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Showing posts from January, 2011

WOMEN AT WORK: RIGHTS AND VULNERABILITIES

O ne thing that emerges clearly is that many women have come  to  the city  in  search of a livelihood for themselves. Although many of them did migrate with their families, it is they who became the primary bread earners over time. The changing scenario of the rural economy in the backdrop of privatisation and liberalisation has led to mass-scale unemployment in  the  rural areas. The loss of small-scale industries and the closing down of economic units has forced people to leave the village for the city. There is  a  hope  that in the city they will at least  be able to earn enough to sustain their families. The cities, at the same time, have seen a different kind of change. With greater education for the women and rise in the buying capacity of the middle class, the demand for the work of domestic care has increased. More women are coming out of their homes

Draupadis bloom in rural Punjab

Fraternal polyandry. If it takes a minute for the term to sink in, you're probably not affected by agrarian crisis the way farmers in Malwa region of Punjab are. Bizzare as it may sound, there is a connection. The problem of fragmentation of land holdings has led to unusual social developments. One being wife-sharing among brothers. 

Background on Discrimination against Women

How women are discriminated against Discrimination can be seen at all ages and stages of development for women. Fetus & Infancy UNICEF notes that “Where there is a clear economic or cultural preference for sons, the misuse of [pregnancy diagnostic tools] can facilitate female feticide.” This means that in parts of the world, like China, parents will abort their child or put the child up for adoption on the basis that it’s a girl. EMPOWERMENT Childhood A principal focus of the middle years of childhood and adolescence is ensuring access to, and completion of, quality primary and secondary education. With a few exceptions, it is mostly girls who suffer from educational disadvantage. Adolescence Among the greatest threats to adolescent development are abuse, exploitation and violence, and the lack of vital knowledge about sexual and reproductive health, including HIV/AIDS. Specific areas that UNICEF highlighted were female genital mutilation/cutting; child marriage and premature p

'Framed’ in sex clip, girl fights for justice

A first-year BBM student from Puttur, near Mangalore, has been ostracised after a sex tape featuring a girl resembling her was edited, named after her and released as an MMS Life has become hell for BBM student Shruti ever since the word spread in her town Puttur, about 60 kilometres from Mangalore, that she had featured in a sex video. Nobody wants to be associated with this first-year BBM student from St Philomena College ever since a 3 minutes 30 seconds sex MMS in her name “Shruthi Puttur Sye (ready) to dance, do anything” was released in November. Shruti got to know about the CD on Nov 14 when her relatives came home and informed her family. Her friends and classmates came to know of it on November 9. She said, “Everybody thought I was in the sex clip. It was only my mother who first said I wouldn’t do such a thing. Later, the rest of my family also believed that I wouldn’t do something like that.” However, her dad was not informed right away as he suffers from blood pressure