COURSE 3: Problems and Issues in Development (Block-3: Social

Sector Issues in Development

Unit 3: Gender and Development

Sub Sections:-

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Objectives
3.3 Gender and Development
3.4 Gender Role in Development
3.5 Gender in Labour Market
3.6 Missing Women and Participation of Women in Social and Political
Development
3.7 Gender Development Index
3.8 Gender Empowerment Measure
3.9 Gender Discrimination and Violence
3.10 References and Suggested Reading
3.11 Check your Progress Possible Answers

Unit Prepared by

Dr Abha Ranjan
Assistant Professor (Political Science)
Government Mahakoshal Arts and Commerce College
Rani Durgavati University
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (India)
Phone: 07612601630, 09425104900
E-mail nawalk19@yahoo.com
nawalk19@hotmail.com

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 UNIT 3 GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

STRUCTURE

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Objective
3.3 Gender: Concept and Relationship with Development
3.3.1 Definitions
3.3.2 Relationship between Gender and Development
3.3.3 Why Study Gender and Development
3.4 Gender Role in Development
3.4.1 Concepts and definitions
3.4.2 Theoretical approaches to Gender Role in Development
3.4.3 Gender Role in Development- Indian Experiences
3.5 Gender in Labour Market
3.5.1 Concepts and definitions
3.5.2 Labour Market
3.5.3 Structure of Labour Market
3.5.4 Categories of Labour Force in India
3.5.5 Gender in Labour Market
3.5.6 Discrimination in Labour Market
3.6 Missing Women and Participation of Women in social and political
Development
3.6.1 Introduction
3.6.2 Missing Women
3.6.3 Causes of Missing Women
3.6.4 Indicators of Missing Women in social and Political Development
3.6.5 Participation of Women in social and political Development

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3.6.6 Factors affecting Women’s Participation in Social and Political
Development
3.6.7 International Efforts
3.6.8 Indian Experience
3.7 Gender Development Index
3.7.1 Definitions
3.7.2 Objectives of Gender Development Index
3.7.3 Types of Development Index
3.7.4 Gender Development Index- Indicators
3.7.5 Methods of Calculation of Gender Development Index
3.8 Gender Empowerment Measure
3.8.1 Empowerment
3.8.2 Gender Empowerment Measure
3.8.3 Components of Gender Empowerment Measure
3.8.4 Factors affecting Gender Empowerment Measure
3.9 Gender Development and Violence
3.9.1 Meaning of Violence against Women
3.9.2 Forms of Violence
3.9.3 Programs for Prevention and Care
3.10 References and Suggested Reading
3.11 Check your Progress Possible Answers

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 3.1 INTRODUCTION

Gender and development are considered important areas in the study of social
sector issues in development. The historical development of societies has placed women
at distinctively disadvantageous position. Historical studies reflect that women have
played marginal role in development of societies. However modern development theories
place significant value to participation of all sections of society, including women as a
gender category, in the development process. Women constitute almost half of human
population and their role in development process attains critical significance in success or
failure of nations. Thus study of gender specific social sector issues needs to be
understood in all perspectives to identify areas of achievement and concerns for policy
formulations as well as prioritization of actions.

3.2 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit, you will be able to:

- Establish relationship between Gender and Development;
- Define Gender and describe various components of Gender and development;
- Analyze various indicators of Gender and development ( GDI,GEM);
- Understand gender related issues like Discrimination, labour relations, violence,
crime etc.

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 3.3 GENDER: CONCEPT AND RELATIONSHIP WITH DEVELOPMENT

3.3.1 Definitions
GENDER:
Gender is the social dimension of being male or female. Gender identity is the
sense of being male or female, which most children acquire by the age of three. Gender is
not being manly or feminine.
As per children’s health Encyclopedia “Gender identity is a person's sense of
identification with either the male or female sex, as manifested in appearance, behaviour,
and other aspects of a person's life”.
The world Economic Forum explains that Gender is not synonymous with
women as it is commonly understood…. it refers to both men and women and to their
status, relative to each other.
DEVELOPMENT:
In ordinary usage Development implies movement from one level to another,
usually with some increase in size, number or quality of some sort.
The Geographical Dictionary defines Development as “The use of resources to
relieve poverty and improve the standard of living of a nation; the means by which a
traditional, low-technology society is changed into a modern, high-technology society,
with a corresponding increase in incomes.
The Human Development Reports define ‘Development’ as a process of
expanding human capabilities or a process of enlarging choices or options by people to
develop their power.
3.3.2 Relationship between Gender and Development:
Gender as a concept or category emerged to understand the complexities of
women’s subordination in society. The word gender doesn’t necessarily refer to women
as a group or class of society rather it is used as an analytical social category to study the
problems of women. The theory of development is closely related to gender because of
large scale exclusion of women from the process of development.

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 Margaret Synder and Mary Tadesse in their book ‘African Women and
development: A History’, defined Women and Development as follows:
“Women and development” is an inclusive term to signify a concept and a
movement whose long term goal is the well being of society- the community of men,
women and children.
Amartya Sen has made a compelling case for the notion that societies need to see
women less as passive recipient of help, and more as dynamic promoters of social
transformation which is supported by the viewpoint that the education, employment and
ownership rights of women have a powerful influence on their ability to control their
environment and contribute to economic development.
(Amartya Sen - Development as Freedom, 1999 OUP.)
3.3.3 Why Study Gender and Development:
The study of development with gender perspective needs to be understood for
following reasons:
 The gender perspective in development manifests the efforts towards
ensuring equitable distribution of fruits of development.
 The idea of gender as a category has emerged as an outcome of the
prevalent disparity and discrimination between men and women in almost
all societies.
 Study of development and gender enables us to quantify the results of
development efforts and also reflects the relative share of each segment of
society which helps in devising sector specific policies and goals.
 The Indian Government and State Governments are also deeply concerned
about improving the quality of life of people including women.

Check your Prorgress-1

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit
(i). What do you understand by Gender?
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(ii). How gender and development are related?

