Showing posts sorted by relevance for query women. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query women. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, March 09, 2009

The ‘Beauty’ Of Money

By M H Ahssan

Why should women be conservative in investment planning? HNN explores the options at your end to make the most of the market.

Investment traditionally has been a man’s world. It’s not that women are not permitted, but traditionally it has been like that. The entire system of markets and investment mechanisms has been developed by men; with women largely remaining at the periphery of these systems. While women do participate in investing, men far outweigh them in the number and volume of investments. Women make up roughly half of the India’s population but their presence among active investing population is negligible in the country.

Financial planning is becoming imperative for women now as an increasing number of them especially in urban centres have regular jobs and careers. They now need to plan for critical life stages of education, work, marriage, maternity and retirement. For women, one of the major steps towards empowerment is achieving financial security and independence through gaining control on investing decisions.

The financial world is gradually waking up to the reality that increasingly that the ‘better half’ now has money in her hands that is waiting to be invested. The recent bull market has helped in accelerating this change process. An unprecedented increase in women participants was seen in hey days of the rally. We saw working women, college girls and even housewives getting their first exposure to capital markets. While most restricted themselves to trading on small bets, some became involved in serious investing.

While the conventional tools of investing prevail, marketers of financial products are now increasingly designing products targeted at the fairer sex. Be it insurance policies or saving bank accounts, financial companies are now creating women-centric products to tap a huge market, which has not yet been justifiably penetrated and serviced. For instance, LIC launched Jeevan Bharati, an insurance policy exclusively for women first in 2003. Last year, it launched Jeeven Bharati – I, an updated version of the earlier policy. Most banks today cater to women customers through specially designed products like special bank accounts, saving schemes etc. Who knows we will soon have mutual funds especially designed for women just as we have funds targeted at senior citizens or children.

A woman investor, most of the times invest in safe investments like gold jewellery, fixed deposits etc. Investments under mutual funds or ELSS schemes are done primarily with an objective of tax planning. Very few women would go ahead and try their hands at investing in exotic products like derivatives, interest rate swaps, arbitrage products etc.

Interestingly, the styles of investing differ between the two genders. Tradition and science both have testified that women are more risk averse than men. They are more conservative and less likely to take business risks. Budgeting comes naturally to them by virtue of handling household expenditures. Investment decisions also differ between the two genders. Many times women know less of the various investment options available, and hence are less confident about the decisions they take about their investments.

If you are a woman reading this, be prepared to get more involved in the investment decision-making process. Financial decisions are no longer a man’s domain. Knowledge about various financial products is freely available - online as well as offline. Relationship managers, some of them being women, are more than happy to service women customers. Thanks to their discipline, women as a category of investors are better placed to make money in the current markets than their male counterparts.

And there is no dearth of pampering on this count. Marketers of financial products are aggressively wooing the new generation woman. With increase in working and independent women, the marketers of investment products are coming around to address the changing gender roles in the world of investing. Many micro financial institutions cater to women’s financial needs and offer special financial assistance. Customised products, women-specific tax concessions, communication and counseling are being rolled out.

In the current difficult times of financial uncertainty, it is time for women to be ready to take the burden of any contingencies like job loss, pay cut etc. rather than be a helpless witness to the unfortunate turn of events. While she performs a balancing act between career, home and family, a woman today also has to add financial investing into her ‘things to do’ list. And women’s day seems quite appropriate to make this promise to yourself to financially empower yourself, thereby empowering your family too.

INVESTMENT OPTIONS
- Investment strategies differ between the two genders
- Financial planning is no longer a man’s domain
- Most banks today cater to women customers through specially designed products like bank accounts, saving schemes etc.
- Many micro financial institutions cater to women's financial needs and offer special financial assistance
- Customised products, womenspecific tax concessions, communication and counselling are being rolled out

Friday, December 05, 2008

Telangana People's struggle

Under the British, India was ruled basically by two types of rulers: (a) the British administered provinces of India The Provinces of India were those portions of India ruled directly by officials of the British East India Company and, from 1858 to Indian independence in 1947, by Great Britain. known as British IndiaBritish India



The part of the Indian subcontinent under direct British administration until India's independence in 1947.



.......and (b) 'princely India' or those state governed by princes, maharajas, rajas, and nababs. Among them, Hydarabad was the largest one, which was under the Nizam prince, and Telangana is one out of three linguistic regions--Telagu, Marathwada and Kannada--of Hydarabad. The Telangana revolt began in the middle of 1946 and lasted for five years. It was an armed resistance of women and men to the feudal oppression or against the princely state A princely state is any state under the reign of a prince and is thus a principality taken in the broad sense. The term refers not only to sovereign nations ruled by monarchs but also to lower polities ruled by various high nobles (often vassals in a feudal system). in Telangana. It was a struggle against the autocratic rule of Nizam and the Zamindari system. (1) There were three types of land holding systems--sarf-e-khas (the land controlled by Nizam and his family from where revenues collected were used for their personal expenses) and Jagirs (the land which has given to Jagirdars) and diwani or government land. Jagirdars were those who were loyal to the Nizam enjoying their own police, revenue, civil and criminal systems. They had received Jagirs and become revenue officers or generals in the army. They also had right over forest and fisheries fisheries. From earliest times and in practically all countries, fisheries have been of industrial and commercial importance. In the large N Atlantic fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, European and North American fishing fleets have long , and exercised police and judicial functions. Having all the power they compelled people to various illegal exactions and forced labours. The peoples' conditions of Jagir areas were far more oppressed a people who were oppressed by tyranny.



2. than in the sarf-e-khas lands; the jagirdars and their agents were free to collect a variety of illegal taxes from the actual cultivators. Jagir lands were even above the jurisdiction of civil courts. There was also the Vetti (free services (O.Eng. Law) such feudal services as were not unbecoming the character of a soldier or a freemen to perform; as, to serve under his lord in war, to pay a sum of money, etc.



See also: Free to the proprietors) system. Every peasant was compelled to contribute Vetti to the Zamindar zam·in·dar also zem·in·dar

n.

1. An official in precolonial India assigned to collect the land taxes of his district.



2. . Only after completing operations on the landlord's fields, peasants and labourers could work for themselves. A tenant and his family had a compulsion COMPULSION. The forcible inducement to au act.

2. Compulsion may be lawful or unlawful. 1. When a man is compelled by lawful authority to do that which be ought to do, that compulsion does not affect the validity of the act; as for example, when a court of to leave food in their plate and go to the landlord whenever called.



Women were more suppressed under this rule. Women were not allowed to feed their babies while working in the landlord's field. Women were repressed re·pressed

adj.

Being subjected to or characterized by repression. , not only in the field of free work or Vetti, but also sexually harassed and exploited. There were many examples of such suppression; if the landlord fancied a woman, she was taken as a consort. Sleeping with the landlord on the first night was a compulsion to newly married women. It was the landlords' prerogative An exclusive privilege. The special power or peculiar right possessed by an official by virtue of his or her office. In English Law, a discretionary power that exceeds and is unaffected by any other power; the special preeminence that the monarch has over and above all others, . So, peasant women, along with men, came into the Andra Maha Sabha (AMS AMS - Andrew Message System ) and started an armed struggle against the 'oppressive feudal system and the fundamentalist fundamentalist



An investor who selects securities to buy and sell on the basis of fundamental analysis. Compare technician. militia of the Nizam--the Razkars".



In 1928, people established Andhra Maha Sabha converting it from the Andhra Jana Sangam For other uses of Sangam see Sangam (disambiguation).



