Journal of Critical Reviews

ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 12, 2020

LEGAL AWARENESS ABOUT WOMEN RIGHTS: TEACHERS PERSPECTIVE

1Ms. Puneet Sohal Rahi, 2Dr. Ranjana Bhatia, 3Dr. Sarita Sharma,

1PhD Research Scholar,Amity Institute of , Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, ORCID ID - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1714-2115 2Principal, Amity Institute of Education, New Delhi, India ORCID ID – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1930-4237 3Reader, Basic Teachers’ Training College, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan, India

Corresponding Author: Mrs. Puneet Sohal Rahi Email:[email protected]

Received: 20.03.2020 Revised: 21.04.2020 Accepted: 22.05.2020

Abstract Legal awareness can be a significant tool for attaining equality of women in all spheres of social and political life. Legal Awareness as the name suggests is the knowledge of , acts, rights and legal provisions offered to a country’s citizens for their security, affluence and equal access to opportunities. This creates a respectable social environment where all are same in the eyes of hence leading towards the peace and prosperity of mankind. This study presents a comprehensive Meta analytical research about how legal awareness of one’s rights provides greater stability in the day to day activities of any social structure. The major objective of this is to interpret the knowledge teacher have about the laws made for the well-being of women in the country and to what extent do they perceive it to give way to major changes which affect their position in the society.

Keywords: Legal Awareness, Women Rights, Indian

© 2020 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.12.194

INTRODUCTION and awareness among the citizens. It is this Women have evolved over centuries. They have been pictured in aspect which is used in declaring whether has been done different roles in the history of civilisations and have been an in the society or not. integral, though not glorified, component of it. Every culture in the world has portrayed woman as the good daughter, ideal wife Hence, we may say that legal awareness helps a person to define and respectable mother; implying that these in itself fulfill her his role in the social upliftment of the country and individuals on existence and that they don’t need to pursue any profession or the whole. It helps us in recognising the law as an objective social specialisation in disciplines of art, culture or science. Through reality and contributes to the recognition of existence of her rigorous journey the woman has made a niche for herself in subjective reactions of the people to the laid down laws in the this patriarchal society and has fought for her existence and country. rights of freedom. Her endeavours have helped her political aspirations and have led into creation of special laws and acts Constitutional Rights and Provisions for Women in India which provide her equal access to her personal and professional It is an undisputed thought that women in the Indian society growth and development. have been victims of intolerance and social injustice in terms of basic human necessities to property inheritance matters. Even Our Indian constitution too is sensitive to issues related to when the Indian Constitution provides for several benefits for women and has provisions both constitutional and legal for women, status of women in our country is clearly not as desired. women to balance the socio-economic fabric of the Indian The fact behind this status of women is the lack of awareness of society. An understanding and comprehension of how to these rights is what makes the women not stand for themselves implement them in real life situations, is what needs to be and their right to equal opportunities. worked upon. It is a felt need to eradicate violence and discrimination against Women in our country are viewed through the patriarchal lens. women through the source of well-planned legal awareness They remain silent and marginalised in several households hence programmes which highlight and empower women with the giving the men of the house an upper hand and voice in the knowledge of the constitutional provisions made exclusively for decision-making process. It becomes highly significant for these them. Some of these provisions are as follows: women to speak for themselves and for achieving this we need to cull out information from them and understand how they can be Constitutional Provisions made more aware of their rights. The founders of the Indian Constitution even 73 years ago were mindful of the atrocities the weaker sections of the society would Legal Awareness – The concept come across and hence gave thoughtful representation of these The term “Legal” can be defined as something related to the law sections in the basic rights and duties of the Indian citizen. They or permitted by the law. The word in itself refers to the safeguarded women’s rights by considering them at par with distinguished parts of the society i.e. material, information and men in all spheres of development be it socially, emotionally, subjective areas. By material we mean the role played by state economically, politically or physiologically. and legal organisations and institutions of law. The information area talks of the legal information in terms of facts, historical • Article 14 Right to Equality ensured that the state shall not truths and logical constitution of the social knowledge economy. deny any person is man or woman, equality before the law The subjective aspect of the term legal is associated with the or equal protection.

