Gender Equality To Gender Neutrality | Effect of Globalizartion

Abstract for the Paper on Law & Justice in Globalized World: Contemporary Issues and Challenges related to Sex: Gender & Law

This Paper consists of the evolution of Idea of Gender Equality from the historical perspective to the contemporary era. Defining the need of addressing this issue as a global problem and the path way to be traversed to eradicate the biasness and lack of opportunity revolving around established system of governance, which creates hurdles for basic upliftment on a social level.

As Gender equality is the fifth Sustainable Development Goal of the UN and the idea that the UN acts to empower women and girls in all its programmes is analyzed and here we have discussed how we can create sustainable society with stepped-up action on gender equality, making every part of the world move towards sustainable development by 2030 thus the study of features related to the linkage of gender equality toward sustainable development have been discussed for better understanding and commitment towards achieving the overall development.

This Paper also discusses Section 498A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) introduced in the year 1983 which for the first time made domestic violence to married women a criminal offence and the need of the hour for making the gender neutral society by analyzing Section 498A and other family and domestic issues have also been critically analyzed.

The theme is also based on the Issues and challenges faced to create a gender neutral society and the ways to provide recognition to other indentified genders, who lack basic opportunities and amenities, also being unidentified by the system for a greater period of time. Their plight and the need of legal interference for the overall development are critically analyzed.

It is hence a sincere effort of the author to identify the need of laws and formulation of legal solution to address the challenges faced by the individuals irrespective of their gender to overcome establishes biases in the society which inhibits the achievement of objective enlisted in the Preamble of Indian Constitution.

Introduction

To understand the concept and the concern revolving around the very Idea of Gender Equality, we need to understand the causes and effects that created inequalities on the first place in the society. We talk about equality because we perceive that inequalities exist in the society.

The notion of gender equality itself revolves around the fact that the differences in the society are created by virtue of discrimination based on Gender. Thus in other words Gender Discrimination led to the basis for providing equality of opportunity and growth to the individual based on their genders.

Earlier there was discrimination based of Male & Females but now as other Genders are also recognized globally due to the concentrated efforts by individuals and intellectual groups, we also need to define the pathway for development and growth of all the people of the world.

The world has become a big household and there is a need to change the mindset with the changing times. In 21^th Century there is a need of revolution of ideas for better living standard and equality for all.

This paper discusses the complete evolution of the Idea of Gender Equality and its Growth towards Gender Neutrality because of victimization of under privileged and dominance of strong over the weak irrespective of gender. Though it may sound a little ambitious, but it is the need of the hour to have a calculated framework to understand as well as deal with the upcoming social challenges and to provide a robust infrastructure for accommodating the people by dissolving the boundaries that has been created due to ignorance, over the years.

We all have perception of courage, velour, beauty, dress and fashion, it varies from time to time but when we try to constrict individual based on these external factors the internal sense of morality and wisdom gets dominated by these forces and starts creating a divide, this is what exactly happened in society. From the Pre Vedic Ages till now, the concept has been oscillating like pendulum in vacuum; it can only sip in fresh air when the glass breaks. The day this glass breaks it will definitely bring stability. The very content required to stop the oscillation is the fresh air of ideas and the only breaker of the glass can be the evolved & robust legal system.

Let us now analyze the social status of female over various eras

The Historical Perspective:

