Treating Women with Respect 

 




 
Regardless of your views on the Sabarimala issue or the amount of cash spent on the "Vanitha Mathil", the inescapable reality is that in spite of the incredible progress Kerala made in terms of education, health and sex ratios, we still don't treat women with as much respect as they deserve. Kerala, though better than most states when it comes to women's rights, is not immune to the malaise that still affects much of the country. 

A recent ICRIER study has shown how the number of women with jobs has actually decreased in the country despite high literacy (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-rise-in-working-women-despite-high-literacy-levels-icrier-study/article25814467.ece/amp/). Some of the reasons cited for this peculiar finding is that girls are given a good education not because their parents think deserve a good job, but because they think it will increase the chances of them getting a good marriage. 

The fairer sex is still considered to be inferior in a lot of ways and most women themselves accept this. Comparing boys and girls hostels in most places, restrictions are much more for girls. Curfew is earlier. The reason given is that it's too dangerous. But no one ever asks what should be done so that women can feel safer. All we do is find more excuses to lock them up. 

Kerala is coming to a crossroads. With urbanisation, it is becoming more and more unreasonable to expect women to simply accept age-old traditions that cement their inferiority to men. Why should it always be women who make sacrifice their careers for family? Why isn't more done to make them feel safe on the street? Why isn't more being done to give them the same freedoms and opportunities as men? 

These are inconvenient questions in an uncertain time. Men need to take responsibility for the inequality that exists today. Only once we start treating women with respect will this social unrest settle.

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