An Evil Social Practice of Gender Inequality

Introduction

Gender inequality is conceptually linked with how society constructs masculinity and femininity, while sex is a biological term. Culturally, man has over the years manufactured several gender stereotypes. Men and women both uphold the family and build a stable society, but men are perceived to be strong and do not cry, they brazen out the ‘MEN DON’T CRY’ slogan. The same society which sets very high standards for women also denies a man the basic right to have a sound mind. If men and women do not go out to work but work from home, society disapproves of it. All these differences are created by the titled society.

Current State

To mark International Women’s Rights Day on the 8th of March in 2024, Focus 2030 seeks to pay a special focus on the global theme of gender equality. The goal of equal rights for both men and women has been adopted at the global level as a goal towards its attainment by the year 2030. However, the many international crises underway are a stark reminder of the urgent need for coordinated action to promote equality worldwide. The female gender is more vulnerable to suffering from adverse impacts of Wars and other armed conflicts, epidemics and pandemics, effects of climate change, and Economic crises.

According to the report, still, in the year 2024, no country has attained Gender Equality. Worldwide 1/3 of the countries have failed to make any improvement since 2015, and the condition of women has worsened in 18 nations including Venezuela, Afghanistan, and South Africa. The data indicates that it will take 131 more years for the countries of the world to provide equal rights for both genders.  

Islamic Teachings Vs Practices

While handling the issue in the light of the Islamic system there should be a clear distinction between the Religion of Islam and culture as there is a slur between the two. This remains true for Islamic society and law since justice is a core tenet of the Islamic philosophy of law. Ideas that justice depends on gender equality are relatively new and only in the twentieth century became aligned with the common sentiment of the culture of the nations. In defining Islamic teachings we need to make a very critical distinction regarding two basic sources of the Islamic faith; the Quran and the Sunnah.

According to the Qur’an, Men and women have the same spiritual side of human nature:

“O humanity! Be mindful of your Lord Who created you from a single soul, and from it He created its mate,¹ and through both He spread countless men and women. And be mindful of Allah—in Whose Name you appeal to one another—and ˹honour˺ family ties. Surely Allah is ever Watchful over you.” (Qur’an 4:1 – https://quran.com/4:1)

In the light of the sacred Qur’an woman is not held responsible for the ‘fall of man.’ Pregnancy or childbirth are not consequences of ‘eating from the forbidden tree.’ This is because the Qur’an holds them dear in as much as they are mothers.

In front of 120,000 Companions who had gathered for the Hajj al-Wada (Farewell Pilgrimage), the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) made a strong statement urging Muslims to treat their women with kindness during his renowned khutba on the Mount of Mercy in Arafat. In it, he commanded everyone in attendance to treat women with decency and kindness, and via them, all future Muslims as well.

When in the Treaty of  Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet (SAW) and Muslims were prohibited from performing Umrah and were put seemingly at a disadvantage When the Prophet instructed his companions to end their state of ihram most of them were disappointed and reluctant. The Prophet (SAW) sought advice from his wife, Umm Salamah (RA), who wisely suggested that he should lead by example: and quietly have to do the rituals on his own. The Prophet (SAW) did as she advised and precisely as she had expected, his companions copied him. This case shows that the Prophet (SAW) valued women’s opinions and hence the importance of incorporating women’s perspectives in decision-making, a radical step as regards gender equality in early Islamic society.

Razia Sultana or Razia Sultan was an important historical personality of India, a female ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. Her rule was from 1236 to 1240 she faced many problems with nobles of her court and external enemies but her reign proves her leadership and determination in the male dominated society.

Razia violated more than one social expectation by wearing men’s clothes and fighting in the front line. An able and fair queen, who had a lot of work experience and was famous for her organizational skills. Some of her activities included trade promotion, the administration of justice and public works. Nevertheless, her gender remained a major issue of discussion of the nobles who were not ready to have a female ruler.

Razia Sultana ruled for about three years and is again a relatively unknown chapter in the history of India. It will be useful to recall her as a brave and rather efficient queen who also violated the high beleaguered gender expectations of her days. She has become a subject of numerous literary and cultural productions as the story of a female who decided to reign in a man’s world.