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• Article 15 (1) & (3) prohibits discrimination on the basis of A list of these crimes identified under the two categories is as sex and empower the state for making any special provision follows: for women and children. Under IPC: • Article 16 (2) emphasizes on equality of opportunities in ➢ Rape ( Sec 376 IPC) matter of public employment and prevents any ➢ Kidnapping and Abduction for different purposes ( Sec 363- discrimination against women with respect to any 373) employment. ➢ Torture, both mental and physical (Sec 498-A) • Article 19 provides for the Right to freedom which entitles ➢ Molestation (Sec 354) women and men the freedom of speech and expression. But ➢ Sexual Harassment (Sec 509) unfortunately, it is not the case in many households in our ➢ Importation of girls (upto 21 years of age) country especially for women.

• Article 21 promotes protection of life and personal liberty Under the second category of Special Laws the crimes and states that no person shall be deprived of his life or identified are: personal liberty. Unlike the law, the mortality rate of ➢ The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 women in our country is alarming which is quite evident ➢ The Plantation Labour Act, 1951 from the sex ratio of many Indian states. ➢ The Family Act, 1954 • Article 23 prohibits human trafficking and forced labour. ➢ The Special Marriage Act, 1954 But when we refer to the innumerable cases of women ➢ The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 abduction we are forced to wonder about the true ➢ Hindu Succession Act, 1956 with amendment in 2005 implementation of this right. ➢ Immortal Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 ➢ Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (1995) Directive Principles of State Policy: ➢ Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 • Article 38 states to secure a social order for the welfare of ➢ The Labour (Regultion & Abolition) Act, 1976 the people to remove any disparities and minimize ➢ Equal Remuneration Act 1976 inequalities in income amongst citizens. ➢ The (Amendement) Act, 1986 • Article 39 (1) ensures that the men and women equally ➢ Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 have the right to an adequate means of livelihood. ➢ Commission of Sati(Prevention) Act, 1987 • Article 39 (4) enforces the fact that there is equal pay for ➢ Pre-conception & Pre- Natal Diagnostic Techniques equal work for oth men and women. ( & Prevention of Misuse ) Act, 1994 • Article 41 calls for the right to work, to education and public ➢ Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 assistance in certain cases, directing the state to make effective provisions for securing these basic rights to all Significance of the study irrespective of their caste and sex. Legal Awareness is the key global skill one ought to possess in • Article 42 legislates to provide and ensure just and humane order to be a true and productive citizen to the country. The conditions of work and maternity relief for women. youth today have quicker access to information of any kind as • Article 44 endeavours the state for uniform civil code for they are competent enough to use technology around them. the citizens to secure them be it men or women in order to Awareness of any nature is supported by the knowledge and respect all communities and philosophies. perception of the target information. Since the sources of • Article 47 ensures the state with the duty to raise the level knowledge are at loose now it becomes important for educators of nutrition and standard of living to improve public health. and teachers to ensure this knowledge is perceived potently and built into a constructive part of child’s awareness of this Fundamental duties knowledge. Just as the rights, the constitution also states the duties of being a citizen. In order to have a balance of safety and prosperity of the This paper critically analyses and reviews what the teachers of country, its citizens should be aware of their duties towards the today feel about Legal Awareness emphasizing upon the country and should sincerely put in practice the same. fundamental role it plays in the transition of social imaging of women in this emerging global society. Article 51 (A) e declares that it is the duty of every citizen of India to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women. Research Objectives In addition to these Article 243D(3) & 243D(4) ensure not less • To study the importance of Legal Awareness among than 1/3 of the total seats to be filled by direct election in every secondary school teachers. Panchayat to be reserved for women and 1/3 of the total number • To identify the steps taken by teachers in spreading this of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level to be awareness. reserved for women. Similarly Article 243 T (3) ensures the same • To analyse teacher’s perspective about women rights legal at Municipality. awareness.

Legal Provisions for Women in India Research Methodology Even though there are well stated constitutional provisions for The study was conducted through descriptive survey and women, there was afelt need for providing certain arrangements interview method. A total of 100 teachers from government and or laws beforehand to further strengthen the interest and safety private secondary schools of Delhi NCR where taken as the of women in our country. These provisions intent to counter sample of the study. Purposive Random sampling technique was social discrimination and different forms of violence and used to choose the given sample from the population of all atrocities faced by women as victims. secondary schools teachers of government and private schools in These provisions are broadly classified as: Delhi NCR. 68 female teachers and 32 male teachers were a part of this study. The researcher ensured to take 50-50 teachers • Crimes under The Indian Penal Code (IPC) from government and private schools. • Crimes under The Special Laws (SLL)