The Idea of Gender Equality as seen in the Early Vedic Age

As mentioned in (Rig-Veda, 1, 24.12-15, V.2.7)[1], the society was basically patriarchal i.e. Parents had absolute control on their children.
The system of joint family is clearly depicted in a wedding hymn (Rig-Veda, 10, 35)[2] which indicates that though the newly married wife ruled over her brothers-in-law and even her husband’s parents, yet she respected them.
We all know that the Vedas were not written, nor they were the outcome of realization of a single sage. The Rishis among others included women who belong to the family of Rishis such as Akru, Apàlà, Aprasi, Aranyni, Atrey, Lopàmudrà, who had enriched different portions of the Rig-Veda.
Although the birth of a male child was actually celebrated as the male was perceived as the protector of the family as he used to stay with the parents after marriage, the female child was also given importance, in the early Upanishads, and we find some rituals which were prescribed for procuring a scholarly daughter[3]. The superiority of the women is evident from the works of Grammarians such as Katyayana and Patanjali that women were properly educated in the early Vedic period. They also received education like boys and went through the “Brahmaachary” discipline including the “Upanayana” ritual.
Women also had the freedom to select their husbands. This system was known as “Swayamvar‟. In fact during this time, females of royal families had superior position than the males. They could choose the suitable husband of their choice.
Women were given complete freedom in family matters and were treated as “Ardhanginis”. There was no sati system or early marriage.
Vedic women had economic freedom they could be engaged in teaching work. Spinning and weaving of clothes were done at home. Women also helped their husbands in agricultural.
Wife enjoyed full rights and regularly participated in religious ceremonies with her husband. Religious ceremonies and sacrifices were performed jointly by the husband and the wife. Women even participated actively in religious discourses.
Women usually occupied a prominent place in social gatherings but they were denied entry, into the “Sabhas” because these places besides being used for taking political decisions were also used for gambling, drinking and such others purposes.
Both Ramayana and Mahabharata had given a respectable place for women; women had been called the root of Dharma. We find vast references of the expression of courage, strong willpower and velour of women like Kaikeye, Sita, Rukmani, Satyabhama, Sabitri, Draupadi and others. The Ramayana is a glorious illustration for the Hindu ideal womanhood; it glorifies the value of “Pativratya” and idealizes womanhood as one of the most venerable aspects of our heritage.

By these arguments we can say that the men and woman rights were equally distributed and enjoyed upon in the Early Vedic Period. There was no particular biasness and both genders were treated as per their skill and expertise.

The Idea of Gender Equality as seen in the Later Vedic Age

During the period of Dharmashastras and Puranas the status of women gradually declined and underwent a major change. The girls were deprived of formal education Daughters were regarded as second class citizens
Freedom of women was curtailed. Sons were given more weightage than daughters Girls were prevented from learning the Vedas and becoming Brahmacharinis.
Manu, the law giver of Indian society gave the statement that women have to be under father during childhood, under her husband during youth and under her son during old age.
In the social fields, pre-puberty marriage came to be practiced, widow remarriage was prohibited, husband was given the status of God for a woman
Education was totally denied to woman, custom of ‘Sati’ became increasingly prevalent, purdah system came into vogue and practice of polygyny came to be tolerated.
In the economic field a woman was totally denied a share in her husband’s property by maintaining that a wife and a slave cannot own property.
Women were forbidden to offer sacrifices and prayers, practice penance and undertake pilgrimages.

The Idea of Gender Equality as seen in the Buddhist / Jainism & Mauryan Era

The status of women improved a little during the Buddhist period though there was no tremendous change. Some of the rigidities and restrictions imposed by the caste system were relaxed. Buddha preached equality and he tried to improve the cultural, educational and religious statuses of women
During the benevolent rule of the famous Buddhist kings such as Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Harsha and others, women regained a part of their lost freedom and status due to the relatively broadminded Buddhist philosophy
In the religious field women came to occupy a distinctly superior place. Women were permitted to become “Sanyasis”. Many women took a leading role in Buddhist monastic-life, women had their sangha called the Bhikshuni Sangha, which was guided by the same rules and regulations as these of the monks
Ashoka got his daughter, Sanghamitra, inducted into preaching Buddhism.
From the Jain texts, we learn about the Kousambi princess, Jayanti, who remained a spinster to study religion and philosophy.
Often, Buddhist nuns composed hymns. Women did write Sanskrit plays and verses, excelled in music, painting and other fine arts.
Megasthenes mentioned the Pandya women running the administration. The Satavahana queen, “Nayanika ruled the kingdom on behalf of her minor son. So did Pravabati, daughter of Chandragupta II, on behalf of the minor Vakataka prince. A little after the Gupta period, queens used to rule in Kashmir, Orissa and Andhra. Princess Vijaybhattarika acted as the provincial ruler under the Chalukya King; Vikramaditya I. Women were provincial and village administrators in the Kannada region

