Struggle to End Violence Against Uneducated Women in India, Essay Example

Uneducated women in India are financially dependent and are often more vulnerable to domestic violence. On the other hand, Indian women with a back ground of good education are economically and socially independent. However, current research has shown that Indian women with a better educational background than their husbands are facing greater threats related to domestic violence when compared to uneducated women’s. This is in line with Indian cultures on relationships and marriage. Some women rights activists such as Gloria Steinem and Ruchira Gupta set out on a journey to determine the extent of violence against women. They engaged in interactive interviews with women in regions such as Kolkata where domestic violence is rampant (Steinem 12). Violence against women is propagated by a combination of social ideologies engrained within society and cultural beliefs, one of them being little or the lack of women’s education.

The findings of the study published by Population and Development Review, a U.S.-based non-profit organization found that Indian women who are more educated than their spouses were 28% more prone to domestic violence than women with little or no educational- background (Lalwali 3). Furthermore, the World Health Organization studied the vice in the United States and found that interpersonal, collective or self-directed acts of violence cause up to 4,440 deaths annually(Tyner, 2012).  Educated women who were passive about family matters were less prone to domestic violence than women who were active in family matters (Tyner, 2012). Additionally, women provided basic necessities for their families were 48% more prone to domestic violence than unemployed women who totally relied on their employed husbands (Tyner, 2012). On the contrary, there were no incidents of men violence in families when men were unemployed. Notably, educated women who are financially stable threaten the status and dominance of men in family units. This research also observed that a lot of Indian men respond with violence. This behavioral trend id referred to as an assertion of masculinity that aims at regaining power in a family unit.

Domestic violence against or directed towards uneducated women in India is not a new culture. The study carried out by Gloria Steinem and Ruchira Gupta found that many women are beaten for petty reasons such as talking to strangers as well as moving out of homesteads without permission (Steinem, 2014). About 35% of women who were interviewed through interactive sessions reported improper cooking results in physical assault (Lalwali 3). The article states that there is a correlation between women empowerment in India and domestic violence (Lalwali, 2014, p. 3). Empowered women opt to lead single lives since Indian men are afraid of women who dominate marriages. As the country is amending legislations to increase women’s property rights, incidences of wife assault and battering are on the rise (Steinem 12). Additionally, these rights have an antagonistic effect since they have raised female suicide rates (Tyner, 2012).

This article correlates with course concepts since it defines economic hardship as one the pillars of violence. Due to economic hardships, most women in India are relegated to mere servants for men in the society. Lacking economic empowerment, these women are left vulnerable to abuse and violence due to their over-dependency on their male partners. In India, women who are educated as well as financially stable do not depend on their husbands. As a result, they find it easier to walk out of relationships than uneducated women who depend on their husbands for financial support. On the contrary, divorce in India is highly stigmatized, and as result, many educated and uneducated women are compelled to remain in their dysfunctional marriages, constantly experiencing violence in many different forms (Lalwali, 2014, p. 6). National statistics show that only one-third of Indian women comprise the national labor force. Reasonably, educated and financially stable women are regarded as threats to social and gender norms (Steinem 12). Apart from violence at domestic level, these women are also subjected to male criticisms in the entire society. Another resounding finding is that educated women are not only discriminated by men, but by other uneducated women, especially form rural areas. Some women are so closely tie to the country’s gender norms that they do not realize that they are the carriers of the discrimination burden.

This article also dwells on the plight of women in a male-dominated world. The domestic and legal rights of women are subsumed and obscured by male dominance. Women are struggling to ensure gender equity. In their struggles, women are facing both internal and external forces (Steinem 12). Internal forces mean that there are other women opposed to this struggle. They have been brainwashed by gender norms, and, as a result have accepted their role in relationships and marriages (Lalwali 3). External forces imply that women’s rights activists are fighting against male forces that dominate them (Tyner, 2012).

As this study shows, India is still struggling to address issues about gender norms and disparities. Gender norms draw a clear distinction between the roles of men and women in a relationship and marriage. Although many international bodies view girls’ education as a means of social and economic growth, it is considered as a threat to male dominance in India. Traditional women have accepted their responsibilities in marriage and have even criticized other women who are fighting for their rights. With only 30% of Indian women working in the public sector, this is a heated battled to ensure gender equity (Steinem, 2014, p. 12). All women should unite to transform gender norms of the country, and to improve female empowerment. Women’s empowerment does not threaten male dominance, but creates an economically stable society.

Works Cited

Lalwali, N. (2014). Educated Women are Less Vulnerable in India, Right. The Wall Street Journal.

Steinem, G. A. (2014, March 20). A Temporary End to a Tour of the INdian Women’s Movement. The New York Times.

Tyner, J. A. (2012). Space, place, and violence : violence and the embodied geographies of race, sex and gender. New York: Routledge.