GS Paper: GS1-07.Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues.

Central Idea

• Unpaid care work, predominantly performed by women, plays a crucial role in the well-being of families and contributes significantly to a country’s economy. However, it often goes unrecognized and undervalued, leading to gender inequality and economic implications. On this Mother’s day and beyond it is necessary to introspect and change the attitudes towards the women’s role of essential well being.

The Importance of Unpaid Care Work

• Daily chores essential for their well-being: Unpaid care work encompasses daily chores, such as cleaning, cooking, and tending to the needs of family members, which are essential for their well-being.
• Crucial contribution: It accounts for a substantial portion of a country’s GDP, ranging from 10 to 39 percent according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and 7.5 percent in India, as per the State Bank of India report.

Implications of Unpaid Care Work

• Gender Inequality: Unpaid care work reinforces traditional gender roles and perpetuates gender inequality. The unequal distribution of caregiving and domestic responsibilities limits women’s opportunities for education, employment, and advancement, creating a cycle of economic and social disadvantage.
• Economic Invisibility: Unpaid care work is often invisible in economic systems and measurements, such as GDP calculations. This invisibility devalues the contributions of caregivers and neglects the economic significance of care work, leading to an underestimation of women’s economic contributions.
• Economic Loss and Reduced Income: The time and energy spent on unpaid care work can limit women’s ability to engage in paid employment or pursue economic opportunities. This leads to reduced income potential and financial dependence, contributing to income inequality between men and women.
• Limited Time for Personal Development: The significant time and effort devoted to unpaid care work leave women with limited time for personal development, education, skills training, and leisure activities. This constrains their ability to pursue individual goals and self-fulfillment.
• Health and Well-being: The burden of unpaid care work can have adverse effects on women’s physical and mental health. The constant juggling of caregiving responsibilities, household chores, and other duties can lead to stress, fatigue, and burnout, negatively impacting well-being.
• Education and Professional Advancement: The unequal distribution of care work can hinder women’s educational opportunities and limit their ability to pursue higher education or career advancement. This perpetuates a cycle of limited professional growth and fewer leadership roles for women.
• Workforce Gender Gap: Unpaid care work affects women’s participation in the formal labor force. The time constraints and caregiving responsibilities make it challenging for women to engage in paid employment, contributing to the gender gap in workforce participation and representation.
• Social and Intergenerational Impact: The gendered division of unpaid care work can reinforce traditional gender norms and perpetuate inequality across generations. Children growing up in households where women bear the majority of care work may internalize and replicate these gendered roles in their own lives.
• Policy and Societal Implications: The undervaluation and invisibility of unpaid care work hinder the formulation of effective policies and social structures that support caregivers. Lack of recognition and support can perpetuate gender inequality and limit progress towards gender-responsive policies and systems.

Gendered Division of Labor: Reasons and impact

• Historical and Cultural Norms: Deeply ingrained historical and cultural norms shape societal expectations regarding gender roles. Traditional gender norms often dictate that women should be primarily responsible for caregiving and domestic chores, while men are expected to engage in paid work outside the home.
• Gender Stereotypes and Expectations: Stereotypical beliefs about men’s and women’s inherent abilities and inclinations influence societal expectations regarding work and family responsibilities. Stereotypes portraying women as nurturing, emotional, and inclined towards caregiving, and men as strong, assertive, and suited for paid employment, contribute to the gendered division of labor.
• Economic Factors and Structural Inequality: Structural inequalities in the labor market, such as gender wage gaps and limited opportunities for women’s advancement, create economic barriers for women. The undervaluation of traditionally female-dominated sectors contributes to the devaluation of women’s labor and reinforces the gendered division of labor.
• Socialization and Education: Socialization processes from an early age play a crucial role in shaping gender roles and expectations. Children are often socialized into specific gender roles through various channels, including family, education, media, and peer influences.
• Family Dynamics and Household Responsibilities: Within the family unit women are frequently assigned the bulk of caregiving and domestic tasks, regardless of their employment status. Unequal distribution of household chores and caregiving responsibilities creates a cycle where women’s time and energy are disproportionately dedicated to unpaid work, limiting their opportunities for paid employment and career advancement.
• Power Dynamics and Patriarchy: Patriarchy grants men greater authority and control over resources, while women’s labor is often devalued and overlooked. These power dynamics reinforce traditional gender roles and limit women’s ability to challenge or negotiate their participation in different spheres of life, including work and family.

