Deptt. of Geography

Disaster Management

University of Kashmir

Srinagar  Jammu & Kashmir India

Abstract

Women empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion in the recent past. Empowerment of women is a holistic and multi-dimensional concept, as it covers social, economic and political aspects of life. It is held that women now cannot be asked to wait for any more for equality. In other words, “Empowerment is not giving people power; people already have plenty of power, in the wealth of their knowledge and motivation, to do their jobs magnificently. Empowerment occurs by improving the conditions and standards of life of women. Gender gap exists regarding access to education and employment. Household decision making power and freedom of movement of women vary considerably with their age, education and employment status. It is found that acceptance of unequal gender norms by women are still prevailing in the society. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the status of women empowerment in Jammu and Kashmir using various indicators based on data from secondary sources. The study reveals that women of Jammu and Kashmir are relatively disempowered and they enjoy somewhat lower status than that of men in spite of many efforts undertaken by government. More than half of the women believe wife beating to be justified for one reason or the other. Fewer women have final say on how to spend their earnings. It is said that control over cash earnings increases with age, education and with place of residence. Women in many regions of Jammu and Kashmir are still facing the issues and challenges related to education, health, domestic violence, politics, declining sex ratio, state violence, dowry  harassment, eve teasing, unequal wage, child labour and female feticide and infanticide etc.

Key Words: Women Empowerment, Education, Health, Socio-Economic Status, Crimes against women, Policy implications.

Introduction

As India progresses economically, there are calls for the country to pay more attention to social and human development, including women empowerment. Women empowerment is a critical aspect to achieving gender equality, where both men and women have equal power and opportunities for education, healthcare, economic participation and personal development.

Existing social, economic and political conditions of the now UT of J & K increase the gender discrimination during the last more than three decades (Gul & Khan, 2013). Low participation of women in political and socio-economic process has been witnessed. Such discriminations have snatched their right of freedom of speech, freedom to get education and employment opportunities, which adversely affects their overall well-being. The lives of the women in the state have faced drastic change that forces them to be a silent spectator observing the fast changing socioeconomic scenario. Such changes have developed signs of exclusiveness, resulting in an identity crises especially under the situation of armed conflict and militancy. Like many other states of India, women in Jammu & Kashmir are also bound by customs and traditions and bearing the responsibilities of upbringing their children and managing domestic affairs (Gul, 2015).

Various national and international communities have addressed women’s issues and taken various efforts to empower them so as to enhance their social and health status and involve them in developmental activities. The Indian DHS survey (National Family Health Survey, 1998–1999) provides an opportunity to study women’s empowerment in India. The survey collected information on several dimensions of women’s empowerment from 90,303 ever married women (ages 15–49), from all the states of India. Utilizing these data sets, four indices – household autonomy index, mobility index, attitude towards gender index and attitude towards domestic violence index – are constructed to measure the different dimensions of empowerment.

Subrahmanyam, H. (2011) compares women education in India at present and past. The author highlighted that there has a good progress in overall enrolment of girl students in schools. The term empower means to give lawful power or authority to act. It is the process of acquiring some activities of women. Rao, M.B.S. (2011) has highlighted that health of women members of SHG have certainly taken a turn to better. It clearly shows that heath of women members discuss among themselves about health related problems of other members and their children and make them aware of various Government provisions specially meant for them. Doepke M. Tertilt M. (2011) Does Female Empowerment Promote Economic Development? This study is an empirical analysis suggesting that money in the hands of mothers benefits children. This study developed a series of non cooperative family bargaining models to understand what kind of frictions can give rise to the observed empirical relationship.

Duflo E. (2011) in his study ‘Women’s Empowerment and Economic Development’, argues that the inter relationships of the Empowerment and Development are probably too weak to be self-sustaining and that continuous policy commitment to equally for its own sake may be needed to bring about equality between men and women. K. Sethuraman (2008) in his study, ‘The Role of Women’s Empowerment and Domestic Violence in child Growth and Under nutrition in a Tribal and Rural Community in South India’ explores the relationship between Women’s Empowerment and Domestic Violence, maternal nutritional status and the nutritional status and growth over six months in children aged 6 to 24 months in a rural and tribal community. This longitudinal observational study undertaken in rural Karnataka included tribal and rural subjects. Venkata R. and Venkatraman (2005) focused on the effects of SHG on women participation and exercising control over decision making both in family matters and in group activities. 

