Introduction To Vienna Declaration And Programme For Action,1993:-

By the 1980 and 1990s the women’s human rights community began to present a critique of male bias in
the prioritization and interpretation of human rights at United Nations, especially its human rights
commission. To counteract the invisibility of abuses against women, the second world conference on
Human Rights held in Vienna: the Global campaign for women’s Human Rights was organized to influence
the outcome of this historic meeting. The centre for women’s Global Leadership collaborated with
women’s organization around the world to launch and coordinate the campaign. The campaign goal was
to give visibility to forms of violence against women that United Nations experts in human rights and govt
had failed to include as part of human rights, especially those occurring in the community, family and
private sphere, and to demand govt accountability for eradicating them. To do this, the global campaign
organized a series of tribunals around the world, culminating in the Vienna Tribunal for women’s Human
Rights, in which 33 women testified to first-hand experience of violence in the family, war crimes against
women, violations of bodily integrity, socio-economic violations and political persecution and
discrimination. The testimonies were heard by an audience of non-governmental organization (NGOs) and
country delegates to the official conference and judged by a distinguished panel. The strength and
effectiveness of the Global Campaign can be seen in the adoption of many of these recommendations in
the Vienna Declaration, the conference’s final document and later by U.N. The declaration to Eliminate
violence against women was approved by the General Assembly in December 1993. The United Nations
Human Rights Commission did approve a special Rapporteur on violence against women, appointing
Radhika Coomaraswany. The optional protocol to CEDAW was approved by the United Nations general
Assembly in Dec 1999 and went into force in 2000. An International criminal court was established in Dec
1999 that includes rape and other forms of sexual violence-including enforced prostitution, forced
pregnancy and sexual slavery as crimes against humanity and as war crimes when committed in the
context of international or internal armed conflict. Armed with these new agreement with a rapporteur
inside the Human Rights Commission, with an all-out effort at the United Nations to integrate and
mainstream a gender perspective in all its institutions, human rights organization have been able to work
more closely with women’s organization to bring urgent issues of violence against women into the
mainstream of human rights practice

❖ Beijing Declaration And Platform For Act,1995:

On women held in Beijing in 1995 is notable in that it finally put the UN stamp on the concept that
Women’s rights are human rights and also for the fact that it initiated “gender Mainstreaming” which
denoted the acceptance of “gender” as a holistic approach to humanitywhich denoted the acceptance of
gender as a holistic approach to humanity- which includes both man and women. It took an exceedingly
long time for the realization to dawn that “gender” was not only women’s issues but was linked to most
other issues such as violence, health care or political participation. Gender mainstreaming seeks to
empower women by removing obstacles that have been constructed by societies that operate to the
disadvantage of women. By evaluating laws, policies, programmes, customs, practices, and an array of
inequities from a gender perspective women a men can identity those areas in which women have been
discriminated against and develop new policies to overcome that discrimination. The greatest struggle has
been simply to make the human rights of women visible, whether it is with regard to the use of violence
against women, or in issues of employment, education, health care or other rights. As the UN’s human
rights staff explained in December 1999, “Gender Mainstreaming in thus the process of bringing an
awareness of the status of women into the public arena. In the field of women rights, this primarily
involves realizing that there is a gender dimension to every occurrence of a human rights violations”.
Mainstreaming also requires increasing women’s actual participation in the human rights mechanism and
to ensure that mainstreaming has an enduring effect on the way human rights work is carried out,
resolving a core bureaucratic problem of coordination and co-operation among to many parts of the United
Nations System. Indeed, much of the Credit for putting the issue onto the agenda of U.N. Human rights
bodies goes to the non-governmental women’s activists and organizations who mobilized their efforts in
conjunction with the preparations for the world conference on Human rights, held in Vienna in 1993.
Before this, women’s human rights were truly an invisible subject for the U.N. human rights programmes.

