A paper presented in one day International Seminar on "Status of Women in Transitional Societies: Issues & Challenges" on 25th Jan, 2014

1. WOMEN IN 21ST CENTURY: ISSUES
AND CHALLENGES
(REFERENCE TO INDIA)
Paper by Vivek College Of Commerce
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2. They Teach They Bless
They Struggle
They Rule
They Explore
ROLES OF WOMEN
They Care
They Sacrifice

3. INTRODUCTION
 Trafficking is a organized crime which violates all tenets
of human dignity and rights.
 Trafficking can occur for various purposes-labour,
commercial sexual exploitation, organ trade etc.
 Trafficking is a Center and State subject.
 Poverty, illiteracy, lack of livelihood options, natural/man
made disasters makes a person vulnerable to trafficking.
 India faces both In-country and Cross Border
trafficking.

4. DRUG TRAFFICKING
 The Illegal drug trade is a global black market that is dedicated to the
cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and sale of drugs that are
subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except
under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition
laws.
 Over the last two-three decades India has been facing the problems of
increasing trafficking in drugs, particularly transit traffic, metropolitan
cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai have become vulnerable to
drug trafficking.
 In 1993 contraband narcotics seized in Mumbai alone totaled about
11,000 kg(Hindustan Times, Aug 3,1994).
 Heroine seized in India in 1998 (about 3000kg) was 10% more than
seizures in 1987.

5. DRUG-TRAFFICKING RACKET BUSTED IN
BANGALORE
K.V. SUBRAMANIAN
 Heroine in India is purchased from the local sources at say Rs70,000 to
Rs1,00,000 per kg and the trafficker than sells this to foreigners at the
approx rate of Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakh per kg($15,000 per kg).
 11 kg of heroin estimated at Rs.15 crores seized from truck.
 BANGALORE: Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from
Chennai busted an international drug trafficking racket by seizing 11 kg of
heroin in Bangalore on Thursday night. Sources in the NCB, Chennai,
told The Hindu over phone that they intercepted a truck carrying the
narcotic substance on National Highway 4, off Madanayakanahalli, on the
outskirts of Bangalore The heroin was hidden under a load of stones on
the truck that was coming to Bangalore from North India. The drug
consignment, estimated at Rs.15 crores in the international market, was
meant for delivery to Sri Lanka, the sources said. The NCB officials, with
the assistance of the local police, took into custody four persons who were
in the truck. The NCB staff brought the four, along with the contraband, to
the Peenya police station here and completed the legal procedures before
taking them to Chennai.

8. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS ON
TRAFFICKING
Trafficking in Human Beings or Persons is
prohibited under the Constitution of India.
The specific provisions relates to Article 23
(1) of the Constitution which is as follows:-
'Traffic in human beings and beggar and other
similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and
any contravention of this provision shall be an
offence punishable in accordance with law.’

9. IMMORAL TRAFFIC PREVENTION
ACT,1956
To protect the victim:-
 New section where Trafficking is defined.
 Age of child raised from sixteen years to eighteen year.
 Deletion of Sections which re-victimized the victims.
 In-Camera proceedings in court cases to safeguard privacy of victims.
 New Section 5B which provides punishment for trafficking in persons.
 Enhancement of punishment to traffickers, brothel keepers, pimps etc.
 If the trafficked victim is a child the punishment can extend to life.
 New section for punishment for a persons who visits brothel for sexual
exploitation.

10. INDIAN STATISTICS
 An estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labour (including sexual
exploitation) at any given time as a result of trafficking.
 According to Global Voices approximately 90% of the 200,000 humans
trafficked in India every year are victims of inter-state trafficking and are
sold within the country.
 The states of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan are major destinations of
trafficked ‘brides’.
 According to a 6 year long analysis conducted by Empower People, 23% of
girls from West Bengal are trafficked. Bihar is next at 17% followed by
Assam (13%), Andhra Pradesh (11%), Orissa (8%) and Kerala (6%).
 Another way of selling women has recently come to light due to the ‘Baby
Falak case’.

