The Teen Age Girl report must serve as a clarion call to empower girls

While their aspirations are big, the agency and dignity aspects of their lives leave a lot to be desired, and if these are not addressed urgently, they will not be able to realise their aspirations. With the 2019 general elections around the corner, the fact is that approximately 65 million teenage girls will be first-time voters

India’s Republic Day celebration had, among the main attractions, an all-woman marching contingent. The armed forces showcased the role of women in the force on its tableau. As India marches ahead, it is time that she is led by women. Given that in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, the aspirations of 80 million teenage girls of India captured in the recently published Teen Age Girls (TAG) Report 2018 needs urgent attention.

The TAG Survey began in early 2016 to understand what it means to be a teenage girl in India. No one had asked this question before, certainly not to a 74000 strong sample of teenage girls, who represented all the 80 million teenage girls of India.

The TAG Survey was designed to move beyond perceiving adolescent girls as prospective mothers, who need to give birth to healthy children, or as vulnerable soft targets who need constant protection.

During the course of a year, 1000 trained women surveyors reached villages in 600 districts equipped with digital tablets to record interviews, and equipment to measure the height, weight and haemoglobin levels of India’s teenage girls. Through this, it was clearly understood that India’s teenage girls are ready to lead the transformation of our economy. Marriage before the age of 21 is not something they would even consider, as economic independence before getting married is non-negotiable for them. Learning how to use a computer and speak English are essential — from Kutch in the west to Changlang in the east, Bandipore in the north to Tirunelveli in the south.

The nation’s report card on teenage girls tell us that:

▪ 80.1% girls are studying;

▪ 95.8% girls are unmarried;

▪ 70% wish to pursue higher education;

▪ 74.4% wish to work towards a specific career;

▪ 74.4% girls want to marry only after they are 21 years old;

▪ 40.4% are forced to defecate in the open;

▪ 45.7% do not have the access to a hygienic menstruation kit;

▪ Every second teenage girl is anaemic with a low Body Mass Index

While their aspirations are big, if these problems are not addressed, they will not be able to realise them. With the 2019 general elections around the corner, the fact is that approximately 65 million teenage girls will be first-time voters. And f the 80 million teenage girls of India were to publish their own manifesto, this is probably what it would look like:

One graduate school for girls in every municipal ward and, say, for every five gram panchayats, where they can: get a degree, have access to computers, a clean set of toilets with sanitary napkins and incinerators to dispose of used ones, and be proficient in English. Affirmative action through scholarships, exclusive buses for mobility, special schemes that empower them to move about freely, sports facilities and campaigns to rid society of the taboos associated with their wellness and health, are imperative.

An exchange between one of our young women investigators for the survey and the sarpanch of a village in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh, proved that inequality is entrenched in the system. When insisting that the survey requires the direct involvement of the girls (through questionnaires), he was puzzled at our (misplaced, according to him) faith in the girls’ ability to answer our questions.

This TAG report serves as a clarion call for all political parties to include teenage girls in their election manifesto. Let their clamour not fall on deaf ears. Promote the essence of the TAG Report, summarised in their hashtag, #ListenToHer.

Manoj Kumar is the CEO of Naandi Foundation, Hyderabad

Source: Hindustan Times, 3/02/2019

We must work towards equality in the world of sport for girls and boys

In a country like India, it is not uncommon for girls and women to be denied equal opportunities at several levels due to factors like poor education, early marriages and a general lack of freedom to make decisions. In such a setting, sport assumes a very noteworthy role because each day presents a new opportunity

With its power to offer myriad health benefits, sport has always played a seminal role in the lives of youngsters.

The regular health benefits of sport cannot be overstated because it’s a known fact that some physical activity is a must for a healthy lifestyle. However, the paybacks of playing a sport from a young age are legion. Sport promotes health and wellness, improves self-esteem, teaches leadership, team skills and perseverance. Youngsters who are active, will often discover just how beneficial physical activity and participation in sport can be in managing stress, worry, or depression. In today’s fast-paced and highly competitive world, this is of tremendous importance.

The role of sport is pivotal in the lives of young people in general, but participation in sport holds a special significance, especially for girls and women. In a country like India, it is not uncommon for girls and women to be denied equal opportunities at several levels because of factors like poor education, early marriages and a general lack of freedom to make decisions. In such a setting, sport assumes a noteworthy role because each day presents a new opportunity. Sport teaches girls to acquire resilience and develop coping skills; it teaches them to accept winning and losing; it helps them meet new people, who share their interests; and, most importantly, it teaches them to accept and appreciate their bodies. In the long-term, playing a sport decreases girls’ risk of health-related issues, including breast cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

It is also true that sport helps improve focus, especially in academics. Many young sportspersons will tell you that their dedication to sport has helped them in so many ways to improve their learning abilities and sharpen their concentration.

One of the most important life skills a sportsperson learns is the importance of teamwork. Being a part of a team teaches you to work with and respect others since there are so many people involved — from fellow players to referees to coaches and even members of the rival team. This, in turn, guides you to develop an increased ability to solve problems — an important skill we all use throughout life.

It is also true that taking up sport can work wonders for self confidence, especially in the awkward teen years. Girls who play a sport learn to appreciate their bodies, take care of them and feel physically, mentally and emotionally stronger and more mature. It encourages them to embrace a healthy lifestyle — such as not smoking, staying away from drugs and alcohol, choosing to eat well and getting enough sleep. These habits, developed and encouraged in childhood and youth, become healthy choices for life.

