Swadhina

                 

WOMEN'S DAY-2014

WE ARE THE NURTURERS, WE ARE THE FARMERS

If we look into the social scenario of India today, there is a growing noise about the issue of violence and sexual atrocities on women. Debates, protest marches, seminars, discussion forums are focusing on this growing menace in the Indian social system.

India's National Crime Records Bureau published in February 2014l reported that 8,233 Indian women were killed in 2013 in dowry-related violence. Despite the different awareness campaigns, strong laws in action ,the incidence of dowry deaths grew by nearly 3% over the previous five years, and torture at the hands of a husband or family increased by 5.4%.

Our capital city Delhi has witnessed 806 rapes in 2013 until June. A new case is reported every 22 minutes.

While we are focusing on the social side of the problem, there is also another side to the story which is going largely unnoticed. While the cases of discrimination, violence, harassment of the urban and semi-urban areas are atleast being reported or are grabbing headlines in some cases, the discriminations and violations faced by the rural women mostly go unnoticed.

 If we carefully inspect the atrocities that are happening on women in the rural areas we would find that there is also an economic reason behind many of the cases. Much of these atrocities are nothing but land-grabbing techniques; techniques to deny a woman her due property rights or a tool of subjugation so that she does not raise her voice.

It is from this same mentality that we deny a woman the right to be recognized as an economic contributor – to the family, to the society. She is branded as the ‘farmer’s wife’  but never the farmer. So this year we want to remind ourselves that as women we are equal contributors to the society – socially and economically. We are the Nurturers. We are the Farmers. The same hand that nurtures children, also ably nurtures crops.

It is not just a campaign but a part of a movement to ensure that women are not denied of their rights – social or economical rights. Because we believe that denial of rights is a form of violence – it is a part of the social system of subjugation. But it is a matter of great shame that the system of denial of due rights is continuing even today, even after the introduction of different legislations and schemes.

A recent study of three prominent states of India by ILC, through the organization Landesa, brought forward some glaring discriminations that continue to flourish the Indian system till date, despite the introduction of the Hindu Succession Act in 2005 which promised equal land rights for women over her parental property.

Among the 1400 women surveyed in states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh only 13% women said they inherited or expected to inherit their parental land and property.

44% of the women said that their parents wouldn’t agree to give the women their share of the property. And it is also surprising that due to social acclimatization even most of the women believed that it was wrong on their part to ask for their share of the property.

51% of the women shared this belief.  And this, inspite of the fact that in India about 80% women are involved in active agriculture and related work, in addtition to their daily chores. In fact 48% family-based farming in India are led by women.

It is this system which sows the seat of gender discrimination. Since social power stems from economic contribution, this seed of discrimination becomes the cause and the resultant for social oppression of women. Since the society cannot visualize a woman as the natural inheritor of land, her family status as well as social status remains as a ‘farm-labourer’ and a ‘caretaker of the family’ with no decision-making power of her own. And just because the society cannot think beyond this, it cannot think of bestowing women the right to be the natural land-owner. It is this thought that denies the chief food-producer the right to get adequate nutrition herself. It is the same imbalanced social process that denies a woman her natural rights to knowledge, education and upliftment.

It is in this context that we should lead forward our quest for social justice. On this Women’s Day we thus demand the following:

* That women be recognized as a natural and equal inheritor of land, along with the men of the family.

* That the rights of women over land not be limited to their roles as a economic provider alone but also ensure better nutrition, health and food security to her.

* That they be allowed to strengthen the tools of empowerment like education, skill-training, knowledge-building and awareness – that are pertinent to obtaining and maintaining the rights with self-dignity.

* That the right to income generation and stable livelihood be a part of the right to land and property of women.

* That rights of women and protection of women be the high- priority goals of the social plans, public policies and government interventions in the coming days.

* That a strong system of protection of women’s rights and dignity begin to function with immediate effect – with the collaboration of state and non-state actors.