Factsheet: India
About Progress
Progress of the World’s Women offers a comprehensive global review of women’s rights around the world. It uses the
issue of women’s access to justice to highlight the many ways in which injustice against women is still rife– in the home,
in the workplace, in politics and in justice systems. The report contains case studies, statistics and graphics illustrating
both positive examples of progress in women’s access to justice, and areas where more action is urgently needed.
This factsheet on India has been gathered from various resources. The issues are drawn from the Progress Report to
bring out the critical imperatives which women in India are faced with in their Pursuit of Justice.
In India, progress for women has also come in the form of pro-gender laws, such as the Protection of Women against
Domestic Violence 2005, Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and the
Vishaka guidelines. Women and men in India have been active, through their roles as gender advocates, lawyers, judges
and legislators, in ensuring the creation of laws and embedding gender dimensions in the law, however, effective
implementation of laws continues to be a challenge.
Laws matter: the right laws can change society and help achieve women’s rights
Laws shape society by providing
accountability, by changing attitudes
and creating new norms about what is
acceptable and what is not. There has
been very significant progress on legal
reform in all regions, on women’s rights
Elected Women Representatives
Today there are over a million women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
This has paved the way for women at the grassroots level to be active
members of local governance, policy formulation and decision-making,
thereby ushering in a new era in democratic governance.

Almost 94% of Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) reported being
able to freely raise issues in the Gram Sabha, as did 97% of Elected Men
Representatives (EMRs).

A recent study of schedule caste (SC) and schedule tribe (ST) EWRs in
Gujarat and Tamil Nadu found that only one third of 119 respondents
were able to discharge their official responsibilities with any freedom and
independence.
in the workplace, in the family, and on
property and inheritance rights.
However, further progress is needed.
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Factsheet: India

In India, a little over 12% of women were in unreserved seats, aside from
the reserved quota. 1
On 27th August 2009, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to amend Article
243(D) of the Constitution to increase women’s representation in Panchayati
Raj Institutions (PRIs) to 50%. A number of states have already made
amendments to increase the number of seats held by women to 50% in PRIs,
including the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. However, there is no such
reservation for women leaders at the state and national level. Women
comprise 11% of seats in the National Parliament and occupy 10% of
Ministerial positions.
Women’s machineries
The National Commission for Women (NCW) was created in January 1992
under the National Commission for Women Act 1990 (Act No. 20 of 1990 of
Government of India) as a special commission to monitor the implementation
of gender equality provisions in the Indian Constitution. States have set up
apex State Commissions for Women (SCWs), however, more needs to be done
for their effective functioning.

There has been an overall steady increase, since the NCW’s inception, in
the number of complaints received from 122 in 1992/1993 rising to 13,190
in 2007/2008.2

