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Election and Women Empowerment

ELECTION AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
- Amrutha Alapati

WHAT IS WOMEN EMPOWERMENT?

“There is no limit as to what we as women can accomplish” – Michelle Obama.
Empowerment means providing a tool or mechanism by which a person or a system can on its own move forward. It means to give the power and authority required to a person to better her life on her own.Women empowerment means many things in a socio-legal aspect. It means greater women literacy, greater number of women in skilled jobs, greater women education, policies which promote work-life and home-life balance, maternity benefits, economic independence, fewer instances of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence against women, supportive abortion laws, etc. But perhaps the most important of them all, is greater political representation and participation in elections. 

WOMEN’S POLITICAL CAPITAL IN INDIA

Women have been biblically suppressed by patriarchy. In this paradigm, it is important that the government, which is democratic and a social-welfare nation, provides a mechanism for its women, who form half of the society, to empower themselves. The first tangible movement was of women suffrage across the world. In modern times, this translates to greater representation in policy, decision-making and governance.

The Constitution of India guarantees Equality, Liberty and the right to participate in elections in its Preamble and under Part III. It also allows the government to make special provisions for sections of society that need upliftment. In this light, positive policies must be made to create greater women participation in politics.

The Women’s Reservation Bill [The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008] (henceforth, the Bill), was first tabled in the Parliament in September, 1996. Itwas introduced again in 1998, 1999 and 2002. The current version of the Bill was introduced in 2008 in the Rajya Sabha by the UPA government in force at the time. The Rajya Sabha referred it to the Standing Committee and after receiving its report on 17th December, 2009, the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 9th May, 2010. However, the Lok Sabha did not pass it and after the change in the government, the Bill lapsed. Thus, it is one of the longest-pending legislations in Parliament. 

If the women in India are to have greater political capital, will and influence in the country, it is imperative that such a Bill be passed creating positive classification in their favour as a step towards progress. A lack of such policies, has led to harassment and no real power or authority when it comes to decision-making. These are the reasons why pro-women policies such as marital rape, maternity leave, abortion laws and women in greater positions of power have taken so long to be passed or are yet to pass in the Parliament. If the sad state of affairs is to improve, greater women advocacy is required.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT LAWS IN INDIA NOT ENFORCED

1. Article 15(3) of the Constitution – The State can make special provisions for the advancement and protection of women and children; 
2. Article 80(4) of the Constitution – Composition of the Council of States.
3. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution – Reservation of seats in local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women;
4. Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) and the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) changed India’s policies regarding women from protectionist to empowering
5. International Conventions ratified by India – 
• Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1993; 
• The Mexico Plan of Action (1975);
•  he Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (1985);
• The Beijing Declaration; 
• The Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcome Document UNGA Resolution “Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action”.[1]

WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN INDIAN PARLIAMENT 

The 17th Lok Sabha saw the highest percentage of women in Parliament, a measly 14.3% of the House. In 2013, the Rajya Sabha had 10.6% and 11% in the Lok Sabha. Although the graph shows an incline, it is at a very slow rate and is not at all expected of the greatest democracy in the world.

WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT GLOBALLY

India is ranked 149th in the world on the percentage of representation of women in Parliament. On the bright side, India’s graph has an upward projection although the numbers have consistently been low. The international average is 24.584% as compared to a meagre
12.6% in India. [2]

THE EUROPEAN UNION
EU gender policy, ‘Achieving gender equality in all areas, including in politics,’ is a spearhead objective pursued by the European Union. The European Commission\'s \'Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019\' encourages Member States to adopt measures to improve the gender balance in political and public decision-making positions. The EU gender action plan 2016-2020 aims to increase women\'s empowerment and participation in policy, governance and electoral processes at all levels. The European Parliament passed many resolutions to increase women’s political capital in the EU. The March 2017 ‘Resolution On Equality Between Women And Men In The European Union’made gender equality a priority and promoted female representation at all levels of political and economic decision-making. The May 2018 ‘Resolution On Gender Equality And Women\'s Empowerment In EU External Relations’allocate a dedicated budget line to support political participation of women in southern and eastern Europe.[3]

THE UNITED NATIONS

The UN has always emphasised the importance of women empowerment through General Assembly Resolutions and action plans, etc.Its belief is that women will be truly empowered only when they are enabled to be in positions of governance and leadership.

* The 2011 UN General Assembly Resolution on women’s political participation (A/RES/66/130) calls on Member States to take measures such as awareness and recognition programmes, prevent harassment of women officials in government, make policies to encourage equal representation by women and remove all possible obstacles, etc. 
* The 2003 UN General Assembly resolution on women’s political participation (A/RES/58/142) stipulates that Member States should take steps including to: monitor progress, enforce mechanisms that maintain a work-life balance, training programmes that educate using media and IT and empower women to stand for elections and allow women to cast informed votes in free and fair elections and promote the participation of women in civil society organizations.
* The UN Economic and Social Council Resolution 1990/15 asks for 30% minimum representation of women as a step to greater equality.
* The Beijing Platform for Action re-emphasizes Resolution 1990/15.
* The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against under Article 7 talks on political and public life while Article 8 talks about women’s representation.[4]

India is a signatory and has ratified these treaties and resolutions. However, compliance and the enforcement of the Bill are yet to be seen. 

SUGGESTIONS 

The Bill in its present form is detrimental to women empowerment. It only allows women to be candidates for one term and does not give them a mechanism where they are empowered to stand for future elections as well. Some alternative suggestions are:
* 33% of tickets may be reserved in political parties so women can campaign for seats on the basis of merit, strengthen democracy and ensure that those who are genuinely interested will participate. Also, this will ensure stability in constituencies. 
* Women from the OBC and minority communities also need to be given tickets in LokSabha and State Assembly elections for there to be uniform representation. 

THE ROAD AHEAD

Political parties are taking proactive measures to ensure that women are adequately represented in Parliament. This development depicts a hopeful future where the Bill may be passed with necessary amendments. Hope for reform persists as global and national trends depict a positive and feminist change. Evidence supports that women\'s leadership in political decision-making processes leads to their wholesome development.[5] Women have demonstrated that they can work through tense environments and still champion women-centric issues like elimination of gender-based violence, parental leave and childcare, pensions, gender-equality laws and electoral reform. [6]What is actually needed at this time is a greater movement for women empowerment, greater number of women advocacy groups and public mobilisation. Who better to fight for a true democracy, than women? 


REFERENCES

1. Department of Women and Child Development, National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (2001).
2. ‘Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%)’,(Inter-Parliamentary Union),<https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS> accessed 14 April 2020.
3. Elizabeth Asiedu, ‘The Effect of Women’s Representation in Parliament and the Passing of Gender Sensitive Policies,’ Parliamentary Affairs, (2008), Vol. 61(2), <https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsn007> Accessed 12 April 2020.
4. ‘Global norms and standards: Leadership and political participation’ (UN Women) <https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/global-norms-and-standards> Accessed 15 April 2020.
5. Judie Ballington, Empowering women for stronger political parties: A guidebook to promote women’s political participation (1st edn, UNDP, 2012)
<https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/gender/gender%20and%20governance/EmpoweringWomenFor%20StrongerPoliticalParties.pdf> Accessed 15 April 2020.
6. Yadavindu Ajit ‘The Real Political Empowerment of Women’ (Youth Ki Awaaz,14 March 2019) <https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2019/03/the-real-political-empowerment-of-women/> Accessed 15 April 2020.