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(iii). Why do International agencies analyse development?
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 3..4 GENDER ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT

3.4.1 Concepts and Definitions

Gender Role: Refers to the attitude and behavior that class a
person’s stereo typical identity e.g. women cook and clean, men fix
cars.
What is male? What is female? The answers to these questions
depend on the types of roles an individual is exposed to as a child.
Gender roles can be defined as the behaviours and attitudes expected
of male and female members of a society by that society. Gender roles
may vary from country to country, culture to culture and even in the
same country from region to region depending on the defined
perceptions of people in that society. For example in rural societies
gender role is limited to household chores because of women’s
exclusion from educational framework but in urban environment
gender roles are defined a bit differently since with better educational
opportunities women get involved in economic and political activity.
There are multiple factors which determine the gender role in a
particular society or environment.
3.4.2 Theoretical approaches to Gender role in Development
A theoretical approach to development is important to
understand the evolution of development, thinking and policy.
Development initiatives in 1930s largely ignored women. The focus of
development was on modernization and adoption of Western
technology, institutions and beliefs. Development was identified with
modernization and modernization was identical with Western. Anything
which Western world identified with i.e. technology, institutions and
belief was defined modern.
After the 2nd World War, US became the model for third world
countries which desired modernization. In the quest for such

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modernization and development, equality for race, class and sex in the
third world countries was ignored.
Both third world leaders and Western development specialists
assumed that Western development policies would position fragile
third world economics for a “take off”. Few questioned whether this
prosperity would extend equally to all classes, races, and gender
groups. Ester Boserup’s (1970) Women’s role in Economic
Development discovered that most of these projects undermined
women’s economic opportunities and autonomy.
In reaction to the above thinking a new approach towards
development of women was developed during 1970s. It stressed on the
distinctiveness of women’s knowledge, work, goals and responsibilities.
Thus due credit for women began to be recognized.
By the turn of the decade i.e. by 1980s, it was realized that
through above structural changes gender equality was not
achieved , hence a new experiment was evolved at grass root level by
redefining gender role to empower women. The new perspective
argued that women’s status in society was deeply affected by their
material conditions of life and by their position in the national,
regional and global economies.
3.4.4 Gender Role in development- Indian Experience
India has a unique place among nations when it comes to its culture, social
structure or even its economy. Same is true when it comes to defining gender roles in
Indian context and its relationship with development. In India there are cultures within a
unified Indian culture and societies within a holistic Indian society. Gender role in Indian
context has to be defined in specific contexts. For example women in India were deprived
of any decision making rights from family issues to Panchayats in village societies to
governance. For understanding the gender roles in development in India we have to
analyse the position of women in India during modern times when there have been sea
changes in the roles for each gender. In India women’s role in development can be

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divided into three phases which pointedly indicated their expected role in overall
development framework of the country.
During initial years of development women were visualized as beneficiaries of
development programs and had no direct role in decision making or implementation of
policies. Gender role was restrictive to traditional division of labour between the two
genders.
In the next phase gender roles were modified to include women as a target group
for sector specific development approach. The role of women began to broaden to include
women in the areas of their concern with some participation in the process. The modern
education facilitated inclusion of all in the process of development.
In the current phase when women as a category have developed similar skills as
men and have attained educational level equal to men it is almost impossible to isolate
them from the process of development. The typical gender role of Indian society has been
completely redefined to include women as equal partners in the process of development.
Check your Progress-II
Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit
(i). Define Gender Role?
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(ii). Outline the pattern of Gender Role over last 50 years in world.
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(iii). Why gender role is unique in India for development?
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 3.5 GENDER IN LABOUR MARKET

3.5.1 Concepts and Definitions

What is labour?
As per Wikipedia Dictionary, “Labour is a measure of work done
by a human being”. Labour is the potential of an individual at micro
level and of labour force at macro level to produce and provide
services in any economy.
Labour force is defined as “the number of individuals age 16 and
above, excluding those in the military, who are either employed or
actively looking for work”. The participation rate is the number of
people in the labour force divided by the size of the adult civilian non-
institutional population.
3.5.2 Labour Market
Market is a place where goods and services are demanded and
supplied at a price. Labour market thus can be defined as the meeting
place for suppliers of labour force i.e. those who are available to do a
job at a price and employers i.e. those who are willing to buy the
labour force at a price.
3.5.3 Structure of Labour Market
The structure of labour market can be categorized broadly in two
categories.
 Organized labour market
 Un-organized labour market
In the Indian context, labour market can be categorized into
three sectors:
 Rural workers who constitute about 60% of the work
force.

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  Organised or the formal sector, that constitutes
about 8% of the work force, and

 Urban unorganized or informal structure which

represents the 32% of the work force.

Source:(industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/labor-market.html)
3.5.4 Categories of Labour Force in India
The labour force in India can be categorized in four categories.
 Self Employed Workers

 Wage and Salary Earners

 Casual Workers

 Unemployed

The above four categories are differently connected with labour

market. The self employed workers are most loosely connected to the
market. Wage and Salary earners form the organized structure of the
labour market. Normally this category has a fixed term contractual
obligations on both sides.

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 The non contractual casual labourers are closest to the labour
market on almost day to day basis. This category is more vulnerable
to the labour market fluctuations on almost day to day basis.
The chart below describes the estimated increase in the number of labors in
India from 1977-78 to 2004-05. The labor force has grown from 276.3 million to 385.5
million between 1977-78 and1993-94 showing an annual growth rate of 2.1%. During the
year 1999-2000, the workforce was estimated to be 407 million. In 2004-05 the labor
market consisted of 430 million workers and has grown up to 500 million in 2006.

Source:(industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/labor-market.html)
3.5.5 Gender & Labour Market
The idea of gender in labour market appears because of the
pattern of employment offered to people defined by their gender.
Women have always been present in labour market in India. In fact
women have made huge advances relative to men in labour force
participations, occupational status and educational attainment.
It is important to understand the conditions in labour market and
reasons for discrimination against women. The question of gender in
labour market gains importance only when a perceptible pattern is
noticed in terms of treatment of women in the labour market which is

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either discriminatory in nature or places women in a distinctively
disadvantageous position vis-a vis men.
The labour market disadvantages can be manifested in a
number of differences. The following occupation categories define the
nature of disadvantages by their specific role expectations.
 Managers
 Professionals
 Associate Professionals
 Clerical and Secretarial
 Skilled Manual
 Personal Services
 Sales
 Plant & Machine (Shop Floor) Operators
It is often experienced that women are perceived as unfit for
certain type of occupation which results into segmentation of labour
market. For example, employers are generally not keen on employing
women on a shop floor jobs or shifting duty works. Thus discrimination
becomes a natural outcome of the very structure of labour market.
Here we have to differentiate between two phrases-
discrimination and disadvantage. Even if there is no discrimination
against a particular group or section (in our case - women) a certain
degree of disadvantage may occur because of either women’s
placement in the structure or because of inherent mismatch between
the characteristics of women as a labour force and specific
requirements of a specific job in the labour market structure or the
disadvantage may emanate due to discriminations somewhere else in
society e.g. Education, training opportunities or responsibilities for
children.
3.5.6 Discrimination in labour market