From Prevention to Prohibition: The NCW spearheaded a number of
amendments to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, including,
voiding child marriage.
On 8th March 2010, the Government of India launched the National Mission
for Women’s Empowerment. The mission aims to enhance inter-sectoral
convergence of all pro-women laws, policies and programmes in and between
Government ministries and departments. The Ministry for Women and Child
Development (MWCD) is the nodal ministry for the mission.
1
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State of Panchayats Report 2008-09: An Indpendent
Assessment, Government of India
2
http://ncw.nic.in/frmComp_Stat_Overview.aspx. Accessed on 3 July 2011
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Factsheet: India
India loses out an average 4.2% of its
GDP in the absence of full labour force
participation from women. In 2009,
women’s labour force participation in
India was 33% compared with 81.5%
for men.3 Despite contributing
significantly to the economy, many
women workers are not accounted for
in statistics and social audits. These
include 51% of India’s home-based
women workers who undertake paid
and unpaid non-agricultural work. 4
According to the National Crime
Records Bureau (NCRB) India, 89,546
cases of cruelty by husband and
relatives; 21,397 cases of rape, 11,009
cases of sexual harassment and 8, 383
cases of dowry deaths were reported in
India during the year 2009.
Implementing pro-women laws
In 1994, the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra in India amended the Hindu
Succession Act to give daughters the same inheritance rights as their brothers.
In 2005, this reform was replicated at the national level. However, challenges
include not just effective implementation of the law for Hindu women, but
also a large number of women from minority communities, including Muslim
and Adivasi women, who continue to face discriminatory inheritance laws.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA) 2005 provides for a 33% reservation for rural women seeking
work and sets equal minimum wages for both men and women. Although, this
has resulted in women being able to augment family incomes, there is
tokenistic participation of women in the decision making pertaining to
community assets created by the works and in social audits.
India is one of 4 countries in South Asia which has a law prohibiting domestic
violence. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA)
2005 came into force in October 2006. Enactment of the Protection of Women
from Domestic Violence Act 2005 has led to the creation of a new corps of
protection officers, who can file domestic incident reports and help victims to
access courts and support services. As the law is not being implemented
through central funding, state funding differs significantly – only 14 out of the
28 states have allocated funds separately for the implementation of the
PWDVA. In Haryana, special cells for women and children have been
established in coordination with the Tata Institute for Social Sciences. Ten of
the twenty protection officers in the cell are qualified social workers; ten are
qualified lawyers; and all twenty officers are women.
3
UNDP, Asia-Pacific Human
Development Report 2010, Power, Voice
and Rights: A Turning Point for Gender
Equality in South Asia, February 2010
4
http://www.homenetsouthasia.net/inde
x.php?option=com_content&view=articl
e&id=62&Itemid=65. Accessed on 3 July
2011.
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Factsheet: India
The Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act 2004
(Prohibition of Sex Selection) addresses issues of sex selection prior to or after
conception. The respondents in the recent case of Suhasini Umesh Karanjkar
Vs Kolhapur Municipal Corporation and The District Collector, Kolhapur relied
on the amendment to section 30 of the Act. The Bombay High Court in June
2011 made the decision that the appropriate authority has the power to seize
and seal an ultrasound machine and any other equipment used in pre-natal
sex determination of the foetus.
The overall child sex ratio (girls per 1000 boys) for children in the age group of
0-6 years in India dwindled over the last decade. Whilst the 2001 census
revealed there were 927 girls for every 1,000 boys in the age group of 0-6
years, by 2011 this had dropped further to 914. This is the lowest since India’s
independence. The effective implementation of PCPNDTA remains a challenge
as conviction rates under the law have been low.
The amendment to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 has stirred
discussion amongst development workers and policy makers in the country.
Whereas, the MWCD has proposed that in order to reduce the demand for
trafficking, clause 5C of the Act be amended to criminalise clients of
commercial sex workers. This is being challenged by activists working on
reproductive and sexual health, as such a move will push sex work
underground and access to services by this group will be highly reduced.
A landmark victory for upholding sexual rights for men and women was the
success of the recent Public Interest Litigation (PIL) bringing about changes in
section 377 of the Indian Penal Code decriminalising same sex partnerships.
The PIL was upheld by the Delhi High Court in June 2010, however, as
opposing groups have appealed to the Supreme Court, a final decision on this
case is pending.
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Factsheet: India
Despite contributing significantly to the
economy, many women workers are
not accounted for in statistics and
social audits. These include 51% of
India’s home-based women workers
who undertake paid and unpaid nonagricultural work. 5
Important pro-women laws in the making
National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) data from 2004/2005 suggests there
are some 2.95 million women domestic workers in India.6 Domestic workers
in India are not afforded legal protection under labour laws as they are not
recognised as workers. In June 2011, India became a signatory to the
International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Convention of Domestic Workers.
The ILO Convention requires governments to bring domestic workers under
the purview of labour standards. The Indian government is currently
formulating a National Policy for Domestic Workers.
In 1997, the Supreme Court delivered a precedent-setting judgment in the
Bhanwari Devi case by establishing the Government’s obligation to provide
legal protection from sexual harassment in the workplace. The Court used the
case to produce the first comprehensive civil law guidelines on the rights of
working women against violence and harassment in both public and private
employment. Subsequently, the Government in 2007 introduced a longawaited bill prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. The case has also
influenced formulation of similar legislation in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
5
http://www.homenetsouthasia.net/inde
x.php?option=com_content&view=articl
e&id=62&Itemid=65. Accessed on 3 July
2011.
6
International Labour Organization, Domestic Work: Policy Brief 5, 2011
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Factsheet: India
Creating an enabling environment and the infrastructure of justice
“Experience shows that in our country
The private sphere must not be ‘outside justice’
the tendency of womenfolk is generally

