GENDER DISCRIMINATION AT WORKPLACE –

MYTH OR REALITY

Theme:- ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY POSITION

REGARDING GENDER DISCRIMINATION.

 What is Gender Discrimination ?

Gender discrimination is any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the

basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of reducing or preventing the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise by men or women, of their equality,
human rights and fundamental freedom in the political, economic, social,
cultural, civil or any other field.

 Introduction :-

From ancient to modern period, women’s condition-socially, politically and

economically has not remained same and it kept changing with times. In
ancient India, were having equal status with men.
A few enlightened Indians such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy influenced by the
modern concept of freedom, liberty, equality and justice started to question
the prevailing discriminatory practises against women. Through his
unrelenting efforts, the British were forced to abolish the ill-practise of Sati.
Similarly several other social reformers such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar,
Swami Vivekananda, Acharya Vinoba Bhave etc. worked for the upliftment
of women in India.
 During freedom movement, almost all the leaders of the struggle were
of the view that women should be given equal status in the free India
and all types of discriminatory practises must stop. And for that to
happen, it was thought fit to include such provisions in the
Constitution of India which would help eliminate age-old exploitative
 customs and traditions and also such provisions which would help in
empowering women socially, economically and politically.

Status of women in India :-

ANCIENT BACKGROUND

1.) In ancient India, though patriarchal system was highly prevalent – all male
domination – women enjoyed a position of respect and reverence.
2.) Several inscriptions make references to the status of women in that they
enjoyed the freedoms to make liberal gifts to religious institution like
temples, dharmshalas not merely for the welfare of heads of the families
but for their parents as well.
3.) Women held very important position in ancient Indian society.

Evidences are as follows:-

There are evidences to suggest that woman power destroyed kingdoms

and mighty rulers :-

1.) Elango Adigal’s Sollapathigaram mentioned that Madurai, the capital

of Pandyas was burnt, when pandyan ruler Nedunchezhiyan killed a
woman’s husband by mistake.
2.) Veda Vyasa’s Mahabharata tells the story of the fall of Kauravas
because they humiliated Draupadi.
3.) Valmiki’s Ramayana is also about the annihilation of the Ravana when
abducted and tried to marry Sita forcibly.
4.) The plethora of Goddesses in ancient period was created to instill
respect for women.
5.) Ardhanareshwar (God id half-man and half-woman) was highly
worshipped.
6.) Women were allowed to have multiple husbands. They could leave
their husbands.
7.) In the vedic society women participated in religious ceremonies and
tribal assemblies.
 8.) There is no seclusion of women from domestic and social affairs but
they were dependent on their male relatives throughout their lives.
9.) The system of sati existed among the Aryans in the earlier period. The
hymns of the Rig-Veda, the Adharva Veda show that it was still
customary for the widow to lay symbolically by the side of her
husband’s corpse on the funeral, forced child marriages were
unknown.
10.) Women could choose their husbands through a type of marriage
called Swayamvara. (in this, potential 40 grooms assembled at the
bride’s house and the bride selected her spouse. Instances of
Swayamvara ceremony can be found in epics, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharatha. This continued even in the later period in high caste
families.)

Vedic Period

1.) In the vedic period, women lost their political rights of attending
assemblies.
2.) Child marriage also came into existence.
3.) According to the Aitareya Brahmana, a daughter has been
described as a source of misery. Adharva Veda also deplores the
birth of daughters.
 Yet, certain matrilineal elements are discernible in this
period also. The importance assigned to the wives of
the raja in the Rajasuya yaga has been regarded as an
indication of matrilineal influence.
 The Vamsavalis or geneaalogies of teachers attached
to the Brihadaranyaka Upnishad in which many seers
bear metronymics, indicate their importance. These
are references to women seers like.

Gagri and Maitreyi

 However during this period, we see the growing tendency to stratify the
Indian society along gender lines.
 The position of women gradually deteriorated as the Vedic ideals of unity and
equality began to fade off through the passage of time.
 During the period of Smritis, women were bracketed with the Sudras and
were denied the right to study the Vedas, to utter Vedic mantras and to
perform Vedic rites.
 Marriage or domestic life became compulsory for women and
unquestioning devotion to husband is their only duty.

