Gender Equality.

Equal rights and opportunities to girls and boys in the society is what we know as gender equality. This is being practised since ages and such inequalities have been seen in our day to day life in our own homes, in communities in which we live. Usually people assume the unequal responsibility for example, household works are made only for the women and even if she is working, she is responsible for all the household works and if she fails to maintain both works simultaneously, she fails as an idol woman in the society. This example is of modern India where women are allowed to work but in this modern India there are vital places, where people do not even allow women to have basic education or to even step out of their houses. Such practices are also common in education system which we follow. girl’s education is highly neglected as a result nearly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 to 19 are neither employed nor educated as when compared to 1 in 10 boys. Gender inequality in its most subtle form, turned violent when, some 1 in 20 girls between the age of 15-19 experienced forced sex. Adolescent girls face the highest risk of gender-based violence. Hundreds and millions of girls worldwide are still subjected to the child marriage and also female genital mutilation, even after both of these are internationally recognized as the human rights violation acts. And violence can also occur at birth, like there are many places where female infanticide is persistent. Government and law have taken major steps to stop such practices in India and one of them was this act on equality which enforced a sense of equality in the country which is known as the Equality Act. The objective of the given act is to clearly prevent gender-based discrimination and also to promote a sense of equality among both men and women and thereby, improving the status of the women particularly in their home and their working life. Another objective of the given act is to prevent discrimination which is based on the identity or gender identity of the person. The equality act tries to prohibit the discrimination which is based on the gender roles and the expression of the gender. Both the direct and the indirect gender discrimination is prohibited, and as sexual and gender biases harassment under the law. Such prohibition is generally applicable all over the India it means it applies to all societal activities and areas of life. This act has specific provisions on the discrimination on the working life educational institutions and interest groups. It includes the quota provisions, which applies not only to the state-administration committees but also to the advisory board. India’s progress towards gender equality is measured by its position in the rankings such as in gender development index, and as such it has been disappointing. In past decades, while the Indian GDP has seen a growth there has been a great decline in the female labour force participation that was around from34% to 27%. The wage gap has been 50%. And not only this crime against women has also shown an upward trend in the society. Despite all the hurdles and denial of the equal rights, girls never stopped believing in themselves. But when the signing of the Beijing declaration took place in 1995 the agenda for gender equality, then was when the world has seen uneven progress. After this, more and more girls are attending the school and fewer of the girls are getting married at an early age. After this still discrimination and limiting the stereotypes remain life, many new changes like technological and humanitarian changes are confronting girls with new challenges, while the old ones like violence, institutionalized biases, poor life opportunities are still persistent. This is the reason why girls from all over the world are raising their voices against the inequalities and these girl led movements are degrading child marriages and demanding action on climate change and a trial in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths that is STEM and are asserting their power as global change makers. There are many Institutions which are working for betterment or promotion of gender equality in India some of them are as follows: 1) AKSHARA: The aim is to form a gender just society by empowering young girls, educating the society and encouraging the government and the state to create a safe city for the women. It is an non profit organisation which works towards the enhancing of social consciousness on gender inequality it has recognized that giving women the power to stand up is essential to ensure a gender equal atmosphere in the society. 2) GENDER AT WORK: This organisation has a global presence in more than 5 countries and it has been building equality and improving gender equality at work and adding respect to the world that values and respects the women. The organization supports different organizations and tries to promote social justice and gender equality in the world 3) COMMIT TO CHANGE: C2C tries to transform the lives of the girls who are orphan through power of education. They strongly believe that education can uncover different options for a brighter future. Through the different educational and life skills programming this organisation tries to provide girls the tools to reclaim different worth and uplift their community. 4) CORO: It works towards a society which is based on the equality and the justice for both women and men in the society and also empowers leaders to steer a collective action for social change. It has been able to mobilise hundreds of people to join this moment for better future of the society. It has 6 main objectives which are empower women, aid people, defend human rights, holding the system liable, empower youth and improve people’s quality of life.

5) AYZH: the main focus of AYZH is to provide women with all the healthcare and sanitary products to protect themselves against any infectious and harmful diseases and also allowing them to continue to be as productive as possible in their lives. It was established to prevent many deaths which were avoidable and to promote education of women on how to remain safe and sound. They also employ women to create their products like sanitary napkins, birth kits etc. Therefore, we as a society can make this world a better place to live not for only women but for everyone. As, we were born same just a mere difference of sex cannot decide who is liable to live a better life. And there are many institutions who are trying to promote equality we should try to contribute to such institutions to our fullest.