Another aspect in which sport plays a momentous role is in breaking gender stereotypes. While it may traditionally be viewed as a male domain, the participation of girls breaks deep-rooted negative attitudes about the connection between sport and females. Sport is a powerful tool to empower girls and women to achieve their full potential in society by creating an enabling environment for gender equality.

Yet, despite so many benefits associated with sport, it is often dismal to see that many girls who may have played and enjoyed sport before, give it up during adolescence. Their reasons for quitting point to the wider societal limitations that they face even today. Without intervention, this issue will never be solved. We need well-designed programmes that can work wonders in bringing girls and women together on a regular basis, breaking social isolation and increasing integration with other girls and women. Such strong programmes can provide girls with access to mentors, strong female role models and the social support of a team or group of peers. It can also give them access to public spaces, especially in societies in which their mobility is restricted.

There are some organisations that are putting in efforts to bring about a positive change in this direction. Mumbai-based NGO, Salaam Bombay Foundation, is one such body. Through its interschool cricket tournament, Little Masters Challenge (LMC), it is encouraging girls to take up sport. This year, LMC will have 13 all-girls teams playing in the tournament for the first time. That is a great step. Salaam Bombay Foundation is also a recipient of the International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Active Society Commission Grant for promoting sport among young girls who come from difficult backgrounds.

There is still a long way to go before we will see full equality in the world of sport for girls and boys, but it is important to take steps towards achieving it. It is our collective responsibility to demonstrate to girls from all sections of society that it is socially acceptable to participate in sport. Sport is one of the most effective ways to give girls the skills and confidence to break down barriers and achieve their dreams.

Source: Hindustan Times, 30/01/2019

Why we must include men in the gender discourse

It is understandable that this generation of men, socialised to believe in a certain kind of masculinity, feel uncomfortable as the spotlight is turned on their behaviour instead of on conditioning or deconditioning women, as it has been for a long time

It’s a really interesting turning point in the evolution of society’s understanding of gender roles. As the #MeToo movement rages on, highlighting the massive gendered power inequality in workplaces, and emboldens women to speak out against such systemic and systematic discrimination, the call for a change in the gender status quo has made many uncomfortable. Several men (#NotAllMen , we know) appear to have taken it as a personal affront that they are being asked to rethink their so-called “traditional” roles and embrace a version of masculinity that is not toxic. Evidence of this is the severe backlash to an advertisement by a popular brand of safety razors and other personal care products that wants men to be “the best a man can be”.

The advertisement, essentially an attempt to position the company as socially conscious in order to encourage more people to buy their products, shows men in various situations behaving in a manner that is, let’s just say, less than ideal. It then asks men to not fall back on that old adage of “boys will be boys” and to set a better example. It asks them to step in when their peers indulge in things such as bullying or catcalling. The social media backlash to this ad has caused it to be “disliked” 1.2 million times on YouTube (at the time of writing). This aggressive response of men who seem to feel personally vilified by the ad, seen alongside the now infamous Hardik Pandya interview, cuts to the heart of the problem of toxic masculinity. The attitude of young men is shaped by society’s regressive ideals of masculinity that are detrimental to men and boys. The idea that a “real man” must see women as “conquests”, must not feel vulnerable, be physically strong, dominating, and aggressive is now long past its expiry date. However, it is understandable that this generation of men, socialised to believe in a certain kind of masculinity, feel uncomfortable as the spotlight is turned on their behaviour instead of on conditioning or deconditioning women, as it has been for a long time. It is precisely this that the advertisement in question (albeit from a profit motive) intends to do.

It is time to pivot position in the fight for equality — be it of gender, caste, class, or race. While conversations around empowering those at the wrong end of the power equation must continue, it is imperative to also turn our scrutiny on the privileged. And even if Pandya’s comeuppance has been far too harsh, at least we’re talking about it. In a post #MeToo world, conversations around gender must include conversations with and about men.

Source: Hindustan Times, 28/01/2019

There is an inherent gender bias in India’s scientific community

More than affirmative action, however, what women need is equal opportunity and wage parity to thrive in the classrooms, laboratories and workplaces.

Never one to shy away from straight talking, textile minister Smriti Irani severely dampened the self-congratulatory mood at the Indian Science Congress by calling out the inherent gender bias in the scientific community that is denying opportunities and jobs to women. Addressing scientists, who work in fields that value rationality, objectivity and meritocracy, Ms Irani used data to put the spotlight on the deeply entrenched gender bias in research and the workspace that pushed women to the margins. Of the 280,000 scientists and engineers employed in research and development institutions across India, only 39,200 (14%) are women. A high number of women face irrational gender based prejudice at work. Four out of every five women working in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) sectors in India say they face pervasive gender bias that affects hiring, performance evaluation, promotion, salary and perks. This discrimination also denies women funding opportunities and leadership positions, driving them away from careers in science.

While the Department of Science & Technology’s Women Scientist Scheme under the KIRAN division offers funding and opportunities to women who took a career break to help them return to mainstream science — including the agriculture and allied sciences; health, food and nutrition; and engineering and technology sectors — the gender gap in employment will narrow only when STEM professions offer a level playing field for all genders. Over the past two decades, the number of women opting to study STEM subjects that offer the best paid jobs has steadily reduced across the world, with the disparity in wages in favour of men persisting. In the US, 50 million women working full time in 2017 had median weekly earnings of $770, compared to 63 million men with median weekly earnings of $941. Women working in computing and engineering occupations earned $1,235, compared to $1,552 form men, according to US Department of Labour data.

