- As the global community progresses exponentially on the back of resounding and epochal innovations/inventions/developments/growth of unparalleled dimensions, it’s time we dig deep inside to question whether the lot of women has improved commensurately with the expansion. The answer must be an unequivocal no, since society across the world continues to be anachronistic, patriarchal, and deeply male chauvinistic, with women unable to break ranks as compared to men. Look at any economic parameters, and especially big business houses, and women, though equally, if not more, competitive than men, are not considered good enough to lead from the front. And we have heard enough talks about women’s empowerment.
PC: InsideIIM
- The fact of the matter is that gender disparity, bias, and skewed preference for men rather than extending the same yardsticks to women continues unabated everywhere. The Indian society also falls into the same bracket, without women finding themselves on par with their counterparts. Let’s dwelve at some recent incidents highlighting the distressing plight of women who were deprived of the choice of their own. Recently, the two sisters, aged 25 and 23, in a Rajasthan village who died of poisoning hours before their twin weddings, allegedly by suicide, per police, were teachers in a primary school. Early Feb, three sisters – aged 16, 14, and 10 – jumped to their deaths in UP. The whole country was shocked by the turn of events in the instant case.
PC: The New Indian Express
- Among their dairy notes was – Mention of marriage caused tension in our hearts. Last Sep, a Delhi man killed his wife, angered over her social media posts. Uttarakhand HC, meanwhile, acquitted a man of abetment to the suicide of his wife, adding that being suspicious is common – an example of a constitutional authority normalizing male toxic behaviour that is ruinous. Yes, it is a tightrope, but being suspicious is code for cruelty, and controlling behaviour is domestic violence. Indian young women take their own lives over reasons NCRB calls family matters, suitably vague. Yet we know exactly what it means: the vortex that is Indian family tradition that sucks the agency out of couples and dumps a burden of expectations on women. Nothing’s changed for women. Sad.
PC: PMF IAS
- Most concerningly, two-thirds of women who die by suicide in India are below 25 years old. The age group 15-29 years, from post puberty through marriage and childbirth, is the most vulnerable to family pressures – arranged marriages, forced to stay married in abusive relationships, and an erasure of the individual, replaced by her relation to male relatives and family. NCRB’s family matters is the trap that denies women the right to exercise choice of career, or lifestyle, or partner, or wherewithal to walk out of a bad marriage. It’s worth reiterating that women must have choice over their bodies, thoughts, career, and freedom to navigate as men in every conceivable parameter of society. If not, such a society must be considered medieval, including ours.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://kanigas.com/women-have-not-found-their-voice-still-the-fight-continues/&media=https://kanigas.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/951939-womenempowerment.webp&description=Despite global progress, women worldwide — and particularly in India — continue to face deep-rooted patriarchy, gender bias, and systemic denial of personal agency, reflected in alarming incidents of young women ending their lives under the weight of forced marriages, family pressure, and domestic abuse. NCRB data reveals that two-thirds of women who die by suicide in India are under 25, trapped in what is euphemistically termed "family matters." The script makes a compelling case for women's absolute right to choose their careers, partners, and lifestyles — asserting that any society falling short of this standard remains fundamentally medieval.){kind=link}