Sangams were Tamil academies, which according to Tamil legends, enabled poets and authors to gather periodically to publish their work.[1]. , which was established in 1921 with the objectives of social and cultural uplift of the Telugu people Telugu people are an ethnic group primarily located in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India and neighbouring areas such as Pondicherry, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Orissa (the areas bordering Andhra Pradesh). . It changed not only the name but also the objectives from socio-cultural to political activity. Earlier, it was common organization to all--The RSS (Really Simple Syndication) A syndication format that was developed by Netscape in 1999 and became very popular for aggregating updates to blogs and the news sites. RSS has also stood for "Rich Site Summary" and "RDF Site Summary. , Congress and even to the nonpolitical--who wanted change in society. In 1930, the Andra Mahila Sabha and, in 1937, the Mahila Nay Jivan Mandal had formed in co-ordination with AMS. These organizations are credited to bring women into the movement. During 1940-42, some important leaders of the AMS went under the communist leadership and assumed AMS into the character of a mass organization. AMS went into an armed struggle with decision made in November 1946. The struggle was extended form of grass root level resistance, using local weapons to resist against the regime. The movement was also considered in which "the Mao's thought was first put into practice out of China" (Louis 2002:49). The first struggle took place to support Ailimma, a women who was threatened by landlord's Goondas, taking up of local arms e.g. lathis, slings and stones for volunteers and pounding sticks and chilly powder for the women as well. Later, volunteer squads were not only formed but also trained in using these kinds of weapons. They started to make local weapons professionally. They even used modern weapons. Several struggles took place between squads and Nizam's supporters. The rebels seized arms 'raiding police stations and landlord's houses'. But women did not leave their strategy to use local means to defend themselves against the police. Women used to attack the police with pots full of chilly powder.



Ruler's oppression was not a single cause of women's participation in the revolt. Women-oriented programmes of Sanghams were other reasons; when such women's issues like wife-beating, early marriage of child age come up, the Shangam immediately called the people concerned, held debates and resolved the matters. Misbehaviour MISBEHAVIOUR. Improper or unlawful conduct. See 2 Mart. N. S. 683.

2. A party guilty of misbehaviour; as, for example, to threaten to do injury to another, may be bound to his good behaviour and thus restrained. See Good Behaviour.

3. to the women was started to be severely punished. These rules were practiced even in their organization which attracted women to join the Shangam. For instance, Shankar, a member of organization was accused of raping and mismanaging the party funds, and faced the firing squad. According to according to

prep.

1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.



2. In keeping with: according to instructions.



3. them, these punishments were declared by the people themselves as the correct line of action.



"Large number of peasants spontaneously participated in the struggle directed against the government, landlords and their agents. The insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. had neither firearms This is an extensive list of small arms — pistol, machine gun, grenade launcher, anti-tank rifle — that includes variants.



: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z



A



A-91 (Russia - Compact Assault Rifle - 5.

nor training but were required to use them. A few volunteers' corps had come into existence, which were not so much well organized guerrilla squads, but ad hoc For this purpose. Meaning "to this" in Latin, it refers to dealing with special situations as they occur rather than functions that are repeated on a regular basis. See ad hoc query and ad hoc mode. formation in response to the situation. Initially the revolt was spasmodic spasmodic /spas·mod·ic/ (spaz-mod´ik) of the nature of a spasm; occurring in spasms.

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spas·mod·ic

adj.

1. Relating to, affected by, or having the character of a spasm; convulsive. " (Dhanaghare 1983: 195) and later it became regular and usual between the people and state security forces when the rebellion received support from all, especially the women. By such enthusiastic participation both men and women, they were able to carry some social transformations in the society. They ousted several police stations from the village, Vetti was abolished and thousands of acres of land distributed, debts to be paid were dismissed. The struggle could not reached in the aim of the organizer; when the Indian union armies were deployed against the Nizam, the movement also started to face lots of troubles. After the Nizam surrender in September 1948 to the Indian Army, the communists and the movement became the target of the Indian Union Army. Then, the party and its cadre (company) CADRE - The US software engineering vendor which merged with Bachman Information Systems to form Cayenne Software in July 1996. were compelled to leave the villages. Party tried to organize the tribal people for fighting against the local governmental institutions e.g. forest officials and moneylenders "who subjected them to exploitation". However, it was not an alternative to continue emergency. The politburo politburo, the former central policy-making and governing body of the Communist party of the Soviet Union and, with minor variations, of other Communist parties. of the party, finally, took the decision on 21 October 1951 to call off the struggle citing "the increased repression by the Indian union army."



The Maoists Movement in Nepal



The Maoist insurgency in·sur·gen·cy

n. pl. in·sur·gen·cies

1. The quality or circumstance of being rebellious.



2. An instance of rebellion; an insurgence.





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insurgency, insurgence

1. , for the last ten years, spread all over the country. Some 15,000 people have already lost their lives since 13 February 1996. The cost of reconstruction of development infrastructure, until 2003, that was destroyed by the Maoists, is estimated to be NRs. 200 billion (2). Developmentalists argue that the Maoist insurgency 'is basically a social and economic issue and is produced and sustained by failed development' (Pandey 1999:12). It is true that the epicenter and heartland of the Maoist insurgency is Mid-west hill districts--Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan, Dailekh, Jajarkot etc.--which the Human Development index categorizes as the lowest rank districts of the country (NESAC NESAC National Electronic Switching Assistance Center (AT&T) 1998: 264-65). Not only this but also some political exclusions and brutal human rights violations are also fostering factors for the insurgency.



The involvement of women in the People's War People's War (Chinese language: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a military-political strategy invented by Mao Zedong. The basic concept behind People's War is to maintain the support of the population and draw the enemy deep into (PW) lacks reliable data to determine the actual%age of women in different roles within the organization. Even statistics given by the Maoists are different from leader to leader. Hisila Yami Hisila Yami, alias Parvati (born June 25 1959 in Gorkha District), is a Nepalese politician and architect. She is a politburo member of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and a former president of the All Nepal Womens Association (Revolutionary). , the central committee member of the Maoists, has given tentative data by writing, "the participation of the women in people's liberation army People's Liberation Army



Unified organization of China's land, sea, and air forces. It is one of the largest military forces in the world. The People's Liberation Army traces its roots to the 1927 Nanchang Uprising of the communists against the Nationalists. are from 30 to 40 per cent" (Yami 2006: 66). For Sapana, company commander, more than 40 per cent are women in the People's Liberation Army (Mulyankan, Bhadra 2061: 14), and for Uma Bhujel, a central member who broke Gorkha jail and came back under open sky, the ratio is approximately 40 per cent in army and more than 50 per cent in other field (Ibid: 16). This is more closer to the number of figures in party and militia comprising approximately 40 per cent and in autonomous government and in industries, the number is above 50 per cent (Janadesh 2006: 8).



Here, a question must be raised about the causes, which inspired or compelled Nepali women to join the movement. It is said that some women are forced to join the Maoist movement by the Maoist and some are compelled to join by misbehaviour of the security forces. For example, Ganga and Sobha Thapa, who were 16 years old each and studying in grade nine in Satakhana School of Surkhet district Surkhet district, a part of Bheri zone, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Birendranagar as its district headquarters, covers an area of 2,451 km² and has a population (2001) of 288,527. , were abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point by the Maoist on 29 September, 2005 (3). Shanti

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Shanti (from Sanskrit शािन्‍त śāntiḥ) can mean:

Inner peace

Ksanti, is one of the paramitas of Buddhism



16, Resmi 16 and Binita 15 are the examples of how the security personnel irritated ir·ri·tate

v. ir·ri·tat·ed, ir·ri·tat·ing, ir·ri·tates



v.tr.

1. To rouse to impatience or anger; annoy: a loud bossy voice that irritates listeners. the students and general people. (4) Brutal suppressions of security forces have also encouraged young girls to join the militia either for their own security or for taking revenge. Being revengeful after the murder of their relatives by the security forces, women have participated in the Maoist organization. Sarita is a perfect example to support the argument. She took gun after her innocent brother was killed by the army (Paudel,2004:14). For the sake of revenge, she joined the movement. Low success in school leaving certificate The School Leaving Certificate is the final exam in Nepal secondary school system and is commonly called the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) Examination. Every student must appear in this exam after they complete grade 10th of their study before they join the higher examination and lack of training options for engaging students failing their school level examination is another main factor for their joining the Maoist movement in order to escape idleness and frustration (Karki and Bhattarai 2003:5)



Apart from that, propaganda of women's liberation Women's Liberation

Noun



a movement promoting the removal of inequalities based upon the assumption that men are superior to women Also called: (women's lib) , equality in the Maoists organization in opportunity, in award and promotion, the hope of all kinds of emancipation, and on-going women related social reform programmes like anti-alcohol, anti-gambling campaigns, anti-sexual violence programmes, anti-women exploitation programmes are the main attractions for women participate and support the movement. Some are there only for "romance, pleasure, and luxury". But, there is a consensus that the credit has to be given to the Maoists for "widespread women's awareness in the Nepalese history" (Mulyankan, August-September 2004: 13).



