WOMEN AND LAW
INTRODUCTION
Although women have made numerous strides, a global problem remains to be their subordinate status to men. India is witnessing a drastic intensification of violence against women at a time of unprecedented economic development, and the majority of girls also do not have equal educational opportunities. The Indian government granted legislative status to village-level councils or Panchayati Raj institutions in one of the most crucial moves for women's empowerment and reserved 33 percent of the seats for women in Panchayat. Furthermore, to mark the beginning of a significant phase of educating women, women were grouped into self-help organizations, but not much attention was given to the systematic education of women. Our goal was to examine the effect of these initiatives on the empowerment of women in West Bengal and Mizoram states. In general, we found that affirmative action means that greater numbers of women enter politics, but because of a lack of knowledge, it does not guarantee that women engage in politics and serve as elected officials. Empowerment has to be seen as a systemic result of crucial education systems that empower women to lead independent lives and to have the right to act. In order to encourage women who have already faced oppression and lack of influence, both affirmative action and education are important
The rights of women today are topics that are hotly discussed both in legislative districts, the courts and in public. Various studies have shown that women, their families and to some degree their job positions, status and problems have changed. At this juncture, a short examination of the role of women is required. The Vedic age, which saw women in spiritual growth and intellectual advancement, was relatively strong. Manu, the old lawmaker who codified Hindu life, stopped this pattern. According to him, in their early days’ women had to rely on their fathers, their husbands and their adult hoods on their sons. “The dependency syndrome has become so deeply entrenched over centuries, so of India, on The Development of women in India points to the fact that female literacy rate has improved from 7.9% in 1951 to 39.42 % in 1991.Enrolment of girls has improved. Women’s work participation has increased from 13.99% in 1981 to 16.43% in 1991.” Furthermore, the paper also addresses new government measures worth noting in various programs to encourage jobs and training of women.
LAWS THAT PROTECT WOMEN AND THEIR RIGHTS
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
“Currently, India ranks 13 in the world when it comes to child marriages. Since child marriage has been steeped into the Indian culture and tradition since centuries, it has been tough eliminating it. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act was made effective in 2007. This Act describes child marriage as a marriage in which the wife or bride is under the age of 18 or the child is less than 21. This legislation extends to parents who attempt to marry underage children. Since the statute forbids such marriages, it serves as a great deterrent.
Special Marriage Act, 1954
This act seeks to create – in some circumstances, a special way of marriage, to ensure that certain marriages are registered and to ensure divorce. When people of different faiths and castes want to get married in a country such as India, and with various religions, they do so under the specific marriage rule. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
In compliance with this act, the bride and family must be penalized by taking or giving of their dowry at the time of their marriage. Dowry is a standard in India for giving and taking dowries. The bride and her family are also demanded by Dowry and his family. The scheme took hold because women move in with their wife and lawyers after marriage. Furthermore, over the years, bride burning resulted in women's loss of economic freedom and the taboo for divorce. If the girl's families do not fulfill their dowry demands even after marriage, many women are tortured, beaten and even burned.
Indian Divorce Act, 1969
The Indian Divorce Act provides for the dissolution of marriage, mutual consent, marriage nullity, judiciary separation and marital rights restitution. Family courts have been set up to file such lawsuits, to hear and to dispose of them.
Maternity Benefit Act,1861 This legislation governs the employment of women and the provision of maternity benefits by law. It states that a woman employee who has worked for at least 80 days in an organization in the 12 months preceding the date she was supposed to receive motherhood benefits which include maternity leave, vacations, medical allowances, and so forth.
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act,1971
The Act was revised in 1975 and 2002 and came into force in 1972. The aim of the Act is to reduce illegal abortion and the maternal mortality and morbidity that are associated with that. It sets out explicitly the conditions for termination or aborting a pregnancy, and it describes the individuals who are eligible to do the same.
