Rights of Women and Law
- Part 1 -

Romilla Akham *

High Court Complex at Chingmeirong Imphal in April 2012 :: Pix - Bullu Raj

(Since I stepped in to the law class of my alma mater five years back, the plight and sufferings of Indian women has always been in mind. As I studied deeper in to Indian and International law relating to women, sometimes I found myself exasperated on the sheer lack of awareness among Indian women. I feel that it is my bounden duty to contribute whatever little that I can in this field. Of course, this article could just be the beginning.)

How aware are we women about our rights? How vocal are we when we are ill treated by people? When the husband comes home drunk and beats up the wife. These are not rhetorical questions by themselves. Rhetorical, so because people are either unaware or they just sleep on their rights. I know of many women who takes such tortures silently without raising any complaints.

My article shall deal with the women and why they are seriously in need to know their rights and how to fight for it. I shall try my best to avoid the legal jargon for better understanding by the common womenfolk.

India is the worst country where a woman can live, and perhaps worst country a girl child should be borne. So much has been said about rights of women and protecting them. But it is getting no better. As a law student, I learnt some Latin maxims on law. Out of all, I like this the most, 'Vigilantibus et non doemientibus jura subvenient'. It means law assists those that are vigilant with their rights and not those who sleep on it. It is essential for every citizen to be aware of their rights and duties as well.

For every violation of a right, there can be a claim for the remedy. The only exception is when there is a threat to the integrity and peace of the State, the rights can be restricted. If women are educated about their rights and encourage them to fight for it, the atrocities done could be reduced noticeably. And as my law school was coming to an end, I realized the knowledge of law is very essential for every citizen. Maybe there should be law subjects in the syllabus of the pre-university level.

The problems faced by women in our society are verbal as well as physical abuse, rape, eve teasing, dowry deaths, domestic violence, human trafficking, forced prostitution, inequity and contempt in work places, atrocities meted out towards the widows, etc. Drug addict husbands mercilessly beating up their wives to extract money for the next dose, HIV husbands spreading virus to the innocent wives, greedy husbands asking wives to get more money from her home, violations are endless. These are not new to you, me or anyone.

We see these in the neighborhood and even among our family members. Women have always been the victim in the male dominated society. This point has been shunned by some chauvinists as it sounds like a feminist propaganda which is not true. The whole debate of ill treatment of women should not be reduced to the point of Feminists Vs. Male Chauvinists. The problems should be considered and deal as human beings or individuals would have towards a disease or any illness which needs immediate intervention to cure it.

I know it is better said than done. Indian women consider their husbands as gods. The sanctification of the relation has given the husband the leeway to misuse their rights. It is like women should be immune to all the pain. It will be impossible to think of suing their husbands or even leave the bad relation. Women have been conditioned to an extent that the right to happiness is out question. She cannot even dream of walking out from her bad marriage. Her economic dependence on the husband stops her from thinking independent. Surprisingly, well off women too suffer the same. To break the traditions, is not a cake walk. It would take a big leap of faith in our inner strength and what is right and do the needful.

UN and Women

There is an inter-relation among social, economic, political, environmental, cultural and educational factors. They influence in the determination of justice in gender related issues. Women are known as the better half. No state can truly progress if half of its population is held back.

The emphasis on equality and gender justice has always been there in the objectives of the UN since its inception in 1945. The Commission on the Status of Women collects and compiles data on women's condition advocates women's rights and raises awareness of and their contribution to development around the world.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a human rights treaty on gender equality, has been ratified by 185 states and the optional protocol by 90 states. Since 1995 and the adoption of gender mainstreaming as a strategy for achieving gender equality, intergovernmental bodies like the General Assembly, the ECOSOC and the Commission on the Status of Women - have worked to mainstream gender perspectives as an integral part of all policy areas.

The UNIFEM, an agency of the UN, is the development fund for women at the United Nations. It provides technical and financial assistance to innovative programmes and strategies to foster women's empowerment and gender equality.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) also has the Gender Development Index (GDI). It indicates the standard of living in a country, developed by the UN. It attempts to show the inequalities between men and women in health and longevity of life, education and standard of living. India is ranked 128th in the Gender Development Index, while USA is 12th and UK is 16th.

The Indian Constitution and Women

The Constitution and its makers have not ignored the vulnerability of women and are seen clearly in Part III of the Constitution which deals with fundamental rights and Part IV which deals with Directives Principles of State Policy. The constitution being foundation of all the laws need to be understood with relation to women's right. It can be seen from the fundamental rights and directive principles.



(To be continued)

For queries on legal provisions on women's rights email
akhamromilla(at)gmail(dot)com
romilla91(at)rediffmail(dot)com .