If admission to the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) is an indication in India, the number of women studying STEM courses has registered a steady drop, which led the government to take affirmative action and add 946 supernumerary seats exclusively for women in the 2019 academic session, up from 779 in 2018. With these women-only seats at IITs going up from 14% in 2018 to 17% in 2019, women IITians may cross 2,000 for the first time this year. More than affirmative action, however, what women need is equal opportunity and wage parity to thrive in the classrooms, laboratories and workplaces.

Source: Hindustan Times, 11/01/2019

Can the US actually elect a woman president?

If the American voters are increasingly open to candidates who are not white males, then breaking the gender barrier should be more than possible.

With the academic Elizabeth Warren announcing her candidacy for the presidency last month, the United States will have a chance to ask itself whether it is capable of voting a woman to its highest office. One key difference in the political landscape of the world’s oldest democracy is the sheer number of female names who are being scrutinised for their presidential potential. The roster today includes but is not limited to Kristin Gillibrand, Kelly Ayotte, Joni Ernst, Tulsi Gabbard, and, remarkably, includes two women politicians of Indian-origin: Kamala Harris and Nikki Haley.

In theory, over 40 women have run for the US presidency in the country’s history. Hillary Clinton, however, was the first female candidate for one of the major political parties and thus the only one who had a credible chance of becoming president. The fact that she lost, and lost to a man who was among the worst qualified to lead the world’s most powerful nation, has been held up as evidence that the US voter continues to have a gender block. While Ms Clinton’s gender played a role, it is also true that a majority of the ballots were cast in her favour, she made some key campaign mistakes and the electoral mood, to put it mildly, was unusual. That she was a female, by most analyses, was only a minor factor in her defeat. After all, the US voter had already shown the maturity to elect, twice, a black American president which had long been seen as a far more difficult barrier to cross.

There are four reasons why the chances of a female US president has become far more likely in the past two years. One, the sheer number of woman politicians at all levels in the US has increased exponentially. The present US Congress, for example, is a quarter female — the highest percentage in US history. Two, women are more likely to actually vote than men in presidential elections and they are much more politically aware and active. This gap has only grown over the past several years. Three, the consecutive elections of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, neither mainstream candidates, is evidence of a degree of restlessness among the US electorate. If voters are increasingly open to candidates who are not white males, then breaking the gender barrier should be more than possible.

Source: Hindustan Times, 9/01/2019

Gender of justice

Gender sensitisation of the judiciary and appointing more female judges is imperative.

Conservative and progressive elements tend to coincide in judicial discourse. The Supreme Court has recently passed certain key judgments to safeguard the rights of women. It abolished triple talaq, upheld women’s autonomy, while declaring the law on adultery unconstitutional, and ruled that the bar on women’s entry to the Sabarimala temple is illegal. But the judiciary has also been a purveyor of sexist notions — at times, perhaps inadvertently. Victim-blaming by the courts lends credence to certain stereotypes, and such responses go on to influence the entire criminal justice system. Last year, for example, the Punjab and Haryana High Court made a few gender-insensitive comments while hearing a rape case involving students of a private university in Sonipat.

In Mahmood Farooqui, the Delhi High Court’s recourse to stereotypes received a lot of flak. The court asserted that it did not want to cast the victim as an ideal “archaic stereotype”. But then it also talked of the “academic proficiency” of the parties involved in the case and averred that a “feeble no” by a woman could mean a “yes”. In a study conducted by researchers of the National Law University, Delhi, 50 rape case judgments of the Supreme Court were analysed to understand how the court tends to perpetuate gendered opinions. The researchers also tried to understand if the court evaluates victims in a stereotypical manner. These include how a rape survivor would or ought to react, what a perpetrator would do after the rape and whether a sexually active victim would make a false rape accusation.

It was observed that judges often have a stereotypical image of a rape victim. The researchers found that the judges betrayed sexist notions of gender roles, showed a tendency to use insensitive language and made comments that undermined the seriousness of the incident. Certain judgments did have sensitive comments that broke gender stereotypes and rape myths. However, such verdicts were very few.

The study revealed that the insensitivity of the judiciary manifests in different ways. At times, the court expects a typical reaction from a woman who has been raped, even though studies indicate that there are no “typical” reactions. In Raja v. State of Karnataka (2016), the Court overturned the conviction of three persons accused of raping a domestic worker in Bengaluru, since it found merit in the defence’s argument that the victim was a prostitute who was falsely accusing the accused. The court observed: “(the victim’s) post-incident conduct and movements are noticeably unusual. Instead of hurrying back home in a distressed, humiliated and a devastated state, she stayed back in and around the place of occurrence, enquired about the same from persons whom she claims to have met in the late hours of night. Her confident movements alone past midnight, in that state, are also out of the ordinary. The medical opinion that she was accustomed to sexual intercourse when admittedly she was living separately from her husband for a year-and-a-half before the incident also has its own implication.”

In Sudhanshu Sekhar v. State of Orissa (2002), the judges did not believe the victim and acquitted the accused by holding, “though the past conduct of the prosecutrix is an irrelevant matter, in the instant case, (the prosecutrix) asserted that she was a virgin until the alleged incident, but the evidence supported by her physical features revealed that she was habituated to sex. All factors cast a serious doubt on the prosecution case”. At times, judges inadvertently undermine the seriousness of a traumatic incident. For example, in Vinod Kumar v State of Kerala (2014), the court overturned the conviction of a married man who was accused of raping a 20-year-old on the pretext of marriage. It then hoped that “his wife would find in herself the fortitude to forgive so that their family may be united again and may rediscover happiness”.

