Feminization of labor is a common phenomenon after the opening up of the Indian economy to liberalization, globalization and privatization in 1991. It has merits as well as demerits. The merit is empowerment of women; the income generation due to the employment of women transformed the status of the women in the society, be it a woman from the village or from an urban area, no matter if she is socially disadvantaged or not; so, to some extent, there is an inclusiveness in the pattern of growth. The demerit is the exploitation of the vulnerable plight of women. The more she is empowered economically, the more she succumbs to the gender inequality at the workplace, be it a woman who works as a sweeper in a shopping mall or a contract lecturer or an IT employee in a private institution/organization; thus, the exploitation is also inclusive. So the common feature here is empowerment at the cost of exploitation, and what is found to be lacking in the present situation is: legal protective measures which are guaranteed to everyone especially to women under the Constitution of India under Articles 14, 15 and 16. In India, there are laws encompassing all aspects of human activity, but there is no effective implementation of laws.
|
