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Conferring administrative, economic, legislative and political powers on women is the most burning subject today. In spite of claims and promises of the respective governments in most of the Afro-Asian countries and elsewhere, the members of the fair sex at times continue to be targets of physical violence, mental torture, discrimination in employment opportunities and family disharmony due to hostile attitude of their in-laws. The main reason behind the plight of women in the developing countries is their illiteracy and dependence on man for survival.

Almost all the constitutions of the world talk of equality between men and women but in practice they are the losers and the sufferers. According to a recent U.N. bulletin, women have not achieved equality with men in any country.

In India even politically active women fight shy of demanding equality with men in all walks of life. In the Supreme Court of India, for example, there is only one woman Judge as also in the Delhi High Court. There does not seem to be dearth of able lawyers among the ladies who deserve to be elevated as judges of the higher judiciary. But in most of the high courts in the country there is not a single lady judge. This is an indication of a clandestine bias against women. No one raises his or her voice in this respect. It seems it has become an accepted norm in the corridors of power that men have always to be given the first preference. This tendency has to be curbed. The womenOs organisations only discuss obscene advertisements, rise in the prices of essential commodities and crimes committed against members of their sex. There is apparently no will in them to capture the seats of power from where they can introduce effective reforms.

The Muslim women have no separate platforms of action. They tend to submit to fate. Like other illiterate women, their main objective in life is to win the love and affection of their husbands. In that game they are totally lost and lag far behind the positions of strength. There is no aspiration among Muslim women to achieve political power.

It is a matter of dismay that in a large number of countries across the globe there is no urge in men to share their powers of governing the society and running the administration with women.

U.N. Charter

It is said that few causes promoted by the United Nations have generated as much support as the campaign to promote and protect the equal rights of women. The UN Charter was the first international agreement at the end of the Second World War to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Over the years, the UN has helped create a legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.

The UN Charter took special care to protect and honour women because they were brutally molested by all the armies that participated in the battle zones. There are horrifying stories of how the soldiers captured women and kept them for pleasure in their camps and trenches.

Legal Protection

There are relevant provisions in the Indian Penal Code (1860) as also in the Indian Constitution (1950) and in the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961) to safeguard women from harassment, violence, mental injuries and discrimination. But there is no general improvement in the status of women in our country.

Mere eulogies to women will not solve the real problems confronting them. The poems and essays in praise of the fair sex have become meaningless so far as the agenda of equality of women is concerned.

Long ago, there was an Indian film portraying the women in a sarcastic way. They were mocked at as physiologically being incapable of managing the countryOs affairs. That concept still persists with minor changes here and there. Men will have to remodel their thinking about women now. The unity of the family does not wholly depend upon a woman confined within the four walls of her house. Working women have a better concept of life. Their independence does not undermine the harmony in the family. If ever there is any disharmony, it is because of the self-centredness of the man heading the household. It can be pleasantly imagined what will be the state of the human society where men and women are equally placed to manage the affairs of a locality or those of a nation.

The life expectancy of women and their educational attainments and income are the highest in Sweden, Canada, Norway, USA and Finland. There is no chaos in the lives of their spouses there. The countries enjoy an enviable superiority at international levels.

Some of the facts relating to women are amazing indeed: Of the worldOs 1.3 billion poor people, nearly 70 per cent are women. Of the worldOs nearly one billion illiterate adults, two-thirds are women. Two -thirds of the 130 million children around the world, who are not in schools, are girls.

It is pertinent to note that due to the noble spirit of its Charter, the 1979 U.N. Convention adopted a resolution on eliminating all forms of discrimination against women. It is often described as a Bill of Rights for Women. The resolution has been ratified by 154 countries till date excluding India.

The fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in September, 1995 resulted in an agreement by 189 delegations on a five-year plan to enhance the socio-economic and political empowerment of women, improve their health, advance their education and promote their reproductive rights.

Women in India and in similar situations in other countries will have to continue their struggle for their empowerment. Without it menOs life will remain incomplete and purposeless. Men and women are not only meant to raise children and manage the affairs of small families but they are here to work together to achieve greater heights in life. MenOs sharing power with women will make things easier for both of them. The obsolete traditions will have to be discarded to make human life more purposeful. It goes without saying that women will feel more secure and energetic once they occupy the seats of power with men.