Gender discrimination: Less means better?

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Oct. 11 (EMN): In a patriarchal society like Nagaland, gender discrimination—though not widely reported—is not uncommon. But on the flip side, many Naga women have managed to break the ceiling and emerge as equals, if not better, than their male counterparts.

The United Nations has set aside October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to address the needs and challenges girls face; with focus on empowering and fulfilling their rights. This year’s theme was ‘Girl force: Unscripted and unstoppable’.

Chairperson of Nagaland State Commission for Women, Khrienuo Tachü while speaking with Eastern Mirror said: “Gender discrimination is not absent (in Naga society) but it is lessening, compared to the past.”

The rights of Naga women are becoming “more known and respected, especially assisted by formal education, towards an amicable complementary work with men,” she said.

She felt that the status of Naga women is not perfect but compared with cases in mainland India, “in the absence of dowry and female infanticide, we may be better off”.

“We still have much to do but certainly we are also marching towards desirable changes,” Tachü said.

Keeping in mind the International Day of the Girl Child, she called upon the people to “value, love, and respect the girl child”.

Neingulo Krome, secretary general of Naga People Movement for Human Rights, said that the condition of women in the state is comparatively “much better than any other state”. He felt that Naga women are “quite contended” with their position.

Generally, there is so much gender discrimination in every society, yet the amount of discrimination in the state is comparatively less, he added.

Speaking about the level of awareness of one’s rights in the rural setting, he said that it is lacking among the womenfolk, which is why women do not speak out. ‘Usually, women in the rural areas tend to take discrimination upon themselves rather than open up. However, various women-centric associations and bodies are being set up now, to create awareness of their rights,’ he said.

However, a Kohima-based social worker, who did not want to be named, had a different view. She felt that Naga women are not safe.

‘It is a fact that Naga society accepts girls when they are born, but as they grow up, they are discriminated at every stage of life,’ she added.

“We are discriminated so often that we become accustomed to it. Perhaps, our voice has been terminated long back,” she said, adding that women are judged in every aspect.

Citing the example of a sex worker, she said that the society will never accept a female sex worker even as it chooses to remain tight-lipped over male sex workers.

One of the key means to prevent gender discrimination, she said, is education. ‘Knowing who we are in life is the most important aspect. It is not about being feminist, but knowing one’s power,’ she added.

According to the United States Agency for International Development, nearly 98 million girls around the world are not in school. Globally, one in three women will experience gender-based violence in her lifetime.

In developing countries, one in seven girls marry before her 15th birthday, with some child brides as young as eight or nine. Each year, more than 287,000 women, 99% of them in developing countries, die from pregnancy- and childbirth-related complications.