Way ahead: Need for Redefining Societal Attitudes

• Recognizing the Value of Care Work: Unpaid care work is essential for the well-being and functioning of families and societies. It is important to acknowledge and value the contributions of caregivers, particularly women, as their work has significant economic, social, and emotional implications.
• Challenging Gender Stereotypes: Societal attitudes often reinforce traditional gender roles, where caregiving is seen as primarily women’s responsibility. Redefining attitudes involves challenging these stereotypes and promoting the idea that caregiving should be shared by all members of the family, regardless of their gender.
• Promoting Gender Equality: Redefining societal attitudes towards care work is crucial for promoting gender equality. It involves recognizing that caregiving is not solely a woman’s duty but a shared responsibility between partners, families, and society as a whole.
• Empowering Women: By redefining societal attitudes, women can be empowered to pursue their educational, professional, and personal aspirations. When the burden of unpaid care work is shared more equitably, women have the opportunity to participate fully in the workforce, contribute to economic growth, and exercise their rights and choices.
• Breaking the Cycle of Gendered Division of Labor: Redefining societal attitudes helps break the cycle of gendered division of labor, where women are primarily responsible for unpaid care work. It encourages men to take an active role in caregiving, fostering a more balanced and equitable distribution of responsibilities within households.
• Creating Supportive Environments: Redefining societal attitudes also involves creating supportive environments that facilitate and value caregiving responsibilities. This includes workplace policies that enable work-life balance, access to affordable and quality childcare facilities, and social systems that recognize and support caregivers.
• Building Inclusive and Progressive Societies: Societal attitudes towards care work reflect broader social norms and values. By redefining these attitudes, societies can become more inclusive, progressive, and equitable, where the contributions of all individuals, irrespective of their gender or caregiving roles, are valued and respected.

Conclusion

• On Mother’s Day and beyond, it is crucial to acknowledge and appreciate the work done by women, transcending the singular role of mothers or caregivers. Collective efforts are needed to challenge and change societal attitudes that neglect the rights of women and perpetuate gender inequality.

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Context

• On the occasion of the 75th year of India’s independence, the Prime Minister articulated a bold vision that in the coming 25 years, “Nari Shakti” would play a vital role in India’s socio-economic developmental journey.

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Background: Status of women In India

• Elevated status in ancient texts and thoughts: Culturally and mythologically, women have enjoyed an elevated status in India. For example, it is mentioned in the Kena Upanishad that it was the goddess Uma who enlightened the three powerful but ignorant gods, Indra, Vayu, and Agni, to the profound mystery of Brahman.
• Experience of women in modern era is far from ideal: Women have faced discrimination in the household and at jobs, and for a long time, they were victims of political indifference and neglect.
• Recognizing the Nari Shakti: In recent decades, “Nari Shakti” has been reasserted through micro and silent revolutions. There are some silent women-led changes transforming our society politically and economically But there is need to highlight the challenges that remain in women fulfilling their true potential as modern nation-builders of India.

Nari Shakti The silent revolution: Role of Women in Indian democracy

• Gender gap in voter turnout is diminishing rapidly as women often exceeds male voter turnout: Research on women voters using historical data has revealed that since 2010, the gender gap in voter turnout has diminished significantly and the recent trends show women voter turnout often exceeds male voter turnout. This massive increase is a nationwide phenomenon and is also observed in less developed regions of the country where traditionally, the status of women has been significantly lower.
• Dramatic increase in women contesting election particularly in panchayat level: Since 2010, many more women have been contesting elections. To put this in perspective, in the 1950s, in the state assembly elections, women contested elections in approximately 7 per cent of the constituencies, but by the 2010s, women were competing in 54 per cent of the constituencies. This is particularly remarkable at the grass roots panchayat level where 50 per cent seats have been reserved for women for over a decade now.