The Idea of Gender Equality as seen in the Medieval Period

The Medieval period (Period between 500 A. D to 1500 A.D) proved to be highly disappointing for the Indian women, for their status further deteriorated during this period.
Medieval India was not women’s age it is supposed to be the ‘dark age’ for them. When foreign conquerors like Muslims invaded India they brought with them their own culture.
For them women was the sole property of her father, brother or husband and she does not have any will of her own. This type of thinking also crept into the minds of Indian people and they also began to treat their own women like this.
One more reason for the decline in women’s status and freedom was that original Indians wanted to shield their women from the barbarous Muslim invaders. As polygamy was a norm for these invaders they picked up any women they wanted and kept her in their “harems”.
In order to protect them Indian women started using ‘Purdah’, (a veil), which covers body. Due to this reason their freedom also became affected. They were not allowed to move freely and this lead to the further deterioration of their status.
These problems related with women resulted in changed mindset of people. Now they began to consider a girl as misery and a burden, which has to be shielded from the eyes of intruders and needs extra care.
This gave rise to some new evils such as Child Marriage, Sati, Jauhar and restriction on girl education. Sati: The ritual of dying at the funeral pyre of the husband is known as “Sati” or “Sahagaman”.
It was a norm in medieval India. Girls were married off at the age of 8-10. They were not allowed access to education and were treated as the material being. The plight of women can be imagined by one of the shloka of Tulsidas where he writes “Dhol, Gawar, Shudra, Pashu, Nari, Ye Sab TtadankeAdhikari”. Thus women were compared with animals and were married off at an early age.
The child marriage along with it brought some more problems such as increased birth rate, poor health of women due to repeated child bearing and high mortality rate of women and children.
The condition of widows in medieval India was very bad. They were not treated as human beings and were subjected to a lot of restrictions. They were supposed to live pious life after their husband died and were not allowed entry in any celebration. Their presence in any good work was considered to be a bad omen. Sometimes heads of widows were also shaved down. They were not allowed to remarry. Any woman remarrying was looked down by the society. This cruelty on widows was one of the main reasons for the large number of women committing Sati. In medieval India living as a Hindu widow was a sort of a curse.
The girls of medieval India and especially Hindu society were not given formal education. They were given education related to household chores. But a famous Indian philosopher ‘Vatsyayana’ wrote that women were supposed to be perfect in sixty four arts which included cooking, spinning, grinding, knowledge of medicine, recitation and many more.
The status of women in Southern India was better than the North India. While in Northern India there were not many women administrators, in Southern India we can find some names that made women of that time proud. Priyaketala Devi, Queen of Chalukya Vikramaditya ruled three villages. Another woman named Jakkiabbe used to rule seventy villages.
In South India women had representation in each and every field. Domingo Paes, famous Portuguese traveler testifies to it. He has written in his account that in Vijaynagar kingdom women were present in each and every field.
Nuniz, another famous traveler to the South also agrees to it and says that women were employed in writing accounts of expenses, recording the affairs of kingdom, which shows that they were educated.
There is no evidence of any public school in northern India but according to famous historian Ibn Batuta there were 13 schools for girls and 24 for boys in Honavar.
There was one major evil present in South India of medieval time. But it was the custom of Devadasis. Devadasis was a custom prevalent in Southern India. In this system girls were dedicated to temples in the name of gods and goddesses. The girls were then onwards known as ‘Devadasis’ meaning servant of god. These Devadasis were supposed to live the life of celibacy. All the requirements of Devadasis were fulfilled by the grants given to the temples. In temple they used to spend their time in worship of god and by singing and dancing for the god. Some kings used to invite temple dancers to perform at their court for the pleasure of courtiers and thus some Devadasis converted to Rajadasis (palace dancers) prevalent in some tribes of South India like Yellamma cult.