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 Discriminations can be defined as unequal treatment to two
individuals on the basis of their race, caste, religion, gender, or any
other socio-economic characteristics. In the context of labour market,
discrimination appears as a result of certain characteristics - gender,
race, religion, age.
Reason for Labour market discrimination against women as a
category can be because of following reasons:
 Internal Dynamics of Labour market

 External factors

Discriminations due to Internal Dynamics of Labour Market

The internal structure of the labour market demand certain
Characteristics out of an occupation and women may be perceived as
not fitting into the frame. For example, more women are found in the
profession of Managers, Professionals or Secretarial jobs than in skilled
manual jobs or Plant & Machine Operators.
External factors determining discrimination in Labour Market
The discrimination against women is more perceived as an out
come of a series of external factors affecting women’s position in the
labour market.
 Social characteristics of gender have profound impact on
women’s positions in the labour market. “Women are
bearers of specific social characteristics which play a major
role in determining their labour market positions.”
 The traditional division of labour between men and women
within the family has significant impact on their relationship
in the labour market.
 Women tend to have lesser investment in human capital or
training which renders them unsuitable for certain category
of jobs.

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  Women’s overwhelming social responsibilities towards
family and children also has bearing on their job
preferences which reduces their choice for job and also
partly explain their low wage structure.
It only explains discriminatory attitude of employers to relate
women’s family conditions with their positions in the labour market.
Men are judged on their productivity while women are judged on other
parameters which have no realistic relevance to their role as a labour
force or impact on their productivity.
The discrimination against women in labour market either due to
compulsive external reasons or perceived notions of labour market
players results into various consequences.
 It impacts the wages women command in the market.
Gender Pay Differential is the obvious outcome of
discriminations.
 Women are forced to accept low paying jobs.
 It results into productivity differences.
 Women’s position in society further deteriorates due to her
subordinate status in job market.

Check your Progress-III

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit

(i). What is Labour and Labour Market ?

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(ii). Why women are discriminated in Labour Market?
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(iii). What are the special features of Indian Labour?
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 3.6 MISSING WOMEN AND PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

3.6.1 Introduction:

The average sex ratio of world population is 1.01 ( UN 2008).

However, the value of ideal sex ratio is under debate and may vary

with regions and races. The sex ratio of a population depends on three
factors.

 Sex ratio at birth,

 Differential mortality rates between the sexes at different

ages, and

 Losses and gains through migration (Coale, 1991).

In the absence of manipulation, sex ratio at birth is remarkably

consistent across human population at 1.05 to 1.07( Coale, 1991,

Campbell,2001). Although sex ratio at birth favours males, differential

gender mortality favours females (Teitelboam, 1970; Sen; 1992,

Waldron 1993).

3.6.2 Missing women

“Missing women” reflect the gender disparities of any society.

The higher performing gender is favoured whereas gender with low

performance is neglected. This leads to further addition to missing

women.

Discrimination against women can begin early in life. Parental

selection, female infanticide or abandonment, childhood sexual

exploitation, genital mutilation, and limited access to adequate

nutrition and health care; all affect the number of girls, in some parts

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of the world who survive into adulthood. (Working Groups on Circle

2006). These factors combined with limited access to education, early

marriage and early child bearing affect the health and well being of

girls and can have lasting effects throughout their lives.

3.6.3 Causes of Missing Women

 Patri local Exogamy

 Economic Value

 Patriarchal Society
 Poverty

Patrilocal Exogamy: Whereby sons remain with the origin or

“parental” house hold and contribute to income while daughters

migrate from their house holds village to move into, upon marriage,

their husband’s parental household. Investment in sons in terms of

education and share in property seems to pay off whereas investment

in girls is seen as wasteful expenditure. As the saying goes “EDUCATING

GIRL IS LIKE WATERING PLANT IN NEIGHBOURS’ GARDEN”

Economic Value: Although women do the majority of work, they do

not share equally in income, earnings and wealth. Discrimination

against women in earnings, employment, access to credit and capital

accumulation mechanism, and private social benefit systems (UNIFEM

2005) also affects the economic well being of their children and other

house hold members.

Patriarchal Society: One of the important reasons for declining sex

ratio is patriarchal society. Desire for heir of property (which is passed

on to the son) is another reason for discrimination against daughters.

Poverty: The situation of women becomes worse for those living in

poverty. The disproportionate burden of family limits access to

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education, training and participation in paid employment. Women are

forced to informal unorgansied employment thus leading to

exploitation- economically, physically and mentally.

3.6.4 Indicators of missing women in social and political

development.

 Reservation of women in politics

 Negligible proportion of women representation in

parliament and State Assemblies.

 Socio- Economic changes leading to reservation.

Reservation for women was introduced at the Panchayat level

rd rd
by 73 Amendment Act 1992 by Indian Parliament. 1/3 of the seats

were reserved for women candidates. This Act recognizes lack of

women’s participation in grass root governance and attempt to correct

the imbalance. However women remain in acute minority in higher

decision making body i.e. Parliament.

3.6.5 Participation of Women in Social and Political Development

Women’s social and political participation refers to women’s ability to participate

equally with men at all levels and in all aspects of public and political life and decision
making.
Development is not sex neutral. It is biased against the fair sex. Women’s
exclusion from the development process at social and political level has not only cost
them their due share in the society but it has made the task of developing countries to
achieve prosperity much more difficult.
3.6.6 Factors affecting women’s participation in social and political development -
 Awareness about their rights and how to claim them.
 Access to information about laws, policies and institutions and structures that
govern their life.

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  Confidence, self-esteem and the skills to challenge and confront existing power
structures.
 Support networks and positive role models.
 An enabling environment meaning a political, legal, economic and cultural
climate that allows women to engage in decision making processes in sustainable
and effective way.
3.6.7 International Efforts
The issue of discrimination against women and need to formulate appropriate
policies towards this has been in debate for many years but serious attempts to isolate the
problem and target it comprehensively was started in 1995 in Beijing Declaration under
the UN. The mission statement of the declaration included that
“It aims at accelerating the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking
Strategies for the Advancement of Women and at removing all the obstacles to women's
active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share
in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making”.
(http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/)
The Beijing declaration was followed up and watched about the progress made.
The positive developments after Beijing Declaration were-
 Increased awareness
 Policy reforms
 Improved Legislative frameworks
 Institutional developments at national level.
These included actions in following areas-
 Establishment of National policies and strategies for gender equality.
 Adherence to International and regional instruments for the protection of human
rights of women.
 Increased diversity in the mechanisms promoting and monitoring attention to
gender equality.
 Attention to resource allocations through gender sensitive budgeting.