Mauryan Period

 During the Mauryan period Brahamanical literature was particularly severe

in the treatment of women and assigned them a very low status in the
society.
 Since women and property are bracketed together in several references in
the epics, Smritis and Puranas, women came to be regarded as a sort of
property. She could be given away or loaned as any item of property. This
was the attitude of a typical patriarchal society based on private property.
 The brahamanical law did not allow any proprietary rights to women, the
provision for stridhana is of a very limited nature and does not extend beyond
the wife’s rights to jewels, ornaments and presents made to her at the time
of her marriage.
 The practise of using veils by women of high caste families was in vogue.
 In South India also the position of women deteriorated.
 Remarriage of widows was generally not favoured. Their positions were very
bad as they had to shave their heads, discard all their ornaments and eat only
plain food that too once in a day and wear white clothes. If anyone goes out
on some work, and faces a widow, was considered as a bad women. They are
generally not invited to witness any social functions such as marriage, naming
of child, etc., except to render domestic labour.
 women of higher status – Agra Varnas were given higher education while a
common housewife received limited education. Nevertheless, she was very
well acquainted with social morals and worldly affairs. Women were able to
win the hearts of their husband, through absolute devotion, commanded
respect from children and received the affection of elders. Because of these
 laudable qualities woman was considered as the goddess of prosperity of
the family.
 This brighter aspect of the high status of women in ancient India explains only
one side. However, the other side of the picture of women was not so rosy.
Several inscriptions and references in literature make it clear that polygamy,
particularly among the kings, nobles, rich and high caste men were not
uncommon. Polygamy apart, maintaining concubines was considered a
social status.

Medieval Background
women of high status such as Queens, Princesses, and wives of nobles,
courtesans and dancers were educated in different fields including that of
statecraft so that they would give right advice at the right time to their
husbands.
At the same time, queens warranted by the exigencies like the death of their
husband took the reins of administration into their hands.
The religious freedom was enjoyed by the women of high rank and social status.
The generous gifts to temple and brahmans made the elite sections of the
society happy and comfortable.
Thus, it is quite reasonable to assure the women of the royal and wealthy
families were well educated. They received such instruction which included not
only fine arts like music, dance and painting etc., but also literature, prosody,
poetries, etc.

The modern workplace is the first sign that the world has changed for
the better. Now everybody has the chance to become who they want to be,
from astronaut to businessman.
People get hired by companies located on the other side of the planet,which
seems amazing, but it all thanks to the power of the internet. However, no
matter how far we step into the future, the modern workplace still holds tight
to gender inequality.
The status of professional women in the workplace today :-
1.) The wage gap :- during the past decades, there has been a clear rise of
women in the workplace. It has only been 200 years since women started
to earn an income on their own and that happened because of first world
war.
when the cruel times came to an end, females only received petty jobs
like nurses or secretaries and their wages were much lower than men’s.

Today, women represent around 51% of the present workforce. However,

in 2014 , they were active within full-time jobs yet they earned average
only 79% of men’s annual income.
In the last 10 years-between 2005 and 2014- India Has witnessed a
massive decline in the number of women workers, the highest in the
world. One reason for this could be the massive gap in salaries of men and
women, with female techies earining 29% less than men in IT companies.

2.)descriptive gender stereotypes:- the modern workplace shows an

evolution of gender discrimination through two methods, namely
descriptive and prescriptive bias regards the set of preconceptions that
are attached to a certain group of people.
There are just a few traces of descriptive gender stereotypes in the
system of companies, which makes them invisible in the face of justice.
For example, a job descriptions are offering a hiring opportunity both for
men and for the women in an equal way. When the employer read in a
resume that a women made a monumental breakthrough in her field, she
becomes competent in their eyes.

3.)coverts and Overt Harassment :-it seems strange that workplace

sexual harassment is still a real issue in our modern world. Due tomlaws
that protect woman at their workplace and the programmes hosted by
companies, that teach about how to avoid harassment while at job, overt
harassment has seen a substantial decrease.
4.)Then and now :- in order to fully comprehend the state of women in
the modern workforce, it requires a journey to the past to observe that
women are nonetheless in a better place right now.
For the last 60 yrs, women have conquered the job market little by little,
and they continue to fight to obtain gender equality. Records show that
63.3% of women age 16 to 24 worked in 1998 while there was only a
43.9% presence in 1950.
Morever, in 1979 women earned only 58% as much as men did, while they
decreased the gap by 73% in 1993. Also, there is a current trend that sees
women are enrolling in greater number of higher education than men,
which makes them more prepared for the job market.

