Because of recent media focus on attacks against women that garnered world attention, a heightened pressure is being exerted on the government of India to not only reform the traditional treatment of women but to increase public awareness of the larger issues women confront in a developing democratic society.
Although the Indian constitution prohibits gender discrimination, the inequities between men and women are pronounced and prevalent. Traditionally women have long received the blunt of entrenched gender discrimination that values sons over daughters who are often considered a financial burden to the family. Girls do not add wealth to the family and the out-going expenses of dowries and wedding costs can become a heavy economic burden.
India, with a population of over 1.5 billion persons, is the poorest country in the world with over 72 percent of the population living under the poverty level. The burden of poverty weighs heavy on all the country, however the northern region is the most adversely affected. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that as many as 844 million people in India exist on less than $2US per day.
One of the cruelest atrocities committed against women frequently happens in the womb. The statistics on gender-selective abortions in India are skyrocketing even though the government enacted a ban in 1996 on this type of selective screening. In India, many male doctors cooperate and the practice persists. Research studies indicate that greater than 600,000 baby girls in India are aborted each and every year before they can draw their first breathe.
For perhaps many of these unfortunate souls, this may be a blessing. Life is hard in India for women! Many live in deplorable conditions that unless you have endured them yourself, you can’t begin to contemplate or understand. Selective abortions have so impacted the gender balance that as of 2011, there were 914 girls for every thousand boys among children up to the age of 6 years. This figures reflects the most imbalanced gender stats since 1947.
"In India, women and girls continue to be sold as chattels, married off as young as 10, burned alive as a result of dowry-related disputes and young girls exploited and abused as domestic slave labor," advised Gulshun Rehman, the health program development adviser at Save the Children UK.
Inheritance laws in India are another area where gender inequality prevails. Although the Hindu Succession Act of 2005 gave women equal inheritance rights to jointly owned and ancestral property, enforcement in lax. The majority of women in India, especially the impoverished, living in northern regions of the country, are even now deprived of their rights under the inheritance laws.
In India, rape reports increased by 25 percent between 2006 and 2011 and the number continues to rise. The government is uncertain whether the actual number of rapes is increasing or if this represents a new resolves by victims to file charges or by the police to accept them.
In every part of the country, Indian girls and women continue to die needlessly due to a lack of education and access to health care. The UN Population Fund reports that in 2010 there were 56,000 maternal deaths in India.
Many people see the plight of the poor and think how sad, but they do not disrupt their lives or use their financial resources to try to make a difference. No so with Mr. Tej Kohli. India born billionaire businessman and compassionate philanthropist Tej Kohli, founder and CEO of The Tej Kohli Foundation is striving to attempt to redress gender inequities in his native country.
Motivated by a heartfelt desire to help make the world a better place, the Tej Kohli Foundation is a non-profit charity headquartered in Guragaon, India. Founded and funded solely by Mr. Tej Kohli, the foundation offers hope and assistance to millions of Indian women.
Mr. Kohli said, “How can it be right that the majority of 51 percent of the world’s population, i.e. women, continue to suffer such severe lack, when the wealth to help them rise up and grasp their chance at a better life is there to be invested into key development areas on a practical day-to-day basis? I consider this oppression of women to be outrageous and have enshrined, as one of my Foundation’s principles, the empowerment of women whereby they can gain greater independence of thought and action through the concrete application of both funds and skills”.
Growing up in India, Tej Kohli witnessed the prevailing discrimination, physical dangers and economic difficulties faced by Indian women. He could easily see how difficult it is for a young woman to attain her full potential in a male-dominated society.
Mr. Kohli remarked, “There are many commentators who claim that the Battle for Sexual Equality is over. I am convinced it is only just beginning. That’s why my Foundation’s funding goals include the provision of both educational and agricultural aid to women in need. Aid which not only frees them from domestic duties, but also unleashes their potential and broadens their cultural, intellectual and spiritual horizons of what is possible, in countries which for many women have conditioned them since birth to expect very little out of life.”
Not only does the foundation provide nourishing food, clean drinking water and shelter, the foundation is committed to sponsoring and encouraging community development activities that encourage Indian families to work together towards self-reliance. The foundation’s goal is to positively impact the emotional, physical, economical and educational well-being of the local community.
