Why Gender Discrimination?

For ages, it has been a male dominated world. In the past, women were treated no better than slaves. They were denied all sorts of freedom and they had no rights.

No doubt, the conditions in the country appear to have changed to a large extent. The constitution of free India has given equal rights to woman thereby putting her at par with man socially, politically, economically. But women continue to be treated in many respects in the same old way, especially in rural areas. A girl in the family is still an unwanted burden and in some cases she is even denied the right to live. It has been both shocking and disturbing to that at some places; female infanticide is practised with no qualms whatsoever. Be it south or north of India, the gender discrimination is rampant all over. Very often she is discriminated against her more privileged brother at home; in school she is treated as ‘weak’ by her male classmates. As she grows older and goes out to work, she suffers discrimination and harassment of all kinds. In spite of all the so called ‘rights’ given to women, she is not free to go out alone after evening as the crimes against women have been consistently on the increase.

No country can progress if its women are not given their participation or are devalued in any way. There’s absolutely no reason why a ‘girl’ should be treated as inferior. It has to start right from birth. Urgent steps need to be taken to make parents and society aware of the equal importance of girls everywhere. Healthy public opinion must be created in the society against gender discrimination and all the undesirable activities that it gives birth to.

What is most required is required is compulsory education of girls so that they develop into self sufficient and self respecting individuals. Laws made to protect the rights of women must be implemented with honesty and efficiency. They should not simply stay on paper. If we want our country to grow and prosper, the females have to be  given their due place.