Hinduism Teaching vs Practices

Regarding Hinduism discussing the concept of God, The primitive conceptions of Hindus regarding God were provided as “GOD IS A FEMALE”, and Hinduism has concept of female God in addition to the male God, Hinduism not only empowers the woman but also worships him or her in several of the Upanishads, Sastras, and Puranas including the Devi Upanishad, the Devi Maha Patrimony. Not only females but men are also considered important in Hinduism. Hinduism has male gods like Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, and men are the bread earners of the family but for ages, the position of women has been misjudged, there are countless examples in every society, even today women are harassed which is not at all the practice of Hinduism but is the modern society. For example, there is the right to education, the right to marry a person of one’s own choice, the right to vote, and the like. Although in (Hinduism) women have been clearly described as Goddess and an omnipotent force, but today in some of the households, women are being harassed, and abused by their husbands/family but Hinduism clearly states that;

“No man, even in anger, should ever do anything that is disagreeable to his wife while upholding dharm; for happiness, joy, virtue and everything depend on the wife. Wife is the sacred soil in which the husband is born again, even the Rishis cannot create men without women.” — Adi Parva, Mahabharata Book, 1.74.50-51

Polygamy, the marriage between more than one woman to one man or the Polyandry, marriage between more than one man and one man, has always been present in India in some or the other form, but polygamy today is a far cry from what existed in the past. In ancient India it was not a taboo for kings to have many wives, which was considered as a sign of power and wealth. The historical records of Hindu kings and warriors mentioned in Hindu epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana indicates Polygamy and polyandry practices.

Another clear example of a man deciding the fate of a woman can be witnessed in the quotes from the Mahabharata, especially the scene of Draupadi’s disrobing. The eldest Pandava Yudhishthira loses everything to Shakuni in a game of dice including himself and his brothers and then Draupadi is insulted and unroe by Dushasana in the royal court. Being a queen, a noblewoman, her life is governed by the male power—especially Duryodhana who gives the command to strip her naked as the Pandavas’ revenge. During this period, Draupadi seeks justice but is not heard by the men among them, the elders such as Bhishma and Dhritarashtra remain mute. When she decides to pray to Lord Krishna her honor is saved in a most appalling manner and the plight of women and the effect of patriarchal dominance in that society is depicted.

The tradition of worshiping girls during Navratri known as ‘Kanya Puja’ is worship of the divinity in every young girl as the representative of the goddess Durga the divine power of creation and destruction, girls are pure and are considered sacred. This practice, therefore, reveals the culture of paying respect to the feminine divinity aspect within the Hindu culture on the broader issue of gender and spirituality. The ritual here entails the young girls of about 2-10 years of age being welcomed into homes, their feet washed, fed and be gifted, thereby being seen as incarnations of the goddess. This tradition is particularly important in India in as far as it supports the cultural value of the goddesses and the social standing of women as nurturers.

Among all the rituals that can be performed by a couple in India, one of the most traditional is Satyanarayan Puja. This is a festival whereby couples, such as those just starting out on their marriage or couples who are renewing their wedding vows, engage in worshiping the Hindu god, Satyanarayan who is an avatar of Vishnu. Customary to the performance of Satyanarayan Katha, the couple in traditional outfits covenant in the rituals that involve presenting fruits, sweets, and flowers, the reading of the Satyanarayan Katha stories. This puja is said to bless the home with prosperity, harmony, and peace and can be performed with the presence of family and friends, thus both personal and communal in nature.

Christian Views on Gender Equality

If we talk about any religion in the world up to the date they all depict the same things about God creating mankind. The same goes with confirming the faith of Christianity also in the book of Genesis:

  “So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

As for the equity of the genders, Christianity offers a rather vague concept and there are descriptions of the roles that the couple is to play after they are married and how they are to treat their spouses. It is said that:

“For wives, this means to submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. (Ephesians 5:22)

However, if we inspect the current realities, it appears comparatively unfavorable to what is being taught in Christianity where women assume a higher position than men and increase their rivalry with them which is unbeneficial for society. This is so because the couple does not know the role that is required of them in marriage hence, most of the marriages lead to divorce.