The Idea of Gender Equality during British Raj

Women’s Struggle and Reforms Though women of India are not at par with her counterpart in Western world but she is struggling hard to make her mark in men’s world.
There have been social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekanand, Swami Dayananda Saraswati who have helped women gain their previous status in society.
Roy Raja Ram Mohan Roy was strictly against the evils prevalent in society in his time. He is the one who has done women a great favour by abolishing Sati lawfully. He himself married a widow thus setting the example for the whole society. Along with ‘Dwarka Nath Tagore’ he founded “Brahmo Samaj” for the reform of Indian society and emancipation of women.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was popularly known as Vidyasager, which means sea of knowledge. He was a pillar of social reform movement of Bengal in 19th century. He strongly supported women education in Bengal and went door to door to persuade people to send their girl child to school. He also did a lot in the field of widow remarriage. He opened many schools for girls.
Mahatma Jyotirao Phule was a real philanthropist. He was the one to open first girl school in India. He is also credited with opening first home for widows of the upper caste and a home for newborn girl children so that they can be saved from female infanticide.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati was the founder of AryaSamaj and gave a cry, “back to Vedas”. He translated Vedas from Sanskrit to Hindi so that a common man can read it and understand that the Vedic Hindu scriptures gave utmost importance to women. He emphasized for the equal rights for women in every field. He tried to change the mindset of people with his Vedic teachings.
Mahatma Gandhi, was the one who liberated Indian women from the clutches of ‘Purdah’ and other social evils. Gandhiji was strictly against the child marriage and favored widow remarriage. He urged the youth to come forward and accept young widows as their life partner.

The Idea of Gender Equality Post Independence

Women in India have now started to participate in all activities such as education, politics, media, art and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc.
The Constitution of India guarantees to all Indian women equality (Article 14), no discrimination by the State (Article15(1)), equality of opportunity (Article 16), equal pay for equal work (Article 39(d)). In addition, it allows special provisions to be made by the State in favour of women and children (Article 15(3)), renounces practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article 51(A) (e)), and also allows for provisions to be made by the State for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief, (Article 42).

The Idea of Gender Equality in 20^th Century

The status of women in modern India in 20^th Century was a sort of a paradox but there were several initiatives taken by Indian Government
On April 29, 1997, a Committee on Empowerment of Women with members from both the Houses was constituted, to secure, status, dignity and equality for women in all fields
Animal Husbandry & Dairying played important role in providing employment and income generating opportunities particularly for women
The sex ratio of India shows that the Indian society was still prejudiced against female. There were 933 females per thousand males in India according to the census of 2001, which was much below the world average of 990 females.
Many laws such as The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, The Hindu Succession Act of 1956, The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, The Hindu Women Right to Property Act of 1937, The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, to protect women and punishment is severe were made n this era
The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1956.

Some special initiations have also been taken in recent years in this regards viz:

National Commission for Women In January1992, this statutory body with a specific mandate to study andmonitor all matters relating to the constitutional and legalsafeguards provided for women, review the existing legislationto suggest amendments wherever necessary was set up.
The 72^nd and 73rdconstitutional Amendment Acts passed in 1992 by Parliament ensure one-third of the total seats for women in all elected offices in all Rural and Urban Local Bodies.
The National Plan of Action for the Girl Child (1991-2000 AD): The Action Plan is to ensure survival, protection anddevelopment of Girl Child with the ultimate objection ofbuilding up a letter future for the girl child.
National Policy for Empowerment of women, 2001 The Department ofWomen and Child Development in the Ministry of Human Resources Development has prepared a ‘National policy forEmpowerment of Women in the year 2001. The goal of thispolicy is to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women.

The Idea of Gender Equality in 21^th Century

India Government incorporated several policies for upliftment of women in the society in 21^st Century. In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio of India 2011 is 943 females per 1000 of males. The Sex Ratio 2011 shows an upward trend from the census 2001 data
After subjugation for years the status of Women seems to be changing; now we can see women at the top of their fields. There are many example of influential women in the world which has made a global impact on the society
Change is rippling through the Business, Technology, Entertainment, Philanthropically and Political spheres alike. The 2018 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list released by Forbes celebrated the icons, innovators and instigators who were using their voice to change power structures and create a lasting impact.
Here is a quotes by the famous influential women of the World Shonda Rhimes

“I’ve seen plenty of powerful women squander a chance at power simply because they waited for someone else to give them permission to have power. There is no permission slip — you just have to BE powerful.”

