WOMENS MOVEMENT

INTRODUCTION:
Within the women’s movement there have been divergent understandings of
patriarchal oppression and its outcomes and, therefore, also varied strategies
to combat it. Some organisations have been small intellectual groups while
there have been some that have had mass support. The changes or rather the
transitions that have taken place within the women’s movement in India have
not followed a chronological or linear pattern, but have at all stages involved a
collage of influences, local, national and international.
PRE-INDEPENDENCE:
Women’s organizations were being founded mostly by men, but women and
these organizations were working for women’s education, social reform etc. In
1916, the Begum of Bhopal founded the All-India Muslim Women’s Conference
with education of women as a prime agenda, apart from provisions of other
remedial services for women and changing oppressive practices such as
polygamy. We can site many such instances or special cases where individual
women have been leaders in a struggle for women’s rights.
Women’s leadership in the nationalist phase however, emerged from a small
section of the urban, middle-class, who had their education in English and
invariably was in some way linked to movements or organisations in the west.
The Women’s Indian Association was started in 1917 by Margaret Cousins,
Dorothy Jinarjadasa and Annie Besant. In 1927, an All-India Women’s
Conference was set up by Margaret Cousins which later merged with the
Women’s Indian Association in the 1930s.
The ‘first wave’ of feminism in India was between 1880-1940. At this time
several organisations formed women’s wings which not only took up the cause
of women but gave women space and opportunity to secure the desired
changes. In 1887, M.G. Ranade established the National Social Conference,
which did have women’s emancipation on its agenda, as he worked for the
introduction of widow remarriage, for the abolishment of child marriage and
other issues like education for girls. In 1891 the Age of Consent Act raised the
legal age at marriage from 10 to 12 yrs for girls. Other laws gave women rights
such as widow remarriage. The class-caste bias of the early women’s
movement impacted the kind of issues taken up for ‘change’. The issues of
concern were those that largely impacted the higher castes and middle classes
such as widow remarriage, dowry, polygamy and property rights. Besides, the
larger question was always the ‘national’ during this phase and if the women’s
question got addressed it might have been because it was seen to enhance the
larger cause. For eg., women’s suffrage meant an increase in ‘Indian’
representation which no doubt would be in the longer run unfavourable to the
British. Any change that would threaten the Indian male privilege or position in
the private sphere was left unchanged such as, for e.g., inheritance rights,
issues relating to domestic violence, etc.
PARTICIPATION IN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT: The liberal ideas of the
individual right to freedom and equality were particularly championed by
Mahatma Gandhi and that laid the foundations of what later developed within
the women’s movement as autonomous women’s organisations. It was during
this period that we have clear records of women’s participation in struggle,
although the enemy at that time was colonialism and not patriarchy. In the
early years, however, Gandhi’s definition of women’s nature and role in the
freedom struggle was deep rooted in Hindu patriarchy.
By the 1920s, however, he began acknowledging the important role women
could play in the struggle for freedom, and called women to participate in the
civil disobedience movement. Some of the names of women who were
involved in satyagrahas against colonial rule subsequently were Sarojini Naidu,
Kamala Nehru, Hansa Mehta, Satyavati, etc. This is remembered as the turning
point for women’s participation in struggle. The reform and nationalist
movements in India saw the growth of liberalism and in many ways marked the
beginning of ideas of individual freedom and equality. Of all the leaders and
reformers, Gandhi was most forceful in his conviction that women should have
the right to individuality and the freedom from violation of their personal
dignity. There were also women’s organisations such as Desh Sevika Sangh,
Nari Satyagraha Samiti, Mahila Rashtriya Sangh, Ladies Picketing Board, Stri
Swarajya Sangh and Swayam Sevika Sangh began.
POST INDEPENDENCE:
The women’s question disappeared from the public arena for over 20 years.
With the Constitution guaranteeing ‘equality’ to all citizens irrespective of
caste, creed or gender (Articles 14 and 16), the need for the same demand
from the women’s movement seemed redundant. From the mid-1960s
onwards, we see the birth of new socio-political movements as poverty and
unemployment were widespread and people grew disillusioned with
government development policies, the prevalent economic rights, land rights
and the price rise. Of particular importance to the women’s movement were
the agitations such as the Shahada agitation and the subsequent formation of
the Shramik Sangatana in the 1970s of the Bhil (tribal) landless labourers
against the exploitative landlords which was triggered off after the rape of 2
Bhil women. The problem of family violence, wife beating and alcoholism
became issues of grave concern around this time and the strategy of retaliation
was adopted. The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) movement in
Ahmedabad led by Ela Bhatt, which was a sort of pioneering women’s trade
union movement began in 1972. The Progressive Organisation of Women
(POW), developed in Hyderabad in the year 1974, worked towards organising
women against gender oppressive structures in society, namely, the sexual
division of labour and the culture that rationalised this discrimination. The
organisation promoted the ideology of ‘equality’ and opposed the economic
dependence of women on men.
TOWARDS EQUALITY REPORT:
Conceding to the representations made by the international women’s
movement, the UN declared 1975–1985 as the International Decade of the
Woman. In India, the National Committee on the Status of Women had been
set up to examine the status of women in the country and to investigate into
the extent to which the constitutional and legal provisions had impacted on
women’s status including their employment and education. The Committee
came out with its findings in the form of a report, popularly known as the
Towards Equality Report (1974), which became a major landmark for the
women’s movement. The report revealed the deplorable condition of women
in the country evident from demographic data, an analysis of the socio-cultural
conditions prevalent, the legal provisions and safeguards, economic role
played by women in all sectors, women’s access to education, political
participation, the policies and programmes for welfare and development, the
impact of mass media, etc. The report also made several recommendations
which included stressing the important role of the State and the community in
the achievement of ‘gender equality’. The report reiterated the constitutional
goal of a Uniform Civil Code for the country.