The study came out with four significant findings. First, was a sharp increase in gender insensitive comments in cases where the woman was sexually active. Sexist comments were made in 52.3 per cent of the cases which involved a sexually-active victim. Second, the presence of a female judge on the bench led to a sharp decline in sexist comments. There was no female judge in 44.4 per cent of the cases where the bench made a sexist comment. But only 14.2 percent of the benches with a female judge made a sexist comment. Third, conviction was overturned in 80 per cent of the cases in which the bench made gender insensitive comments. Fourth, gender insensitive comments have declined with significant amendments in law. While all the cases studied prior to 2003 had gender insensitive comments, only 15.1 per cent of the judgments after the 2013 criminal law amendment carried such comments.
Rape victims are subjected to institutional sexism that begins with their treatment by the police, continues through a male-dominated judiciary influenced by notions of victim blaming and ends in the acquittal of many alleged rapists. The solution lies in initiating conversations amongst those who are entrusted with setting the tone of public discourse.

Gender sensitisation of the judiciary and appointing more female judges is imperative.

Source: Indian Express, 19/11/2018

Gender, income and geography bias remain in health delivery

The Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report 2018, which tracks efforts to being down deaths from the two preventable diseases that killed 1.36 million under-5 children – one in four under-5 child deaths globally – said 70% of the global deaths continue to occur in 15 countries, including India.

More children in India are getting immunised against vaccine-preventable illnesses than ever before, but progress remains mixed and a lot more needs to be done to prevent illnesses among poor and marginalised children in both urban and rural areas, according to a new report.

The Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report 2018, which tracks efforts to being down deaths from the two preventable diseases that killed 1.36 million under-5 children – one in four under-5 child deaths globally – said 70% of the global deaths continue to occur in 15 countries, including India.

With 26 million births every year, it was not surprising that India had the most pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths with 260,990 children dying in 2016, followed by Nigeria and Pakistan.

What was worrying was that India tied with Pakistan for the seventh place among 15 countries in the Integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) score, which ranked countries on delivering key life-saving interventions such as breastfeeding, vaccination, access to care, use of antibiotics, ORS, and zinc supplementation. Tanzania followed by Bangladesh topped the ranking.

Despite India showing improvement in child health, indicated by falling under-5 mortality rate (U5-MR), from 43 in 2015 to 39 per 1,000 births in 2016, a deeper dive into data reveals that access to vaccination and interventions varies substantially by geography, gender, mother’s education and income.

The gender gap in routine immunisation coverage remains across India, which is reflected in the U5-MR data. Despite an impressive 9% annual drop in under-5 deaths, U5-MR is 37 for boys and 41 for girls, which indicates more girls continue to die of preventable causes before their fifth birthday. Even in low-income areas and urban slums in Delhi, 78 girls were fully immunised for every 100 boys.

India’s scores for exclusive breastfeeding declined, as did coverage of oral rehydration solution used to treat diarrhoeal disease, which is given only to barely 20% sick children, found the report.

Along with promoting breastfeeding, increasing Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccination, scaling up the rotavirus vaccine that was first introduced in mid-2016 against diarrhoea, and expanding the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) beyond six states can lead to further fall in child deaths. The report recommends the use of high-quality data to ensure children are not missed and the country meets the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing U5-MR to less than 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030.

Recognising that vaccines are the most effective way to stop preventable deaths from infections and disease, India expanded its vaccine arsenal under universal immunisation programme and vaccinated at least 106.144 lakh children under Intensified Mission Indradhanush in 2017-18.

Apart from the seven vaccines that gave the programme its name -- tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and measles – new vaccines against measles rubella, rotavirus, Hib, PCV and polio have been added, along with Japanese Encephalitis vaccine for children under 15 in 112 endemic districts.

The target is to reach the unvaccinated and partially vaccinated to reach at least 90% children by December 2018.

The benefits of vaccination go beyond the immunised child. Vaccinating a critical mass of people in a community creates a “herd immunity” that protects even those who haven’t been vaccinated. In cases where a vaccine offers partial protection, such as flu vaccines, people who have been vaccinated have milder symptoms, lower chances of hospitalisation and complications, less use of potent antibiotics and anti-virals, and lower risk of death.

Apart from the direct savings on cost of treatment, the indirect gains include staying healthy, not missing school, increased productivity, better educational attainment and improved job potential, all of which lead to an improved quality of life.

Source: Hindustan Times, 11/11/2018

Board Remuneration: Miles to go for Women Directors

 Pay gap reflects poor representation of women at the top, but situation changing with younger women aiming for high-paying roles