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  Efforts to engage men and boys more actively in the promotion of gender
equality.
However 10 years after Beijing it was noted that there were large gaps between
policy and practice. The Millennium Task Force on Education and gender equality
identified three critical dimensions of empowerment and enhanced participation of
women in development.
 Capabilities in the areas of education and health.
 Access to opportunities and resources i.e. to employment and land and
 Agency i.e. women’s ability to participate in decision making processes in
political institutions and policy making.
3.6.8 The Indian Experience
The Indian constitution guarantees equality of gender. India is one of the signatory
of the Beijing Declaration and its commitments. But the achievements on this front have
been far from desired objectives. The complex nature of Indian society and polity has
further compounded the problem in India. If we have to find some objective parameter to
judge women’s participation in social and political development it has to be evaluated on
following variables:-
 Access to education;
 Access to health;
 Participation in work;
 Representation in Political institutions like legislative bodies
The literacy rate among women remains below the international standards and has
wide inter state differences. The following table shows the overall literacy rate in India
and disparity between male and female literacy levels.

Table: Literacy Rate for the population of age 7+ in 1981, 1991 and 2001

Literacy rate Increase

1981 1991 2001 1981-91 1991-2001
Male 56.4 64.1 75.9 7.7 11.8
Female 29.8 39.3 54.2 9.5 14.9

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Total 43.6 52.2 65.4 8.6 13.2
Gender gap
26.6 24.8 21.7 -
(M-F)
Source: Census of India 2001
The low literacy among women manifests their absence in social and political
institutions because of insufficient skills to actively contribute in the decision making
process. Similarly access to basic health is still miles away from reaching to masses and
more particularly among women who are the first victim of any rationing of resources.
The participation of women in political institutions is probably the most
significant indictor of women’s contribution in development process.
The following table reflects percentage of women in Lok Sabha since first General
Elections.

Table: Percentage of Women MPs in Lok Sabha ( From 1st to 15th )

The 15th Lok Sabha elected 58 women MP which is 11% of the total and highest
percent since Independence. It is also the highest number on MP in any Lok Sabha since
Independence. However this is still below many developed countries as seen in table
below.
Country Percentage of Women Parliamentarians
UK 19.3%,
USA 16.3%
Italy 16.1%,
Ireland 14.2%,
France 13.9%
India 11%

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 Table: Percentage of Women Parliamentarians
The presence of women in Parliament is a direct reflection of their contribution in
highest decision making body of the country. The pattern of women’s representation in
State assemblies lags still behind and till the enactment of 73rd constitutional amendment
women were largely missing from even local bodies like Panchayats. After much
unsuccessful experiments for about four decades a new thinking emerged in the form of
73rd constitutional amendment Act 1992 which provided for statutory reservation of 1/3 rd
of seats in Panchayat bodies for women. The objective of the Act is to ensure
participation of women in decision making in all affairs determining their lives.
Thus it is clear that women have made significant progress in terms of their
participation in social and political development and government, international agencies
and Non Government sectors have been trying to provide conducive environment to
ensure gender parity in development process. But there are many constraints existing
which have to be removed for widespread success of the mission.
Check your Progress-IV
Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit

(i). who are Missing Women?

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(ii) Explain causes for Missing Women.
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(iii) What was the Mission of Beijing Declaration?
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 3.7 GENDER DEVELOPMENT INDEX

3.7.1 Definitions
Gender as a concept doesn’t necessarily mean reference to women as commonly
perceived. “Rather it refers to both women and men, and to their status relative to each
other. Gender equality refers to that stage of human social development at which the
rights , responsibilities and opportunities of individuals will not be determined by the fact
of being born male or female.” (UN Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues)
Development is the process of making a qualitative difference in the social and
economic conditions of the people of a region or nation. Although found difficult certain
measurable and quantitative parameters have been developed to quantify the development
efforts of a country. There are many individuals, Institutions and organisations involved
in the exercise but the international agencies UN and UNDP have devised scientific and
objective parameters to quantify many development indices for a comparative analysis of
development amongst nations and on a time scale.
3.7.2 Objectives of Development Indexes
Measuring the level of socio-economic development of a nation is a complex task.
Poverty, inequality, disparities exist in all nations. These are global issues which draw
attention of all right minded individuals and agencies. Billions of dollars are spent every
year to tackle many chronic problems like poverty, hunger, illiteracy, malnutrition,
discrimination and disparities. The results of these efforts are not always visible on
surface.
The main objectives of developing these indexes are:
 To measure average progress or achievement of a country’s population
 To know the extent of inequality prevalent in a society
 To assess the impact of policies targeted towards addressing critical issues like
poverty, hunger, gender inequality, malnutrition.
 To optimize the levels of achievements over a period of time.
 To compare different nations on a universal scale.
3.7.3 Types of development Index

27
 There are many indexes which are used to measure overall development or
specific segment-wise development. Some of the indexes developed and commonly used
in UN and UNDP studies are –
 Human Development Index (HDI)
 Gender development Index (GDI)
 Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM )
 Gender Inequality Index ( GEI)
The Human Development Index is the main source developed by UNDP in 1990
to measure the average progress or achievement of a country’s populations.
3.7.4 Gender Development Index-Indicators
GDI was developed in 1995 by UNDP to consider gender disparity on overall
human development of a nation.
The indicators used for measuring HDI and GDI are common but for GDI, it is
further narrowed down to calculate gender specific disparities in each parameter.
The three areas which is used to measure human capabilities for HDI are -
 Life expectancy to measure longevity.
 Educational attainment or Literacy level to represent level of knowledge.
 An appropriately adjusted real GDP per capita to ensure a decent a standard of
living.
For the purpose of calculating GDI, above indices are adjusted to find out the
gender based results which explain the level of gender inequality prevailing in a country.
The GDI is designed to evaluate the achievement of women along each of the
three components i.e.
 Life expectancy at birth;
 Illiteracy level;
 Standard of living reflected in income level of women.
The life expectancy at birth is a reasonable indicator of a category (Particularly
women) in achieving growth and prosperity.
It directly depends on following factors:
 Health care in society in general;

