Role of Government in Overcoming Gender Bias
 Introduction
- Rampant gender bias against women in India exists at all levels of public and private life. For example, the workforce participation rate of women in this country is merely 2 1 .9% while for men it is 54.4%.
- A similar bias can be seen if we look at the sex ratio, health status of women, female participation in politics, education level of women, and economic dependence of women compared to that of men.
- As a welfare and egalitarian state, it is the government’s prime responsibility to make an attempt ac reducing the biases char exist against women. The Indian government recognizes this and has launched multifaceted initiatives.
- Main argument of the essay: There is no denying the important role that the government can play in overcoming gender bias, but there are constraints and implementation problems that need to be resolved first.
Body
- Why is the government’s role in overcoming gender bias important?
- Only the government has the authority to use force against citizens and it can use this authority to address the worse forms of gender bias such as rapes and dowry deaths.
- The government holds the power of influence over the general public and it can effectively disseminate messages about gender equality that will be accepted more readily.
- Being the largest development agency, the government has resources that can be used for overcoming gender bias through various initiatives. Individuals and NGOs do not have this advantage.
- Some of the government’s efforts so far towards women’s empowerment:
- Women have 33% reservation in elections to local bodies such as Panchayats. This has helped increase women’s participation in politics.
- The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 , provides regulations regarding leave and continuity of employment for women in case of pregnancy.
- The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act protects women at public and private places from sexual harassment.
- Various legislations such as the Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 , and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 provide protection to women from biased customs, rituals, and treatment.
Constraints present in the current scenario for the government’s effective intervention:
- In many instances, the practices of gender bias are out of the purview of the government and in the private sphere, such as giving less nutritious food or poor medical care to girls. Consequently, it is not possible for the government to intervene in all the matters.
- Although the spirit of government’s schemes and acts is good, their implementation is pitiable, which results in the continuation of gender bias.
- Some public representatives and officers also harbour biased attitudes towards women, which leads to the lack of political and government will to work on achieving the status of equality for women.
Conclusion
- The government plays a vital role in overcoming gender bias due to its influence, availability of resources, and authoritative position.
- The Indian government has launched many schemes and programs and passed legislations in favour of women, but there are still constraints to these efforts due to ineffective implementation, lack of political will, and the private nature of some practices of bias.
- The government’s role has proved to be a boon in hastening women’s empowerment, and the improved status of women in the society since independence is a proof of that. However, there needs be more concerted effort towards enhancing the status of women by improving the implementation of the current schemes and programmes, and using its position to change societal attitudes towards women.
Notes
- Keywords: government, gender bias
- The scope of the essay is limited since it only asks to discuss the government’s role specifically with regard to gender bias. So ensure that you write only about that.
- This topic does not seek a concrete argument; instead you are expected to explore multiple sides of the issue instead of arguing for and against an argument.
- For more data on gender-related information, refer to the report Women and Men in India-2015 published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.