Four India Women have also been inducted in the List of the famous Influential Women of the World in Forbes 2018.

It is clear by this argument that the opportunity is available now for the Women to take power in their hand.

Globalization has brought a new outlook to India and the avenues have been opened now.

Several laws and policies have been formed to reduce gender discrimination and provide an equal status to females but still there is a lot of work to be done in this field.

In this context Let us also have a glimpse on the Role of United Nation[4] as an Organization of Global Leaders and a Platform for Learning on Coordination basis.

United Nations Development Programme, popularly known as UNDP is an important wing of UN that provides pathway for sustainable development for all the member nations. Its targets are to be achieved by 2030 thus we can understand that there are still some underlying challenges in the world to work for Gender Equality or for women rights:

Here is a brief description of the targets laid down by the UN[5]

End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.
Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life.
Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.
Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.
Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.

Gender equality by 2030 requires urgent action to eliminate the many root causes of discrimination that still curtail women’s rights in private and public spheres. For example, discriminatory laws need to change and legislation adopted to proactively advance equality. Yet 49 countries still lack laws protecting women from domestic violence, while 39 bar equal inheritance rights for daughters and sons. Eliminating gender-based violence is a priority, given that this is one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world today. Based on data from 87 countries, 1 in 5 women and girls under the age of 50 will have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner within the last 12 months. Harmful practices, such as child marriage, steal the childhood of 15 million girls under age 18 every year.

Women do 2.6 times more unpaid care and domestic work than men. While families, societies and economies depend on this work, for women, it leads lower earnings and less time to engage in non-work activities. In addition to equal distribution of economic resources, which is not only a right, but accelerates development in multiple areas, there needs to be a fair balance of responsibility for unpaid care work between men and women.

Sexual and reproductive rights are critical in their own right. Shortfalls in these multiply other forms of discrimination, depriving women of education and decent work, for example. Yet only 52 per cent of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care.

While more women have entered political positions in recent years, including through the use of special quotas, they still hold a mere 23.7 per cent of parliamentary seats, far short of parity. The situation is not much better in the private sector, where women globally occupy less than a third of senior and middle management positions.

UN Women acts to empower women and girls across all its programmes and advocacy. With stepped up action on gender equality, every part of the world can make progress towards sustainable development by 2030, leaving no one behind

If we are to actually achieve the targets and have a sustainable growth towards Gender Equality by 2030 we need to have the fulfill the policy objective already in place.

While women in the West had to fight for over a century to get some of their basic rights, like the right to vote, the Constitution of India gave women equal rights with men from the beginning ,now the time has come when there is an equal platform in the society after years of struggle.
We also need to see how some of these empowered women of 21^th Century may create an era victimization of men.

In context for exploitation and harassment of women let us examine Section 498A[6] of IPC and why the nature of the law has has changed in recent times

When first enacted in 1961, the law sought to protect women from being killed or tortured in their marital homes by greedy husbands and in-laws. Thereafter, passionate advocacy by women’s rights activists resulted in the insertion of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, making the offence of dowry harassment cognizable and non-bailable, thereby bringing enormous relief to women who face virtually insurmountable obstacles in the public space, especially when taking complaints to the police or facing long-winded judicial proceedings.

In a sense, Section 498A sought to level the playing field and further ensure the safety of women. However, as with all laws relating to women, the patriarchal, self-fulfilling argument that Section 498A had created a bunch of monstrous, disgruntled women determined to destroy family values and drag innocent husbands and in-laws to jail for their own nefarious purposes began to dominate the discourse.

Need for Improvisation

Earlier in 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court which mandated a nine-point checklist before any arrests could be made under Section 498A. Then followed the latest Supreme Court judgment mandates a family welfare committee in every district to scrutinize dowry harassment cases .Members of this committee can be social workers or “anyone interested in the subject” and may also be paid an honorarium. The police are expected to consider the recommendations of this committee before making any arrest. The Supreme Court has also done away with the need for the accused to make a personal appearance in court in addition to other forms of relief.