28
  Availability of facilities to mother and child;
 Society’s cultural preferences
A higher life expectancy for male than a female indicates that there is perceptible
disparity existing in the society. Measurement of GDI using this indicator categorically
points out the level of gender inequality in a country.
Similarly the educational attainment level or literacy rate determines the access
to education. In developing countries with substantial population living in poverty, the
accessibility and affordability of educational facilities is a question mark for a majority.
GDI uses this indicator to correctly point out the level of gender inequality which cannot
be determined through HDI which concentrates on overall development level.
The standard of living is largely determined by the income level of the people.
But calculating any parameter using absolute level of income can be misleading. Income
level of the population can be highly skewed with large sections at the very end with
meager income level while a few can be at the top of the pyramid with huge income
level. The GDI uses income levels of both men and women to decipher the extent of
inequality between men and women.
Whenever and wherever there is wide disparity, the GDI will deteriorate. As per
UNDP reports developed countries consistently score high on GDI index as compared to
developing countries. India ranks moderately on GDI scorecard at 113 with GDI of 0.6
among 177 countries. The following table shows the top ten and bottom ten countries on
GDI score.
COUNTRIES WITH GDI SCORE AND RANKING
TOP TEN COUNTRIES BOTTOM TEN COUNTRIES
COUNTRY RANK GDI COUNTRY RANK GDI
Iceland 1 0.962 Congo 148 0.398
Australia 2 0.960 Ethiopia 149 0.393
Norway 3 0.957 Mozambique 150 0373
Canada 4 0.956 Mali 151 0.371
Sweden 5 0.955 Chad 152 0.370
Netherlands 6 0.951 Central African Republic 153 0.368
France 7 0.950 Burkina Faso 154 0.364
Finland 8 0.947 Niger 155 0.355
Switzerland 9 0.946 Guinea-Bissau 156 0.355
United Kingdom 10 0.944 Sierra Leone 157 0.320

SOURCE: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007/2008

29
3.7.5 Methods of Calculation of GDI
Step I
First step is to estimate male and female development indices. As there are three
indicators we need to estimate six development indices.
 Male education development indices
 Male health development index
 Male income development index
 Female education development index
 Female health development index
 Female income development index
Step II
Step II involves combining female male indices in each indicator
/dimension in a way that penalizes differences in achievements. The resulting index is
called squally distributed index.
Step III
The final step arranges the three equally distributed indices in an outweighed
manner to obtain the value of GDI.
The GDI is the average of these three equally distributed indices and has a value
ranging from 0 to 1. GDI of one ( GDI= 1) indicates that a country has reached its goal
in its way to development and has eliminated gender based disparities among its
population.
Check your Progress-V
Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit
(i). Define Gender Development Index?
…………………………………………………………………………………
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30
 …………………………………………………………………………………………
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(ii). Differentiate between GDI and HDI.
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(iii). Why GDI is calculated and how it helps in identifying gender disparity?
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 3.7 GENDER EMPOWERMENT MEASURE

GDI constitutes a significant indicator of spread of development

initiatives in a country. It is gender specific measurement of

development parameters. Another very important gender specific

measurement index developed by UN and used for analysis is the

Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM).

The UN in 1975 started focusing on the plight of women and

declared the decade of women. It led to further focus on women

through initiatives in various conferences (Copenhegan 1980, Nairobi

1985 and in Beijing 1995). Another UN initiative in this direction was

HDI in 1990 and GEM in 1995.

3.8.1 Empowerment

“Empowerment is the power of enhancing the capacity of

individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those

choices into desired actions and outcomes”.

The World Bank’s 2002 Empowerment Sourcebooks identified

empowerments as “the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor

people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control and hold

accountable institutions that affect their lives.”

“Empowerment of women involves the improvements of their

status in the family, community and society. It ensures women’s

accessibility to modern development facilities and extend their

participation in social, economic and political process and decision

making.” (Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment -

Rathandev Nath Pramanik & A.K. Adhikary,2006).

32
 GEM has emerged as an important indicator of women’s

empowerment in a community. GEM helps immensely in highlighting

the deficiencies in policies and their implementation.

3.8.2 Gender Empowerment Measure ( GEM) :

GEM is a measure of inequalities between men’s and women’s

opportunities in a country. GEM combines inequalities in three areas -

 Political participation and decision making

 Economic participation and decisions making

 Power over economic resources

When the UNDP first introduced the GEM in 1995 it said in its

report “The recognition of equal rights for women along with men, and

the determination to combat discrimination on the basis of gender, are

achievements equal in importance to the abolition of slavery, the

elimination of colonials in and the establishment of equal rights for

social and ethnic minorities (UNDP 1995:1).

UNDP has been calculating GEM for countries to compare their

relative status in terms of empowering the weaker gender. It ranks

countries on a scale of 0 to 1 to advise National Governments on

appropriate policy initiatives and investment decisions The aggregate

score for GEM for India was 0.413 in 1996 and 0.451 in 2006”. (India’s

scorecard on Gender Equality - UNDP 2009).

3.8.3 Components of GEM:

According to Employment Paper 2003/45 of International Labour

Office, Geneva, Gender Empowerment measure has three

components –

33
  The share of women in Earned Income.

 The relative weight of women among Administrators and

Professional Workers

 Share of women in Parliamentary seats.

The above three components indicate women’s active role in

Socio-Economic and Political Process of a country and also manifest

their relative control over resources and institutions. The United

Nations in 1999 evaluated the GEM data for 102 countries. The value of
these indicators range from a low of 0.120 (Niger) to a high of 0.810

(Norway). India falls in between the two extremes.

3.8.4 Factors affecting GEM

There are multiple factors which may affect the GEM score of a

country. The HDI, GDI and GEM are thus not unilaterally related.

Some of the factors which may affect GEM are:

 Social structure of a country - a patriarchal social system

may not permit higher role for women in decision making

process. Muslim countries have perennially encountered

lower participation of women in economic and political

process.

 Historical settings - If there is relative deprivation of women

vis-à-vis men it may take longer to alter the historical

setting in a country.

 Literacy rate - Lower literacy rate for women could result

into their exclusion from control over resources and in the

decision making process.

 Level of Urbanisation - Typically Urban Societies extend

greater role for women at all levels. Rural Societies are

34
 closed societies with limited resources as well as decision

making opportunities; whatever is available is concentrated

with men.

Check your Progress-VI

Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit

(i). Define Gender Empowerment Measure ?

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(ii). What are different components of GEM?