For every 100 that a male non-independent director earned on the board of a large Indian company in FY18, his female counterpart earned 74. The gap in average remuneration earned by men and women directors stood at 1.2 crore, according to data sourced from Prime Database for BSE100 companies. On average, 412 male directors earned 4.5 crore in comparison with 52 women directors who earned 3.3 crore in the last fiscal. Does this reflect deep-seated discrimination or are there other forces at play? “Pay gap is a function of labour market participation, degree of executive discretion, compliance with labour laws, selection bias or pure serendipity,” said Bino Paul, dean of School of Management and Labour Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). “There are regression analysis methods like Oaxaca Decomposition to find the proportion of discrimination due to gender.” The pay gap is 5 lakh in the case of independent directors, although this has been shrinking over the past three years. While male independent directors have drawn 36 lakh remuneration on average in each of the last three fiscal years, the average pay of their female peers has steadily increased from 27 lakh in FY16 to 29 lakh in FY17 to 31 lakh in FY18. The gender gap has been narrowing in recent times, said Falguni Nayar, founder and CEO of Nykaa, a cosmetics and wellness retailer, and an independent director on several boards. Women need to drive a harder bargain, she said. “As far as the role of non-independent directors is concerned, it will take coming generations to negotiate harder. I don’t think women negotiate hard enough,” she said. In the case of independent directors, she doesn't think companies differentiate based on gender “as it depends on the responsibilities taken, the committees they are in charge of, etc.” The pay gap reflects the poor representation of women at the top.
‘A Supply-Demand Issue’
 At 24%, India is among the lowest among peer countries in women’s participation in the overall workforce. This is starker at board level where there are about eight times more men than women. “It becomes a typical supply-demand issue in the labour market, where money chases the talent that is more readily available,” Paul said. In the five years since it became mandatory to have a woman on the board, representation has been growing but the pay gap hasn’t narrowed. That’s also down to the relevant function, said Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. “I serve on several boards and disparity in board remuneration certainly is not the case—it’s about the role you play,” she said. For instance, committee chairs get paid more than committee members and those on audit committees get paid higher than others. “If it is about the fact that most of the roles are attributable to male board members, then there is likely to be a perceptible difference in board remuneration but it should be put into the right context and not just a generalised computation,” she said.
GLOBAL SCENERIO
Global studies have shown that the gender gap widens and diversity drops as one goes higher up the corporate ladder. The pay gap is most in the private sector, according to these. In the UK, legislation made it compulsory for all companies with 250 employees or more to report gender pay gaps by March. The results showed eight out of 10 UK companies paid men more with the national median pay gap at 18%. “Males are at high-paying positions because there are less females to take up those jobs,” said Ronesh Puri, managing director of Executive Access, a search firm. “With information on remuneration being available in the public domain, it is not possible to discriminate on this count as no female senior executive would agree to work at a lower pay package than drawn by the earlier incumbent.” Some companies incentivise search firms to get female hires for top management roles to improve diversity, “It is most likely a function issue rather than a gender one,” said Sunit Mehra of Hunt Partners. “Males are generally seen heading higher-paying functions like finance or operations compared to functions like HR or marketing.” The pay gap arises not because men and women are paid differently for the same work but because the labour market incentivises them to work differently, according to Claudia Goldin, Lee professor of economics at Harvard. One of the reasons women receive less pay than men is that they're not working the same amount of time and in many occupations, working more hours or being there when the firm wants you to be there earns you a lot more, she has said. Nayar said younger women are increasingly making stronger professional commitments. “Women, in general, need to commit to a serious career, be where an organisation needs them to be,” Nayar said. “I see those kinds of commitments in women of the younger generation giving to their careers, taking transfers to different countries as and when a requirement comes up.”

Source: Economic Times, 27/10/2018

Locating gender in the digital divide

In order to attempt to close the digital divide, we must recognize not only the economic factors but also address the social and cultural barriers that discourage women from meaningfully using the internet.

While conducting research on young women’s engagement with online spaces, I had a conversation with 16-year-old Jyoti about how she uses the internet and the websites she likes visiting. Jyoti, who lives in a single room apartment with her two parents and older brother, told me that every time she logs in to the internet, her brother looks over her shoulder to keep an eye on which website she is accessing. While it is acceptable for her to use online dictionaries for help with homework and occasionally access news websites, she is not allowed to use Facebook or other social media sites. Unlike her brother, she is also not allowed to have a mobile phone since her parents are worried that she might use the phone to chat with boys.

The ‘Digital in 2017’ report compiled by Hootsuite, social media management platform, and We Are Social, a social media agency, demonstrates that compared to the global internet penetration rate of 50%, only 35% of the Indian population uses the internet. This digital divide is largely understood in terms of lack of access to digital resources and the absence of digital literacy skills. However, the report also makes visible gender as a crucial factor that determines internet usage; the report demonstrates that when it comes to Facebook users, the percentage of male users outnumber female users in every age group. In India, of the total 191 million Facebook users in India, only 24% are female. In order to close the digital divide, we must therefore recognise not only the economic factors but also address the social and cultural barriers that discourage women from meaningfully using the internet.

My conversation with Jyoti is reminiscent of the many instances where women’s access to mobile and internet technology has been a cause for moral panic. Recently, a panchayat in Uttar Pradesh decided to impose a fine on women seen using mobile phones outside their homes, stating that mobile phones lead women to a “wrong path”. Such a fear of women using mobile phones must be understood in the broader context of patriarchal restrictions on women’s autonomy, mobility and self-expression.

Accessing online spaces allows women to forge friendships and relationships, and express sexual and romantic desires outside the surveillant gaze of their families and communities. As can be seen in Facebook pages such as Feminism in India and Dalit Women Fight , access to online spaces also enables women to form communities and voice their resistance to the many forms of gender and caste-based violence that they face in their everyday lives.

