AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH

NTCC

DISSERTATION-(LEGAL WRITING)
 PART-A

PROJECT INFORMATION AND SYNOPSIS

Due to being male-dominant Indian society, women are facing many atrocities. Generally,
double problems by women, which have been reduced to two-fourths, death of dowry, sexual
harassment, robbery from women, tampering with minor girls and so on. According to the Indian
Penal Code, rape, abduction or molestation, physical or mental abuse, dowry, rape, sexual
harassment etc. are participating in the crime category for serious crimes. In cases related to the
violence of women, there has been a steady increase and now they are increasing rapidly.

Violence is physically hurt or harm to a person, it is also a form of violence, verbally giving
mental harassment to someone physically does not hurt, but a deep trauma on the heart and mind
reaches is. Rape, murder, abduction, etc. are counted in the category of criminal violence, and for
the dowry or dowry in the house, incidents of sexual harassment, rape, molestation and
misbehavior are examples of domestic violence. Under pressure on girls, work for embryo
wounds, pressure to follow the sati to widow woman comes under social violence. All these
incidents are affecting large sections of women and society.

Violence against women is increasing steadily and now it has become a worrisome topic.
Dealing with Women's Violence, with a headache for social workers, is also a big responsibility
for them. However, women should not be dependent on others themselves and take responsibility
for themselves and are aware of their rights and facilities.

Few forms of violence which I have discussed in the project involves –Dowry, Domestic
Violence and possible solution to these social evils through women empowerment and various
initiatives taken by government of the country.
 Introduction

Child Labour, consisting of children below 14 years of age, is defined by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) as “the type of work performed by children that deprives them of
their childhood and their dignity, which hampers their access to education and acquisition of
skills and which is performed under conditions harmful to their health and their development”.
Children are the greatest gift to humanity and the same gift is being misused for personal gains
as child labour. They constitute 36% of India’s population but a large majority of children in the
age group of 5-14 years continue to remain in distress and turmoil. One in every five children
below the age of 14 is a labourer. The flower (Child) withers before it blossoms.

Magnitude of the problem

Child labour is more a rural phenomenon than an urban phenomenon. Due to acute poverty poor
families residing in rural areas send their children to urban areas for bread and butter. In urban
areas, to survive in a cutthroat competition, manufacturers have lowered the real wages for adult
workers in order to employ child workers on low wages. The problem is very much vast in its
dimension. Children are forced to work in the most hazardous, unhygienic conditions, where
they are vulnerable to many severe health problems.

Causes of Child Labour

In a country like India where over 40 percent of the population is living in conditions of extreme
poverty, child labour is a complex issue. Following are some of the causes of child labour.

First Extreme poverty is the chief cause of child labour. The children either supplement their
parents’ income or are the only wage earners in the family.

Second Child labour is deliberately created by vested interest to get cheap labour.

Third Low level of parental education is also an important factor in determining the incidence of
child labour.
Fourth A majority of parents prefer to send their children to work rather than to school at the
school-going age, primarily on account of their need for a supplementary income.

Measures to combat Child Labour

Child labour is a universal problem and as a citizen of India we must strive to take stern actions
against child labour.

Role of NGOs: NGOs have an important role to play in the elimination of child labour.
Government does not have the infrastructure to reach every section of the society and
particularly the millions who work and live in remote areas. NGOs can act as a bridge between
hard-to-reach areas and the government.

Role of Media: The role of media in elimination of child labour is one of the most important
components of the process of total human development. The media should expose defaulting
firms or business houses that clandestinely employ children and violate laws relating to child
labour.

The government should give certain monetary or if need be non-monetary incentives to the
families that live Below Poverty Line (BPL) to avoid child labour so that their children can be
sent to school.

Effective state intervention to eliminate inequities, including class and caste barriers to
employment and other opportunities in areas such as health and education, will put an end to
child labour.

