We Indians tend to enjoy every little thing in life, be it sunshine on a chilly day or unexpected rain on a scorching one. Indian men and women alike enjoy life and everything that comes with it. But there is one specific thing that Indian women don’t get to enjoy and that is equal rights.
Seems fishy right? Well it’s not, it is pretty straight forward. Indian women may get to enjoy discounted transportation but that’s about where it ends. No one pays attention to these basic rights that still seem to be absconding for Indian women-
1. Rights against Female Genital Mutilation
In certain communities of our country, female genital mutilation is a prevalent practice where either a part or the entire clitoral hood is removed. It has often been linked to religious norms but it is a clear violation of right to privacy and basic bodily autonomy. Haven’t women had enough of society dictating the course of their lives that we need more of what seems like an outright breach of one’s rights upon their own body?
2. Minimum marital age rights
Barely crossing the legal threshold, women can be subjected to marriage but still can’t legally get drunk. So you mean to tell us that getting married as an Indian woman requires less age experience than to just get some drinks?
3. Rights against marital rape
To much surprise, marital rape still has not been criminalized by the IPC, which seems pretty baffling since the conversation and legal proceedings related to the matter but all to futile flutter. The plea for criminalization of this law was rejected on the basis of ‘considering all aspects of the law’. Which seems almost obsolete considering the state of society we are living in with stats projecting the dire need for such laws.
4. Rights to marry other women
India does not recognize same sex marriage and it is a part of a much larger scheme of laws but Indian women are still not allowed to marry the women of their choice. Marriage has always been a much prodded topic in the case of Indian women and rightfully so because there are certain practices that need to be updated with the changing pace of society and same-sex marriage is one of them.
5. Rights against witch-hunts
This is not Salem and we are not in a fictional storyline. Witch hunts are still very real and equally prevalent across India. Indian women often fall victim to superstition and poverty, leading them to face the brunt of a poorly educated society. Women are attacked, lynched, even executed publicly for as much as being suspected for practicing witchcraft. And such practices are directly related to the poor state of scientific temper and literacy.
These are in no way all the rights that Indian women need at the soonest but nonetheless they are good enough to start the wave of equipping women with rights that will truly celebrate them!