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Data Collection and Research tools interviewed individually and then made to delibrate on the given Data was collected from teachers through self prepared tools. variables through group discussions. One being the Structured Interview Schedule and the other Focussed Group Discussion method. Statistical Techniques Descriptive Statistics was used in the analysis of the collected The Reliability and Validity of the tools was established through data. Percentages and graphs were used to interpret the findings. expert opinons and rigorous drafts. The teachers were first

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

TABLE 1 Question Asked YES NO

1. Have you heard about Women Rights? 100 0

2. Can you List a few Rights and Acts related to Women upliftment and in our 85 15 Constitution? 3. Do you know what is legal awareness? 100 0

4. Does your school or you as a teacher conduct any kind of activities in the school to promote Legal 33 67 Awareness about Women Rights? 5. Have you ever come across a situation where you found Women’s Rights being violated? 97 3

6. Have you come across girls who share with you their domestic problems related to violence or 65 35 discrimination at home?

Table 1 above shows the responses received to generic these schools. General activities like special assemblies or information sought from teachers about their knowledge and lectures were conducted at some occasions but no direct awareness of women rights. It is evident from the responses emphasis was focussed on women rights. received in questions 1 and 3 that all of them had heard of the terms women rights and legal awareness. And were aware about In answer to the fifth question it was found that 97% of the what legal awareness aims at. When the teachers were asked if teachers in the sample had come across situations where women they could list a few women rights in question 2 , 85% of them rights are being violated. These were either in their personal said yes while 15% were not confident of it and said no. A lives or in the professional situations. Some said it happens detailed analysis of this knowledge terms of exact number of within their families or with close realtives while the others rights they are actually able to list is shown in table no. 2. quoted instances they have heard from thier colleagues or students. Similarly when asked about specific activities aimed towards Women rights awareness being conducted in their schools, there When they were asked if their girl students approached them were only 33% who said yes but that too comprised of special with such issues, 65 % said yes while 35% denied it. Teachers do assemblies and lectures only. Nothing more concrete or impact encounter cases in their school where there is violation of oriented had been initiated in their schools too. While 67% of women rights but irrespective of the counselling provided there them informed that no such activities are being conducted. It is are no concrete solutions generated. The graph below gives a only on specific days like Women’s day that there is some comparative analysis of all the questions and percentage of celebration but no specific activities for encouraging women responses received in all the questions in the table. rights awareness. Also, there were no concrete steps identified for the spread of Legal awareness among teachers or students of

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Graph 1 Teacher's Awareness of Legal Awareness and Women Rights 120 80 70 100 60 80 50 60 40 30 40 20 20 10 0 0 Have you heard Can you List a few Do you know Does your school Have you ever Have you come about Women Rights and Acts what is legal or you as a come across a across girls who Rights? related to Women awareness? teacher conduct situation where share with you upliftment and any kind of you found domestic Empowerment in activities in the Women’s Rights problems related our Constitution? school to promote being violated? to violence or Legal Awareness discrimination at about Women home Rights

YES NO

TABLE 2 Number 0 1 2 3 4 5 More than 5 Women Rights listed 15 20 33 19 6 4 3

Names of Government organisations safeguarding 9 59 26 4 2 0 0 women rights

Table 2 gives us the exact number of laws and organisations as our students especially the adolescents to seek awareness about listed by the teachers who were the sample of this study. It is these rights. clear from the table that there were 15% and 9% of them who gave no responses at all for the two questions. Which depicts a Similarly it is seen that when the teachers were asked to name a complete lack of awareness about the facts related to women few organisations which play a key role in executing the women rights and their execution. 20% of the sample could list only one rights 59% of the sample could name only one organisation while constitutional right of women, while 33% could list two of them, 26% of them gave two names. A mere 4% and 2% of these 19% listed three constitutional rights and 6% gave four, 4% of teachers gave three and four names respectively. No one could them listed 5 rights while a small figure of just 3% could list reach upto the mark of naming five organisation which work day more than 5 constitutional rights of women. It is not a very and night for the welfare and safeguarding of women in this promising state of affairs especially in the education fraternity as country. The graph below gives a statistical representation of the the teachers are the ones who actually transact knowledge and above table. learning to students. If they lack the awareness of the provisions laid down by the country’s constitution, how do we encourage

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Graph 2: Teacher's Knowledge of Women rights and related organisations

100 50 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 More than 5

Number of women rights listed Names of Govt organisation

Graph 3 : What age group should be trained for Legal Awareness? 80 60 67 40 20 12 0 3 8 6 4 9 -12 years 13-18 years 19-25 years 26-35 years 36-45 years 46 and above

What age group should be trained for Legal Awareness?

