Human Rights and Women in India

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HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN: INDIAN CONTEXT Asst. Prof. Shashikant Mundhe Siddharth College of Com. & Eco, Fort, Mumbai – 400 001 INTRODUCTION: The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few centuries. From equal status with men in ancient times, through the low points of the medieval period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful. In modern India, women have held high offices in India including that of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition. As of 2011, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the parliament) were women. However, women in India continue to face atrocities such as rape, acid throwing, dowry killings while young girls are forced into prostitution; as of late rape has seen a sharp increase following several high profile cases of young girls brutally raped in public areas. According to a global poll conducted by Thomson Reuters, India is the "fourth most dangerous country" in the world for women, and the worst country for women among the G20countries. There was a need for legal intervention to ensure the constitutional rights of women to live and work in a violence-free environment. To uphold the constitutional mandate, the Government has enacted several legislative measures to ensure equal rights to women, to counter social discrimination, and various forms of violence and attrocities and to provide support services especially to working women. The present research paper analyses the various rights given to women in India by the Indian Constitution and various laws enacted over the time. This paper, precisely, is an analysis of various Acts and Sections of Indian Penal Code to protect and prevent women from various forms of exploitations. 1)
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