It happened because there was a perceived notion that many false cases and being filed just to prove one as a victim.

Sadly, the actual victim seems to remains ignored in the judgment. As a result of these constraints, thousands of genuinely distressed women were not able to access justice. Women victims, it would appear, become victims only if they die. While still alive, getting justice may actually be subjected to scrutiny.

Perversely, but predictably, the attention of the judges, and indeed of a large section of society, is directed solely towards the alleged, perceived “misuse” of the section by “unscrupulous” women. Ironically, the concern is leavened by a crumb of concern about women, in this case the women who are “wrongly” arrested under Section 498A — the mothers and sisters-in-law. The judges observe that women who ought to use Section 498A as a shield are actually using it as a weapon against their unfortunate in-laws, going so far as to say “this court earlier noticed the fact that most of such complaints are filed in the heat of the moment, over trivial issues”, thus leading to “harassment of the accused”..

In fact, the statistics cited by the judges took note of the earlier observation of Justice C.K. Prasad that in 2012 two lakh arrests were made under Section 498A, including 47,951 women. Although chargesheets were filed in 93.6% of the cases, the conviction rate was only 14.4%. Based on this, the judges conclude that the complaints were frivolous and “trivial”.

The verdict of the Supreme Court in Rajesh Sharma & Ors.vs. State of Uttar Pradesh[7] needs to be analyzed because it holds victims of violence guilty of misusing the law. In Rajesh Sharma, the court has not indicated any specific error committed by a court below. Instead of identifying the errors, the court mentions that “there is a tendency to rope in all the family members”. The court mentions the statement of the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) that there is a growing tendency to abuse the provisions of the law, and mentions data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to create a foundation that there is widespread misuse of the law.

The Supreme Court relied on Sushil Kumar Sharma vs. Union of India, Preeti Gupta vs. State of Jharkhand, Ramgopal vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, and Savitri Devi vs. Ramesh Chand[8], to strengthen the point that there is a need to adopt measures to prevent such misuse.

Further The Supreme Court again modified its July 2017 order, which roped in retirees, wives of “working officers” and social workers to sift genuine complaints of dowry harassment from the frivolous ones.

In 2017, the court ordered that ‘family welfare committees’ to be set up in districts. These committees, comprising choice citizens, were supposed to act as a vanguard against “disgruntled wives” using the anti-dowry harassment provision of Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as a “weapon” against their husbands and in-laws, young and old, rather than as a “shield”.

Even the police, as per the order, could register an FIR only after the committee concerned cleared the complaint as valid and not frivolous.

A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra held that such panels or committee had no place under the established criminal procedural law. They were beyond the Code of Criminal Procedure Code.

With this, the Bench, also comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, has restored to the police their power to immediately register an FIR and act on a dowry harassment complaint filed by a married woman.

Chief Justice Misra observed that the Bench of Justices A.K. Goel (now retired) and U.U. Lalit, which passed the order, merely wanted to craft a fair and reasonable procedure for complaints under Section 498-A.

But Chief Justice Misra rationalized that the blame does not lie with Section 498-A, which was introduced in 1983 by Parliament to protect hapless married women against dowry menace. The evil lay in the misuse of arrest powers by the police “who behave like emperors considering the notion that they can do what they please”.

Section 498-A IPC is cognisable and non-bailable offence. A guilty person faces up to three years in prison.

Chief Justice Misra agreed with the order to have a designated police officer to probe dowry complaints. It had ordered the Director General of Police of every State to provide such officers rigorous training.

The Chief Justice however differed with Justice Goel’s direction to empower district judges to close dowry harassment cases if the parties reached out-of-court settlement. Instead, the parties would now have to approach the High Court concerned for quashing of the complaint filed by the married woman.

The three-judge Bench also held that accused persons should apply for exemption from personal appearance in dowry harassment hearings.

It is quite clear that :

As we are moving towards 2030 perspiring to achieve Gender Equality the framed cases based on biasness need also to be tackled on the basis of merit. In the long run we must try to understand Gender Neutrality as a core concept and bring up the ideas for formation of an environment based on mutual trust and respect for all genders not only male or female.