James 3:5-6 compares the tongue to a fire, which is capable of setting a whole forest on fire. This meteor is 100% true in explaining the havoc that is caused by uncontrolled utterances. A woman is taken to be emotional most of the time which leads to rash actions and therefore unfocused talking. In Timothy, stress is laid down emphasizing that immodest dressing and assertiveness are prohibited in women as they are encouraged to have the will of being silent when necessary.

1 Timothy 2:12: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”

Each human being is a dependent being and no one can live alone for the rest of his or her life, hence they need another person to fill the gap they have. Men and women are made for each other and they cannot do a lot of things in their lives without the help of their counterparts. In today’s world, women get uneasy and become desperate to seek help from the opposite gender as they look down upon them, leading to gender issues on the other side men again feel WEAK when they ask for help from a woman. These are things that must not be forgotten and man and women are created to support each other as the Lord God said:

“It is not good for a man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

It can therefore be realized that the existence of men and women is complementarity dependent. The media does this and thus, negates any attempt to compare one gender to the other in terms of supremacy or subordination. Several features of the concept of bilateral dependence, which presupposes that everything comes from God, were essential for the early Christian societies. This perspective was contrary to other corresponding subsets of Roman culture and population that consisted of a power system with male-dominant groups. Likewise, today’s rich tend to think that they are above everybody and it is okay to be as ruthless as they wish to be.

1 Corinthians 11:11: “Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman of man, for as woman came from man, so man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.”

Female Education – Societal Attitudes

One of the fundamental rights of each individual is getting education. It is the responsibility of the society to provide educational facilities to each individual. Education not only raises society morally but also leads to financial development. The importance of education is more in the present time because of socio-economic changes. In Pakistan, 32% and 21% of primary school-age girls and boys are out of school respectively. These figures show the gender gap in the country. A high proportion of females in tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa face difficulties in accessing higher education. The parent’s attitude toward female higher education in three Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. They found that the joint family system, poverty, and co-education restricts females from higher education.

The position of girl children in India has generated a great deal of discussion, controversy, and debate. From the beginning, girls are viewed as liabilities rather than assets, carrying heavy dowries and eventually moving into their husbands’ houses. The lack of equal medical, emotional, and educational support for female children compared to male children can be attributed to a number of strong cultural and economic factors. In rural India, there is still a significant disparity in educational attainment between men and women notwithstanding advancements. 3.7 million Eligible females are not in school in 2015. Girls in rural regions typically attend school for less than four years. Several studies demonstrate that rural women have poor earning capacity, poor nutritional status, high rates of fertility and death, and limited domestic authority. Children’s health and welfare are negatively impacted by a mother’s lack of education. This low level affects women’s lives negatively, as well as the lives of their families and the economic growth of the nation.

The ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign was started by the Indian government in January 2015 to fight the problem of gender bias against girls. This campaign primarily has, as its focal theme, the declining ratio of the children that are female in India, especially due to sex-selective abortion and social prejudice. It also focuses on girl child education in order to produce a society with educated girls who will compete for existence with the boys. Implemented by the ministries of women and child development, health and family welfare, and human resource development work on a grassroots level to promote awareness and participation of communities in the improvement of the Indian girls. However, the campaign has known drawbacks in rallying support from rural people and altering values that have prevailed for years. 

In Pakistan, a similar project of Khadija Open School is launched by the Malala Fund. This venture aims at availing education to young girls who have not been to conventional schools because of cultural or economic or security constraints. The Khadija Open School Project is named after Malala Yousafzai’s mother; it works in the areas of the country where female literacy rates are extremely low. Centered on flexibility of the program, the initiative ensures girls are given an education that they can take at their own convenience and in turn equipping them with skills that may help alter their fortunes in the future. Furthermore, the Girls Education Initiative in Pakistan (GEIP) , which is being headed by several NGOs and international organizations; aim at promoting girls’ right to education and change in the society about female education. These efforts are some of the continuous and progressive measures that have been instituted in Pakistan to help redress the imbalance in the education of girl children and prepare them to be productive members of the society.

