Casteism root cause of honour killings: Speaker
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 9
New Delhi, November 9
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Days after the Global Human Development Report 2011 placed India behind its South Asian friends on critical indicators of gender equality, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today said caste and dowry system were the root cause of man-woman barriers in India and must be eliminated to ensure gender parity.
Strongly condemning honour killings, the Speaker, while delivering the 17th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture in memory of Justice Bhandare who boldly took up the cause of women, said caste system was the root cause of honour killings.
“I believe that gender equality and women empowerment can be achieved only when we are able to address the caste and dowry system. The deep-rooted caste system is the root cause of honour killings. The proponents of this system propagate marriages within the caste to ensure the persistence of caste-based social inequalities and are opposed to any dilution of this rigid system through inter-caste marriages. This practice must be condemned and women should be free to decide the course of their future,” she said.
Agreeing that despite women-specific laws there continued to be differences between the de jure and de facto status of women, she called for an end to dowry system. “This system has resulted in female foeticide, female infanticide, and discrimination against the girl child. The adverse sex ratio is a consequence of dowry system. Responsible citizens must act as agents of change to end it,” she said.
Hailing the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution that reserved seats for women in panchayats, Meira Kumar said access to developmental benefits still remained conditioned by social attitude towards women.
“These prejudices manifest themselves in low literacy rate for women. The gap between the male literacy rate of 82.14 per cent and the female literacy rate of 65.46 per cent is about 17 per cent,” she said.
“Labour markets in industry and services sector also are male dominated. Women workers account only for a third of our workforce with a higher percentage of women in the informal sector,” the Speaker noted with concern.
She said it was a matter of grave concern that even in this era of globalisation and despite a visible increase in the number of women in key positions, primary production activities such as manufacturing and construction remained male dominated. “Women continue to lag behind in quality entrepreneurship and employment due to lack of skill, capacity building and education,” she said, seeking a favourable legislative regime for women.
Days after the Global Human Development Report 2011 placed India behind its South Asian friends on critical indicators of gender equality, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today said caste and dowry system were the root cause of man-woman barriers in India and must be eliminated to ensure gender parity.
Strongly condemning honour killings, the Speaker, while delivering the 17th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture in memory of Justice Bhandare who boldly took up the cause of women, said caste system was the root cause of honour killings.
“I believe that gender equality and women empowerment can be achieved only when we are able to address the caste and dowry system. The deep-rooted caste system is the root cause of honour killings. The proponents of this system propagate marriages within the caste to ensure the persistence of caste-based social inequalities and are opposed to any dilution of this rigid system through inter-caste marriages. This practice must be condemned and women should be free to decide the course of their future,” she said.
Agreeing that despite women-specific laws there continued to be differences between the de jure and de facto status of women, she called for an end to dowry system. “This system has resulted in female foeticide, female infanticide, and discrimination against the girl child. The adverse sex ratio is a consequence of dowry system. Responsible citizens must act as agents of change to end it,” she said.
Hailing the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution that reserved seats for women in panchayats, Meira Kumar said access to developmental benefits still remained conditioned by social attitude towards women.
“These prejudices manifest themselves in low literacy rate for women. The gap between the male literacy rate of 82.14 per cent and the female literacy rate of 65.46 per cent is about 17 per cent,” she said.
“Labour markets in industry and services sector also are male dominated. Women workers account only for a third of our workforce with a higher percentage of women in the informal sector,” the Speaker noted with concern.
She said it was a matter of grave concern that even in this era of globalisation and despite a visible increase in the number of women in key positions, primary production activities such as manufacturing and construction remained male dominated. “Women continue to lag behind in quality entrepreneurship and employment due to lack of skill, capacity building and education,” she said, seeking a favourable legislative regime for women.
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