However, efforts by women to participate in online spaces and make their voices heard is often met with violence , leading women to withdraw from such spaces. Earlier this year, Gurmehar Kaur spoke about deleting her Facebook account after receiving rape threats in response to one of her posts. The incident exemplifies how the presence of women in online spaces and their participation in political debates is seen as a challenge to the status quo that limits women’s participation to the private sphere. Efforts towards addressing the gender gap in internet access and use must not only take into account issues of access but also work towards creating spaces where women can participate without fear of violence. Only then can the potential of the internet as a space for education, self-expression and mobilization be realised.

Sujatha Subramanian is with the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Ohio State University

Source: Hindustan Times, 29-05-2017

Gender equality, the freedom struggle way

The movement empowered the women, but also feminised the men

In this time of toxic masculinity, we must recognise and learn from the successes of the past. Mahatma Gandhi consciously feminised India’s freedom struggle to win against the brute masculinity of British power.

He saw his mother Putlibai and his wife Kasturba (in picture) use peaceful resistance against patriarchy at home. His mother would fast to put moral pressure on his father, and his wife would refuse any act that he asked her to do if she did not agree with it. He personally experienced the power that resists rather than destroys. He incorporated this knowledge into a political tool,satyagraha, that combined civil disobedience with constructive action. Not only was each activity in civil disobedience possible for women to do, because it was non-violent, but each act of constructive action was especially suited to women.

The Champaran trigger

When on the famous day of April 16, 1917, Gandhiji was asked by the British sub-divisional magistrate to leave the district of Champaran, and cease recording the plight of indigo farmers, he refused and wrote two letters. In the first, he asked a friend for volunteers, especially educated women volunteers, for the constructive action of running schools and ashrams where girls would be educated and hierarchies of caste, class and gender would be overcome. Everyone would spin, weave, stitch and wash clothes, grow and cook food, and clean and maintain hygiene.

In the second letter, he stated his own civil disobedience: he would not leave Champaran without recording the plight of the farmers. By April 17, thousands of people were standing outside the court, watching Gandhiji say he was willing to pay the price for disobeying the law by answering a higher law: the voice of conscience. By November, he had opened three girls’ schools and ashrams in Champaran.

With the sustained help of these ashrams, an increasing number of volunteers completed and submitted a report on the pitiable condition of Indigo farmers to the British, who were forced to withdraw the unjust laws and offer some redress. Frailty became a strength in India’s freedom struggle. Women began to see the impact of their constructive action. Emboldened with their success in the running of ashrams and schools, women during the freedom struggle began to participate in protest politics. They began to organise public meetings, unionise mill workers, picket liquor shops, boycott foreign goods and court arrest.Each call for a negative action was matched by a call for a positive action making politics a spiritual force for women. Satyagraha swept aside old taboos and customs. Organising public meetings meant stepping out of the boundaries of home, unionising mill workers meant overcoming the purdah, boycotting foreign-made cloth meant spinning your own, going to jail and running ashrams meant overcoming caste restrictions.

Even the poorest and uneducated of women could spin yarn at home. Millions of volunteers, especially women who could not leave home, could participate. The independence struggle entered every household.

India’s national movement included an unprecedented number of women and ended up creating an unmatched number of women leaders. Eventually, these actions changed the women, but also feminised the men, who too learned to cook, clean, wash, spin, weave and stitch. This role reversal embodied the possibility of women doing men’s work and men doing women’s work; a shared humanity that replaced the gendered polarisation of the dominant and the dominated.

Ruchira Gupta is an anti-trafficking activist and founder of Apne Aap Women Worldwide

Source: The Hindu, 21-05-2017

Theirview Gender discrimination defines India’s economy

Improving the gender balance in labour force participation, entrepreneurship and growth is an important first step for India’s development

Ais a World Bank economist. central driver of economic growth is the increased role of women. This growth comes in many forms: better education and health that increase female labour force participation, reduced discrimination and wage differentials that encourage greater effort, and improved advancement practices that promote talented women into leadership and managerial roles.

Despite its recent economic advances, India’s gender balance in labour force participation, entrepreneurship, and growth remains among the lowest in the world. Improving this balance is an important first step for India’s development and its achievement of greater economic growth and gender equality.

In a recent work with Arti Grover, Sari Kerr and William Kerr, we examine how female participation in economic activity has evolved in India (Will market competition trump gender discrimination in India? Policy Research Working Paper Series 7814). Women entrepreneurs in India are mostly concentrated in low-paying industries. This gender concentration in low-wage industries has increased over time. In the manufacturing sector, tobacco products, apparel and textiles attract the largest count and share of women entrepreneurs, perhaps because these industries are known to have lower physical labour requirements. Among services, it is the education, sewage, refuse disposal, sanitation and financial intermediation services that attract the largest share of female proprietors. There is a strong negative relationship between average industry wages and the share of female-led plants in the manufacturing sector. The association between the share of female-owned plants and average industry wages in the services sector is also negative, but not as strongly so.

Industries that show higher rates of female entrepreneurship and employment are also, broadly, the industries that show the highest segmentation in terms of female employees being matched to female owners. If people prefer to work with their own “types”, then in the case of India, gender of the owner overwhelmingly predicts the gender of the employees.

This is also true for male-led plants, where, for instance, radio, television, and communication equipment, other transport equipment and fabricated metal products are among the most gender segmented in informal manufacturing. In the case of services, male-led plants in water transport, land transport and research and development tend to employ the largest share of male workers. Although segmentation by gender is increasing in most industries, it is remarkably heightened in female-led plants in the basic metals and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers segments of informal manufacturing, while within services, it has increased the most in postal and telecommunications and real estate services.

