Of the many factors dotting the path to women empowerment in the state, significant to note is the severe lack of women in decision making positions, gender gap in paid work force, pay disparity, and issues concerning safety.
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Even as the Uniform Civil Code, women’s movement led by non-government organizations, individuals and non formal groups having deep insight into women’s concerns have accounted for initiatives aimed at empowering women, the efforts of successive governments (after Liberation) have continuously been confronted with gaps between policy and practice.
Barring a few (populist) schemes, and the self help collectives, successive governments have lacked in political will to bring women concerns into mainstream political agenda. Fundamentally, there still exists a wide gap between provisions in the Constitution and goals enunciated in legislations, policies, plans, programmes, and the ground reality of the status of women in Goa. This, experts believe, is due to the systemic failure in mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.
It is a matter of grave concern that women’s issues and concerns which need to be addressed by the state fail to reflect in the concerned laws, sectoral policies, plans and programmes of action. As a result, gender gap exists in sectors like education, work force, health and sanitation, and most importantly, political participation -- thus pointing to a missing link between enacted policies and real implementation.
Of the many factors dotting the path to women empowerment in the state, significant to note is the lack of women in decision making roles, workforce and pay disparity, and issues concerning safety.
Decision making roles:
Women in Goa surpass the rest of the country on the socio-economic indicators like literacy, life expectancy and per capita income. But it's dismal representation in the state’s politics (only two women in the 40 member house), and decision making roles leaves a lot to be answered. Successive governments, most of which rode to power on the promise of women emancipation, have all failed to take required measures to guarantee half the population, equal access to/or full participation in deciding bodies at the legislative, executive, judicial, corporate, and statutory bodies, as also the advisory commissions, committees, boards, etc.
It is therefore unjust to women when the state makes tall claims of empowering it's women when women in Goa are largely missing in decision making which is fundamental for achieving the goals of empowerment.
Wide gender gap in work force:
The gender gap in the work force is a sorry commentary on women in the state. According to the Economic Survey 2020-2021, Goa has a dismal 1,57,712 women workers as against 4,19,536 male workers -- thus a very high gender gap.
Though the feminist movement and subsequent assertion of women rights has led women to carve out their lives the way they want, the number is small -- while a considerable chunk of the women population in the state require support to break the glass ceiling. Gender discrimination in the workplace is also a significant impediment.
Women safety, a concern:
While it may argue well for the government to call Goa a safe destination for women, police data reveals at least four cases of heinous crimes against women every week since the past five years. Gender-based violence in the form of domestic, sexual and physical violence is on the rise even as the victims lack agency and power. Despite existing legislation to protect women, strict enforcement of these laws is a concern coupled with lower rates of convictions of alleged perpetrators. Police response has largely been incompetent, complimented by the absence of public awareness, training of law enforcement, accessible complaint mechanisms, and effective enforcement. Furthermore, the gaps in these processes are widened by systemic apathy and corruption.
In conclusion:
Goa still has a long way to go in many areas of women empowerment. Besides freedom form social and economic restrictions, empowerment should fundamentally aim at ensuring equal access and control of resources. To my mind, the realm of women empowerment in Goa should be about ensuring women get their rightful share in the workforce.
As much as the national policy on women empowerment suggests, the state may do well to establish real-time policies, programmes and systems "to ensure mainstreaming of women’s perspectives in all developmental processes, as catalysts, participants and recipients.
Women specific interventions would be undertaken to bridge the gap in policies and programmes. To assess the progress of these mainstreaming mechanisms, coordinating and monitoring mechanisms should be devised from time to time."
There is an urgent need for affirmative action and crafting a clear need for policy initiatives for advancement of women and to place women issues in the main political discourse as a priority. Experts believe that the pending women reservation bill, which if passed will allow more women to overcome highly gendered, localistic barriers.
To my mind, real empowerment would be accomplished when the government shifts gear from women development to women led-development.
By Rajeshree Nagarsekar
Independent Journalist/Columnist/
Publisher/Editor of EVESCAPE -- Goa's first women's magazine. Email: rajeshree.nagarsekar8@gmail.com
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