There can be no two opinions that the women of Kashmir during the past two decades have been in the forefront and have been fighting battles against all kinds of injustice and crimes against humanity committed by the state and by some dubious non state actors” Dabla (2009) . According to the Jammu & Kashmir police report violence against women are also found in the form of control of females by the male members and females are treated inferior, even the economically independent and educated women are also at the receiving end (Sharma, 2010). Whereas study conducted by Banday & Ganesan (2016) concluded that women in the state have faced a considerable level of restriction in travelling alone and discontinue their education due to customary practices. Goswami (1993) reported that the main reason of domestic violence against women in India is the life style of men i.e.  Alcoholism, drugs, smoking, extra marital affair, bad company and poverty promote men to commit domestic violence against women. Similar findings were revealed by the study conducted by Bhatt (1998) and Mc Kenry et.al. (1995). They reported that Alcoholism, drugs, smoking, extra marital affair, bad company and poverty is the main cause of domestic violence against women. Moreover Liz (2012) reported that domestic violence has also influenced by the type of marriage, educational qualification of husband, number of family members. Similarly Gerstein (2000) concluded that poverty and educational level are the main reason for domestic violence. Further early marriage also makes women vulnerable to domestic violence. Ferooz.et.al (2021) concluded that MGNREGA scheme in rural India has largely helped in empowering the women folk at large. Similarly Rather. et.al (2013) in their study ‘Spatial distribution of sex composition in Jammu and Kashmir’ revealed that imbalance in the sex ratio affects the rate of male and female participation in different economic activities.

Empowerment is essentially a bottom-up process rather than something that can be formulated as a top-down strategy. This means that development agencies cannot claim to 'empower women', nor can empowerment be defined in terms of specific activities or end results. This is because it involves a process whereby women, individually and collectively, freely analyze, develop and voice their needs and interests, without them being pre-defined, or imposed from above. Planners working towards an empowerment approach must therefore develop ways of enabling women themselves to critically assess their own situation and shape a transformation in society. The ultimate goal of women’s empowerment is for women themselves to be the active agents of change in transforming gender relations.

Indicators of empowerment are designed to measure roles, attitudes, and rights of women and sometimes men. Thus the indicators of both the concepts were identified, by taking into account various aspects of gender. For example, Kishor (2006) has identified three important aspects of gender namely:

a. Gender tends are not value neutral. The roles, rights, and obligations assigned to each sex are not just different, but also unequal with male roles and rights generally being valued more highly than female roles and rights.

b. Gender involves differences in power; both ‘power to’ and ‘power over’. The concept of power to encompasses legal and informal rights, access to resources, and pursuit of knowledge and personal goals, and cuts across most domains of human functioning, including familial, cultural, and institutional domains. Power over refers to control over societal and household resources and decisions, cultural and religious ideology, and one's own and others' bodies. Importantly, men tend to have greater power than women, and, in some domains, even have power over women.

c. Gender is not static. Being socially constructed, gender roles, rights, and expectations can change over time and across geographical space as societal needs, opportunities, and customs change.

Empowerment is the vital instrument to expand women’s ability to have resources and to make strategic life choices. Empowerment of women is essentially the process of upliftment of economic, social and political status of women, the traditionally underprivileged ones, in the society. It is the process of guarding them against all forms of violence.

Women Empowerment: A Historical Review 

Equal rights for men and women are enshrined under Articles 14 to 16 in the Indian constitution, which came into effect on 26 January 1950. Discrimination based on gender is strictly prohibited. Indian women received universal suffrage during India’s independence in 1947, long before several Western countries granted women the right to vote. Within the country, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 have been enacted to criminalise instances of dowry and domestic violence. The government also increased maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks under the Maternity Benefit Act in 2017 for the private sector. 

