Questions
- What are the possible underlying causes of the spurt of increased violence against women in public spaces in the last decade? 20
- Write a short note on - Differential sex-ratio and its implications 10
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Model Solutions
1. What are the possible underlying causes of the spurt of increased violence against women in public spaces in the last decade? 20
Model Structure
Introduction
- Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women both arising from and reinforcing gender inequality and discrimination. Violence against women is more easily accepted in societies where men and women are not equal.
Main Body
- The following are some reasons which led to the increase in violence against women:
- Low status of women: Perhaps the biggest issue, though, is women's overall lower status in Indian society. For poor families, the need to pay a marriage dowry can make daughters a burden. India has one of the lowest female-to-male population ratios in the world because of sex-selective abortion and female infanticide.
- Stigmatizing the victim: When verbal harassment or groping do occur in public areas, bystanders frequently look the other way rather than intervene, both to avoid a conflict and because they -- on some level -- blame the victim, observers say. Male politicians contribute to the problem, making statements that make light of rape or vilify rape victims' supporters.
- A lack of public safety: Women generally aren't protected outside their homes.
- Blaming provocative clothing: There's a tendency to assume the victims of sexual violence somehow brought it on themselves.
- A sluggish court system: India's court system is painfully slow, in part because of a shortage of judges. The country has about 15 judges for every 1 million people, while China has 159.
- Few convictions: For rapes that do get reported, India’s conviction rate is no more than 26 percent.
- Few female ministers and police: India has historically had a much lower percentage of female police officers than other Asian countries. The representation of women in Parliament is also low despite the trend of women empowerment.
Conclusion
- In contemporary times due to increase in public awareness in general and among women in particular, reporting of such crimes have also increased. However, still many go unreported which clearly reflects the deep rooted gender discrimination in Indian society.
2. Write a short note on - Differential sex-ratio and its implications 10
Model Structure
Introduction
- Introduce with data of sex ratio as per 2011 census
Main Body
- Sex ratio in the Indian population is becoming adverse to women. It has been rapidly declining decade by decade. In India, the consistency of adverse sex ratio is primarily because of high preference for sons in our society. There are various reasons, sociological, cultural and religious, for the persistence of a male child preference.
- The major causes for declining sex ratio are: sex ratio at birth, sex-selective abortions, sex ratio of children and sex-differentials in mortality, Lack of empowerment of women, low status to women, women illiteracy, poverty etc. over the years, rapid fertility decline, without having changes in cultural values, has resulted in a deliberate attempt to get rid of girls to avoid Dowry.
- Gender discrimination stands firmly on the ground simply because of a myth that girl constitutes impoverishment and boy constitute enrichment. In addition to the traditional factors, social mobility could be a pressing force behind the skewed sex ratio in India.
- The shortage of women has led to a sharp rise in violence against them. This has led to a situation where, apart from the ingrained son preference, people don t want girls all the more as they feel that it is difficult to keep them safe.
- An elaborate study in Asia, particularly in India and China, undertaken by Hudson and Boer (2005), Dreze and Khera (2000), came to the conclusion that murder rates in India are interconnected with the female-male ratio in the population. The economic consequences are grave because this means that a huge proportion of the productive population is missing and also the lack of women impairs the ability of men to work.
- Include impact on family, kinship and marriage. For example polyandry, smuggling of girls and women and so on
Conclusion
- The Adverse Sex Ratio would certainly be difficult to change without fundamental economic social change that will require a multi-pronged effort. This can only be obtained through the active involvement of Panchayati Raj institutions, local level of social, religious and political leaders, media and entertainment industry, medical professionals and medical associations.