Constitutional Provisions
In spite of women contribution in all spheres of life and they enjoyed a
unique position in every society and country of the world, but they suffer
in silence and belong to a class which is in a disadvantages position on
account of several barriers and impediments. India, being a country of
paradoxes, is no exception. Here too women, a personification of Shakti.
Once given a dignified status, are in need of empowerment.
Gender equality is always escaped the constitutional provisions of
equality before the law or the equal protection of law. This is because
equality is always supposed to be between equals and since the judges
did not concede that men and women were equal. Gender equality did
not seem to them to be a legally forbidden inequality.

In INDIA, the constitution makers while drafting the constitution

were sensitive to the problems faced by the women and made specific
provisions relating to them. In various articles, not only mandates equality
of the sexes but also authorize benign discrimination in favour of women
and children to make up for the backwardness which has been their age-
old destiny.
The constitution of India contains various provisions, which provide for
equal rights and opportunities for the men and women. The salient
features are :-
1. PREAMBLE:- the preamble starts saying that We, the people of India
give to ourselves the constitution. The source of the constitution is
thus traced to the people, i.e. men and women of India, irrespective of
caste, community, religion or sex. The preamble contains the goal of
equality of status and opportunity to all citizens.
2. POLITICAL RIGHTS:- even though the fact that women participated
equally in the freedom struggle, and under the constitution and law,
have equal political rights as men, enabling them to take part
effectively in the administration of the country has had like effect as
they are negligibly represent in politics. There are only 7 women
members in the constitution assembly and the number later decreased
further. political empowerment of women has been brought by the
73rd and 74th Amendments which reserve seats for women in Gram
panchayats and municipal bodies.
3. ECONOMIC RIGHTS :- at hand there has been series of legislation
conferring equal rights for women and men. These legislation have
been guided by the provisions of the fundamental rights and Directive
principals of state policy. Here again there is a total lack of awareness
regarding economic rights amongst women laws to improve their
condition in matters relating to wages, maternity benefits, equal
reimbursement and property have been enacted to provide the
necessary protection in these areas.
4. SOCIAL JUSTICE:- for providing social justice to women, the most
important step has been codification of some of the personal laws, in
our country which pose the biggest challenge in this context. In the
areas of criminal justice, the gender neutrality of law worked to the
disadvantage of women accused because in some of the cases it
imposed a heavy burden on the prosecutor , for e.g., in cases of rape
and dowry.
Certain areas like domestic violence and sexual harassment of women
at the workplace were untouched, although of. These examples of
gender insensitivity were tackled by the judiciary and incorporated
into binding decisional laws to provide social justice in void spheres.
In spite of all laws, their non-implementation, gender
insensitivity and lack of legal literacy prevent the dreams of the
constitution makers from becoming a reality. They prevent the
fulfilment of the objective of securing to each individual dignity,
irrespective of sex, community or place of birth.
5.)FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS :- part 3rd of the constitution consisting ofd
article 12-35 is the heart of the constitution. Human rights which are
the entitlement of every man, woman and child because they are
human beings have been made enforceable or fundamental rights in
India. The framers of the constitution were conscious of the unequal
treatment and discrimination meted out to the fairer sex from time
immemorial and therefore included certain general as well as specific
provisions for the upliftment of the status of women.
Justice Bhagwati in Maneka Gandhi V. Union of India(AIR 1978
SC 597) said:-
“These fundamental rights represents the basic values cherished by
the people of this country since the Vedic times and they are calculated
to protect the dignity of thee individual and create conditions in which
every human being can develop his personally to the fullest extent)”
Article 14 guarantees that the state shall not deny equality before the
law and equal protection of law.
Article 15 prohibits discrimination against any citizens on the ground
of sex, and article 15(3) empowers the state to make positive
discrimination in favour of women and child.
According article 15(1) prohibits gender discrimination and article
15(3) lifts that rigour and permits the state to positively discrimination
in favour of women to make special-provisions to ameliorate their
social condition and provide political, economic and social justice
Article 16 provides for equality of opportunity in matter of public
employment.