Results of this positive change

• Women voters can no longer be neglected or marginalized: A key implication of this is that women voters can no longer be marginalised or neglected; they demand respect and command attention.
• Political entrepreneurs compelled to address women issues: This silent revolution has compelled political entrepreneurs and grounded leaders to design policies addressing issues that women care about. It is not surprising that some of the most dramatic policy changes concerning poverty reduction since 2015-16 have been in the form of networking of households across the nation through amenities such as cooking fuel, sanitation, water, and electricity. These are also the key drivers of long-term economic growth.
• Rising women voters compelled political parties to make law and order a critical issue: In less developed regions where women and children have been the biggest victims of lawlessness, the silent revolution of rising women voters has compelled political parties to make law and order a critical political issue.
• Positive response by political parties: Political parties and leaders are now responding to this by improving access and affordability to basic needs of ordinary people like amenities and infrastructure rather than focusing on the rhetoric of caste and communalism. This is in sharp contrast to the “democratic recession” that is being experienced in the rest of the world.

Challenges ahead

• Women employment a biggest challenge: According to World Bank data, the female labour force participation rate has declined from 32 per cent in 2005 to 19 per cent in 2022. Labour force participation does not consider unpaid domestic services, which include household services such as taking care of the children and the elderly.
• More hours spent is in unpaid domestic services: Our research based on data from the time use surveys in India in 2018–19 reveals that women in the age group of 25 to 59 years spend approximately seven hours daily in unpaid domestic services.
• Double burden of working is one of the reasons behind decline of women labour participation: Double burden of working women perhaps is one of the critical reasons for the decline in the women’s labour force participation rate. In sharp contrast, working or non-working men in the same age group spend less than 45 minutes on unpaid domestic or caregiving services.
• Declined fertility rate: Fertility rates have declined dramatically below the replacement rate, the share of the ageing population has increased, and there is an alarming increase in the percentage of kinless elderly.

Did you know Baumol Cost Disease?

• The care industry is labour-intensive and, therefore, subject to Baumol Cost Disease, implying that the cost of providing care would keep rising over time.

Way ahead

• On labour force participation: It is essential to look at the experience of advanced countries, where increased participation of women in the labour force has come at the expense of family structure.
• On dynamics of household and elderly care, sharing burden by men is a necessity: If we want more women to participate in the labour force, and at the same time preserve the family structure, then men would have to share the burden of unpaid domestic services. This would require a break from tradition and the creation of new modern narratives and myths.

Conclusion

• As India takes over the presidency of G20, it is an occasion to celebrate “Nari Shakti” and political empowerment a stupendous increase in women voter turnout in the decade has strengthened and made our democracy more progressive. Women’s political empowerment has been a bottom-up revolution in India and holds lessons for other countries.

Mains question

Q. Culturally and mythologically, women hold a high position in India. However, there are still challenges in women fulfilling their true potential as India’s modern nation-builders. Discuss.

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Context

• The recent Supreme court judgment expands the definition of rape to marital rape for the MTP Act. Marital rape is still not criminalised. If society does not accept “marital rape” as even a moral offence, how will a woman convince doctors to terminate her pregnancy based on the exception provided by the SC’s verdict.

Background

• The Supreme Court has held that all women, irrespective of their marital status, are entitled to safe and legal abortion till 24 weeks of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP).

What is Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act?

• Abortion in India has been a legal right under various circumstances for the last 50 years since the introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971
• The Act was amended in 2003 to enable women’s access to safe and legal abortion services.

What are the Changes in Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 2021?

• The gestation limit: The gestation limit for abortions has been raised from the earlier ceiling of 20 weeks to 24 weeks, but only for special categories of pregnant women such as rape or incest survivors. But this termination would need the approval of two registered doctors.
• Doctor’s approval: All pregnancies up to 20 weeks require one doctor’s approval. The earlier law, the MTP Act 1971, required one doctor’s approval for pregnancies up to 12 weeks and two doctors’ for pregnancies between 12 and 20 weeks.
• Contraceptive failure: Women can now terminate unwanted pregnancies caused by contraceptive failure, regardless of their marital status. Earlier the law specified that only a “married woman and her husband” could do this.
• In case of fetal disability:  There is also no upper gestation limit for abortion in case of fetal disability if so decided by a medical board of specialist doctors, which state governments and union territories’ administrations would set up.