Slogans about 'progressive education' rather than 'bourgeois education' and love/ courtship courtship



paying attention to a member of the opposite sex with a view to mating; occurs in farm animals but is not highly developed other than estral display by the female and seeking by the male, activities that are rather more pragmatic than implied in the definition. is also a vital factor for women's attraction. Orthodox social system towards the widow is another cause for compelling women to join. In Nepal, generally, girls are not allowed to choose their own partners and to decide her marriage; still the society does not tolerate love marriage easily. If the love affair is inter-caste, acceptance is difficult by both, the parents and the society. Increment To add a number to another number. Incrementing a counter means adding 1 to its current value. of Widow population and the unchanged social perception on widow marriage seems another factor, which led women to join the movement. After Maoist movement, 15,000 people are killed; most of them are male leaving behind young widows in the society. However, the society does not accept a widow-marriage easily. In a patriarchal society in Nepal, if people are involved in these activities, a female have to face social degradation in comparison to their male counterparts. In such a situation, the Maoist movement became accommodative to socially mistreated women. It is said that a majority of women in the movement are "influenced by superficial factors (Bhool Bhulaiya) than deep knowledge and understanding of state affairs, political process, gender exploitation, women rights etc" (Adhikari 2006, an unpublished paper). Denying these factors, Hisila Yami, a senior woman Maoists leader said that the women are not recruited for party's "contemporary advantages" but hired because of "their double resistance capacity than man" (Mulyankan, August-September, 2004: 12-18).



To sum up the social reality, which promoted women to join the Maoists movement, we can agree with the argument made by a political scientist Kapil shrestha. He argues, "after democracy in 1990 some positive changes towards women participation in politics has appeared, but sociologically speaking most of the Nepalese women politicians belong to 'the small upper strata of urban, middle class, upper caste caste [Port., casta=basket], ranked groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification, especially those that constitute Hindu India. Some scholars, in fact, deny that true caste systems are found outside India. and educated elite background not from the rural, grassroots or low caste background" (Shrestha 2001).



Comparison



We can compare both struggles on the basis of its objectives, goals and achievements. Apart from that, the paper tried to examine validities and reliabilities by observing available narratives, and data of both the movement. First, the Telengana movement was declared against the Nizam's oppression. The Telengana struggle supported to abolish the Nizam feudalism feudalism (fy`dəlĭzəm), form of political and social organization typical of Western Europe from the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire to the rise of the absolute monarchies. from Telengana. It seemed that the Telengana struggle was more focused on democracy and freedom. However, the Maoist Movement in Nepal has been launched after the restoration of democracy in 1990, which provisioned, at least, freedom to the people. Abolishing the monarchy and establishing the "Democratic Republic" were the said specific objectives of the Maoists of Nepal.



Second, the Telengana movement had supported the independent struggle of India from British colony. If such a disturbance had not occurred in several parts of India, Britain could have taken the independent struggle at face value and they could have tried to use more force against the struggle. People were able to raise slogan against the feudal and brutal regime and able to abolish not only local principality but also it's backbone--the colonial power. Ultimately, the Nizam principality was abolished after the departure of the British from India.



Although the Maoists have shown their eagerness to join the "competitive democracy" and signed different agreements (12-point agreements in November 2005 and Eight points agreements in June 2005) with seven party alliance (SPA), their earlier targets were SPA cadres in the villages undermining democracy. The Maoists killed, injured in·jure

tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures

1. To cause physical harm to; hurt.



2. To cause damage to; impair.



3. and compelled people to leave the village, who were believed to be at least progressive than any feudal regimes. The SPA cadres were not only tortured but also banned from launching political activities in the Maoists-influenced-areas. Apart from such 'undemocratic' behaviours against the democratic forces, the Maoists claimed that they had a "tacit understanding" with King Birendra. These activities of the Maoists compelled the people to be skeptical. The doubt of the people was 'the objectives of the Maoists movement was not to strengthen the freedom and democracy but to support the undemocratic and feudal regime'. The suspicion of the people over the Maoists was obvious because the monarchy itself has been considered as "the main obstacle for strengthening the democracy in Nepal".



The doubt of the people over the Maoists increased, when both Maoists and the king trapped democratic forces or parliamentary parties, in Nepal. On the one hand, as mentioned earlier, the Maoists banned the movements of the parliamentary parties in the countryside, which made the government unable for holding of the parliamentary and local elections. On the other, the king started ruling the country blaming the democratic government for its' 'incompetence' to holding the election and for maintaining the peace and security in the country. It is said that the democratic process was initially disturbed by rampant violent activities of the Maoists; even the democratically elected government was triggered to impose the state of emergency and termed the Maoists as 'terrorists'. The Maoist activities became major 'trump card' for the king to be used in asking support for his autocratic regime.



As a consequence more than forty thousand women's representation in different democratic agencies was directly hit antagonizing them. However, the Maoists defended such antagonism antagonism /an·tag·o·nism/ (an-tag´o-nizm) opposition or contrariety between similar things, as between muscles, medicines, or organisms; cf. antibiosis.

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an·tag·o·nism

n. as the initial compulsion when they were weak. Prachanda, in an interview defended it and said such strategy was there only for "extended political disclose to establish the ideology and to preserve the power when the party was overall weak in ideology, politics, organization and physical power". Now, according to him, they are trying to bring all possible force together because they are now "strong and reached near the strategic aim" (Prachanda in Janadesh 2006: 15-16).



Third, both the struggles, the Maoist movement and Telengana movement have definitely empowered women, sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. Although the Telangana struggle was called off without success, it has has brought some qualitative changes in women and in their life. After 40 years of the unsuccessful struggle, women still have no guilty feeling for the struggle but they took pride on it. Somaka of Vimpati who participated in Telangana struggle says, "in those days, could we sit and talk to you like this? Today we can do that. If we dressed up well, if we put kumkum The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter.

Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards. You can discuss the issue on the talk page. they used to say, what does she think herself?" (Sangathana 1989: 16). For her, that sort of empowerment was gained by the struggle, although the entire problems were not solved. Another woman participant Kausila was also satisfied by the achieved things. She says, "we didn't know what was behind this wall. We could never go out. Now we go out and look to our agricultural works (Ibid: 16)."



One question may be raised about how the women are empowered by the Maoist's movement. Some direct and indirect factors created by the movement, however, have led the women to be empowered. The Maoists' conflict compelled majority of the male members to leave their home into urban area or escape to the jungle to join the Maoist guerrilla force Noun 1. guerrilla force - an irregular armed force that fights by sabotage and harassment; often rural and organized in large groups

guerilla force . Women have thus been 'compelled to take the responsibility of running households. They have compulsion to go and take part to express their opinion in front of mass and so on. Women were compelled even to plough the field to feed their family members, which was restricted earlier. Engaging more in the public life than ever before, they have become more vocal in community activities.



On the other hand, the active involvement of women in both political and military organizations of the Maoist party has boosted the confidence of the Nepali women as a whole. This has indeed produced a wide-ranging impact on the Nepali state. Now, the government itself has started to recruit women into the Royal Nepal Army. The parliamentary forces also have realized the need to launch more progressive and reformist programmes to increase the role of women in the political participation.



Taking all these factors into consideration, we can conclude that women were sensitized sensitized /sen·si·tized/ (sen´si-tizd) rendered sensitive.

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sensitized



rendered sensitive.