The 1995 Beijing Platform for action stressed the importance of applying the six international human rights
instruments in ways that would clearly consider “the systematic and systematic nature of discrimination
against women that gender analysis has clearly indicated” and that would ensure” full integrative and
mainstreaming of the human rights of women”. (Paragraphs 222, 231 b. 231 f). In 1999, the newly-
reformed agenda of the commission on Human Rights included for the first time, a separate agenda item
on “integration of Gender and the Human Rights of Women”. This change reflects years of effort. One of
the great milestones in the protection of women’s human rights was the adoption by the United Nations
General Assembly in December 1979 of the U.N. Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination
against women (CEDAW). The convention laid the foundation and universal standard for women’s equal
enjoyment without discrimination of civil, Political, Economic, social and cultural rights. Subsequent
approval of new U.N. treaties, declaration and mechanism has advanced the recognition and protection of
women’s human rights. Since 1979,many organizations have emerged throughout the united states and
around the globe to promote awareness of women’s human rights and to advocate their defence. Article-1
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the U.N. in 1948 states that: “All Human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. In Article 2 it states that “Every one is entitled to all
the rights and freedom set forth in this declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour,
sex, language”. However these words proved, for women, to provide a false hope even when subsequent
treaties were approved, such as the international covenants on civil and Political. Rights (1966) and on
Social, Economic and cultural rights (1966), which were intended to translate the UDHR into international
Human Rights, Laws, Governments. agents and private actors still discriminated against them and either
carried out a tacitly condoned violence against them. CEDAW seeks to advance women’s human rights
protection by applying a gender perspective to principle enunciated in the UDHR, CEDAW was the first
international human rights treaty to define discrimination against women. It’s first 16 articles call on
government to ensure the eradication of such abuses in practically all walks of life. In article 5, CEDAW also
holds government responsible for taking steps to modify practices based on stereotypes about women’s
role as well as beliefs about women’s inferiority. The implication of this article is that discriminatory
cultural, traditional or religious practices may be harmful to women and girls and that government is
responsible to take steps to modify it or eliminate them. Review and Appraisal of the Beijing Platform for
Action: (Beijing +5) (2000): The General Assembly on the recommendation of the Commission on the
Status of Women convened a special session namely “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development, and
Peace for the Twenty first Century” popularly known as ‘Beijing +5’ in New York from 5th to 9 th June,
2000 to assess the progress made and action taken in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for
Action after five years of its adoption. In this special session a political declaration and outcome document
entitled "further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action" was
adopted. In the special session the Commission on the Status on Women placed the report on the
progress made and actions yet to be taken by the nations on the particular twelve critical areas identified
in the Beijing Platform for Action. After that the World Summit on the Information Society (2003) was
convened in Geneva, a ten year review and reappraisal of the Beijing Platform (1995) was attempted in
2005 and the U.N. Decade for women was also given periodical extension at the international level to
establish equal status of women and advancement of women for development of the society at large.

❖ Rights Guaranteed Under The Constitution Of India To Women:-

The principle of gender equality which is a pre condition of ensuring rights to the women is enshrined in
the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles.
The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of
positive discrimination in favour of women. India has also ratified various international conventions and
human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights of women. Key among them is the ratification
of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1993. The
Constitution of India through the Fundamental Rights, ensure equality before the law and equal protection
of law; prohibit discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth,
and guarantee equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters relating to employment. Article 14, 15,
15(3), 16, 39(a), 39(b), 39(c) and 42 of the constitution are of specific importance in this regard. All these
are vital instruments to ensure rights to the women in the country.
Article 14 spells out equality before law for all which also includes the women. Article 15(i) states, the
state not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or
any of them.

Article 15(3) empowers the state to make any special provision in favour of women and children. Article
16 lays down equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to
any office under the state.

Article 39(a) states that, the state to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally the
right to an adequate means of livelihood. Article 39(d) spells out equal pay for equal work for both men
and women.

Article 39(A) empowers to promote justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and to provide free legal aid
by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are
not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.

Article 42 empowers the state to make provisions for securing just and humane condition of work and for
maternity relief.

Article 46 directs the state to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the
weaker sections of the people and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
Article 47 directs the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people.

Article 51(A)(e) prescribes to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the
people of India and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

Article 243 D (3) lays down not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by
direct election in every Panchayat to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to
different constituencies in a Panchayat.