What is marital rape?

• Marital rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without her consent.
• It is no different manifestation of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
• It is often a chronic form of violence for the victim which takes place within abusive relations.

Statistics on Marital rape in India

• The NFHS-5 survey (2019-21):
• The survey said that 32% of ever-married women have suffered spousal physical, sexual, or emotional violence, and 27% have suffered at least one form of violence.
• Twenty-nine percent of ever- married women have experienced spousal physical violence and 14% have suffered emotional violence.
• The form of sexual violence most commonly reported by women is that their husband used physical force to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to (5%).
• Four per cent reported that their husband forced them with threats or in other ways to perform sexual acts they did not want to and 3% of them reported that their husband forced them to perform any sexual acts they did not want to.
• Women in rural areas are more likely (34%) than women in urban areas (27%) to experience one or more forms of spousal violence.

Why modern India still not accepting marital rape as a rape?

• Definition: The definition of rape codified in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) includes all forms of sexual assault involving non-consensual intercourse with a woman.
• Non-Criminalization: Non-Criminalization of marital rape in India emanates from Exception 2 to Section 375.
• Exemption: Section 375 defines rape and lists seven notions of consent which, if vitiated, would constitute the offence of rape by a man. However, the provision contains a crucial exemption, Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape.
• Marriage as perpetual consent: As per current law, a wife is presumed to deliver perpetual consent to have sex with her husband after entering marital relations. The concept of marital rape in India is the epitome of what we call an “implied consent”. Marriage between a man and a woman here implies that both have consented to sexual intercourse, and it cannot be otherwise.

What is the link between marital rape and MTP Act?

• The distinction and the cultural ethos: Married women have a different world attire, jewellery, rituals compared to widows or unmarried or deserted women .So is the right to sexual intercourse. In contrast, unmarried women do not have a right to sex. So what does the right to terminate pregnancy mean for them
• Ownership of women’s sexuality: Unmarried women cannot have sex, married women cannot say no to sex because men own women’s sexuality. Husbands can use the legal remedy of restitution of conjugal rights against runaway wives. Ownership is integral here
• Cause of Disharmony: An unmarried woman does not have an owner. It causes confusion and disorder. Women’s sexuality is seen as a cause of disharmony.

Why marital rape must be a crime?

• Associated physical violence: Rape by a spouse, partner or ex-partner is more often associated with physical violence.
• Mental harassment: There is research showing that marital rape can be more emotionally and physically damaging than rape by a stranger.
• Compulsive relationship: Marital rape may occur as part of an abusive relationship.
• Revengeful nature: Furthermore, marital rape is rarely a one-time event, but a repeated if not frequent occurrence.
• Obligation on women: In the case of marital rape the victim often has no choice but to continue living with their spouse.

Present regulations in India

• Indian Penal Code criminalizes rape in most cases, although marital rape is not illegal when the woman is over the age of 18.
• However, until 2017, men married to those between 15 and 18 could not be convicted of rape.
• Marital rape of an adult wife, who is unofficially or officially separated, is a criminal offence punishable by 2 to 7 year in prison; it is not dealt by normal rape laws which stipulate the possibility of a death sentence.
• According to the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act (2005), other married women subject to such crime by their husband may demand for financial compensation.
• They also have the right to continue to live in their marital household if they wish, or may approach shelter or aid homes.

Way forward

• Sanctioning marital rape is an acknowledgment of the woman’s right to self-determination (i.e., control of all matters relating to her body.
• The recent judgment on the MTP Act has extended the definition of rape to marital rape which is a big step in the right direction.
• However in a society with strong social norms and value systems every stakeholder should have more than a legitimate motive. It has to play an important role.

Mains Question

Q.While abortion is available under legal regulations in the country, Discuss the relationship between the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and Marital Rape.

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