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sensitized cells

see sensitization (2). and made aware about their role in the society. On the other hand, they are affected badly by the ongoing conflict. Women have become double victim due to the People's War. First, they are the direct victims of the security force as they are participants, relatives, wives, daughters and mothers of the rebels. They are continuously threatened, tortured and harassed in the name of inquiry as well as raped, killed, and disappeared as suspects, rebellion and also relatives of rebels. Second, the Maoists also demand lodging, food, money and sex from women any time and any day. Rapes by the Maoists have been frequently reported in the press and field work reports, conducted by individual visitors and human rights groups. The Maoists are also following the security forces' footstep to torture people suspecting them as informers, opponents and class enemies. Third, women are compelled to bear the double burden because of absence of their male members who are either killed or are compelled to flee from their domicile domicile (dŏm`əsīl'), one's legal residence. This may or may not be the place where one actually resides at any one time. The domicile is the permanent home to which one is presumed to have the intention of returning whenever the purpose .



Although, the Maoist claims itself as a radical party but it is also not far from being feudal towards the issue of women. Only two women members--Hisila Yami and Pampha Bhusal--are among the 27 Politburo members. The same women members of the Politburo are also in the 39--member Central Committee. In the case of female leaders, only two women--Pampha Bhusal and Hisila Yami--among the 40% women representation in the Maoist movement--have represented in politburo and central level. In the military wing, there is no single woman in the division commander where most decisions are made. But We have to say that the issue of gender is highlighted and sensitized in the Nepali society.



After having a look on Latchampas elaboration, we can conclude that the women in Telangana struggle faced same problem whatever Nepali women are facing now; the fear of rape and sexual harassment sexual harassment, in law, verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, aimed at a particular person or group of people, especially in the workplace or in academic or other institutional settings, that is actionable, as in tort or under equal-opportunity statutes. , torture etc. They kept secrets and protected other party workers especially the male by facing all the troubles of the state security (5). But they blamed the party for not being able to evolve any policy regarding the women. The charges over the party by women is not only about its policy towards women in the organization, their main grievances are that the party initially appreciated and welcomed women's support in the movement by wooing, and later it distressed them in the way without any alternatives. Some of them left their husbands, kids and home in the name of 'emancipation', but they got nothing but more trouble. Reminding Party's promise to women thwarted thwart

tr.v. thwart·ed, thwart·ing, thwarts

1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans.



2. their involvement in the struggle, Mallu Swaraj, who commanded a guerrilla squad and was a legend in the Telangana, says:

In the party, they will see only what the movement needs ... So

when struggle was withdrawn they told us to go and marry ... we

fought with them. We said that even if the forms of struggle had

changed we should be given some work (Sangathana 1989: 271-272).







But when the movement was called off, the party had not fulfilled its promise by giving work to women. They themselves, who spent their whole active life in the movement, often felt suppressed when the party withdrew the struggle and asked the women to go back and marry. Women are mentally tortured by such an immature decision of party. Priyamvada who spent years in the struggle said that "she often felt like committing suicide" (Sangathana 1989:272)." Sugunamma's observation is an example how they got frustrated frus·trate

tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates

1.

a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: after party's order to women "go back and marry". She says:

They have used us so long and now they say go stay at home. How

could they even understand what the situation was at home? What

mental torture--I was really upset. That was my first taste of

suffering (ibid).







Kamalama and Salama are the examples of exploitation by the party where Kamalama, now, is begging in her village to feed her children and is carrying "liquor and worked as a wage labor to bring up her sons" (Ibid). They themselves are in doubt whether they got some achievements or not because, according to Pesara Sattemma (Sangathana 1989: 221-227), the struggle's initial aim was for land ownership and against the Vetti. Vetti was abolished but women were not successful in getting land on their own name. Women considered that situation as big blow and insult to them. Priyambada, another women participant in the struggle, explained struggle as failed action to address the agenda of women. She says, "after the parliamentary election and police action, these dreams This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.

You can assist by [ editing it] now. were--smashed-crushed like an egg. What a blow it was, after the elections, do we know where we were? Like a proverbial pro·ver·bi·al

adj.

1. Of the nature of a proverb.



2. Expressed in a proverb.



3. Widely referred to, as if the subject of a proverb; famous. rug ... lying exactly where it was through" (Sangathana 1989) Ultimately, when the movement was ended, women neither got land, nor enjoyed other sort of settlement. The slogan 'all sorts of emancipation' remained a fantasy.



Everyone who knows the situation of women after calling off the Telengana struggle has always raised the question, fearing whether the Maoist movement will also go the same way as that of Telengana struggle? The fear is real because there were no women participation at the decision-making level in Telengana movement. The condition remains the same in the Maoists movement because only two women members--Hisila Yami and Pampha Bhusal--were among the 27 Politburo members. No women are there in standing committee, which is the supreme body of the party. And, only three (two representing in politburo also, and another was Uma Bhujel) members are in the 39--Member Central Committee. Now, the Maoist party has dissolved the standing committee and the politburo; all the power has been centralized cen·tral·ize

v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es



v.tr.

1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate.



2. , which according to them, is because of their forth-coming general convention. In the military wing, there is only a single woman, Sapana is the company commander where they claim 40-50 per cent women's are working under them. The party and its women are still eager to raise the agenda of women participation in all the sectors.



After the Janaandolan II (Peoples' movement), the reinstated parliament has unanimously provisioned 33 per cent reservation to women in Nepal. The concern of the people is how this decision of the parliament would be implemented. The decision of 33 per cent reservation to the women seems unique and progressive in South Asia This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. For geophysical treatments, see Indian subcontinent.



South Asia, also known as Southern Asia . People are having a doubt over its' implementation because of the traditional thinking of all the political forces over women in Nepal; till date, every party has offered the opportunities to the women for fulfilling the quotas. Recently after the Janaandolan II also, the position of the parties on the issues of women remained unchanged. Only a state ministerial portfolio has been given to the women; neither the Maoists nor the SPA sent any women in their dialogue teams, and in the interim constitution drafting committee.



After reading the narratives of the participants of the Telengana struggle, the research has concluded that radical agendas would be harmful for society, if the agendas were raised just to woo the people. It will not only be harmful to the organizer, but also to the individual or participants making them frustrated. Such frustration may possibly direct another revolt. The Telangana movement should be taken as a guide in which the CPI (1) (Characters Per Inch) The measurement of the density of characters per inch on tape or paper. A printer's CPI button switches character pitch.



(2) (Counts Per I called off the movement in 1951 but the party was not able to control its' activists to join another revolt. Those who were not satisfied by both, the achievement and the party's decision to end the struggle, tried to reorganize re·or·gan·ize

v. re·or·gan·ized, re·or·gan·iz·ing, re·or·gan·iz·es



v.tr.

To organize again or anew.



v.intr.

To undergo or effect changes in organization. such a struggle. After being unable to resume revolt by the same party, they tried to form an alternate party Alternate party diversion is an optional feature of telephone services, where a call may be routed to a different number based on time-out and precedence schemes set up by the customer. . Ultimately, in 1964, the split took place in the CPI and CPI (M) was created in the initiation of those dissatisfied members, which again continued armed struggle against the Andhra rulers in 1969 demanding "separate Telangana state" (Mohanty 2005:11-15). So, one can conclude that if some one takes weapon, s(he) rarely will quit the weapons before reaching to his target. Experiences show that all revolutionary parties and their accountable leaders can analyze the entire situation and decide to compromise by suspending and even giving up the armed struggle but applying such theory in cadres and followers followers



see dairy herd. , who took weapons after suppressed and marginalized feeling, has not succeed properly. For them, 'do continue the revolt and die in the battle field' is better than being back before getting something. The leader of the Maoists must think to prevent such possibility, and hopefully that may be the signal of thinking over it by the Maoists supreme commander when he realized that "whatever has supported for successful development of the people's war, it is the both, main possibility and main threat."



It is the desperate need of time to Nepali Maoists leaders to think and rethink about the hindrances those hindrances felt long before by Priyamvada, Sugunamma, Kamalama and Sattemma, and that group which split and re-organized the revolt after the wind up of the Telengana people's struggle. Every top-level leaders of the groups including the Maoists, which raised the radical agendas, must learn lesson from Telengana before they take any step forward.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Revealing the Real Risks: Obstetrical Interventions and Maternal Mortality

By Aeman Nishath

Recently, a woman in Iowa was referred to a university hospital during childbirth because of possible complications. At the university hospital it was decided that a cesarean section should be done. After the cesarean section was completed and the woman was resting in her hospital room, she went into shock and died. An autopsy showed that, during the cesarean section, the surgeon had accidentally nicked the woman's aorta, the biggest artery in the body, which led to internal hemorrhage, shock, and death.