Based on prevalence surveys in some countries in the Asian region, it was
found that 35% of respondents in India have reported to be victims of
physical violence by their intimate partners, while 10% of respondents
were victims of sexual violence by their intimate partners.

39% of men and women in India think that it is sometimes or always
justifiable for a man to beat his wife.

Close to 63% of women in India, between the ages of 15-49, lack
autonomy in the house which is defined as having no say in any of the vital
everyday decisions: own health care, large household purchases,
purchases for daily needs, and visits to family or relatives.
not to speak out in public about
differences with their husbands. That
makes it difficult to have cogent
evidence regarding precise nature of
differences arisen in between them or
gravity of the same"– Justice A M
Khanwilkar and Justice P D Kode in their
judgment delivered at the Bombay High
Court on 15th March 2011 in the case
Legal literacy
concerning Mohan Ranganathan v (1)
State of Maharashtra, through R. C. F.
Police Station; (2) Senior Inspector of
Police, R.C.F. Police Station
According to a 2011 survey by The Association of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of India, 70% of women in India are not aware of their rights as laid
out in the Constitution.
Women’s under-representation in the justice system
India significantly lags behind the rest of the world, with women making up
just 3% percent of judges. Women judges are under-represented in most of
the courts in the country.
Strengthening capacities of law enforcement agencies
In a survey undertaken by Sakshi of 109 judges from district courts, high courts
and the Supreme Court and with women lawyers and litigants to understand
judicial perception of women who come to court, Sakshi found that
approximately half of those interviewed said that women who are abused by
their spouses are to blame. 68% of the respondents said provocative clothing
was an invitation to rape.
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Factsheet: South Asia
Sakshi has developed an education and training programme to change
attitudes. The workshops held by Sakshi bring together complainants, civil
society members, health care professionals, lawyers and judges. Sakshi tracks
major cases; one of which was the Vishaka case in which the groundbreaking
decision was made by judges who attended one of Sakshi’s workshops.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned a comprehensive scheme entitled
“Strengthening Law Enforcement Response in India against Trafficking in
Persons” which will focus on the capacity development and will establish 332
Anti-Human Trafficking Units in India.
In 2004, some states in India introduced schemes to take justice to
communities in remote areas through mobile courts. More recently the
government is formulating schemes on e-courts and the use of ICT in
accelerating access to justice.
Women’s representation in alternative legal systems and increasing access
to alternative courts
Nyaya Panchayats (village dispute resolution systems) continue to function in
most villages in India. In institutionalising Nyaya Panchayats and with a view to
their reform, the Government of India introduced a draft bill on Nyaya
Panchayats in 2009. The bill mandates for a 33% reservation for women in
Nyaya Panchayats.
Khap Panchayats in comparison is a council which governs the affairs of family
members of a clan covering several villages. Khap Panchayats are found largely
in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. The Supreme Court in April
2011, in the Manoj-Babli case, concerning the honour killing of Manoj (23) and
Babli (19), a couple from Haryana who married outside of their respective
castes, declared Khap Panchayats as illegal and depicted the decisions
ordering such killings as “shameful and barbaric”.
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