The Women’s Reservation Bill gives 33 per cent reservation for women seats in all levels of Indian politics. This is an attempt to increase female political participation. Proponents of the quota system argue that it is a necessary step to increase women’s effective and meaningful participation in the political system. It could help to expedite a process that usually takes generations by incorporating women’s voices in governance. Women in India are emerging in all sectors, including politics, business, medicine, sports and agriculture. 

India’s story on women empowerment is not complete without focusing on grassroots initiatives adopted by the government and civil society organisations. The federal and state governments have launched new schemes, policies and programmes to empower both urban and rural women. The  government has launched flagship schemes to promote gender equality, including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (Save the Daughter, Educate the Daughter), Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (a scheme to provide gas connections to women from below the poverty line households) and Mahila-E-Haat. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana scheme was launched in January 2015 to address the issue of a gender skewed ratio and generate greater welfare for the girl child. The focus is centred mostly on Northern India, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab and Uttarakhand where the gender ratio is wider. The Mahila-E-Haat project, an online marketing campaign, was launched in 2016. It uses technology to support female entrepreneurs, self-help groups and non-government organisations (NGOs). Each scheme has its own unique objective, ranging from welfare of the girl child and community engagement to supporting aspiring female entrepreneurs.

The government has also created the space for international agencies to work with state governments, local NGOs and private corporations. For instance, the World Bank is working closely with the federal government and the Andhra Pradesh government to improve the quality of public health services in the state, including maternal and child healthcare. Another initiative is by the United Nations (UN) India Business Forum which has partnered with the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) to set up the UN-India NITI Aayog Investor Consortium for Women Entrepreneurs to strengthen female entrepreneurship and create an ecosystem for investments.

Crime against Women in Jammu and Kashmir

There has been an increasing trend of violence against women in Jammu and Kashmir from last three decades. Violence against women is an extreme form of male control over women. Men’s violence pushes women into a subordinate position. Domestic violence against women is on the rise in Jammu and Kashmir. Even the educated and the economically independent women are at the receiving end, according to anecdotal evidence contained in police data (Sharma, 2010). The violence against women has increased both qualitatively as well as quantitatively in Jammu and Kashmir over the past more than three decades and the direct impact of the militancy and armed conflict has intensified the problem. The practice directly or indirectly related to domestic violence against women prevails in urban as well as rural J&K in all economic, social, age, cultural and other groups and classes. The data from the following table reveals that there has been an overall increase of different crimes against women from 2001 to 2019. The different aspects of crimes like rape, kidnapping, suicide, dowry, etc. is on increasing trend.

Table: 1 Number of Cases Registered under Crime against Women in Jammu and  Kashmir (2001 to 2019)

An analysis of the above table also reveals that the crime head with respect to violence against women is showing an increasing trend with respect to intent to outrage the modesty of women, kidnapping and abduction attempt to commit rape and other heads shows an up and down trend. The increase in cases of rape, abduction, molestation and domestic violence has created a cause for concern among the civil society members and women alike.

Violence against women in Jammu and Kashmir:

The armed conflict in Jammu and Kashmir from last more than three decades has deteriorated the overall scenario in the region. It has created a havoc especially to the women folk which have suffered the most. Since (2002), skirmishes with the local insurgents have constituted the main conflict in the Kashmir region. Thousands of people have died during fighting between insurgents and the government as well as thousands of civilians who have died as a result of being targeted by the various armed and militant groups as shown in the following table.

The table 2 below indicates the number of incidents took place due to extremists and the number of persons killed in the state from (1990-2019). The victims include men, women, and children. Such incidents directly affected the women as thousands of women become widow and bearing the responsibilities of upbringing their children. Many of them lost their young children, such shocks made them mentally ill. But data shows that these incidents are continuously decreasing.

Table:2 Militant Activities and Persons Killed in Jammu and Kashmir (1990 to 2015)

Years	Total No. of incidents	Civilians killed
1990	4158	461
1991	3765	382
1992	4817	634
1993	5247	747
1994	5829	820
1995	5938	1031
1996	5014	1341
1997	3420	971
1998	2932	889
1999	3071	873
2000	3074	847
2001	4522	996
2002	4038	1008
2003	3401	795
2004	2565	707
2005	1990	557
2006	1667	389
2007	1092	158
2008	708	91
2009	499	71
2010	488	47
2011	340	31
2012	220	15
2013	170	15
2014	222	28
2015	208	17
2016	322	15
2017	342	40
2018	614	39
2019	594	39

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.

