Women empowerment fragile, says NHRC chief

Describing the empowerment of women in the country as fragile and inadequate, chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Justice K G Balakrishnan, called for an increase in the gender empowerment measures.

He was speaking at a training programme on ‘Gender Sensitisation’, organised by the NHRC, the United Nations Women, Centre for Social Research, New Delhi, and Karnataka Police Academy, Mysuru.

“Unless women are empowered, gender sensitisation will remain a myth,” he said. Women should get equal share in physical wealth and resources of the country, equal opportunities in generating their ideologies and sustainable ideas, he said.

Noting that the National Crime Records Bureau had recorded 1,18,866 cases of domestic violence in 2013, he said stronger laws had been framed now to protect women. Under the recent amendments to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, women in live-in relationships are also protected. The jurisdiction, with the recent amendments, has created opportunities for such victims to get justice, he said.

He said 37 per cent of married women suffered from domestic violence, cases of which are comparatively more in rural areas than in urban areas. The provisions made to increase the representation of women in local elected bodies have helped women secure more rights and decision-making capabilities.

However, it has not been effective in states like Bihar. Male counterparts in Bihar, where 56 per cent of the elected representatives are women, are taking decisions by either sidelining or at the behest of women, he said.

Quoting an United Nations report on gender empowerment in India, he said the country stood 99th among 153 countries, which warranted an increase in the necessary measures, he said.