Human Rights Expert Speaks on Women in India

[Guest guest]

Minneapolis, MINNESOTA, USA (April 30, 2004) - Women need to be

politically empowered if they want to help make decisions in their

communities, said Mohini Giri, an international women's rights

advocate from India.

 

Despite India's patriarchal system, Giri said women were able to

influence the country's parliament to pass an act in 1974 that

reserves one-third of grassroots positions in local governments for women.

 

Today, Giri said, more than 1 million women help formulate laws in

their communities to protect them and their families.

 

But Giri said women's success in local governments is not reflected in

India's national government. Only 35 of India's 435 parliament members

are women, she said.

 

Giri, an author proficient in nine languages, said female empowerment

in South Asian patriarchal societies could be achieved by implementing

three strategies.

 

They include educating men and changing their mindset about women's

roles in the society, expanding literacy programs for women and making

women equal partners in property rights.

 

"If we want to move forward, we have to be together," she said. "All

South Asian women must stand in solidarity."

 

Jaideep Srivastava, a University of Minnesota professor who invited

Giri to speak, said people from different countries can learn from one

another by exchanging strategies for achieving common goals.

 

Barbara Frey, director of the Human Rights Program at the University,

said women need to make coalitions and partnerships with one another

to advance their cause. Frey said women should decide how to achieve

certain goals in their own societies.

 

"There should be a balance between protection of women's rights and

dignity, and cultural practices imposed in a male-dominated society,"

she said.

 

But Frey also said some issues — such as violence — plague women of

all nationalities and must be addressed by international women's groups.

 

Source: The Minnestota Daily, "Speaker offers solutions to fix limited

role of women in South Asian governments," by Ed Swaray

URL: http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2004/04/30/9533