In the year (1990) total number of incidents by extremists were 4158 and in (2019) they were 594. Similarly the number of causality also are decreasing as shown in the table. The total number of person killed due to extremists activities were 461 in (1990) while the figures were 39 in 2019. However the data represents only the persons killed by militants from (1990-2019). Above figure represents the declining rate of incidents by extremist’s activities and persons killed by such activities.

Gender Differences in Education:

Education plays a pivotal role in development and eliminating gender differences. The access to education and educational attainment are key elements on the path to attaining gender equality and reducing the disempowerment of women. It adds value to a person’s life and plays a crucial role in the overall development. There is a strong correlation between lack of literacy and poverty, both in the economic sense and in the broader sense of deprivation of capabilities (UNESCO, 2006). Female literacy, in particular, is of vital importance for the future of the nation, as a child’s health is crucially linked to the mother’s literacy (India Human Development Report, 2011).

The achievement of universal primary education has been a key goal of Indian planning since Independence. However, increasing access to primary schooling still leaves the twin questions of educational quality and school retention unanswered. Continued economic development cannot be sustained with a population that has merely completed primary school. It needs a dependable supply of highly educated and skilled human capital for which a high level of educational attainment of  both women and men is necessary. However, ensuring a continued supply of skilled human capital to sustain economic growth is only one objective of reducing gender inequalities in educational attainment. The other is that education, particularly higher education of women, is a key enabler of demographic change, family welfare, and better health and nutrition of women and their families. Higher education has the potential to empower   women with knowledge and ways of understanding and manipulating the world around them. Education of  women has been associated with lower fertility, infant mortality, and better child health and nutrition.

Table: 3 Literacy Rate in Jammu and Kashmir from 1961- 2011

Year	Literacy Rate
	Persons	Males	Females
1961	12.95	19.75	5.05
1971	12.71	31.01	10.94
1981	33.02	44.55	19.86
1991	N.A	N.A	N.A
2001	55.52	66.60	43.00
2011	68.74	78.26	58.01

Source: Census of India, 2011

Literacy, i.e., the ability to read and write, is the foundation of education. The Census of India 2011 shows that only 58.01% of women and 78.26% of men are literate in Jammu and Kashmir. Literacy has, however, been increasing over time for both women and men in the State.

Literacy among women has increased at a considerably high rate in the last fifty years i.e. from 5.05% in 1961 to 58.01% in 2011. Although the gender differential in literacy has declined over time (from 1980-2011), the differential remains high. The percentage of females who are literate (58.01%) is 20.25 percentage points less than the percentage of males who are literate (78.26%). Out of the twenty- two districts in Jammu and Kashmir, seven districts have less than 50% of female literates with district Ramban (40.04%) at the bottom. Almost all the districts have more than 70% of male literates except Badgam (68.18%), Bandipore (68.41%) and Reasi (69.93%) districts.

Table: 4 Literacy Rate by Residence

	Persons	Males	Females
Total	68.74	78.26	58.01
Rural	64.97	75.51	53.36
Urban	78.19	84.90	70.19

Source: Census of India, 2011

The above table shows that literacy is much higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Notably, the differential by residence for women is much greater than for men (16.83 percentage points for women versus 9.39 for men) and the gender disparity in literacy is also much greater in rural than in urban areas. Nonetheless, even in urban areas, more than one- fourth of women are not literate.

Empowerment of Women in J&K:

For the empowerment of women in the state various schemes have been launched by the center and state Government, aims at empowering women in different spheres of life, these are as under:

Awareness Generation Projects for Rural and Poor Women:

The scheme of awareness generation programme aims to empower women by providing knowledge on important issues relating to status of women, female feticide, domestic violence, trafficking, drug addiction, low sex camps are organized through voluntary organizations already working for the welfare of women and children.