…………………………………………………………………………………
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(iii). Does GEM help reduce gender disparity? How?
……………………………………………………………………………
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 3.9 GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE

3.9.1 Meaning of Violence against Women?

Despite the protections guaranteed by the Universal Declaration
on Human Rights and the convention on the Rights of the child,
gender discrimination and violence against women and girls persists
everywhere and is a growing phenomenon in many parts of the world.
Despite promises in the convention to end all forms of Discrimination
against women, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium
Development Goals, girls continue to be exploited by individuals and
victimized by laws that fail to adequately protect them.
3.9.2 Forms of Violence
Gender based violence both reflects and reinforces inequities
between men and women and compromises the health, dignity,
security and autonomy of its victims. It encompasses a wide range of
human rights violation, including sexual abuse of children, rape,
domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment, trafficking of
women and girls and several harmful traditional practices.
Witchcraft: Sometimes a woman living in the neighbor hood is
alleged to be a witch and cause of any mishap happening in the
village. She is tortured and many a times killed for no fault of her. Low
education and superstition leads to such practices.
Devadasi: Girls in their childhood are made devadasis to serve
god in the temple and they have to leave their home and stay in the
temple complex. These girls grow up in the shelter of priests in the
temple and when they are grown up, most of them are exploited.
Dowry: This cause is most prevalent against women. At the time
of marriage, bride is supposed to bring dowry in terms of cash or kind
as demanded by bridegrooms’ side. In absence of which marriage is
not finalized as after marriage if the dowry is not given the bride is
tortured or even burnt to death. A number of lacunae in the legal
system set the culprits free.
Exploitation at work place, in schools and at home: Such
kind of exploitation is seldom reported as the culprit is known person.

36
The crime against women is done either by colleagues, boss, teacher
or some relative. Social stigma and inability to prove the crime of a
trusted person leads victim to suffer in silence.
Rape: This is one of the common crimes against women. All
rape cases are not reported to police. Laws are not victim friendly for
such type of violence against women. Many a times, culprits are either
close relatives, friends or known persons.
Blackmail: With the development of technology, women have
become more prone to blackmail. Use of spy cameras and conversion
of these into CDs and DVDs have made black mailing more convenient.
Sex determination: Another disadvantage of technology is sex
determination. The deteriorating sex ratio is due to sex determination.
Recent research shows that missing women are more in rich Northern
States as compared to South or Poorer States.
Selling of Girls: Girl child are sold for a petty amount of money
and sometimes girls are sold in the name of marriage also. Many of
them end up as prostitutes or bar girls. Selling of girls as domestic help
or sex workers in also driven by poverty of the family.
Other forms of violence: These include forcing them to flesh
trading, honour killing etc. Honour killing is killing females if they
revolt against their families/ relatives and decide to marry with
males of other caste or religion.

Gender Type
discrimination
throughout a
women’s life Phase
Prenatal Prenatal sex selection, battering during
pregnancy, coerced pregnancy (rape during
war).
Infancy Female infanticide, emotional and physical
abuse, differential access to food and medical
care.
Childhood Genital cutting, incest and sexual abuse;
differential access to food , medical care and
education, child prostitution.

37
 Adolescence Dating and Courtship violence, economically
coerced sex sexual abuse in the work place,
rape, sexual harassment, forced prostitution.
Reproductive Abuse of women by intimate partners, marital
rape, dowry abuse, sexual abuse with
disabilities
Old age Abuse of widows, elder abuse (which affects
mostly women).
Source: Heise L. 1994, Violence against Women: The
Hidden Health Burden.
World Bank Discussion Paper. Washington D.C. The World
Bank

3.9.3 Programmes for Prevention and Care:

It is recognized that gender based violence exists in domestic
and public sphere. Every effort should be made to prevent such
inhuman acts of violence. Elimination of discrimination against women
in Employment and in access to capital and technology with attention
to developing economic opportunities for women in private enterprise,
in agriculture and all sectors of formal employment must be prioritized
to enable women, their families, and their communities to reach their
full potential. Education and Training Skills are essential tools for
achieving economic well being.
Abolition of traditional discriminatory practices like Sati,
Devadasi, Genital mutilation etc and enforcement of law should be
strongly followed.
Legislative reforms should be formulated for protection and
promotion of women’s rights. Awareness about the laws, rights and
responsibilities in family life must be made. Victims of violence must
be offered psychological and financial support.
A number of strategies adopted by UNFPA Fund to address
gender based violence which includes:
 Ensuring that emergency contraception is available for
victims of sexual violence.

38
  Strengthening advocacy on gender based violence in all
country programmes in conjunction with other United
Nations partners and NGOs.
 Advocating for women with Parliamentarians and Women’s
National networks.
 Integrating messages on the preventions of gender based
violence into information, education and communication
projects.
 Conducting more research on gender based violence.

Check your Progress-1V

Note:a) Write your answer in about 50 words.
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit
(i). What are different forms violence against Women?
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(ii) How can we prevent violence against women?

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(iii) What measures have been taken to protect women from violence?
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39
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 3.10 REFERENCES AND READINGS

1 Ajit Pal Singh: women’s Participation at Grass root level: An Analysis,

Mainstream, Vol XLV 11 no 12, March, 7, 2009
2 A K Pandey: Gender Equality, Development and Women Empowerment
3 Amartya Sen - Development as Freedom, 1999 OUP
4 Andrew D Foster & Others: Missing Women, the Marriage Market and economic
growth; 2001 University of Pennsylvania
5 Azza M Karam- Women’s Political Participation: review of Strategies and trends,
Background Paper no 1 UNDP 1999, New Delhi
6 Beijing Declaration and Platform for action, paragraph - 112
7 Ester Boserup’s (1970) Women’s role in Economic Development
8 “Enhancing Participation of Women in Development through an enabling
environment for achieving gender equality and the Advancement of Women”
Expert Group Meeting, Bangkok 2005
9 Gender and Development Theories: from Invisible women to missing women.
Laurel Bossen 2005 draft Paper.
10 Gender Equality and Human Development Outcomes: enhancing Capabilities.
www.idrc.ca/en/ev-42967-201-1-do-topic.html
11 Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan – Gender Based indicators in Human Development:
Correcting for ‘Missing Women’; Indira Gandhi Institute of Development
Research, Mumbai, Sept 2008.
12 Human Development Report 2007/2008
13 India’s scorecard on Gender Equality - UNDP 2009).
14 Jeane W Anastas, International Policy on Women: International Federation of
Social Works.
15 Jessica Pfeifer & Sahotra Sarkar(Ed).Instrumentalism : Philosophy of Science: An
Encyclopedia ; Prem Singh; Violence against women
16 Joni Hersch; Sex discrimination in Labour Market. , NOW, Boston