Despite many competitive reforms that India has undertaken, gender-based segmentation has increased over the years. For instance, the share of female employees in female-led informal manufacturing plants increased from 88% in 2001 to 93% in 2010. In the case of services, the share of female employees in women-led establishments increased from 75% to 87% during the same period. Likewise, the share of male employees in male-owned businesses has increased from 80% to 86% in unorganized manufacturing.

Gender segmentation is larger for small plants. Segmentation is larger for an average male employee vis-à-vis an average female employee across all size bands. Said differently, on average, a male employee is more likely to be working with a male co-worker than a female employee is to be working with a female co-worker. This measure of segmentation is also at its peak in smaller plants; however, for female employees it declines with increase in plant size up to mid-sized plants. Segmentation among male employees in manufacturing does not change much across the various size bands. In services, we observe a marginal but smooth decline across size bands in the services sector.

Which states in India have attracted more female entrepreneurs? Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are amongst the states that have experienced the highest number and shares of female-owned plants in both manufacturing and services. The states with the lowest shares of female-owned plants are Bihar and Assam. Delhi, the nation’s capital, surprisingly has the lowest share of female-owned establishments in manufacturing. Its position in the services sector is only slightly above the national average.

The states that have the highest count and shares of female entrepreneurs are also the states with the highest count of females in the workforce, be it in manufacturing or services. For example, two out of the top four states with the highest count of women employed in manufacturing are Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In the case of services, it is again the states from south India that account for large employment count in female participation in economic activity.

Has gender gap converged across different states in India? No. The states with higher income have displayed higher growth in shares of female-led plants. The gap in female-led plants has widened between the leading and lagging states in India.

Has urbanization reduced gender segmentation? It has helped, but the share of female-owned businesses declines with the increase in distance from the Big 7 cities in India. In terms of female employment share, it has declined with distance from the Big 7 cities in the services sector, while we do not observe any definitive spatial location pattern in the case of manufacturing industry.

What can policymakers do? Physical and human infrastructure play a key role in tapping into gender as a new growth driver. Inadequate infrastructure affects women entrepreneurs more than men, because women often bear a larger share of the time and responsibility for household activities. Travel in India can be limited and unpredictable, and women face greater constraints in geographic mobility imposed by safety concerns and social norms. Better transport infrastructure should alleviate a major constraint for female entrepreneurs in accessing markets. India’s future growth escalators are in creating a robust platform for growth, and successfully utilizing its workforce, both male and female. Comments are welcome at theirview@livemint.com

Source: Mintepaper, 17-05-2017

Patriarchy doesn’t harm women alone

If men are engaged in the process of empowering women and towards a gender-equitable, violence-free world, it will benefit both

Gender-based crimes against girls and women will increase in this neo-liberal society of ours

At least five or six cases of various forms of violence against girls and women from different cities are being reported every day since reports of the New Year’s eve incident in Bengaluru led to an outcry. Drawing attention to the seriousness of gender-based violence, there is a demand for stronger punishment for male offenders. But very little attention has been focused on what is being done to address the root cause of the issue.

If men and their attitudes are “part of the problem”, can we address the problem effectively without involving men as “part of the solution”? In our vision of a gender-just society where there is peaceful coexistence of men and women, does a person belonging to the “oppressor” gender have a role?

If yes, what would be that role? Are the empowerment and assertion of the oppressed and the sensitization and transformation of the powerful, mutually exclusive agendas?

Gender issues, including gender-based violence, are seen largely as “women’s issues” by all concerned—a majority of policymakers, women’s groups, funding agencies and media. This approach insulates men from the process of transformation, reinforces masculine stereotypes and deepens the gender divide.

Patriarchy disadvantages women but it also brings a set of behavioural norms and responsibilities that hinders men from expressing their pressures to perform in adherence with traditional notions of masculinity. Masculinity, in its current form, harms not only women but also men in the long run. Men cannot cry or express emotions freely, they have to be always winners/achievers, bread-earners, caretakers, etc. They have to perform at various stages from bedroom to boardroom. They cannot do household chores without the fear of being labelled “sissies”.

If gender is a social construct, then men are not born violent and aggressive. It is faulty socialization and upbringing that promotes a macho image. Do we find alternatives to this model of masculinity?

There may be umpteen examples of women as role models for girls who are growing up, but there is a woeful dearth of positive role models among men; role models who can embody a gender-sensitive society and engage adolescent boys and young men in the discourse. We have examples of sportsmen like Roger Federer who have expressed what “healthy relationships” mean to them personally, but when did we last hear sportsmen in India talking about gender?

We need to address how men analyse perceptions of masculinity and create appropriate alternatives. But to do this, men must first feel the need to do so. Men can introspect on the existing dominant model of masculinity when they are able to relate to the issue; when they know the “costs” of increasing violence on women to them individually and socially.

If men are involved in any intervention that seeks to stop or prevent violence against women, it may help in making the lives of women safer and healthier, but what’s in it for them? What are they going to get out of it? Unless this is answered seriously, we will not come up with any meaningful strategy of engaging men in the long term.

A paradigm shift in looking at women’s issues as gender issues, which are equally men’s issues, is not going to be easy. With all our social subsystems—family, religion, governance and media—reinforcing patriarchal, male-dominated attitudes, it will definitely be a process that will face periodic threats, hiccups and setbacks.

Apart from addressing men as a group, it calls for simultaneous interventions with different groups of men. For instance, we need to address men in the police not just as law-enforcing agents but also as men. Similarly, we need to reach out to men in the corporate and healthcare sectors, in Parliament, male bureaucrats, male journalists, religious leaders, school and college teachers and administrators.