(A) there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matter

relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state.,
(B) no citizens shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex,
descent, place of birth, residence or any of them., be ineligible for, or
discriminated against in respect of, any employment of office under
the state.
 In case of C.B. Muthumma V. Union of India(1979) 4 SCC 260), a
writ petition was filled by Ms. Muthamma, a senior member of Indian
foreign service, complaining that she had been denied promotion to
Grade 1 illegible and unconstitutionally. She pointed out that several
rules of the civil service were discriminatory against women. At the
very threshold she was advised by the chairman of the UPSC against
joining the foreign service. At the time of joining she was required to
give an undertaking that if she married she would resign from service.
Under rule 18 of the Indian foreign service (recruitment, cadre,
seniority, and promotion) rules, 1961, it was provided that no married
woman should be entitled as of right to be appointed to the service.
Under rule 18(2) of the Indian foreign service (conduct and discipline)
rules, 1961, a woman member of the service was required to obtain
permission of the government in writing before her marriage was
solemnized. At any time after the marriage she could be required to
resign if the government was confirmed that her family and domestic
commitments were likely come in the way of the due and efficient
discharge of her duties as a member of the service. On numerous
occasion the petitioner had to face the consequences of being a
woman and thus suffered discrimination, though the constitution
specifically under article 15 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and article 4 provides the
principle of equality before law.

The Supreme Court upheld the first requirement that an

air hostess should not marry before the completion of four years of
services. The court held that :
“it was a sound and salutary provisions. Apart from improving
the health of the employee it helps a great deal in the promotion and
boosting up of our family planning programme.”

However, this argument given by the court came in for the criticism
that as the requirement of age and family planning were warranted by
the population policy of the state and once the state had fixed the age
 of marriage, i.e., 18 years, the reasonable advanced for the upholding
the rule was a camouflage for the real concern.
The SC struck down the Air-India regulations relating to retirement
and the pregnancy bar on the services of Air-hostess as
unconstitutional on the ground that the conditions laid down therein
were entirely unreasonable and arbitrary. The impugned regulation 46
provided that an air hostess would retire from the service of the
corporation upon attaining the age of 35 years or on marriage.

Article 21 protection of life and personal liberty.

“no person shall be deprive of his life or personal libert
except according to procedure establish by law.”
Denial of right of succession to women of Schedule tribes amounts to
deprivation of their to livelihood under article 21. Madhu kishwar V. State of
Bihar,((1996) 5 SCC 125).
Article 23 prohibits trafficking in human beings and forced labour, article 23 of
the constitution specifically prohibits traffic in human beings. Trafficking in
human beings has been prevalent in India for a long time in the form of
prostitution and selling and purchasing of human beings.
Under DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY article 39 says certain principles
to be followed by State.
(a)that the citizen, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate
means of livelihood.
(d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
Article 42 provisions for just and humane conditions of work and maternity
relief.
Article 43 uniform civil code.
Part 4th (A) which consists article 51-A(e) is related to women. It states that:
“it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to promote harmony and the spirit
of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religion,
linguistic, regional or sectional diversities, to renounce practises derogatory to
the dignity of women.”
Article 243 (d) reservation of seats (73rd amendment-W.E.F. 1-6-1993)
Seats shall be reserved for-
A) The Schedule Caste
B) The schedule tribe
One- third of the total number of seats shall be reserved for women.
Article 243 (t) reservation of seats. (74th amendment- W.E.F. 1-6-1993)

Eleventh schedule Article 243 G

WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Some important statutory legislations to improve the position of women are:

 The Hindu Widow re-marriage act of 1856
 The child marriage restraint act of 1929
 The Hindu women right to property act of 1937
 The Hindu marriage act of 1955
 The Hindu succession act of 1956
 The suppression of Immoral traffic in women and girls act of 1956-57
 The dowry prohibition act of 1961

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the status of women in the modern workplace has much improved
in the last two decades. However, gender inequality is a social phenomenon that
still dictates the differences in wages and perception between men and women.
 REFERENCES

1.) Introduction to the study of the law of the constitution by Dicey, A.V.
2.) 73rd and 74th Amendments of the constitution
3.)Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (AIR 1978 SC 597)
4.) C.B. Muthumma v. Union of India (1979) 4 SCC 260)
5.)Madhu Kishwar v. State of Bihar { (1996) 5 SCC 145}