A cesarean section can save the life of the mother or her baby, or both. A cesarean section can kill a mother or her baby, or both. Every procedure or technology used during pregnancy and birth carries risks for the mother and baby. Whether or not to use any procedure or technology will be a judgment based on balancing the chances that it will make things better against the chances that it will make things worse.

We live in the age of technology. Since long before human beings landed on the moon, we have believed that technology can solve all of our problems. It should come as no surprise that doctors and hospitals are using more and more technology and invasive interventions on pregnant and birthing women. Has all this technology solved the problems surrounding birth? Let's look at the record. Is the increasing use of technology saving the lives of more pregnant and birthing women? In fact, the risk of a woman in this country dying from maternal mortality (i.e., causes related to pregnancy) has not decreased in more than 25 years. Each year, nearly 1,000 women die during pregnancy, during birth, or in the first week after giving birth. Nearly half of these deaths could have been prevented with better access to higher-quality maternity care. Hundreds of thousands of other women experience medical complications from pregnancy.2

The data also suggest an increase in recent years in the number of women dying during pregnancy and birth in the US.3 We have known for some time that maternal mortality in the US is underreported--in one state in one year, a third of the maternal deaths had not been reported.4 But the latest evidence suggests that "The actual pregnancy-related death rate could be more than twice as high as that reported for 1990."5

WHY ARE MORE AMERICAN WOMEN DYING?
It is difficult to pinpoint why more American women are dying before, during, and after giving birth--the data give only the leading or immediate cause of death, not the underlying causes. But if we look at the six leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in the US, three--hemorrhage, anesthesia, infection--are often the result of invasive obstetric interventions.6 For example: Although the immediate cause of death is frequently given as "hemorrhage," in many cases the hemorrhage is associated with cesarean section (as in the case cited in the first paragraph). There is good research, both in the US and the United Kingdom, showing that the maternal mortality rate for cesarean section is four times higher than for vaginal birth.7-9 The rate of maternal mortality is still twice as high as for vaginal birth even when the cesarean section is routine, or "elective"; i.e., it is not an emergency procedure. With nearly twice as many cesarean sections as are necessary being done today in the US, the procedure could be a significant part of the reason for the country's rising rate of maternal mortality.10

Another possible cause of rising pregnancy-related deaths in the US is the markedly increasing use of epidural blocks for normal labor pain. Administering an epidural block doubles the risk that the woman will die; "anesthesia complications" are documented as one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the US.11

There is good reason to believe that other obstetric technologies also contribute to the rising number of women who die during childbirth in this country. Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) show that in the past ten years the number of women given powerful and dangerous drugs to induce labor has gone from 10 percent of all births to 20 percent.12 In the same ten years, the drug Cytotec, not approved by the FDA for labor induction because of insufficient scientific evaluation of risk--a warning often ignored by doctors--has become the single most popular labor-inducing drug. New scientific data show that inducing labor with Cytotec causes a marked increase in uterine rupture, an obstetric catastrophe in which a quarter of all babies die, many women die as well, and, of the women who survive, almost none can ever have another baby.

Why has the rate of Cytotec-induced labor doubled when the ability of women's bodies to begin labor has not decreased? Further CDC data show that the answer is doctor convenience. In those same ten years, the number of births taking place Monday through Friday greatly increased.13 Like taking prenatal X-rays in the 1930s, prescribing the drug di-ethyl-stillbesterol (DES) to pregnant women in the 1950s, and thalidomide in the 1960s, inducing labor with Cytotec in the 1990s is another obstetric intervention that has gone into widespread use without adequate scientific evaluation, with tragic consequences for thousands of women and babies.

The scientific evidence strongly suggests that the increasing use of obstetric interventions and technologies--cesarean section, epidural anesthesia, and drugs to induce labor--is not saving more women's lives, but ending them. Medical care was responsible for some of the earlier decreasing mortality of pregnant and birthing women, not because of high-tech interventions but because of basic medical advances, such as the discovery of antibiotics and the ability to give safe blood transfusions. There has never been any scientific evidence that such high-tech interventions as the routine use of electronic fetal monitoring during labor decrease the mortality rate of women.14 There is also no scientific evidence to prove that the fall in maternal mortality was because birth was moved into the hospital.15 The evidence does show that, as long as a system is in place that can transport women in labor within 30 minutes to a facility where antibiotics, blood transfusions, and necessary cesarean sections are available, there should be very little maternal mortality. For example, in the Netherlands, a third of all births are planned homebirths attended by midwives that refer women to doctors when necessary. The rate of maternal mortality in the Netherlands is far lower than in the US.

THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY CARE
The US spends twice as much as any other country on maternity care, and yet 15 other countries have lower rates of maternal mortality. There are at least two reasons for this, both having to do with access to quality care. More than 40 million Americans have no health insurance; many of these are women needing maternity care. If a woman applies for Medicare support for her maternity care, she must have means testing, which necessitates that she jump through many bureaucratic hoops before she can receive care. This can be a disaster. Furthermore, women receiving publicly funded care go to overcrowded hospitals staffed by interns and residents who are overworked and insufficiently trained.16 In addition, when poor women qualify for their maternity care to be funded by Medicare, they may be referred to a private practitioner, and receive this care in the doctor's private offices and private hospitals. There they often receive less attention than the women whose care is being funded by private insurance instead of public funds, in part because of the cultural and socioeconomic gaps between the poor women and their doctors. The delays and crowding, and lack of understanding and skill of some doctors, can all lead to pregnancy-related deaths.

The second reason the US has a higher rate of maternal mortality than 15 other countries is the way birthing women are cared for here. American doctors insist that women need to be in the hospital when giving birth, yet these same doctors who need to provide maternity care for them are not in the hospital when the women actually give birth, but in their offices doing prenatal checkups on healthy women, or in another hospital doing gynecological surgery, or at home eating dinner.17 So when the birthing woman who is in the hospital (or transported to the hospital) needs urgent attention for developing complications, the obstetrician is often not there, must be called, and may come too late. Research shows that, in more than 70 percent of cases, the main factor in the death of babies at birth is the doctor's absence.18

The US and Canada are the only countries in the world in which obstetricians provide primary birth care for the majority of normal births. The American obstetrician tries to be all things to women: a primary provider of maternity care for healthy pregnant and birthing women; a provider of preventive care for women; a specialist in women's diseases; and a highly skilled surgeon. No other doctor anywhere in healthcare tries to maintain competence at all of these levels and in so many areas because it is unreasonable to expect this from one human being. It's unlikely that an obstetrician can perform a six-hour gynecological surgical procedure on a woman with extensive cancer, then rush to his or her office and do the best job of quietly, patiently counseling a pregnant woman about her sex life. If you are considering a hospital birth with an obstetrician as your primary birth attendant, ask the doctor how much time he or she will spend with you during your labor. One of the reasons a midwife, rather than an obstetrician, is generally a better choice to attend your hospital birth is that, assuming a normal pregnancy, midwives have been shown statistically to be safer birth attendants than doctors.19 This is, in part, because the midwife is there in the hospital with you throughout your labor, while the obstetrician is not.

For more than 50 years now the US has had a system of maternity care that often boils down to this: A woman goes into labor, goes to the hospital, and is admitted by the labor and delivery (L&D) nurse, who examines her. The L&D nurse then calls the obstetrician, who gives orders over the telephone to the nurse. The obstetrician may or may not come by the hospital during the labor to check the woman. It is the job of the L&D nurse to monitor the labor and call the obstetrician when the birth is imminent so that the doctor does not have to hang around the hospital waiting for the birth.

