of Gender Inequality, Amartya Sen
South Asia and Gender Inequality
Education in South Asia