From gender equality to gender justice : A long road ahead

Aniruddha Babar *

"I measure the progress of community by the degree of progress which women had achieved. Let every girl who marries stand by her husband, claim to be her husband's friend and equal, and refuse to be his slave. I am sure if you follow this advice, you will bring honour and glory to yourselves."
- Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

Gender Equality has been a talk of the town in every corner of the world. People often argue that most societies have achieved gender equality -women have all the same legal rights as men, and workplace discrimination based on gender is illegal. Despite this, 'thinkers' continue to argue that the battle for gender equality is not yet won. Guaranteeing the rights of women and giving them opportunities to reach their full potential is critical not only for attaining gender equality, but also for meeting a wide range of international development goals.

Empowered women and girls contribute to the health and productivity of their families, communities, and countries, creating a ripple effect that benefits everyone. Discrimination against women and girls is a pervasive and long-running phenomenon that characterises Indian society at every level which is a sad reality of the moment. India's progress towards gender equality, measured by its position on rankings such as the Gender Development Index has been disappointing, despite fairly rapid rates of economic growth.

In the past decade, while Indian GDP has grown by around 6.6%, there has been a large decline in female labour force participation from 34% to 27%. The male-female wage gap has been stagnant at 50% (a recent survey finds a 27% gender pay gap in white-collar jobs). Crimes against women show an upward trend, in particular brutal crimes such as rapes which not only stigma, but a gross failure on account of society.

Man and woman are both equal and both plays a vital role in the creation and development of their families in a particular and the society in general. Indeed, the struggle for legal and political equality has been one of the major concerns of the women's movement all over the world. In India, since long back, women were considered as an oppressed section of the society and they were neglected for centuries. Male dominated societies have always justified gender inequality by invoking the religious scriptures as evidence.

Every religious scripture barring none have given social, political, cultural, religious leverage to man over woman. There has been a narrative that has been traditionally floating to justify innate nature of inequality which emphasise on the fact that man and a woman are born different hence inequality is a gift of creator and mankind has no right to interfere in supreme dictum.

However, at this juncture it may be necessary to enlighten the supporters of this narrative. There is no dispute whatsoever regarding the innate biological differences which may also be termed as inequality, however, here the question is of GENDER not SEX. Woman may biologically, by nature be a weaker sex, but not as a Gender. There is a serious difference between Sex and a Gender.

Sex is what one is biologically born with and Gender is a set of socially constructed roles and responsibilities imposed on biological sex by the society which it considers appropriate. In this context, simply being born as a Man or a Woman is not sufficient, but one must embrace the visible and invisible rules, regulations, norms, roles, identities assigned to them by the society.

Here the term society which is in question is aggregate of all the societies produced by human civilization which over the period of thousands of years turned into 'sexist' and 'male chauvinists' that started redefining the social status of women from gender-superior to gender-inferior. This is how the great tragedy of Gender Inequality was born and therefore in this very context the Battle for Gender Justice must be understood.

The Gender Justice could not be achieved unless women step up for their own rights. It is necessary for women to free themselves from the customs, traditions, rules, pro-male narratives of equality and socio-cultural indoctrinations which may be detrimental to their natural growth. There is a strong need to replace the pro-male narrative of justice to the gender neutral narrative.

The social gap between Man and a Woman will be narrowed down if male education is persuaded side by side with female education. Basically the fight of women is fight for 'social acceptance', 'liberty', 'equality' and 'justice'. History also teaches that the political emancipation and social emancipation goes hand in hand, and therefore, it is necessary for women to be a part of political powerhouse.

Women's absolute empowerment is a critical aspect of achieving gender equality. It includes increasing a woman's sense of self-worth, her decision-making power, her access to opportunities and tangible-intangible assets &resources, her power and control over her own life and body inside and outside the home, and her ability to effect change. Real freedom for woman may be understood as presence of an independent space owned and ruled exclusively by her in her own life accepted and respected by the menfolks.

Painful quest of woman for justice for hundreds of years will forever remain incomplete unless and until men and boys play their supportive and positive roles. In 2004, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) stated that "men must take joint responsibility with women for the promotion of gender equality" making "contributions to gender equality in their many capacities, including as individuals, members of families, social groups and communities, and in all spheres of society".

Two years later the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on Men and gender equality, noting that "in order to improve the status of women and promote gender equality, more attention should be paid to how men are involved in the achievement of gender equality, as well as to the positive impact of gender equality for men and for the well-being of society as a whole".

The European Commission's Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015 also stresses that: "gender equality needs the active contribution, support and participation of men and policies should also address gender-related inequalities that affect boys/men such as literacy rates, early school-leaving and occupational health."

The first EU study on the role and position of men in gender equality issues was released in December 2012 and is entitled: "The role of men in gender equality – European strategies & insights". The study undertakes systematic and comparative research- in the fields of education, employment, reconciliation policies, violence and health- and presents conclusions and recommendations on each of the areas analysed, as well as some guiding principles on how to develop policies to improve the role of men in gender equality.

During adolescence and young adulthood, there is a critical period of opportunity to engage boys and young men in understanding why gender equality is good for everyone and recognizing their role in promoting the empowerment of girls and young women. By using and sharing their power and privilege, boys and young men have the ability to shift the dominant norms and ideas about gender and masculinity, and challenge the patriarchal beliefs, practices, institutions and structures that drive inequality between men and women.

An equal society begins with women reclaiming their strong voice, and then gender wouldn't be as much of a relation of power. Gender equality is a matter of 'Natural Justice & Equity' which contributes to a healthy society filled with respectful relationships between one another. The future of communities and societies is not decided in Temples, Mosques, Churches or Synagogues anymore but in powerhouses like Parliaments and Legislative Assemblies. If women think they need to transform their destiny, they have no other option but to be an active, independent and strong part of decision making process.

To conclude, in the words of Dr. Justice A.S. Anand (Former Chief Justice of India) "Fight for gender equality is not a fight against men. It is a fight against traditions that have chained them – a fight against attitudes that are ingrained in the society – it is a fight against system – a fight against proverbial laxshman Rekha (In modern society laxmanrekha has the meaning 'modesty') which is different for men and different for women.

The society must rise to the occasion. It must recognize & accept fact that men and women are equal partners in life. They are individual who have their own identity". Gender Justice may be a Dream of Today, but indeed a reality of Tomorrow. The Struggle shall continue.