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Gender Equality in Contemporary India : Issues and Challenges

Men and women can be said to be two pillars of society. Yet the society has always attributed different position and status to men and women and that this differential treatment has rendered women counterpart mostly in a disadvantageous position. Indian society has evolved through different phases during which some progressive steps have been taken to do away with the discriminations based on gender. The social reform movement which emerged during 19th century raised the question of right to equality and equal status and opportunity of women. Starting from the struggles to bring in legislations to eradicate certain social evils like ‘Sati Pratha’, we have travelled quite a distance guaranteeing one third of women’s participation in the local bodies through 73rd and 74th amendments. However, despite many constitutional and legal provisions in place, the idea of a gender just society still remains a far cry. The rights of women continue to be violated and in many cases they even fail to channelize their grievances and claims. In our Indian society marked by patriarchal values the male counterpart continues to control both the production and reproduction process thereby establishing its dominance. The increasing rates of crime against women including sexual harassment at workplace and rape clearly suggest that they continue to remain vulnerable even today. Since mere legal provision is not sufficient to address the question of gender justice, we must also therefore critically engage ourselves to question the culture and tradition privileging the male over female. I further assert that the