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
To ensure women’s safety at workplace, this Act seeks to protect them from sexual harassment at their place of work. “Thirty-six percent of Indian companies and 25 percent among MNC’s are not complaint with the Sexual Harassment Act according to a FICCI-EY November 2015 report. Sexual assault on the job often involves the use of words with sexual overtones, a private space violation by a male colleague who is too near for comfort, casual touches and insults. This Act forbids the indecent representation of women by means of ads, or in publications, documents, drawings, figures or in any other way. The Act is a statute of protection for the indecent representation of women.
National Commission for Women Act, 1990
The NCW represents women's rights in India and offers an opportunity to share their concerns and concerns. The Law of the NCW seeks to boost women's status and to promote women's economic empowerment.
Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
This Act avoids discrimination as far as pay is concerned. It guarantees fair wages for men and women employees. These and other laws must be understood to protect women's interests. You can only combat all the injustices you have done at home, at work and in society if you are aware of your rights.
WOMEN’S CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND POLICIES
In India, the equality of gender principle is enshrined in the Constitution of India.
India (in the preamble and constitutional rights), where women are upheld and granted excellence by the Constitution. The National Commission for Women, formed in 1990, by an Act of Parliament to safeguard women's dignity and legal rights, is considered to be the leading body in ensuring women's rights and empowerment. Efforts to make women economically powerful were made in the consecutive five year plans. However, in the social order, women continue to remain in the lower strata relative to men, often in rural areas.
Prior to getting to the genuine image of the inclusion of ladies in the exercises of the Panchayat, it is important to think about the established arrangements that have been accommodated their development. Any provisos in the Constitution were delivered not long after the outlining of the Indian Constitution to make them equivalent to their male partners.
The Preamble of the Indian Constitution acknowledges, and encourages among all its people, the ideals of social, economic and political justice, as well as equal status and opportunity.
As guaranteed by the Constitution, the Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12-35) aim to eradicate inequality faced a lot by Indian women. Article 14, guarantees, in this respect, equality before the law and equal treatment under the law. Article 15, forbids discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnic caste, sex or place of birth and also specifies that special laws can be made by the State in favor of women and children. Article 16, ensures equality of opportunity within the context of
Employment by the public. Article 23, forbids both human trafficking and forced labor.
In addition to these essential guarantees of Fundamental Rights, some non-justiciable rules are also found in the Directive Standards of State Policy (Part-IV, Articles 36-51).
Article 51(e), (Fundamental Duties, Part IVA, 42nd Amendment Act, 1976) orders the State to foster peace among all the people of India and the spirit of collective brotherhood and to renounce activities that are counterproductive to the dignity of women.
“Despite all such constitutional provisions, there is no satisfactory development in their social status. Because they are not yet behaving as active citizens and now they are living in a very parochial traditional culture. In order to study the political behavior of women, an attempt has been made to study their electoral behavior which is the only indices of the political behavior of women as a whole.
ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW
The laws are implemented by the police, the government's regulatory arm, and courts, who adjudicate the legal interpretation of the different laws. In particular, when dealing with women's rights or crimes against women, little attention is paid to the effective functioning or the enforcement issue. Public prejudices and criticism (in some cases justified), which is a sad commentary in relation to the legal system, are generally reserved for government, police and lawyers. “According to Sinha, the fabric of social legislation in India at present is, by far and large, poorly drafted, vague and more concerned with demonstrative morality than with practical implementation.” Moreover. More. Basic comments make a point about the relevance of the Indian people and their access to law. In urban areas, the State legal system is only very well established in rural areas.
The visibility of the laws and its slender presence make it accessible and irrelevant for the public to the official law (its values and processes).
“Other factors (such as the language of the law, which is alien to about 95% of the people) compound the distance, between the state’s law and the subjects. as newspaper reports and other sources show, there is a need to know about professional opinions and concerns about the enforcement of women's rights in the light of increasing public frustration and disappointment with the ineffectual and unfortunate operating of machine enforcement. Studies or concerns in implementing the law, and in particular the rights of women as previously stated, are limited and are usually inadequate or critical of the respective bodies. Public shame, reflected in apathy and indifference is seldom concentrated.