41
17 Key Concepts: International Development Research Centre
18 Key Ideas: economics Explains discrimination in the Labour Market:
www.openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php
19 L N Dash: World Bank and Economic Development in India
20 L Heise: Violence against Women: The hidden health burden. World Bank
Discussion Paper Washington D.C. The World Bank 1994
21 L. B Karki & Siegfried Bauer; Women’s Empowerment: Does the increase in
Gender equity upsurge household food security in subsistence farming, Sttutgart,
2005.
22 Lisa Stergaard-Gender and Development; Commission of the
European Communities , Director- General Development
23 M K Rao: Empowerment of Women in India.
24 Margaret Synder and Mary Tadesse ; African Women and development: A
History,
25 Minkler and Wallerstein, (Ed)) 1998.Improving Health Education
Community Organisation and Community Building: A Health
Education Perspective
26 Molly Joseph; Women Participation and Development Strategies 2007
27 Millennium Goal Report, 2007
28 Nancy Forsythe & Others: Gender Inequalities, economic growth and economic
reform; A preliminary longitudinal Evaluation. Employment Paper 2003/45
29 Narendra Prasad-Women and Development
30 Neelima Deshmukh: “Women’s Empowerment through Panchayati Raj
Institutions” , in Indian Journal of Public Administration Vol L1, no. 2, New
Delhi; IIPA 2005
31 Niroj Sinha; Empowerment of Women: Through Political Participation
2007.Wikipedia- Gender Related Development Index.
32 Philomena Essed, Devid T Goldberg & Andrey Kobaysashi(ed):A Companion to
Gender Studies-Willey Blackwell.
33 Poornima Vyasulu and Vinod Vyasulu : Women in the Panchayati Raj: Grassroot
Democracy in India

42
34 Rathandev Nath Pramanik & A.K. Adhikary,2006-Gender
Equality and Women’s Empowerment
35 R Sooryamoorthy and D Renjini: Political Participation of Women :The case of
Women Councilors in Kerala, India, Journal of the Third World Studies, Spring
2000
36 S P Gupta: India:Vision 2020- Planning Commission of India 2004.
37 Saswati Basu & Parikshit Basu; Regional Disparity in Australia: Analysis of
Gender Development Index, International review of Business Research Papers
Vol 1 , no. 2, Nov. 2005
38 Shirin M Rai- Gender and the political economy of Development
39 S S Sree Kumar: “Representation of women in Legislature: A Sociological
Perspective in the Indian Context”, in Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol
.LXV11, No .3, Merrut: Indian Political Science Association, 2006
40 The World bank’s 2002 Empowerment Sourcebooks
41 The Road not traveled: India Together, Jan 2002, www.indiatogether.org
42 UN Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues
43 UNIFEM 2005
44 UNDP 2006
45 UNPFA 2000
46 www.industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/labor-market.html
47 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform
48 www.thp.org/india/panchayat.htm
49 Women’s Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap-World Economic
Forum Paper

43
 3.11 Answers to check your progress
Check your Progress-I
(i). What do you understand by Gender?
Gender is the social dimension of being male or female. Gender identity is the
sense of being male or female, which most children acquire by the age of three. Gender is
not being manly or feminine. Gender is how you feel inside.
Gender identity is a person's sense of identification with either the male or female
sex, as manifested in appearance, behaviour, and other aspects of a person's life”.
(ii). How gender and development are related?
Development’ is a process of expanding human capabilities or a process of
enlarging choices or options. By exercising these choices or options people can develop
their power and, in turn, can develop their country. These choices can be of various types
e.g. to be educated, to be creative, to lead a longer and healthy life and so on.
Development may be gender specific in many contexts like it can assign greater role to a
gender marginalizing the other or it can provide equal opportunity to all. This depends on
the priority of development policy. Gender has played important role in overall
development of a country depending on the socio economic and political environment.
(iii). Why do International agencies analyse development?
The international agencies like United Nations (UN), United Nations
Development Program (UNDP), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other institutions
are constantly engaged in evaluating different countries on some objective parameters to
know the results of millions of Dollars invested in eliminating poverty, hunger,
malnutrition, illiteracy, discrimination. Understanding these concepts provides a proper
perspective about the progress of different countries and identifies areas of concern
Check your Progress-1I
(i). Define Gender Role?
Gender roles can be defined as the behaviours and attitudes
expected of male and female members of a society by that society.
Gender roles may vary from country to country, culture to culture and

44
even in the same country from region to region depending on the
defined perceptions of people in that society. For example in rural
Indian society the gender role is more rigidly defined for different
classes of society. The upper class in rural setting defines women’s role
as more non economic activity like child rearing, managing household
than attaining higher education or contributing to economic resources.
In the same setting the lower class or landless class have compulsive
reasons to involve women in supplementing the household income in
addition to discharging household chores.
(ii). Explain approach in Gender and Development theory.
The Gender and Development (GAD) approach argues that
women’s status in society is deeply affected by their material
conditions of life and by their position in the national, regional and
global economics. GAD also recognized that women are deeply
affected by the nature of patriarchal power in their societies at the
national, Community and house hold levels. GAD adopts a two
pronged approach to the study of women and development
investigating women’s material conditions and class position, as well
as the patriarchal structures and idea that define and maintain
women’s subordination. The focus is on relationship between women
and men, not on women alone.
GAD recognizes the differential impacts of development policies
and practices on women and men and sees women as agents, not
simply as recipients of development. This perspective calls into
question both gender relatives and the development process..
(iii). Why gender role is unique in India for development?
India has a unique place among nations when it comes to its culture, social
structure or even its economy. With its rich cultural history and vast diversities existing it
is almost impossible to devise a single method to categorise India in a particular category.
Same is true when it comes to defining gender roles in Indian context and its relationship
with development. In India there are cultures within a unified Indian culture and societies

45
within a holistic Indian society. Gender role in Indian context has to be defined in
specific contexts. For understanding the gender roles in development in Indian context we
have to analyse the position of women in India during modern times when there have
been sea changes in the roles for each gender.

Check your Progress-III

(i). What is Labour and Labour Market?
“Labour is a measure of work done by a human being.” Thus we
can say that labour is the potential of an individual at micro level and
of labour force at macro level to produce and provide services in any
economy.
Labour force is defined as “the number of individuals age 16 and
above, excluding those in the military, who are either employed or
actively looking for work.
Labour market thus can be defined as the meeting place for
suppliers of labour force i.e. those who are available to do a job at a
price and employers i.e. those who are willing to buy the labour force
at a price.
(ii). Why women are discriminated in Labour Market?
The discrimination against women is more perceived as an out
come of series of external factors affecting women’s position in the
labour market.
 Social characteristics of gender
 The traditional division of labour between men and women
within the family has significant impact on their relationship
in the labour market.
 Lesser investment in human capital or training which
renders them unsuitable for certain category of jobs even if
the same is available in the market.