During my 15 years as Director of Women's and Children's Health for the World Health Organization, I frequently visited the industrialized countries of Europe. I observed that in the 15 countries that lose fewer pregnant and birthing women than the US does--including those countries with the world's lowest rates of maternal mortality--obstetricians remain in the hospitals, ready to jump in and treat serious complications. In those countries, it is the midwives who are out in the community, giving prenatal and postnatal checkups, and who are also in the hospitals as the only health professionals at the births of 80 to 90 percent of women who give birth without serious complications.

It cannot be overemphasized that American women's lack of access to quality, immediate obstetrical attention in the hospital is a major reason so many of them die unnecessarily during pregnancy and childbirth. Put differently, every one of the 15 countries that have lower rates of maternal mortality has universal healthcare coverage for all pregnant and birthing women (with no bureaucratic hoops to jump through), and all obstetricians are hospital-based, ready to care for these women should they develop complications. Furthermore, maternal mortality is not higher in those countries where there are large numbers of planned homebirths with midwives, because there is a system in place for transporting birthing mothers to the hospital, and for managing complications with mutual respect and collaboration between out-of-hospital midwives and hospital staff.

Data from many states in the US show maternal mortality to be four times higher for African-American women than for Caucasian women, and nearly twice as high for Hispanic women.20 The markedly greater risk that African-American and Hispanic women will die during pregnancy and childbirth is because this group includes a higher proportion of uninsured women, poor women, and women who go to hospitals with insufficient and/or poorly trained staff. In short, African-American and Hispanic women have less access to quality maternity care.

WHERE'S THE DATA?
Occasionally, a group of obstetricians tries to get a handle on maternal deaths in their locale. In a study of ten hospitals in the greater Chicago area, reported in 2000, the maternal mortality rate there was twice as high as reported by the CDC.21 Furthermore, on investigation of each case, these Chicago obstetricians found that 37 percent of the deaths were preventable. In the preventable cases, mistakes by doctors and nurses were determined to be the cause of death more than 80 percent of the time. Unfortunately, as is nearly always the case, the study made no attempt to determine how many of the deaths were related to obstetric interventions such as induction of labor, epidural block, and cesarean section. Lamenting that state maternal mortality committees, which carefully review all maternal deaths, are now largely defunct in the US, the study urged that these committees be revived to investigate causes and develop programs of intervention and education.

There is an urgent need for careful auditing of every single maternal death in the US, with a thorough analysis of causes--including underlying causes--and presentation of the results to the public. The Federal Aviation Authority could not set policies for safe flying if they were unaware of half of the planes falling from the skies, and couldn't retrieve the "black boxes" of most of those planes they knew had fallen. But this is analogous to the CDC trying to set policy for safe motherhood when they have limited data on maternal mortality. Federal policy prohibits the CDC from making surveys of what is happening in all states with maternal deaths.22 At the state level, there are enormous pressures from state and local medical societies to prevent adequate investigation of all maternal deaths.23 It's not easy to get information about the nearly 1,000 women who die each year in the US around the time of birth. To begin with, it's difficult to track maternal deaths, as death certificates in only 16 states include a question concerning whether the deceased had been pregnant within a year of her death. Although some states have regulations requiring that such deaths be reported, in no state can anyone, including scientists who want to study why these women die, gain access to information about individual cases of maternal death. If there is an investigation of a maternal death by a hospital, it is a longstanding policy that this happen behind closed doors, which protects the doctor and hospital involved. There is no public accountability. Public knowledge of pregnancy-related deaths does not fit well into any HMO or healthcare facility's marketing efforts. Employees of most hospitals know that their job security often depends on their willingness to keep silent, and the tribal loyalty of doctors is a powerful deterrent to accessing information. The CDC is doing everything it can to push states to improve their maternal death audits. It has had some successes, but today only a few states conduct thorough audits of all maternal deaths, and only one state, Massachusetts, has a law, passed after intense lobbying by consumer groups, mandating that newspapers report maternal deaths.

We know that at least half of these maternal deaths are not reported anywhere, that nearly all of these women die in the hospital, not at home, and that, with adequate medical attention, close to half of these women need not have died. The possibility of liability due to inadequate medical attention has doctors terrified of litigation, and reluctant to release information concerning maternal mortality. American women need to know that their chance of dying around the time of birth is increasing. They have a right to know why.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Special Report: The Myth Of The 'Muslim Population' Bomb

If the Hindutva brigade is to be believed, India will become a Muslim majority country by 2035. INNLIVE sifts through available data to set the record straight.

Will Muslims outnumber Hindus by 2035 and become the majority in India? Several search results on Google warn how the Muslim population in the country will expand to 92.5 crore, while Hindus will shrink to 90.2 crore by 2035. By 2040, Hindu festivals will no longer be celebrated. 

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Hyderabad Elections 2009 - Women Psyche

By Samiya Anwar

From the public lavatory to lanes, at every passage and wall we find the big pictures of bade bade neta, their posters with symbols of palm, flower, etc. Off course the rallies of Praja Rajyam not to forget is a part of every ones breakfast table with a hot cuppa of tea early morning. Well known today’s aam janta everyone is talking about the forthcoming elections, it is been more than sixty years of independence India is a free country. First it was poor and underdeveloped. Now it is counted as a developing country. We have traveled a long way. And it won’t be anonymous to say government builds the road we are traveling. The government will always affect our lives.

An election means a call upon to elect a new government. It is no joke. Election is a serious stuff, not fluffy and downy. The rich have been harvesting the benefits of progress, while the gigantic mass is in the dumps into poverty and hunger. It is every one’s primary right to exercise vote if he/she has attained the age of 18 or above. But how many of them actually do it. There is less percentage of people who is enjoying this right in reality.

For some women when it comes to elections it is very different to get the head around, like my mother always voted the person my dad opted. Why the question is always troubled me. When I turned 18, I felt an adult. I thought I am grown and can vote to any person of my choice. My parents and I had a different person to choose. They want me to vote for the candidate they wish. It was not only with me but also to most of my friends. There parents want them to vote accordingly. With the passage of time, things changed when I realized the power of vote

With the present elections in the state there are many women who dare not talk about elections at all. What we are seeing is deeply worrying. But they are confused and disoriented because the aspirations of the people remain unfulfilled after elections. The bag-full of promises seems to be nothing today in their eyes. Should Naidu be given a second chance is the question of many. As we see that the current government failed to maintain the quality of all that Chandrababu Naidu has done for the city and has done nothing for the urban population strongly feels some women in Hyderabad.

As election race shifts further women find it a brutal joke .it is like multiple choice questions for many to answer the best of the option given. It is a number game to many. Whosoever comes into power there is less development than what is being promised to them. It is no mindful decision, some vote blindly and some don’t, especially rural women. They need active encouragement to be dragged to the polls

It is no same mind frame of all women. A recent study shows that women are on par with men while excising voting rights. According to 2009 electoral polls women voters are in majority in six states namely Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, kerala, Manipur, mizoram, puducherry. Andhra has 2.86 crore women voters as opposed to 2.80 crore men. It has been witnessing a steady increase in the number of women voters

Today’s women are independent and free like India, our country. They are not dependent on men in decision and voice their opinion openly. The urban women run their life on their own. The traditional India has transformed to more advanced and globalize country going the west way. Women play a decisive role in the polls. They exercise it in much greater numbers and greater percentages than men. The vote of women - individually and collectively - can make or break elections, candidates, and outcomes.

Women walk the talk while men just talk and walk away. Women are the ultimate decision makers. They are doing great in every field. It is women who know a lot about what their families and their communities need. They have equal power to men in taking political decisions. As election fever has gripped the city. Who better tell the government what does community needs than women? How do you expect things around you to change when you don't cast your valuable vote thinks Manisha, my friend and a call center employee?

There are more women issues than men to be addressed. Isn’t it? First, it is the safety of women in society she dwells in. many women in the Old City do not trust police. They go through domestic and physical violence and don’t complain. We need a system where women can approach cops fearlessly. The issues like water shortage, frequent power cuts, road accidents and physical abuse of women at workplace should be given first thought.