Article 243 T (3) states that not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by
direct election in every Municipality to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to
different constituencies in a Municipality. Article 243 T (4) states that Reservation of offices of
Chairpersons in Municipalities for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner
as the legislature of a state may by law provide. Thus, the Constitution of India makes adequate and
explicit provisions to eradicate gender discrimination in the public sphere and to provide equal
opportunities as well as rights to the women for their development
 ❖ Role Of National Commission For Women

- Introduction:- It is said that the best way to know about society, a civilization and a culture, try to know
as much possible about the women, In India, women have come a long way from the rare women scholars
and sages of the Vedic age to the women in different sectors of society and civilization today, such as the
armed forces, arts, information technology, politics and a number of similar sectors which have
traditionally been male dominated, while simultaneously balancing the roles of wife; mother and
daughter. While Indian women have fought against the patriarchal Indian society and triumphed at many
levels, cases of rape, dowry deaths, female infanticide, sexual harassment at workplaces, female illiteracy,
and similar problems are stilt rampant in Indian society. It was in this backdrop that the Committee on the
Status of Women in India (CSWI) the establishment of the National Commission for Women to fulfill the
surveillance functions and to facilitate redressal of grievances and to accelerate the socio-economic
development of women. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The
Preamble, promotes “Equality of status and of opportunity”; the Fundamental Rights enshrined in Part III
of the Indian Constitution and Directive Principles enshrined in Part IV of the Constitution all promote
gender equality. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but has also made special provisions
for ensuring equality. Thus, as per the recommendations of the CSWI and in order to uphold the mandate
of the Constitution, in January 1992, the National Commission for Women (NCW), was set up as a
statutory body under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 (Act No. 20 of 1990 of Government
of India) to carry out the mandate set by the Act as well as CSWI.

Importance of the Commission:-Women as a class neither belong to a minority group nor are they
regarded as a backward class. India has traditionally been a patriarchal society and therefore women have
always suffered from social handicaps and disabilities. It thus became necessary to take certain
ameliorative steps in order to improve the condition of women in the traditionally male dominated
society. The Constitution does not contain any provision specifically made to favor women as such.
Though Article 15 (3), Article 21 and Article 14 are in favour of women; they are more general in nature
and provide for making any special provisions for women, while they are not in themselves such
provisions. The Supreme Court through interpretive processes has tried to extend some safeguards to
women. Through judgments in cases such as Bodhisattwa Gautam Versus Subra Chakraborty (A.I.R. 1996
S.C. 922) and the Chairman Railway Board v. Chandrima Daas (A.I.R. 2000 S.C. 988) case, where rape was
declared a heinous crime, as well as the landmark judgment in Visakha v. State of Rajasthan, (A.I.R. 1997
S.C. 3011), the courts have tried to improve the social conditions of Indian women. But those have hardly
sufficed to improve the position of women in India. Thus, in light of these conditions, the Committee on
the Status of Woman (India) as well as a number of NGOs, social workers and experts, who were
consulted by the Government in 1990, recommended the establishment of a apex body for woman. The
lack of constitutional machinery, judicial ability and social interest formed the impetus and need for the
formation of the National Commission for Women. It is apparent from the prior mentioned conditions and
problems that women in India, though in a better position than their ancestors, were handicapped to a
great extent. In the early 1990s and these handicaps and injustices against Indian women prompted the
Indian Government to constitute the first National Commission for Women in 1992.

The Constitution Of The Commission:-The National Commission for Women Act, 1990 (Act No. 20 of 1990
of Government of India) constituted the National Commission for Women as a statutory body. The first
Commission was constituted on 31st January 1992 with, Mrs. Jayanti Patnaik, as the Chairperson. The Act
of 1990 under Section 3 provides for the constitution of the commission. This section lays down that the
commission will consist of one Chairperson, who is committed to the cause of women, five members from
various fields and a member secretary who shall be an expert in the fields of management, organizational
structure, sociological movement or a, member of the civil service of the Union. All the members of the
commission are nominated by the Central Government. Each person holds office for a period of five years
or till he/she attains the age of seventy. At least one member each of the Commission must belong to a
Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. In addition to the above mentioned members of the Commission, the
Commission has the power to set up committees with members from outside the Commission.

