Unit V: Women Organisations and Law

a) Women Organisations in India

The participation of women in the freedom movement, combined with the spread of education, led to the formation of the first major, all-India women's organizations. These groups were founded by and for women, to fight for their political and social rights.

1. Women's Indian Association (WIA)

• Founded: 1917 in Adyar, Madras (Chennai).
• Founders: Key founders included Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, and Dorothy Jinarajadasa. They were primarily European theosophists who inspired Indian women to organize.
• Primary Goal: To secure women's suffrage (the right to vote).
• Achievements:
  • It was the first organization to take the demand for women's votes to the British government.
  • In 1917, they led a delegation (along with Sarojini Naidu) to Lord Montagu to demand political rights for women in the upcoming reforms.
  • They successfully campaigned for the vote, which was granted piecemeal (province by province) starting in 1921.

2. National Council of Women in India (NCWI)

• Founded: 1925, as a branch of the International Council of Women.
• Founders: Led by elite, aristocratic women like Lady Meherbai Tata.
• Nature: This was a more "establishment" and less radical organization. It was not a mass-based group like the AIWC.
• Goal: It focused on "women's issues" from a position of social welfare and cooperation with the government, rather than direct political confrontation. They worked on issues like health, maternity, and trafficking.

3. All India Women's Conference (AIWC)

• Founded: 1927 in Pune.
• Founders: Started by Margaret Cousins as a non-political gathering to discuss educational reform for women.
• Nature: It quickly grew into the largest and most important women's organization in India, with branches all over the country. It was led by prominent Indian women like Maharani Chimnabai Gaekwad, Sarojini Naidu, and Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay.
• Evolution: It famously began with the slogan, "First educate the women, and the vote will follow."
  • Phase 1 (Education): Its initial focus was purely on education.
  • Phase 2 (Social & Legal Reform): It quickly realized education was impossible without tackling social evils. It became the main lobbying force for:
    • The Sarda Act (1929) to raise the age of marriage.
    • Laws giving women rights to inheritance and divorce.
  • Phase 3 (Political): By the 1930s, it abandoned its "non-political" stance and became deeply involved in the freedom movement, demanding universal adult franchise (voting rights for all).
• Significance: The AIWC was the "mother" of the Indian women's movement, uniting women from diverse backgrounds for a common cause.

b) Women and Law

After independence, the Indian Constitution (1950) granted women full equality (Art. 14) and prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex (Art. 15). However, social realities remained harsh. The post-independence women's movement has focused on translating this legal equality into reality by fighting for specific laws.

1. Acts Prohibiting Domestic Violence

• The Problem: For decades, violence within the home ("domestic violence") was seen as a private, "family matter," not a crime. Police would not interfere.
• Early Law (Section 498A): In 1983, a new section (498A) was added to the Indian Penal Code. This was the first law that recognized "cruelty by a husband or his relatives" (often linked to dowry) as a specific criminal offense, punishable with imprisonment.
• The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005:
  • This was a landmark, revolutionary law because it was a civil law, not a criminal one.
  • Broader Definition: It recognized that domestic violence is not just physical. It provided a broad definition of violence, including:
    • Physical abuse
    • Sexual abuse
    • Verbal/Emotional abuse (insults, humiliation)
    • Economic abuse (not providing money, taking her salary)
  • Focus on Rights, not just Jail: Its main goal is to provide immediate relief to the victim, not just to punish the abuser. A woman can get court orders for:
    • Protection: An order to stop the abuser from committing violence.
    • Residence: The right to live in her marital home (the "shared household"), and the abuser can be ordered to leave.
    • Monetary Relief & Custody: Orders for maintenance and temporary custody of children.

2. Dowry Prohibition Act (1961)

• The Problem: The practice of dowry (a payment in cash or kind from the bride's family to the groom's) was leading to the harassment, torture, and "dowry death" (often disguised as "kitchen accidents") of young brides.
• The Act (1961): This was the first major social legislation after independence.
  • It made the act of giving, taking, or demanding dowry a criminal offense.
• Failure and Amendments: The original act was weak and ineffective. It was very difficult to prove that a "gift" was actually "dowry."
  • Following massive protests by women's groups in the 1980s (a period of many "dowry deaths"), the act was amended in 1984 and 1986.
  • The amendments made the law much stricter:
    • They introduced Section 498A (discussed above) for "dowry harassment."
    • They created a new offense, Section 304B ("Dowry Death"), which states that if a woman dies of unnatural causes (e.g., burns) within 7 years of marriage, and had been harassed for dowry, the husband is *presumed* guilty, and the burden of proof is on him to prove his innocence.