Condensed Course of Education for Adult Women:

The Scheme of Condensed Courses of Education was initiated by CSWB in 1958 to cater to the needs of adult girls and women who could not join mainstream education system or were school dropouts. The scheme aims to provide educational opportunities to girls and women above the age of 15 years along with additional inputs of skill development vocational training. The main focus of the scheme is to ensure that contents of the course are need-based and modified according to local requirement, simultaneously targeting various stages of educational levels of primary, middle, high school and matric / secondary level courses. The programme also aims at instilling confidence among adult women through education making them able citizens. Selection of candidates is required to be done by a committee comprising the institution and the Principal / representative of a local government school of the area where the course is to be held. The Scheme is being implemented through Voluntary Organizations’ and educational institutions, having requisite infrastructure and experience in the field of women / social development and education across the country.

Family Counseling Centre:

Under the FCC scheme, counselling, referral and rehabilitative services to women victims who are in moral danger within the family or society at large including those affected by disputes, marital discord or maladjustment is provided free of charge.

Janani Suraksha Yojana:

Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and neo-natal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among the poor pregnant women. The Yojana, launched on 12th April 2005, by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, is being implemented in all states and UTs with special focus on low performing states. JSY is a 100 % centrally sponsored scheme and it integrates cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery care The Yojana has identified ASHA, the accredited social health activist as an effective link between the Government and the poor pregnant women in l0 low performing states, namely the 8 EAG states and Assam and J&K and the remaining NE States. In other eligible states and UTs, wherever, AWW ((Anganwadi workers) and TBAs or ASHA like activist has been engaged in this purpose, she can be associated with this Yojana for providing the services.

Scheme for Working Women Hostels:

The objective of the scheme is to promote availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women, with day care facility for their children, wherever possible, in urban, semi urban, or even rural areas where employment opportunity for women exist. To achieve this objective, the scheme will assist projects for construction of new hostel buildings, expansion of existing hostel buildings and hostel buildings in rented premises. The working women’s hostel projects being assisted under this scheme shall be made available to all working women without any distinction with respect to caste, religion, marital status etc., subject to norms prescribed under the scheme. While the projects assisted under this scheme are meant for working women, women under training for job may also be accommodated in such hostels subject to the condition that taken together, such trainees should not occupy more than 30% of the total capacity the hostel and they may be accommodated in the hostels only when adequate numbers of working women are not available. Children of working women, up to the age of 18 years for girls and up to the age of 5 years for boys may be accommodated in such hostel with their mothers.

Swayamsidha Scheme:

Swayamsidha scheme was launched in the year 2001 dedicated to Women’s Empowerment. It is a Self Help Groups based programme with emphasis on convergence activities. The objective is to ensure that Self Help Groups members avail the benefit of all schemes and services in an integrated and holistic manner.

Umeed:

The hope, a Government of India funded flagship project to empower women in conflict ridden Kashmir, was launched by Congress scion Rahul Gandhi in June 2013. The scheme was made possible only after a group of students from Kashmir University visited Ameeti (UP) to study the model and its successful implementation. Umeed scheme is aimed to empower women in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India. The project is aimed at encouraging rural women to make small savings so that their SHGs will eventually become bankable at reduced rate of interest.

National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC):

Women belonging to Minority Community viz. Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians and Zoroastrians are being financed under this scheme at a nominal rate of interest 6% per Annam simple to be liquidated within a period of 5 years. Maximum loan amount for an individual beneficiary is Rs. 1.00lakh.

National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation(NBCFDC):

Women belonging to backward & other classes as prescribed under State SRO 126 are being financed under this scheme at a very low rate of interest 4% p.a up to Rs 50,000/- & 6% p.a up toRs.1.00 lakhs for which the repayment period is 5 years.

National Handicapped Finance & Development Corporation (NHFDC)

Handicapped Women with 40% disability. Are being financed under this scheme at a very low rate of interest 3% up to Rs. 50,000/- and 4% p.a up to Rs. 1.00 lakh which is to be liquidated within period of 7 years.

