Abstract
The author analyzes why ‘gender equality’ continues to be an elusive goal both globally and nationally (India). She focuses on the many initiatives and challenges for achieving gender equality. Notwithstanding many international human rights instruments, conventions, declarations, and the transformative agenda 2030 with SDG 5 in gender equality and empowerment, there is a noticeable pushback on gender equality. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated gender inequalities, nay has delayed gender equality by a generation. The scenario in India is no different, even when gender is constitutionally recognized as a fundamental right. The author highlights that despite a progressive paradigm shift in addressing gender equality, the gender architecture is amiss in the ecosystem. There are vexatious and persistent challenges in India’s endocentric social structures and its cultural norms and values systems. With deep-rooted inequalities in the system, the challenges are on many fronts—social, economic, and political. It is important to adopt an ecosystem that is gender centered, is rooted in, and takes cognizance of diversity and intersectionality, and last but not least of distributive justice.
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Rajput, P. (2023). Gender Equality: Missing Ecosystem to Realize De Jure Equality. In: Pachauri, S., Verma, R.K. (eds) Transforming Unequal Gender Relations in India and Beyond. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4086-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4086-8_3
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