A couple of token gender-sensitization programmes for these men is not going to change the male mindset. What is required is focused, long-term intervention with a clear vision and purpose of “process-oriented” work by all stakeholders. There has to be a pool of male facilitators in all sectors who can engage men in a gradual process of transformation and humanization. It calls for investment, financial and otherwise.

The moot question is: Do we have a sizeable number of people who would like to invest their time and effort in engaging men towards addressing gender issues? Even if a handful of them do (like this writer, who has been working on the issue for 24 years), there is a dearth of people who would strengthen their efforts.

If men are engaged in the process of empowering women and towards a gender-equitable, violence-free world, it will benefit both. Men also would be liberated from the shackles of patriarchy. If they are liberated, their own lives would become humane, enriching and harmonious.

Gender-based crimes against girls and women will increase in this neo-liberal society of ours in the coming years. What will change is only the nature and forms of violence. There will certainly be more crimes by minor boys.

It would then be, perhaps, too late for all concerned to seriously examine the root 

Source: mintepaper, 25-01-2017

cause of the problem.

India’s missing girl children

It is a cruel irony of a fast-growing India that there are fewer and fewer girls as a ratio of total births, as a result of complex factors that include parental preference. New data from the Civil Registration System of the Registrar General of India point to the hardening of the pattern, with a fall in sex ratio at birth from 898 girls to 1,000 boys in 2013, to 887 a year later. This depressing trend is consistent with evidence from the Census figures of 2001 and 2011. What is shocking is that the overall data mask the horror of particular districts and panchayats falling well below the national ratio, especially in the zero-to-six years assessment category. The scourge has, in some cases, prompted the Supreme Court to take note of the situation, and the National Human Rights Commission to ask for an explanation from State governments. In the understanding of the Centre, which it has conveyed to Parliament, girls stand a poor chance at survival because there is a “socio-cultural mindset” that prefers sons, girls are seen as a burden, and family size has begun to shrink. The BJP-led government responded to the silent crisis with the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign, which focusses on the prevention of sex-selective abortions, creation of opportunities for education and protection of girl children. Now that the scheme is set to enter its third year in January, there should be a speedy assessment of its working, particularly in districts with a poor sex ratio where it has been intensively implemented.

A wider assessment needs to be made on why States such as Tamil Nadu with a strong social development foundation have slipped on sex ratio at birth (834), going by the CRS data for 2014. The cradle baby scheme was started in 1992 in Tamil Nadu to raise the survival chances of girl children by encouraging mothers to give them anonymously for adoption. Yet, the latest numbers, together with the persistence of the programme after 24 years, and 260 babies being abandoned in just one centre over a six-year period, make it clear that national policy has achieved little in real terms. Clearly, there is a need to go beyond slogans and institute tangible schemes. Enforcement of the law that prohibits determination of the sex of the foetus must go hand in hand with massive social investments to protect both immediate and long-term prospects of girls — in the form of cash incentives through registration of births, a continuum of health care, early educational opportunities and social protection. Half-measures cannot produce a dramatic reversal of the shameful national record.

Source: The Hindu, 1-12-2016

Nation still prefers boys over girls, sex ratio in Delhi falls sharply

India continues to prefer boys over girls and the Capital more so.

Nationwide, the number of girls born per 1,000 boys has dropped from 909 during 2011-13 to 906 for the 2012-14 period, a government survey has found.

But, the fall is steepest in Delhi -- from 887 to 876. Uttar Pradesh is next. The findings of the sample registration system (SRS) 2014, released last week, indicate that sex selection isn’t limited to the Hindi heartland but is spreading to states such as Tamil Nadu, where the number dropped to 921 from 927.

Sex ratio at birth is considered an accurate marker for girls missing at birth. Internationally, the ratio at birth is 950 or more girls born per 1,000 boys.

Noted demographer Prof PM Kulkarni said the sex ratio had been fluctuating over the last few years. “It is disappointing... We expected things to improve but perhaps there is some deterioration,” he said.

Punjab and Haryana – which fared the worst in gender equality in 2001 and 2011 census reports – are still at the bottom but have shown improvement.

The figures released by SRS, one of the major sources of demographic and vital statistics in India, are a moving average of three years.

Unlike the decadal headcount, SRS reports are based on annual changes in more than 8,800 identified localities and villages.

It would be best to wait another year to see if the decline was a trend, said Kulkarni, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University professor.

Prof Mary E John at the Delhi-based Centre for Women’s Development Studies agrees but says the statistics reflect what she observed during field visits and some of the census 2011 data.

There are two big takeaways from the findings.

One, the crackdown on ultrasound clinics should continue. “Sex selection, aided by these clinics, is still happening. It is as rampant as it was, in Delhi and elsewhere,” she said.

Second, the government programmes aimed at correcting the sex ratio should be holistic and not a stop-gap arrangement.

She pointed to Delhi’s Ladli scheme that gives money to poor families to encourage them to let a girl child be born and put through school.

But poverty is a criterion to get the aid though it is the aspirational working class that opts for sex selection.

John, researching sex ratio for 15 years, said the practice of gender selection appeared to have spread wider.

Socio-economic conditions and lack of job opportunities for women – and not just gender discrimination or patriarchy – might have contributed to fewer families welcoming a girl child, she said.

Source: Hindustan Times, 22-09-2016