11. DOWRY DEATH
Dowry deaths are deaths of young women who are murdered or
driven to suicide by continuous harassment and torture by
husband and in-laws in an effort to extort an increased dowry.
Dowry is considered one of the many categories of violence
against women, alongside rape, bride burning, eve teasing, and
acid throwing.
SCENARIO IN INDIA
Most of these suicides are by hanging, poisoning or by fire.
Sometimes the woman is killed by setting her on fire; this is
known as “bride burning”, and sometimes misguided as suicide or
accident.
Suicide and murder are two cause of fatalities in dowry deaths.
Death by burning of Indian women have been more frequently
attributed to conflicts.
In dowry deaths, the groom’s family is perpetrator of murder
or suicide.

13. PROHIBITION
 The Dowry Prohibition Act, passed in India in 1961, prohibits the request,
payment or acceptance of a dowry, “as consideration for the marriage”, where
“dowry” is defined as a gift demanded or given as a precondition for a marriage.
 Gifts given without a precondition are not considered dowry, and are legal.
 Asking or giving of dowry can be punished by an imprisonment of up to six
months, or a fine of up to Rs.5000(US$77, A$93).
 It replaced several pieces of anti-dowry legislation that had been enacted by
various Indian states.
 Murder and suicide under compulsion are addressed by Indian’s criminal penal
code.
 Indian women’s rights activists campaigned for the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961
and the more stringent Section 498a of IPC(enacted in 1983).Using the
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005(PWDVA) implemented
in 2006, a women can put a stop to the dowry harassment by approaching a
domestic violence protection officer.

14.  Female foeticide is the act of aborting a foetus because it is female.
 In India a strong preference for sons over daughters exists, unlike in Western
cultures.
 According to the Decennial Indian census, the sex ratio in the 0-6 age group in
India went from 104.0 males per 100 females in 1981, to 105.8 in 1991, to 107.8
in 2001, to 109.4 in 2011.
 The ratio is significantly higher in certain states such as Punjab
and Haryana (126.1 and 122.0, as of 2001).
 Many campaigns like ‘Beti Bachao’ and ‘Save Girls Campaign’ have been started
to raise awareness.
FEMALE FOETICIDE

15. LAWS REGARDING FEMALE FOETICIDE /
DOWRY DEATHS
 There are three laws that need to be looked into – one
regarding dowry, one concerning sex selection, and finally, one
about abortion.
 Sex selection is covered under the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal
Diagnostic Techniques Act, 2002. Originally, there was a Pre-Natal
Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994, but due to the prevalence of pre-
conception diagnosis, a newer law was put in order.
 The PC & PNDT Act states that no place or doctor is authorized to
conduct pre-natal diagnostic techniques except for the purpose of
detection of one or more of:
 Chromosomal abnormalities;
 Genetic metabolic diseases;
 Haemoglobinopathies;
 Sex-linked genetic diseases;
 Congenital anomalies.
 The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, legalizes
abortion – however, under certain conditions. It states that pregnancy
can be terminated by at least one registered medical practitioner (if
the length of the pregnancy does not exceed 12 weeks) and by at least
two registered medical practitioners (if the length of the pregnancy is
between 12 and 20 weeks) who are of the opinion, formed in good faith.

16. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
 Government response to the problem has been known
to not have stopped female foeticide from occurring.
An example of one of these loopholes would be on the
pretext of checking for genetic disorders in the
foetus, who can stop a doctor from examining the sex
of the unborn child and informing the parents in
secret.
 In 2001, the Supreme Court in India gave orders to
five multi-national companies —
Philips, Siemens, Toshiba, Larsen and
Toubro and Wipro GE — to give them the names and
addresses of all the clinics and persons in India to
whom they have sold ultrasound machines in the last
five years to enable the state government to find out
if these machines were registered.