Conclusion

Child labour is an international evil. It requires cumulative efforts to wipe it out. Toiling long
hours for a pittance, these little breadwinners accept exploitation as a way of life. The
government on this front has also taken a few steps. The International Labour Organization
(ILO) launched the International Programme for Elimination of Child Labours in 1991 and India
was the first to join the same in 1992. But still the problem persists due to poor implementation
of the plans and programmes. The need of the hour is to expand the machinery for enforcing the
various laws on child labour. There is a plethora of laws but nothing can eradicate child labour
unless there is awareness among parents and children, which will go a long way in saving the
future of millions of working children in India. Lastly instead of blaming the "supply side", we
must focus on the "demand side".

24Aug2009

Dowry System in India – Causes, Effects & Solution

Marriage is an integral part of society, a source of joy and festivities as well as of new
beginnings. Yet, one of the longest standing evils associated with marriage from a woman’s
point of view in the Indian society is the Dowry system. Despite a lot being said and done
against the custom, it is still prevalent in the 21st century, in both subtle and obvious ways. The
root of a host of social atrocities against women, the custom of presenting dowry is the crudest
expression of the male-dominance in the society. It is most often the mandatory custom of a
girl’s parents having to provide a considerable amount of cash, gold in the form of jewelry,
electronic equipment, movable or immovable properties, to the groom and his family, at the time
of marriage. Although the origin of the custom lies with parents trying to assure financial
stability for their daughters, in current perspective it has translated into parents paying up for the
assurance of well-being of their daughters. The jewelry and cash that a bride brings with her
from her parents’ house is often referred to as “Streedhan” and in theory is the property of the
girl, but in reality it is often treated as their rightful due by the groom’s family. The sum to be
paid as dowry has no set standard, the yardstick greatly depends on the groom’s profession/social
standing and is often perceived as the groom’s family as the compensation of efforts they have
made to educate their boy. In a more subtle perspective, one may define this custom as the
unquestioned idea that the girl’s family is inferior in standing with the boy’s family, no matter
what her qualities are. Thus they need to be on their best behavior and offer lavish “gifts” to
please the boy’s family. This ideal is so ingrained in the psyche of a large number of Indians,
they either practically ruin themselves financially in order to pay for the appropriate price of the
chosen groom, or make a bid to eradicate the prospect of this financial burden by selective
gender-biased abortion or female infanticide.This exploitative system that has turned the custom
of giving gifts and well wishes into a compulsory demand for money, respect and subjugation, is
the one of the major contributing factors hindering the growth of the Indian society where being
a woman is still viewed synonymous to being a burden.

Causes of Dowry System

1. Greed Factor

2. Society Structure

3. Religious Dictates

4. Social Constraints

5. Social Status of Women

6. Illiteracy

7. Propulsion Towards Adhering to Customs

8. Urge to Show Off

Now Effects of Dowry System are below:

a. Injustice towards girls

b. Violence against women

c. Economic burden

d. Gender inequality

e. Loss of self-esteem in women

f. Status of women

Solutions to Dowry System

1. Law – several laws have been enacted to prohibit the practice of dowry and the injustice
against women stemming from it. The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed on 20th May, 1961
with an aim to eradicate the evil practice from the society. The act declares not only the practice
of accepting dowry unlawful, but also penalizes giving of the same. It includes property,
valuable security like cash and jewelry exchanging hand during the marriage. Making demands
of dowry is punishable by a minimum imprisonment of 5 years and a minimum fine of 15,000
rupees.

2. Enforcement – it is never enough to just introduce acts and amend sections to fight against a
social evil. This requires strict and ruthless enforcement of such laws. That aspect still leaves a
lot to be desired. Although such allegations are taken very seriously by the authorities, lack of
proper investigative procedures often leads to the accused going free. The government needs to
ensure a zero-tolerance policy for such offenders and ensure enforcement of the law through
systemic changes.

3. Social Awareness – creating a widespread awareness against the evils of the dowry system is
key first step towards eradicating the practice.Campaigns should be designed to reach the deepest
strata of the society and aim to spread knowledge about the legal provisions against dowry.
There also is the need to promote the need for educating the girl children.

4. Overhaul of mindsets –India as a country requires major overhaul of its existing mindsets in
order to push back against the iniquitous custom of dowry. They need to realise the fact that in
today’s society women are perfectly capable of doing anything that men can. Women themselves
need to come out of the belief that they are inferior to men and they need to depend on men to
provide for them.