Patriarchy and Cultural Norms

Culturally, the roles assigned to women in Pakistan’s society are very traditional; they are barred from early marriages and childbearing and spend most of their time behind the curtained windows, and their primary responsibility is to protect the family honor rather than to pursue their dreams. Nonetheless, Women are socially unjust and they undergo gender discrimination this is evidenced by the fact that multiple women deserve to be promoted and paid better in organizations than men and though the constitutions of most countries recognize this, equal provision has not been made. Lack of education and other cultural beliefs also play a big role in women’s unable to secure their place within the workforce. Any woman who acts contrary to these norms threatens the reputation of her family and many are physically and verbally assaulted and even thrown acid. The horrific death of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam in Islamabad, Pakistan, in July 2021 provoked widespread disappointment and brought attention to the problems of gender-based violence and the requirement for judicial reform. However, some remarkable Asian women proved their potential like Sitara Akbar, Malala Yousafzai, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, and many more. Advocacy and sensitivity creation should be a process of countering the hegemonic ideologies, changing the male-centric orientations and misogynistic socio-cultural paradigms, and creating a favorable perspective on women’s rights.  Pakistan is still a place where women are not valued as they should be, as it is ranked 145 from 146 countries on the index of gender equality based on the data from the Global Gender Gap Index 2024 having a score of 0.570. This positions the country lower than it was in 2023 when it ranked 142 and this shows that there is increasing difficulty in attaining the objective of parity between the two genders.

Women in India have been stereotyped and discriminated against because of the effects of patriarchal attitudes. Social evils like purdah system, female foeticide, female infanticide, dowry, and torture at home have been faced by women. 

Economic Participation – Barriers to women

Gender inequalities are in a way perceived through discrimination based on the type of employment and the sectors, of course, women are over-represented in the vulnerable jobs such as low paid and insecure employment statuses while men dominate the well-paid high employer positions. The empirical arguments for women’s economic marginalization are evident in Pakistan and come in multiple forms. There exists a form of discrimination when it comes to the type and sector of employment as most of the women are centralized in sectors that offer low pay such as; farming and garments while the sectors such as information technology and banking are dominated by male employees. As per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (2023) employment in the formal sector among women is 16% while men’s employment is 30%, women are paid 24% less than men, on average [18]. Enhancement of barriers to the above is enhanced by the restrictions on women’s freedom as many are legally or socially restricted on their mobility or economic activities. For instance, a report by the World Bank (2022) reveals the fact that 68 percent of the Pakistani women have restricted mobility that limits them from pursuing economic activities outside the home [19]. These barriers are some of the factors that make there is a large gender divide in economic activities and slow down economic development.

Property inheritance

In most nations today, property inheritance laws retain rather strong seeds of gender discrimination that affect women autonomously. Currently, about 40% of the world’s countries continue to have at least one legal limitation to women’s property rights and these may have manifested in different forms such as limitations to women’s ability to inherit property or own and control assets singly. These constraints result in economically negatively perpetuating inequity and denying women chances of economic self-sustenance. For example, in some cases, women will be asked to surrender their rights to some types of property upon marriage, or they are discriminated against when it comes to the ability to buy and dispose of property as may be allowed to their male counterparts. Legal provisions of this nature not only erode the women’s economic position, but also perpetuate the social construct of women as some kind of supplementary or junior economic citizens. To tackle these issues, there is need for elaborate legal changes and more emphasis on the issue of women property rights across the world. It would be good to write about the Indian side of Kashmir.

Mental Health Issues

Mental state is another dimension of health which unfortunately is one of the least addressed dimensions of health care globally not mentioning India. To understand why women in India for instance suffer from mental disorders in a more proportionate manner than men, several factors come into play; these are the socio-cultural, economic and biological factors. Hence, the current paper seeks to discuss the various mental health disorders affecting women in India and the challenges towards seeking treatment. The cross-section of these factors contribute to the development of a society where women suffer from mental health problems but are not presented with the ability to seek treatment since such problems are considered taboo and many women lack knowledge about such illnesses while few have access to health facilities that can attend to their needs.

Mental health was identified to be significantly impaired among women in India through stressful socio-cultural expectations, economic strain and gender violence. Women’s depression, anxiety and somatic disorders are common in Indians; these are perhaps due to some factors like domestic violence marital conflict, caregiving responsibilities. Mental illness is another challenge affecting many women and due to the-stigma attached to it most women do not seek treatment hence their conditions are under-diagnosed hence inadequately treated.