The Mandate Of The Commission:-

Section 10 (1) of the Act of 1990 provides a fourteen-point mandate for the National Commission for
Women. A general overview of the mandate has been provided and a few significant clauses have been
discussed. Broadly speaking the Commission’s mandate can be divided under four heads - (a) safeguard of
rights of women granted by the constitution and law, (b) study problems faced by women in the current
day and make recommendations to eradicate these problems, (c) evaluating the status of Indian women
from time to time and (d) funding and fighting cases related to women’s rights violations.

(a) Safeguard Rights of Women: these are enshrined in sub clauses (a) - (e) of Section 10 (l) of the Act. They
expect the Commission to examine the safeguards for women provided by the law and the Constitution.
The commission is to submit reports about these safeguards and make recommendations about the
implementation of the same. The Commission is also expected to review these safeguards periodically to
identify and remedy any lacunae and inadequacies. The commission is also empowered to take up cases
involving the violation of the cases.

(b) Study of problems faced by women: these are mainly enshrined in sub clauses (g) - (i) of Section 10 (1)
of the Act. According to these sub clauses, the Commission is to carry out studies involving the problems
arising out of discrimination against woman and provide remedies for these problems. As per this part of
the mandate, the commission is also expected to advise the government about the socio – economic
development of women based on these studies.

(c) Evaluating status of Indian women - sub clauses (j) - (n) of the aforementioned section of the Act deals
with these responsibilities of the Commission. The Commission, according to these guidelines, has the
responsibilities of the evaluating the status of Indian women under the Union Government and State
Governments. It is to inspect and evaluate the conditions of detention homes and other such facilities in
which women may be detained and deal with the appropriate authorities in order to improve the
condition of such places. These evaluations are to be submitted to the Government through periodic
reports and recommendations. Fighting cases related to women’s rights violation: certain clauses in the
mandate also empower the Commission to take up cases related to discrimination against women,
women’s right violation and fund cases which involve the rights of a large number of women. Sub clause
(f) of Section 3 of the Act of 1990 empowers the Commission to take suo moto notice of matters relating
to women’s right deprivation, non - implementation of laws enacted to protect women and non -
compliance of policies and guidelines for mitigating hardships of women, in such matters the Commission
is empowered to approach the appropriate authorities and seek remedies.

Functions of the Commission:-

As violence and discrimination against women is multi - faceted in nature, the Commission has adopted a
multi - pronged strategy to combat the problem. This strategy is broadly divided into three categories - the
counseling, the legal and the research functions of the Commission

. Complaint and Counseling Functions

The “core” unit of the Commission is considered to be the Complaint and Counseling Cell and it processes
the complaints received oral, written or suo moto under Section 10 of the N.C.W. Act, The complaints
received relate to domestic violence, harassment, dowry, torture, desertion, bigamy, rape and refusal to
register FIR, cruelty by husband, derivation; gender discrimination and sexual harassment at work place.
During 1999, the Commission received 4329 complaints related to the above types of crimes against
women. This cell adopts a three-point method to deal with the above mentioned problems:
Investigations by the police are expedited and monitored.

Family disputes are resolved or compromised through counseling. In case of serious crimes, the
Commission constitutes an Inquiry Committee which makes spot enquiries, examines various witnesses,
collects evidence and submits the report with recommendations. Such investigations help in providing
immediate relief and justice to the victims of violence and atrocities. The implementation of the report is
monitored by the NCW There is a provision for having experts/lawyers on these committees. A number of
such inquiry committees have been set up over fourteen years in order to combat many serious problems.
Committees were set up to investigate the alleged police atrocities and misbehavior with girl students of
Kurukshetra University the case of rape of a 30 year old woman in Safdarjung Hospital, the case of a gang
rape of 15 years old girl in Lucknow and other such serious and heinous crimes against women. The
number of complaints registered with this cell has increased from a total of 4293 in 1999 – 2000 to a total
of 5462 in 2003 – 2004. This increase may be interpreted as a positive sign and one signaling the success
of this wing of the Commission. It also indicates the increasing trust that women are investing in the
Commission as a whole.