Educational Loan:

Education loan is also provided to the women beneficiaries’ under each of the above mentioned schemes for professional/ technical trainings.

Micro Creditloan

Micro Credit facilities are also provided to Self Help Groups (SHGs) at the rate of 5% for which repayment period is 3 years.

Sher-I-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme (SKEWP):

In addition to the above mentioned centrally sponsored schemes the social welfare department is also implemented “Empowering Skilled Young Women, 2009” scheme taking a lead role in the implementation of Sher-I-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme (SKEWP)envisaged by the Government to create self- employment avenues for educated unemployed youth. The nominal interest of 6% charged on the credit being provided to prospective entrepreneurs is well taken bythe unemployed youth women and in fact the Corporation is getting encouraging response in all parts of the state.

Challenges to Empowerment of Women in J&K

While India has taken some measures on human development, its global standing on gender equality remains low. India’s ranking in the Global Gender Gap Report, commissioned by the World Economic Forum, declined from 108th in 2018 to 112th in 2020. India’s prevailing issues on gender inequality should be seen in a wider context of South Asia. In rural areas, especially in the Hindi heartland, gender disparity is still significant. Women continue to be relegated to household tasks, with little or no say in economic decisions. Levels of literacy, nutrition and access to health care continue to be poor, and social welfare parameters are lower. Despite this the central & State government is taking some good initiative for the empowering women by helping women to help themselves and their families as well. But still large population of women in the state is unemployed, illiterate, widows, half-widows and lagging behind in every spheres of life. There are some challenges that act as hindrance in the way empowering the women:

1. Violence against women is on leaps and bounds in J&K.

2. Illiteracy or ignorance of people also a constraint in the empowerment of women.

3. Many girls in many districts of J&K still get married at an early age, which affect their overall development to a greater extent.

4. Lack of decision-making authority

5. Many customs and cultural practices hinder the empowerment of women. For examples many parents do not send their daughters to schools when they attain puberty.

6. Lack of women’s participation in political affairs

7. Poor and low status of women

8. High level of illiteracy among women.

9. Lack of awareness

10. Inadequate & unorganized health care delivery system

All these challenges are act as a barrier in the way of various developmental programmes for the empowerment of women. These challenges need to overcome at the earliest, only than we can achieve the desired target. Though state government has taken some good steps recently, but what State really needs right now are sizable leaps. As we progress towards a developed nation, so every care must be taken to compositely develop and empower women along the way to stand true to what our great Jawaharlal Nehru said “You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women”

Conclusion:

To overcome these issues central government, state government and NGO’s should work together for the empowerment of women in Jammu and Kashmir. The present paper emphasizes the attempts of the authorities and describes current policies for the empowerment of women in the region. Rural women are more prone to domestic violence than that of urban women. A large gender gap exists in political participation too. The study concludes by an observation that access to education and employment are only the enabling factors to empowerment, achievement towards the goal, however, depends largely on the attitude of the people towards gender equality. Empowerment of Women in J&K requires a strong and sustained commitment by governments and other stakeholders, a favorable policy environment, and well-targeted resources. Long-term improvements in education and awareness opportunities will play a positive role in the overall development of women. In the short term, significant progress can be achieved by strengthening and expanding essential awareness among masses about gender equality, improving policies, and promoting favorable atmosphere for women. The development of women in Kashmir, no doubt, has been a part of the development planning process right from inception of Five Year Plans. Despite of these attempts, women in Kashmir are still left with lot many issues and challenges related to health, economy, education, politics, domestic violence, declining sex ratio, female feticide and infanticide, late marriage, state violence, dowry harassment, eve teasing, unequal wages, child sexual abuse, child labour and sexual harassment at work. To reduce the domestic violence overall society need to take initiative against social evils like dowry, drug addiction, early marriage etc. Counseling at various spheres like in Masjids, Mohalla Committees meetings, at peer groups should take place regarding domestic violence. Government and Non-government agencies should take positive steps for reducing domestic violence, wherein government can strength their law enforcing agencies, Non-governmental agencies can setup counseling cells, organize community programs, form social groups for reducing violence through group work process.

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