In India, poverty constrains women’s independence and inadequate access to education and medical facilities are other vital factors that affect their mental health. The barriers women in rural areas have include lack of awareness, mobility, and lack of adequate Mental Health facilities, all this makes it difficult for ladies to seek care. Caste, class and gender discrimination also makes the lonely women’s corner worse for many women by worsening their mental health problems. These factors furnish the condition in which problems of mental health in women of the Indian subcontinent are termed to be severe yet largely unnoticed.

Gender Segregation – The Root Cause 

Gender segregation is one of the root causes of gender inequality. The core of gender inequality and segregation is connected more with the socio-cultural practices and patriarchal tendencies, which have developed throughout the course of history, as separate gender roles for men and women were ascribed. These norms are sustained across diverse domains of societal life as depicted by the family, education, religion as well as law whereby the dominance of the male lever and reduced prospects for women are manifested. Other things being equal there are economic factors since women have little or no access to income generating resources, employment and education as this keeps them subordinate to their male counterparts. Gender combined with other systems of social categorization, for example, racial, class, or caste, also deepen inequality so that a system of discrimination is multifaceted and integral.

Interestingly in India, the primordial conditions of gender inequity and gender discrimination have their roots in the country’s endogenous culture and tradition. The caste system along with religion has put women at a place lower than men and has maintained strict gender roles. These pre-existing cultural beliefs have seen women left out in several facets of life as regards education and employment as well as political representation. Cultural practices also make gender inequality worse due to dowry, son preference, and early marriage that minimizes chances that women have in their lives. Another factor that contributes to the vulnerability of women is economic because most of them are locked out of employment opportunities and leadership positions and are therefore forced to rely on male members of the family. Gender wise discrimination gets compounded with caste and class amplifying the discriminations resulting in a matrix of oppression becoming a barrier for maturing Indian women.

Government and NGOs Initiatives

Governments and NGOs across the subcontinent have played a vital role in addressing gender inequality. Their work has resulted in enhancement of the status of women, and in general the progress in providing reasonable opportunities in different countries of the region. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, was created with the view of; protecting women from sexual harassment at the workplace in India. The legislation implies that physical contact is any type of conduct that is sexual and is unwanted and can be verbal or non-verbal. The Act lays down a structure for the disposal of the complaint; it must be made within three months of the event with ICC or LCC investigation conducted in ninety days. The Act also continues to stress on the preservation of the identity of the complainer during the conduct of the investigation and provisions of sanctions for those who reveal the identity of the complainer and for those who make false complaints. Furthermore, the law mandates an employer to be an agent in the creation of awareness of the Act. By such provisions, the Act aims at redressing the unfair situation of women at the workplace across the different sectors in India.

Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, 2006 was enacted in Pakistan for the purpose of bringing improvement in the legal status of women and prevent all types of crime and ill-treatment being meted out to women [28]. In the conventional sense this Act has introduced major changes in a number of existing statutes like the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act. Among these was the amendment of the Hudood Ordinances on matters pertaining to zina and qazf or the laws on adultery and false accusation to adultery. The Act also provided for enhancements of women rights where the petitioner had been abused by her husband, forced to marry and other injustices. Because of the possibility of being charged under the normal criminal law and not the Sharia law, the Act aimed at freeing women with fair and impartial common law. The adoption of this Act might be considered one of the key successes in Pakistan’s fight against gender-based violence and the assertion of women’s rights within the legal framework of the country.

Conclusion

Gender inequality is almost a norm in society due to the existing roles and expectations, traditions as well as cultural and religious beliefs that are in place. Although enough measures have been put in place to attain gender equality by the year 2030, there are prevailing disparities with no single country that has achieved the set goal. In particular, the female gender is extremely sensitive to extreme conditions like; conflicts, economic shocks, and climate change. It is, thus, possible to identify in the teachings of different religions, namely Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity, that the recognition of women’s rights is viewed from the standpoint of gender roles in the process of emancipation of women. Two prominent examples include recent developments showing that despite an increase in educational attainment level, social norms connected with gender still impose numerous constraints on progress; the conditions for women and girls are especially poor in the education sectors in such countries as India and Pakistan.