The Impact of Globalization on the Concept of Gender Equality & Evolution of Gender Recognition – Path towards being Gender Neutral

We will never be the land of freedom and equality until we learn to accept every person, no matter their gender.

More and more people everyday are coming out as different genders. Some people see this as a ‘trend’, but what is really happening is that there is growing support for those who do not identify in our society’s gender binary. When people think of gender, they normally think male and female.

But really, gender, just like sexuality, is a spectrum; There are not only two options. Someone could identify as gender neutral or non-binary, meaning they don’t identify with male or female. Or they could identify as a gender, meaning they don’t identify with any gender at all.

These people are not wrong or confused, in fact, they are much happier once they are accepted for who they are.

All of this could have been fixed by one simple adjustment i.e. by creating gender neutral housing and rooming options.

The introduction of India’s first gender-neutral hostel by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, is an affirmation in the continued struggle for the recognition of gender diversity.

What this represents is a larger problem in our society. We divide everything into pink and blue thinking that this makes this easier for everyone, but it doesn’t. It only makes it easier for that the system supports. Yes, there have been small wins for both trans and non-binary gender people; some places now have gender neutral bathrooms in addition to male and female. But when you think of how many areas there are in India, or even across the world where these people can’t be accepted

Gender has been perpetually recognized through a universal and normative category that has inevitably led to its homogenization. However, this endeavor has acknowledged gender as an analytical category that allows self-expression dictated solely by personal choice, leaving little or no room for victimization. Gender-inclusive spaces are, therefore, necessary to build acceptance and tolerance towards non-binary or gender non-conforming individuals in a collectivistic society.

It is imperative to acknowledge the need for more gender-neutral spaces. This is more of a cultural notion than a biological construct. Gender is a game played by the cells in our body. It is easy to confuse it with sex. Gender is not sex. Our homes do not have separate washrooms.

When our relatives come at home’, everybody shares the same room. There is no bias. In fact, it would be disturbing if we had exclusive spaces. A baby step at a time is how we transform the world.

A gender-equal society should be one where the word ‘gender’ does not exist. Since time immemorial, the issue of gender divide has been embedded in our society, Creating gender-inclusive spaces drives home the importance of indiscrimination at the very outset. It helps break the stigma of gender fluidity and discrimination based on specific genders. If hostels and washrooms are made gender-inclusive in colleges and workspaces, it will break down the barriers pertaining to specific genders within the community and will be a step towards gender equality and inclusivity.

Conclusion

A difficult road is still to be travelled in Indian as well as in global context; we can only hope that after achieving the conceptual Gender Equality, we will try to drive our ways towards Gender Neutral World.

A legal framework for amalgamation of the upcoming trends emerging globally should be adhered and a robust system for accommodating all concerned irrespective of Gender should fall in place for active provisions of equal representation by all members of society.

References:

Altekar, A. S. (2014). The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization.
Arvind Sharma (2005) ‘Women in Indian Religisons’ (Ed.) Oxford University Press. Atharva Veda XIV-I, p. 43-44.
Avinash Gadhre (2015),The Socio-Economic Status of Women in India Ancient to Modern Era A press note .
Bader, C. (2013).Women in Ancient India.Trubner’s Oriental Series, Routledge, ISBN: 1136381333, 9781136381331.
Comments to Ashtadhyayi 3.3.21 and 4.1.14 by Patanjali.
Jayapalan.(2001). Indian Society and Social Institutions. Atlantic Publishers, ISBN: 978- 81-7156-925-0, p. 145.
Manu Smriti(III-56).
Mishra.sham.kartik (2012) ‘Women status and empowerment in India,’ New Delhi.p.p
Mishra, R. C. (2006). Towards Gender Equality. Authors Press, ISBN: 81-7273-306-2.

Online References

https://readofcopy.com/lib/philosophy-book-rigveda-new-atheism.pdf?web=ttime.app
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda/Mandala_10/Hymn_35
https://www.hinduwebsite.com/upanishads/wisdom/upanishads-day06.asp
http://www.498a.org/
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report243.pdf
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html

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