Legal Functions

A large part of the Commission’s mandate is related to legal research for safeguards of women, legal
interventions, recommendations on bills and similar matters relating to the legal system of India. The legal
cell of the Commission was set up in order to deal with these functions. The activities of this cell can be
divided into three categories: (a) legal amendments proposed (b) new laws and bills proposed and (c)
court interventions.

(a) Legal Amendments: The Commission’s mandate requires that it analyze and improve existing laws from
time to time. The Commission has proposed sixteen amendments till date The Commission has sought to
amend the Indian Penal Code, 1860 in order to curb the sale of minor girls; the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955,
in order to omit epilepsy as grounds for divorce; the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, in order to bring the
problems of Dowry deaths in to the lime light and deal with them appropriately and the New Act, 1990, in
order to gain greater autonomy and jurisdiction within the country. In addition to these there are a
number of other Acts and Bills, which the Commission has sought to, amend.

(b) News Bills Proposed: in the course of twenty two of its existence the Commission has proposed a
total of seven bills and has drafted one convention for SAARC relating to trafficking of women and
children. Amongst other bills the Commission proposed the Marriage Bill, 1994; the Criminal Laws
(Amendment) Bill, 1994 (with reference to child rape); the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 1996
and the Domestic Violence to Women (Prevention) Bill, 1994. The Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Bill was passed in 2005.

(c) Court Intervention: the Commission has intervened in numerous court cases in order to help women
whose rights have been violated, of these cases the researcher will only be able to mention few of the
more prominent ones. The Commission intervened in Bhateri gang rape case and supported the victim
and provided for her protection. In the Maimon Baskari’s Nuh case the Commission fought for the right of
the victim to marry a person of her own choice and against out dated customs. In the matter of
Fakhruddin Mubarak Shaik v. Jaitunbi Mubarak Shaik the Commission intervened to seek maintenance
beyond the iddat period for Muslim women. The Commission was also partly responsible the actions taken
in the Imrana and Marine Drive rape cases

Research Functions: The research cell of the Commission is that organ of the Commission that looks into
the emerging problems of Indian women due to discrimination and gender bias. This cell is also
responsible for educating women about their rights through a variety of seminars, workshops, conferences
and public hearings. This cell has also organized various special studies and set up expert committees to
look into and suggest remedies for problems, which have evolved recently. Currently the cell is dealing
with issue related to Gender and Law Enforcement, Impact of Displacement of Women, Sexual
Harassment at Workplace, Issues concerning Prostitution and Political Empowerment of Women. The
three aforementioned organs of the Commission have been quite successful in carrying out the mandate
which the Commission was given by the Act of 1990. Amongst the three cells, it is perhaps the Counseling
cell which has been most successful because it is that cell of the Commission which is in direct contact
with the people. The other cells, while equally successful, deal more with the different agencies of the
Government and are thus not so widely acclaimed.

Shortcomings:

- 1) The Commission has no concrete legislative powers. It only has the powers to recommend
amendments and submit reports which are not binding on state or Union Governments. 2) The
Commission does not have the power to select its own members. 3) This power is vested with the Union
Government and in India’s volatile political scenario the Commission may be politicized. 4) The
Commission is dependent on grants from the Union Government for its financial functioning and this could
compromise the independence of the Commission. 5) The Commission’s jurisdiction is not operative in
Jammu and Kashmir and considering the present political unrest and human rights violations in the region,
the Commission’s presence there is vital. Suggestions:-The above mentioned causes have its both
positives and negatives but every shortcoming has its own way out. To overcome the aforementioned
shortcomings, it may be useful to incorporate the following suggestion: 1) The Commission suggested that
the chairperson of NCW be given the status of the Union Cabinet Minister and the Members that of
Minister of State. This will put more power in the Commission’s hands and thus its recommendations will
have a greater degree of force.

2) The Commission must be granted the power to select its own members. If needed a separate body,
selected from within the Commission, should be constituted in order to carry these functions.

3) The Commission must be given allocated’ funds in the Union as well as the State Budgets in order to
facilitate smooth functioning.

4) Currently funds are only allocated at the Central level and not the State level.

5) The atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir are common knowledge. Taking these acts into account the
Commission’s presence in the region is quite vital and should be allowed.