The self-realization and self-confidence are absolutely essential. Education and work will bring real freedom to the rural woman and Child labor and kids begging at traffic signals are serious issues. The price increase of several commodities and economic slowdown has affected many families. The young college graduates have no job openings and the rest working is fired at any moment. There is no security and safety. What does the future hold for the children is worrisome by women.

The college students especially women are trying to spread awareness about the election campaigns held in Hydrabad and important of “one vote” to save the life of many. Every vote is a precious. We are the tax-payers and only our vote decides the party coming into power. Women’s vote is for the betterment of family and community. So we should think twice before casting vote. Our vote is valuable and so should be our decision.

Nevertheless the world needs more cool brains than hot heads. We need to have a collective effort to select the right candidate. The woman in Hyderabad expects very responsive governance from the future government. Women HOPE for a change.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

India Advances, But Women Still Trapped In Dark

The birth of a girl, so goes a popular Hindu saying, is akin to the arrival of Lakshmi - the four-armed goddess of wealth, often depicted holding lotus flowers and an overflowing pot of gold.

That should assure pride of place for women in Indian society, especially now the country is growing both in global influence and affluence.

In reality, India's women are discriminated against, abused and even killed on a scale unparalleled in the top 19 economies of the world, according to a new poll by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The survey, polling 370 gender specialists, found Canada to be the best place to be a woman amongst G20 nations, excluding the European Union economic grouping. Saudi Arabia was the second worst, after India.

"It's a miracle a woman survives in India. Even before she is born, she is at risk of being aborted due to our obsession for sons," said Shemeer Padinzjharedil, who runs a website which maps and documents crimes against women.

"As a child, she faces abuse, rape and early marriage and even when she marries, she is killed for dowry. If she survives all of this, as a widow she is discriminated against and given no rights over inheritance or property."

Many of the crimes against women are in India's heavily populated northern plains, where, in parts, there is a deep-rooted mindset that women are inferior and must be restricted to being homemakers and childbearers.

In addition, age-old customs such as payment of hefty dowries at the time of marriage and beliefs linking a female's sexual behaviour to family honour have made girls seem a burden.

The poll results - based on parameters such as quality of health services, threat of physical and sexual violence, level of political voice, and access to property and land rights - jars with the modern-day image of India.

India had a female prime minister, or head of government, as long ago as 1966. Well-dressed women in Western attire driving scooters or cars to work is now an everyday sight in cities.    Women doctors, lawyers, police officers and bureaucrats are common.

But scratch under the surface and the threats in India are manifold - from female foeticide, child marriage, dowry and honour killings to discrimination in health and education and crimes such as rape, domestic violence and human trafficking.


Indeed, a girl's fight for survival begins in the womb due to an overwhelming desire for sons and fear of dowry, which has resulted in 12 million girls being aborted over the last three decades, according to a recent study.

This has led to a decline in the number of women in proportion to men in many areas, resulting in a rise in rapes, human trafficking and, in certain cases,  practices such as "wife-sharing" amongst brothers.

In fact, the curse of dowry continues even after marriage.

One bride was murdered every hour over dowry demands in 2010, says the National Crime Records Bureau. Some are "stove burnings" where in-laws pour kerosene, the commonly-used cooking fuel of poorer homes, over women and set them alight, making it appear accidental.

"The courts are flooded with cases of gender-related crimes," said retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju. He said honour and dowry murders should be punished with death.

"These are not normal crimes. These are social crimes because they disrupt the entire social fabric of the community. When you commit crimes against women, it has a lasting impact."

Experts say child marriage remains among the biggest hurdles to women's development in India and has a domino effect. Almost 45 percent of Indian girls are married before they turn 18, says the International Center for Research on Women.

A child bride will drop out of school and is more likely to have complications during child birth. One in five Indian women, many child mothers, die during pregnancy or child birth, the United Nations says.

Their babies, if they survive, are more likely to be underweight and suffer stunting due to poor nourishment. Many will be lucky to survive beyond the age of five.  

In the narrow, crowded alleyways of Sapara slum on the outskirts of Delhi, 15-year-old newly married Aarti has never been to school and says she was married off because her father has tuberculosis and couldn't work or afford to look after her.

"I said no, but my mother said my father was sick, so I had no choice," Aarti said, wearing the traditional bright red bangles of new Hindu brides.

"I spent my time doing domestic chores. I like to play with dolls ... but my grandmother has taken them away now. She says I don't need them any more."

Indian authorities have also struggled to combat rising crimes against women, including domestic violence, molestation, trafficking and rape.

Reports of women being snatched from the streets and gang-raped in moving cars are frequent in Delhi and its neighbourhood. Newspaper reports are full of stories of trafficking and sexual exploitation.

In many cases, violence against women has a level of social acceptability. A government survey found 51 percent of Indian men and 54 percent of women justified wife beating.

India has robust gender laws, but they are hardly enforced, partly because a feudal mindset is as prevalent among bureaucrats, magistrates and the police as it is elsewhere. Politicians are also unwilling to crack down on customary biases against women for fear of losing conservative votes.

"The inheritance law was reformed in 2005, bringing women's legal equality in agricultural land. In reality, however, less than 10 percent women own some kind of land," said Govind Kelkar from land rights group, Landesa India.

"This is more stark as 84 percent of rural women are engaged in agricultural production. There is policy silence on the implementation of laws for women's rights."

Some gains are being made, primarily by instituting gender-sensitive laws and social schemes as well as boosting the number of girls in primary schools, the workforce and village politics, experts say.

More than two decades of economic liberalisation has also helped empower women, and as India has opened up, Western ideas of equality have permeated towns and cities.

The country’s top political positions are held by women, including the head of the main ruling party, Sonia Gandhi, and the country's former president, Pratibha Patil.


"There are two Indias: one where we can see more equality and prosperity for women, but another where the vast majority of women are living with no choice, voice or rights," said Sushma Kapoor, South Asia deputy director for U.N. Women.

Gender experts say the challenges are immense, given India's vast population of 1.2 billion, its diversity, and geographical spread. But they add they are not insurmountable.

Tiny pockets show positive change by giving women opportunities such as access to higher education, vocational training and finance - tools that should transform the perception of women as burdens to assets.

A new Oprah Winfrey-style television talk show called "Satyamev Jayate" (Truth alone prevails), hosted by popular Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, has in recent weeks focused on issues such as foeticide, and dowry and honour killings.

The shows have won wide acclaim and stirred debate in the media, but experts say the efforts to increase awareness in Indian society as a whole need to be sustained.

"Laws alone can only play 20 percent of the role in empowering women in this country," said judge Katju.

"Eighty percent of the role will be played by education, by changing the mindset, the mentality of men who are still to a large extent feudal-minded which means they regard women as inferior."

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Fighting Rapes With Politics In India

Providing political voice to women will have a big impact on their ability to access justice. In the aftermath of the brutal Delhi gangrape, there have been numerous demands for effective policy measures that can prevent crimes against women. The government is placing its bets on a stringent law that calls for greater punishment to culprits of rape and violence against women, including the option of death penalty. Others are demanding fast-track courts, increased policing on the streets and CCTVs. In its wisdom, the Mumbai Police passed orders to crack down on unmarried couples in isolated spots, a measure that was quickly revoked after it met with widespread criticism.

Amid the din, there is little discussion of policy measures that have been proven to be effective through rigorous research. One such remarkably effective solution is something so familiar that few could have guessed it: political representation for women.

In a recently published paper in a leading economics journal, Harvard professor Lakshmi Iyer and her co-authors study crime data from 17 major states in India and over 22 years (1985-2007) to find the effect of political reservations for women at the local level on crimes against women. They find the reservations, as mandated by the 73rd constitutional amendment, enabled significantly more women to get crimes against them recorded, and resulted in more effective police action — both in terms of the number of arrests and the quality of women’s interactions with the police.

The study’s first finding initially shocked the researchers. “We were hoping to find that this (reservations for women) would reduce crimes against women,” says Iyer. “But we found exactly the opposite.” They found that after the implementation of reservations, documented crimes against women (per 1,000 population) shot up by 46 percent, including a 23 percent increase in rapes and 13 percent increase in kidnapping.