17. HONOR KILLING
 An honor killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by
other members, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought
shame or dishonor upon the family or community, usually for reasons such as
refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is
disapproved by their relatives, having sex outside marriage, becoming
the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, or
engaging in homosexual relations.
 Honor killings have been reported in northern regions of India, mainly in the
Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh as a result
of people marrying without their family's acceptance, and sometimes for
marrying outside their caste or religion.
 The Indian state of Punjab has a large number of honor killings. According
to data compiled by the Punjab Police, 34 honor killings were reported in
the state:10 in 2008, 20 in 2009, and 4 in 2010.

18. CASE STUDIES
 In June 2012, a man chopped off his 20-year-old daughter's head with a sword
in Rajasthan after learning that she was dating men. According to police
officer, "Omkar Singh told the police that his daughter Manju had relations
with several men. He had asked her to mend her ways several times in the past.
However, she did not pay heed. Out of pure rage, he chopped off her head with
the sword."
 A young couple who were planning to marry were brutally murdered in Garnauthi
village, state of Haryana on 18 September 2013 due to having a love affair. The
woman, Nidhi, was beaten to death and the man, Dharmender, was dismembered
alive. People in the village and neighboring villages approved of the killings.

19. WHAT IS RAPE?
 Rape in its simplest form, is when a man forces a woman
to have sex with him.
 Usually this is done by using either the threat of
violence, or by over powering a weaker woman from a
stronger man.
 The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion,
abuse of authority or against a person who is incapable of
valid consent, such as one who is unconscious,
incapacitated.
64%
3%
20%
13%
RAPE CASES (1990-94)
16-30 years
below 10
years
10-16 years
above 30
years

20. TOP 10 REASONS FOR RAPE VICTIMS
IN INDIA
 Cinema :
People go by what they see .
 Alcohol :
When you drink alcohol, drinks control
your mind.
 Drugs :
When you take drugs , you completely
don’t know what you are doing .
 Sexual Workers :
Sex workers today in India has become
a fulltime job for many young girls in
India.
 Lack of Sex Education :
Sex education an bring awareness to
people.
Cinema
Alcohol
Drugs
Sexual
workers

21. TOP 10 REASONS FOR RAPE VICTIMS
IN INDIA
 Dresses Trends :
Is this the dress code of our India Girls.
 Money :
People think with money they can buy any
thing, if the don’t get it they take it by
force .
 Unemployment :
Unemployment leads to all kinds of Sexual
crime.
 Parents :
Today parents are more worried about
their children's future but are not aware
of what they are doing today .
 Punishment :
No severe punishment have been
implemented
 11th reason :
Reason I leave it to you friends , please
bring more awareness to the public to stop
this shame of our country…
Dresses
Trends
Money
Unemploymen
t
Parents
Punishmen
t

22. CASE STUDIES
 Delhi Gang Rape(16 December 2012 ) :- The victim
died at 4:45 am on 29 December 2012 in the Mount
Elizabeth Hospital of Singapore.
 2013 Mumbai Gang Rape(22 August 2013):-Time of
the incident was 6.54pm and location Shakti Mills
compound, near Mahalaxmi, Mumbai.

23. CONCLUSION
 Human Rights are essential for proper development of
personality and human existence. Without human
rights no one can live the life of human being.
 Most vulnerable group for the purpose of human rights
protection is of women.
 Women, an exclusive creation of nature constituting
half of the worlds population have emerged as a single
largest group , seriously deprived of basic human
rights.
 Violation of human rights of women can be tackled only
when societal thinking will change, double mortality-
one for name and another for women will come to an
end and commodification of human body will stop.

25. PAPER PRESENTED BY
 NEEL GALA
 MANAV MODI
 AJIT BAJE
 CHARMI FURIA
 DHWANI KHIMASIYA
 VINITA NAYAK
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