46
  Women’s overwhelming social responsibilities towards
family and children. It is also seen as primarily responsible
for their subordinate position in the labour market.
It only explains discriminatory attitude of employers to relate
women’s family conditions with their positions in the labour market
while the same is not attributed to men. Men are judged on their
productivity while women are judged on other parameters which have
no realistic relevance to their role as a labour force or impact on their
productivity.
(iii).What are different categories of Indian Labour force and how they are
connected to Labour Market?
The labour force in India can be categorized in four categories.
 Self Employed Workers

 Wage and Salary Earners

 Casual Workers

 Unemployed

The above four categories are differently connected with labour

market. The self employed workers are most loosely connected to the
market. The term self employed explains the nature of employment
this category is engaged in. They are least dependent on labour
market dynamics for any decision making. Wage and Salary earners
form the organized structure of the labour market. The demand and
supply of this category is predictable and has established practices
followed. Normally this category has a fixed term contractual
obligations on both sides.

Check your Progress-IV

(i). Who are Missing Women?

47
 “Missing women” reflect the gender disparities of any society.

The higher performing gender is favoured whereas gender with low

performance is neglected. This leads to further addition to missing

women. The adverse sex ratio in a society and discrimination against

women at many stages lead to their withdrawal from the mainstream

social-economic and political process in a country.

(ii) Explain causes for Missing Women.

Some of the important causes to missing women are -

Patrilocal Exogamy: Whereby sons remain with the origin or

“parental” house hold and contribute to income while daughters

migrate from their house holds village to move into, upon marriage,

their husband’s parental household.

Economic Value: Although women do the majority of worlds’ work,

women do not share equally in income, earnings and wealth.

Discrimination against women in earnings, employment, access to

credit and capital accumulation mechanism, and private social benefit

systems (UNIFEM 2005) also affects the economic well being of their

children and other house hold members.

Patriarchal Society: One of the important reasons for declining sex

ratio is patriarchal society. Desire for heir of the property (which is

passed on to the son) is another reason for discrimination against

daughters.

Poverty: The situation of women becomes worsen in case of people

living in poverty, thus pushing women out of labour market. The

disproportionate burden of family limits access to education, training

and participation in paid employment.

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(iii) What was the Mission of Beijing Declaration?
The mission statement of the Beijing Declaration was, “It aims at
accelerating the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the
Advancement of Women and at removing all the obstacles to women's active
participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in
economic, social, cultural and political decision-making. This means that the principle of
shared power and responsibility should be established between women and men at home,
in the workplace and in the wider national and international communities. Equality
between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice
and is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and
peace.”

Check your Progress-V

(i). Define Gender Development Index?
Gender Development Index is the quantitative projection of development of a
country with reference to parameters which reflect the extent of gender disparity
prevailing in any society. It is measured on following three parameters of
Development.
 Life expectancy at birth;
 Illiteracy level;
 Standard of living reflected in income level of women.
The GDI attempts to bifurcate the achievements between the genders i.e. men
and women. The GDI was developed in 1995 by UNDP to consider gender disparity
on overall human development of a nation.
(ii). Differentiate between GDI and HDI.
The Human Development Index is the measurement of overall development of a
country on an average without giving any specific weightage to any particular indicator.
The Gender Development Index measures development on parameters with refernce to
their focus on gender based indicators. The indicators used for measuring HDI and GDI
are common but for GDI, it is further narrowed down to calculate gender specific

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disparities in each parameter. The three areas which is used to measure human
capabilities for HDI are -
- Life expectancy to measure longevity.
- Educational attainment or Literacy level to represent level of knowledge.
- An appropriately adjusted real GDP per capita to ensure a decent a standard of
living.
For the purpose of calculating GDI, the above indices are adjusted to find out the
gender based results which explain the level of gender inequality prevailing in a country.
The GDI adjusts the average achievement to reflect the inequalities between men and
women in the above mentioned three indicators.
(iii). Why GDI is calculated and how it helps in identifying gender disparity?

The GDI is calculated to know the progress of a society in eliminating gender based
disparities in development efforts. Gender disparity has existed in all societies for a long
time and elimination of this is considered essential for an equitable development. It is
also measured to compare the progress over a time frame and to make comparison with
other countries. The International agencies are working to quantify development of
countries to advise National Governments on policy directions for development.

Check your Progress-VI

(i). Define Gender Empowerment Measure ?

Gender Empowerment Measure is a measure of inequalities between

men’s and women’s opportunities in a country. GEM combines

inequalities in three areas -

- Political participation and decision making

- Economic participation and decisions making

- Power over economic resources

GEM focuses on empowerment of Women in a country with

reference to their role in development. Since it is extremely difficult to

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quantify empowerment the above parameters are generally accepted

as reasonable indictors of Women’s role in any society.

(ii). What are different components of GEM?

Gender Empowerment measure has three components –
 The share of women in Earned Income.
 The relative weight of women among Administrators and
Professional Workers and
 Share of women in Parliamentary seats.
The above three components indicate women’s active role in Socio-
Economic and Political Process of a country and also manifest their
relative control over resources and institutions.
(iii). Does GEM help reduce gender disparity? How?
The Gender Empowerment Measure can not be seen to directly reduce the disparities
based on gender. But it’s a realistic and objective quantification of disparity existing in a
society. It helps in guiding the policy directions by identifying priority areas for policy
initiative. In absence of any such indicator it will be difficult to focus on any area for
attention to reduce inequalities in a country. For example once it was realized by India
that women were largely absent from the development process at grass root level
reservation of seats for women was provided through Constitutional Amendment to
guarantee women direct participation in decision making bodies at Panchayat level This
has helped in providing women enabling environment for their participation in
development process.

Check your Progress-VII

(i). Define the meaning of Violence against women.
Violence against women can be defined as any form of coercion, deprivation or
discrimination meted out to women as a category in a society. Violence can be physical
or psychological which can leave a lasting impact on victim’ psyche. It can be a direct
consequence of disparities or discrimination prevailing in the society. Women face
violence in their life at almost all stages when they are dominated and subjugated by men.

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Beginning from child violence to forced labour or sexual act to harassment at work place
it is manifested everywhere.
(ii). What are different forms violence against Women?

Violence against women takes place in several forms in any

society. It reflects and reinforces inequities between men and women
and compromises the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its
victims. It encompasses a wide range of human rights violation,
including sexual abuse of children, rape, domestic violence, sexual
assault and harassment, trafficking of women and girls and several
harmful traditional practices. Anyone of these abuses can leave deep
psychological scars, damage the health of women and girls in general,
including their reproductive and sexual health, and in some instances,
results in death.
(iii) What Strategies have been adopted by UNFPA to prevent violence against
women?

A number of strategies adopted by UNFPA Fund to address

gender based violence which includes:
 Ensuring that emergency contraception is available for
victims of sexual violence.
 Strengthening advocacy on gender based violence in all
country programmes in conjunction with other United
Nations partners and NGOs.
 Advocating for women with Parliamentarians and Women’s
National networks.
 Integrating messages on the preventions of gender based
violence into information, education and communication
projects.

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