Constitutional Guarantees of Women in India- A Historical Study

Abstract

History is the study of the past human activities and the human society everywhere is composed of males and females and the society is stratified on the basis of sex. Women constitute half of the population, and thus, a significant segment of every society. Every human being is born free, but the women’s freedom has always been neglected in the name of custom, honour, family welfare and social prestige. Today the idea has emerged that “Unequal status of women offensive to human dignity and the violation of human rights”. India is not an exception. In India despite of the fact that during the last century a social reform movement was started and constitutional provisions also aimed at securing equal status for women, the status of women remain more or less same. Positive judicial trend and various welfare schemes of the Government and active participation of voluntary organizations to uplift the status of the women have failed to improve the condition of women. The enactment of the National Commission Act for the Women in the year 1993 is a step towards securing better status for women in India. During the last 68 years of independence cases of attack on women have increased remarkably.