Analysing their data for crimes not associated with women (like property crimes) or crimes that are less likely to be under-reported (like murders and suicides), and piecing together information from a few other studies, the researchers conclude that the spike in the figures reflect more accurate reporting rather than an increase in actual crimes committed against women after reservations were implemented. This is both due to greater police responsiveness to crimes against women and a greater willingness of women to report crimes in the presence of local female leaders.

The study also finds a remarkable impact on the effectiveness of police action. After the implementation of reservations for women, the number of arrests for crimes against women rose by 30 percent without any drop in the quality of police action as reflected by a constant rate of chargesheeting. Moreover, women living in villages with a female pradhan displayed greater satisfaction in their interactions with the police.

What make these results even more interesting is that local elected representatives have no formal authority over the police, which operates under the mandate of the state government. These results, therefore, point to a significant leverage that local leaders have over the police through informal channels of influence, and suggest an even stronger possibility of such influence if the state representatives (MLAs) were also women.

The findings add to the significant body of evidence emerging in the past 15 years, which shows that political reservations at the local level has benefited women in multiple ways. It has significantly improved their participation at various stages of the political process (not just elections), and has weakened stereotypes about gender roles in the public and domestic spheres, among others. Taken together, they make a compelling case for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill that will extend political reservations for women to state and national legislatures.

The MPs who passed the 73rd constitutional amendment Act two decades ago may have relied on the hope and promise of women’s empowerment through political reservations. The ones in Parliament now can do better: they have hard evidence that political representation significantly improves the voice of women in the criminal justice system. Will they choose to act?

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

'Media, Men & Mood Makes Women Miserable'

Media has made women’s bodies the focus; their ‘naked’ bodies are in every Ad and newspaper. Not just women but men can be seen naked. How women are being portrayed affects how we view them in our society.  Therefore the body has become the subject of desire and violence, Jeelani Bano, a noted urdu writer and president of Asmita, stressed the point to explore the women status in present scenario.

Addressing a gethering at Asmita Resource Centre for Women organised a programme on International Women’s Day celebnrations at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Hyderabad. She said that girls and women are being violated in trains, buses and streets. Even if the perpetrators are caught they are not punished as per the law. Who will be responsible for the woman on the street and how can we stop this violence.  

Satyavati is a writer and founder member of the first feminist magazine in Andhra Pradesh, Bhumika. She has won a national award for gender sensitivity in media by UNFPA in 2008. She started her talk with a few questions -- Where are we? How far have we come? What have we accomplished? We need to celebrate this day but we must ask who is this development reaching? Are women at the receiving end? Due to globalization in the state since 1990’s a lot has changed in terms of technology but the NCRB records show a high incidence of violence against women. Every few minutes, hours, there are cases of acid attack, displacement, rape in the country.  We have emphasized the need for laws to protect women like Section 498A which has been misused according to many. She spoke about the PCPNDT Act and its poor implementation, which has resulted in low sex ratio in Andhra. She also stressed on the role of the police and the denial to lodge FIR’s in cases of violence. 

Jhansi Geddam, Convener at Dalit Sthree Sakthi which is a community-based organisation fighting for the rights of dalit women addressed the gathering. She has run many campaigns and actively fought the discrimination and violence faced by dalit women and girls. She strives towards the freedom, equality, and rights of dalit women.  She asked, “How long will be keep talking about violence? How many mindsets and government sets will we change?  There are 1000 cases of Nirbhaya in the state of Andhra Pradesh which are equally relevant but we do not hear their stories. Triveni, a 13 year old girl was gang raped in Borbanda and in Tenali a girl died due to acid attack. We do not know these stories. There is an exclusion of Muslim, minorities, Dalit and Aadivasis. She also narrated the lack of discussion on cases of violence against Muslim, Dalit and Aadivasi women. The media, police and political parties play dual roles and have failed to do their duty.  Crores of rupees are allocated for women under the women and child and social welfare ministry which does not reach the women."

Keshav Rado Jadhav is a human rights activist. He also teaches at the English department of Osmania University. He is also actively involved in the Telangana movement. Referring to Sita he said that the notion of purity is only discussed when it comes to women. “In leadership it has always been men. In Muslim History, Razia was the Queen of Delhi and was dethroned soon. All religions are equally oppressive and deny women equal rights,” he added.  Referring to the Telangana struggle he mentioned that three dalit women who struggled for separate state were arrested and following this 25,000 women came out to fight and were sent to jail. According to him women are as intelligent as men but are restricted and denied basic freedoms. 

Dr. Prashanti and Jajula Gauri also spoke about their varied experiences. She is the project director of Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha Society (APMSS). APMSS works towards the empowerment of women through education. It is under the Mahila Samakhya programme of Government of India.  She asked, “When the system doesn’t respond what do we do and whom do we turn too? There are laws and they are working, amendments are being made in laws but what are the immediate solutions.  Mahila Samkhaya experience has shown that response of panchayat has been positive. Non literate woman working as para legal workers has been able to take the laws to the people. In Warangal Nelakutur mandal women trained as para legal workers have formed nyaaya committees to address cases of child marriages, sex selection. These women wear purple sarees and travel across the mandal to address cases of VAW.  The women see them and seek support. We need to support each other, form pressure groups to fight against violence.”

 Jajula Gauri is a noted dalit Telugu writer who has published a number of short stories. She referred to the Justice Verma Committee Recommendations and flagged three sections of the Indian Penal code section 100, 376A and section 375. She spoke of the insensitivity of the police while recording cases of sexual violence. Violence is perpetrated against children as young as 2 years old. She also referred to the recent sexual harassment act and violence against women in the workplace, which is on the rise.  She also discussed the delay in recording cases of violence, due to jurisdictional issues where the police demand proof to file FIR’s in cases of violence against women. The case of Nirbhaya was dealt with in a short duration, unlike other cases which take much longer. 

Tirupatamma is the secretary of Chaitanya Vikalangula Hakkula Vedika (CVHV). CVHV works towards enabling human rights and strengthening the rights of persons with disabilities. She said that her counseling centre has taken up 40 cases of violence against women and children but the police did not respond. They referred these cases to Human Rights Commission and the State Commission for Women, but there was inadequate response from them. They have also filed a case of Sexual harassment by a District judge on a girl. The case was referred to the State Human rights Commission and State Commission for Women.  She narrated her experience with the police in Mahbubnagar who focus on the character of the victim rather than the violence by the perpetrators.  

Santoshi Rani Karamcheti is the assistant state coordinator of Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR). The organisation works in the area of advocating with media on the response to HIV- through prevention, care and support services. CFAR also seeks to address the structural barriers that impact marginalized communities, and the violence, stigma and discrimination faced by them.  She shared the findings of the survey conducted by CFAR.  The cases ranged from child marriages to aggravated forms of violence; both subtle and extreme cases were shared.  In Guntur a woman’s both hands were cut off by her husband and the children were watching the crime.  She also spoke about a case where the abusive husband is in jail but the woman can still hear his threats and feels unsafe. 

Transgenders are another vulnerable group who survive on alms and are generally seen on the train. Violence by the police has been on the rise. 40 Transgender persons were unlawfully arrested by the police while travelling from Warangal to Kagaznagar. A case was registered against them and then they were forcefully examined in the hospital. They were told that the examination was to ascertain whether they were male or female. They were stripped in public and when Medical doctors and police both are insensitive and abet these acts of violence, whom do we turn to for support. 

Over 150 participants from 40 NGOs of the districts and around 30 representatives from local NGOs actively took part in the discussions and interacted with the speakers. They discussed a wide range of topics including the recent gang rape case in Delhi, the harassment of the girl on the streets of Guwahati, the increasing numbers of violence against women from Dalit, Adivasi and Minority communities and the recommendations by the Justice Verma Committee following the Delhi gang rape.

A short film called Moggalu screened, produced by Asmita, based on a girl who has to fight against child marriage. The film discusses the ills of child marriage and the laws pertinent to it. The film focused on the role of teachers in enabling young girls to fight child marriages. Later, a performance by the cultural group from Chaitanya Vikalangula Hakkula Vedika thrilled by audiences, the group act tackled the realities of child marriage.