Despite the frequent and intermittent burst of sensitive judicial declarations or police interference in significant cases like rape, dowry death, and so forth, there has been a very real gap in understanding the complexities of compliance as a result of the extreme campaigns carried out by women's groups between theoretical and effective enforcement laws.
GLOBAL SCENARIO OF WOMEN AND LAW
Women are also exposed to women's assault syndrome from harassment in American society and in Western culture. In Albania, a rapid and transformative shift has been witnessed since 1945. It was an economically backward country in Albania at that time. There were clear traces of ancient Muslim culture. “During the last 10 years the country has been totally restructured from a feudal agricultural society to a modern industrial agriculture one. The political system could be described as orthodox Marxist, but with a particular Albanian character.” How is this rapid transformation manifest in the position of women in society, in the conduct and attitude of both women and men to marriage and family, etc. in order to promote a society? One of the main concerns of family sociology in recent decades has been the impact of society changes on the position of women in society and on attitudes towards marriage and family. The main focus was on the western family. Nevertheless, cross-cultural studies in developing countries, and sometimes in Eastern European, have also paid attention to the family and women. Western scholars don't know the Albanian climate. This is also true of the role of women in society and of the attitudes of women and men to marriage and family.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of the present study is presented according to the analysis and findings. The socio economic level of respondents incorporates gender analysis of female advocates of Hindu, Muslim, and Christian religion. Socio legally respondents depicted their ideas corresponding to age, education, sex, age at marriage, marital status, experience, place of birth. Economically respondents exposed their ideas corresponding to their level of income, marital status, and experience is elucidated in the coverage personal profile of respondents.
There is no doubt about the harsh reality of discrimination, in the area of liberalization and egalitarianism. It is concluded community affiliation has no bearing on awareness of law is not verified, since there are clear differences in the awareness level of different groups.
It appears that respondents are well aware about various aspects of the women concerned laws. Differential awareness in areas as women concerned laws (from female fetus to death of female) and married women laws are clearly evident between women groups. With increase in education that appears to be corresponding knowledge regards to women’s legislation, property, and divorce and maintenance is much higher than other groups. This may be due to the fact that issues regarding divorce, labor disputes as well as property claims are far more visible in media reports than other aspects of the Family law.
Its not be noted that employment is an era, where interaction between individuals takes place at various levels. The instrument of law also plays a pivotal role in regulating behavior and implementation of rules and regulations. Women today, are active participants in decision making, planning, supervision at various levels, in different sectors of employment.
Flexible working hours, maternity benefits, and child care facilities, rights to press charges of sexual harassment are all the result of progressive legislation. This also the result of a greater acceptance of the fact that women are vital contributors to the national economy and family as well.
But law alone cannot ensure gender justice and erase the fault lines in our society. Community intervention can also play an effective role in ensuring rights of women. So our contribution is also important in this way. Projects like these help in this realising these suspects of women and law
LIST OF REFERENCES
ARTICLES:
Shilpa Gupta, (2015), Study on Women Empowerment and Women Entrepreneurship in India, International Keshab Chandra Mandal, (2013), “Concept and Types of Women Empowerment”, International Forum of Teaching and Studies, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp.19-22.
Ghosh R, Chakravarti P, Mansi K. Women’s empowerment and education: Panchayats and women’s Self-help Groups in India. Policy Futures in Education. 2015, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1478210315571214#articleCitationDownloadContainer.
Jagadala, Manjulata Bag, Minaketan &, Women Empowerment: Issues and Challenges through the Lens of Reservation in Panchayati Raj System, 2016, 13. 1-12.
ACTS AND AMENDMENTS:
The Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act of 1962.
Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act 1993.
National Commission for Women Act 1990.
Equal Remuneration Act 1976.
INDIAN CONSTITUTION ARTICLES:
INDIA CONST. art. 243D (2).
INDIA CONST. art. 243D (3).
INDIA CONST. art. 14.
INDIA CONST. art. 15.
INDIA CONST. art. 16.
INDIA CONST. art. 23.
INDIA CONST. art. 51(e).
By Saloni Neema, Law Student