Graph 3 presents the teachers responses to the question- What the adolescent phase of one’s life. Only 3% of the sample age group is best suited for providing legal awareness about suggested 9-12 years. 12% said 19-25 years, 8% suggested 36-45 women rights in our society. It is evident from the graph that 67 years and 4% of these teachers favoured 46 years and above for % of them suggested the age group of 13-18 which happend to be the introduction of Legal awareness practices.

GRAPH 4: WHAT MORE CAN BE DONE IN EDUCATION SECTOR TO SPREAD THE AWARENESS OF WOMEN RIGHT?

0% Seminars Generating Modules in each subject 23% related to it from class IX onwards 24%

Nukkad Natak 10% Women Rights Awareness Camps Workshops with 22% teachers and …

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Graph 4 shows the various means suggested by the teachers post come forward to bring the desired change in the mindsets the focussed group discussions held on the given agenda. The and fight against those still living on patriarchial norms. The teachers agreed to the significance of having the knowledge cultural practices and rituals have to evolve to accept about women rights from a young age and the best possible way women the way they are and ensure they are treated in doing soi s reaching out to the students through the above equally. Instead of demeaning the women the people who mentioned activities. 24% of them desired to introduce specific conduct ill practices against women should be demeaned modules in each subject of the curriculum related to women publicly so that one thinks before commiting atrocities on rights and their protection. 23% of these teachers suggested women of their families. seminars, 22% were in favour of the Women Rights Awareness • Poverty, Violence, Ignorance and Lack of Education Camps, 21% proposed workshops for teachers and students especially for girls: Women are dependent on their parents separately while 10% of them sugeested nukkad nataks (Street or spouses for monetary support. This feminisation of plays) to generate legal awareness about women rights poverty and women’s economic vulnerability contributes to especially in the rural areas of the country. violence. Girls cannot work to fulfill their desire to study and hence are forced to quit education by the parents so The discussions and interviews with my sample led me to the that money is saved. These girls and women are ignorant of discovery of one fact, that the teachers in government schools the policies and facilities created by the government for had better knowledge of Women Rights in comparision to the their growth and development and henc can not break out private school teachers of Delhi NCR. of their forced and undesirable environments. We need to reach such masses who feel helpless to lead an educated Legal Awareness & Consciousness – What needs to be done and economically independent life. Only then can we be It is evident from the above discussions that adequate and a proud to be a democratic secular country. plenty of steps have been taken at the formative level to ensure safety and security of women. What we need to question is Why CONCLUSION is it not seeking the desired results? Knowledge of law gives us the power to act judiciously. The To understand this let’s take a look at the challenges in spreading fundamental postulate of the Indian Code is - this awareness and building legal conscience among people: Ignorance of law excuses no one from compliance therewith. Which simply means just because you are ignorant of a law and • Evaluative measure adopted: Having received the its consequences you cannot be pardoned of committing a crime. knowledge and information about given constitutional and Legal Awareness in such situations becomes all the more legal provisions a person should somehow relate to it, significant and the need for spreading it undisputable. It is this assess it and compare it with his/her own values. It should legal awareness which would bring a qualitative change in the instill in every citizen the desire and moral value to social order of our country and help our society align with the evaluate his/her own behaviour towards women in the evolving chnages in the technology driven era. society. We should keep a check on our motives and acts in the society within the legal spheres. Once this REFERENCES transformation and self evaluation elements are formed a 1. Agarwal , P. (2016). Women in person can decide whether to violate the legal norms or not. Nation. International Journal For Innovative Research In Hence the social and spiritual manifestation of right legal Multidisciplinary Field ISSN – 2455-0620, 2(3), 13–16. practices should be encouraged through adoptable Retrieved from https://www.ijirmf.com/volume-2-issue- evaluation strategies. 34-published-in-mar-apr-2016/ • Lack of social secuity, dignity and respect for women: 2. Bidhuri, R. P. (2016). 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