THE AUTONOMOUS WOMEN’S MOVEMENT:
Post-1975 saw the growth of ‘autonomous’ women’s organisations with
expanding base in both urban and rural India. These organisations particularly
in the towns and cities had a specific ‘feminist’ focus and there were attempts
by women’s groups that were dissatisfied with their marginalization as well as
the hierarchy and bureaucracy they experienced within organisations that they
had had affiliation to, to create alternate and more decentralized organisation
structures. These organisations rejected formal structure and traditional
leadership styles and despite having no prototype to follow, they
experimented with leaderless collectives with decision making by consensus, a
volunteering of tasks and rotation of responsibility.
‘The variety of organisations usually listed as belonging to the present phase of
the IWM are support groups, agitational groups, grassroots groups, wings of
political parties, professional women’s groups and research and
documentation centres. Several of these organisations did not have any party
affiliations, even if individual members did have party connections. Besides,
most of these organisations had no formal hierarchical structure.
We also see nation-wide campaigns beginning in the 1980s on issues such as
dowry and rape which led to the formation of the Forum Against Rape and
later the Forum Against Oppression of Women (FAOW), following the Supreme
Court judgement in the Mathura case in the late 1970s which brought isolated
protests across the country together with one voice on the issue of violence
against women.
Around the country, in the early 1980s, women’s groups were formed in
protest against the rising incidence of dowry deaths and other forms of
violence against women. Other issues which saw national-level collaborations
were the issue of Sati following Roop Kanwar’s immolation in 1987, the Muslim
Women’s Bill in 1986, alcoholism, wife-beating, sexual harassment, etc.
Women’s organisations also got very involved in environment crises such as
the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1985. At this time, analysis of women’s oppression
took on a caste and class perspective. Some of these ‘autonomous’
organisations aimed not only at creating awareness on the issues, but also to
provide women with alternate support structures. During 1975–85,forms and
styles of action became diversified to create public awareness, to raise
consciousness, to lobby, to mobilise a cross-section of society.
THE QUESTION OF AUTONOMY:
The major ideological dilemma was that of “Structural Autonomy” and
“Ideological Autonomy” of the Women’s Movement. Structural Autonomy
involves the question of whether Women’s groups should remain independent
of political partners or work with them. More critical was the question of
ideological autonomy. Should women’s groups or the movement in general,
concern themselves with only gender related issues? It was important to draw
attention to women’s issues, but to remain limited to only that would result in
the isolating of the women’s movement from mainstream political activity.
LAW AND WOMEN’S MOVEMENT:
Much hope has been pinned on law and legal reform by feminists in India in
the early period of their struggle for gender equality, particularly those
influenced by the liberal ideology. They looked towards the law as a protective
machinery as well as a change agent through which conventional roles and
practices in society can be questioned and transformed.
• • Criminal Law (Amendment Act) 1983 - reforming rape laws to widen
the definition of rape, to establish as minimum punishment for rape and
recognition of custodial rape;
• • Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961- amended by Dowry Prohibition
(Amendment) Act, 1984 and 1986;
• • Sati Prevention Bill, 1987;
• • Muslim Women’s (protection of rights on Divorce) Act, 1986;
• • Vishakha Guidelines, 1997;
• • Sexual Harassment of Women in the Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013;
• • A 1999 SC Judgement recognized the mother as the natural legal
guardian of the Child;
• • Muslim Women’s (Protection Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.
• • The law prohibiting Pre-Natal Diagnostic Tests and the Domestic
Violence Act of 2005 are examples of laws that have come into existence due
to pressure from the women’s movement but which are yet to be
implemented.

RESERVATIONS:
The 73rd and the 74th Amendments to the Constitution are examples of
legislations that have transformed the lives of women not only in this
generation but has given women a reason to be optimistic for a more
egalitarian society in future. With the provision of 33% reservation of seats in
panchayat and nagarpalika bodies, women at the so called ‘grass roots’ of
Indian society have been given the opportunity to be in formal decision making
and governance. Several states also have 50% reservation for women at
grassroots level. However, the fact that, the Women’s Reservation Bill or the
81st Constitutional Amendment Bill 1996, which seeks to reserve 1/3 seats for
women in Parliament, is yet to see enactment is indicative that we are still up
against resistance.
LGBTQ RIGHTS:
Section 377, which criminalized all sexual acts against the order of nature, of
the IPC was decriminalized in 2018. In 2014, the LGBTQ got recognition of the
Third Gender by SC. There were Recommended reservations for transgender
persons in jobs and educational institutions and the right of transgender
persons to declare their self-perceived gender identity without undergoing a
sex reassignment surgery. The Transgender Persons (Right to Protection) Act,
2019 was passed.
CONCLUSION:
The All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) spoke of triple
oppression—class, political and gender—and many organisations like the
Progressive Organisation for Women (POW) raised their voices against gender
discrimination within the left. Autonomous Women’s Groups worked on single
issues and hence, could not address the deep-rooted gender inequality in
society. The issues today are sexual harassment at the work place, the violence
of development, caste and communal violence, lobbying for increased political
participation of women in the highest levels of decision-making, etc. The list
will go on as long as there is a women’s movement. Nirbhaya mobilization, Me
too, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao - adding to visibility, but leading to structural
changes?