...Policy brief series: No. 3; 2008 July CLRA Policy Brief for Parliamentarians Women’s Reservation A Long Delayed and a Much Needed Step “Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision making will provide a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning… Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.” - Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995: Article 181 Introduction Women represent more than half of the world's population and just less than half of the global electorate. Nevertheless, women constitute a marginal proportion of representatives in the world's legislative bodies. In 2008, the average rate of female representation in national parliaments stands at a meagre 18 per cent. India has of yet managed notably limited success in rectifying these imbalances, with women currently holding only 8 per cent of parliamentary seats. Although India was one of the first democratic nations to grant women the vote, women are neither represented in the legislative spaces nor contributing towards the formation of national laws. After twelve years of the Women's Reservation Bill lying in limbo amid intermittent and embarrassingly hot-headed scenes in the House, it was finally introduced in the Rajya Sabha during...
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...In today's society the Menominee Indian Reservation is located in Keshena, WI. About 4,000 Menominee Indians are able to live on the reservation. With not enough housing or job opportunities on the reservation the other 4,000 tribe members had to find jobs off the reservation. This is caused from not enough funds from the federal government, they are dwindling and it's hard to keep up with the current demand. CULTURAL TRADITIONS The Menominee Tribe spoke Algonkian for their language, so did many other tribes. When born you followed in you fathers foot steps, this was like our social class in today's society. With the tribe knowing their land, they became skilled with hunting, fishing, and even farming. The men were masters at fishing and hunting. The women farmed and harvest their crops. Their most important crop was wild rice. This was their main resource of goods for bargaining. They traded, furs for guns and knives. With more demand for fur, the tribe set up along multiple rivers. This ensured they would get goods all year round. They used canoes to navigate the rivers. To help aid with hunting they had...
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...In India, today, women appear to rule the roost. India as a nation is revered in a feminine form i.e. ‘the Bharat Mata’, the first citizen of our country presently is a woman, many important government posts are occupied by women and educated women are pouring into the professional workforce with profound implications for national and multinational corporations. However, ironically, these are accompanied by news about dowry killings, female infanticide, domestic violence against women, sexual harassment, rape, illegal trafficking and prostitution and myriad others of the same ilk. Gender discrimination prevails in almost all areas, be it social, cultural, economic or educational. An effective remedy for these evils needs to be sought in order to ensure the Right to Equality guaranteed by the Constitution of India, to the fairer sex. Gender equality facilitates the empowerment of women. Since education begins at home, the upliftment of women would be accompanied by the development of the family, the society and in turn, would lead towards a holistic development of the nation.Among these problems the foremost that needs to be addressed is the atrocity committed against females at birth and during childhood. Female infanticide i.e. killing of the female child is still a common practice in many of the rural areas. Further female foeticide is common in some parts of India, despite the passage of ‘Prenatal Diagnostic techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act in 1994. In case they...
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...enacting a new law can be broadly divided into four steps: Step 1: The need for a new law, or an amendment to an existing piece of legislation, is identified. This may be done either by the government or by citizen groups who can raise public awareness regarding the need for the law. Step 2: The concerned ministry drafts a text of the proposed law, which is called a ‘Bill’. The Bill is circulated to other relevant ministries for inputs. Comments from the public on the proposed draft may also be invited. For example recently, the UIDAI has invited public feedback on the Draft National Identification Authority Bill. Following this, the draft is revised to incorporate such inputs and is then whetted by the Law Ministry. It is then presented to the Cabinet for approval. Step 3: After the Cabinet approves the Bill, it is introduced in Parliament. Under the Indian political system, the Parliament is the central legislative (or law making) body. Every Bill goes through three Readings in both Houses before it becomes an Act. * During the First Reading the Bill is introduced in Parliament. The introduction of a Bill may be opposed and the matter may be put to a vote in the House. In August 2009, the Law Minister withdrew the motion to introduce the Judges...
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...representation can be simply delineated: Women represent half of the population of a country and therefore have the right to half of the Seats, since decisions made in parliament have a direct impact on their lives. - Women have different social and biological experiences which should be represented in Institution of governance. - Women and men have partly conflicting interests. - Women in positions of power can inspire more women to place themselves in influential and decision-making roles. Providing reservations to a particular section of community in government jobs and other institutions is generally the highlight of any political party’s agenda these days. Now there have been discussions about providing reservations to women in government jobs and democratic institutions like legislative assemblies and Parliament also. Sometimes one feels that basically the reservation issue is nothing but a populist policy of a government, but still it is necessary to discuss the rationale behind such a policy. Can reservations for women be an effective measure and do the women really require such special treatment? These are the points which need to be addressed. It is nothing but a truism to say that the present status of women in the Indian society vis-à-vis the status of men is far from satisfactory. For centuries, Indian society like most of the other societies has been a male-dominated one. Perhaps the degradation of the status of women started in the later Vedic period, because...
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...He stayed in the reservation from 1882-1888. During that time, it is speculated that Eagle Star may have joined the Indian police agency. According to Oglala Sioux that Eagle Star went to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation during the battle of Wounded Knee; however, he did not fight. After two years Eagle Star became a performer in the “Buffalo Bills” with Cody’s wild west show. After Eagle Star joined the Buffalo Bills he traveled to different places including Germany, Belgium and England. Some of the other performers that Eagle Star might have known, are Bill Pickett, he was a rodeo performer, Lilian Smith, she was a shooter in the show. While exiting the performance arena in England Eagle Star horse suffered a fall that led to tragic accident to Eagle Star’s ankle. The accident caused compound dislocation in one of his ankles. The following day Eagle Star called Tetanus. Eagle star’s leg had to be amputated to save his life. Cody sent someone to the infirmary with instructions “spare no expense, secure the best care, and save his life. Two days later Eagle star died from an infection. Eagle star’s ankle was being treated at the Sheffield Royal Infirmary. At Eagle Star’s funeral, Bill Cody had Eagle Star’s body buried in London where other Lakota Sioux had been buried. In 1999, Eagle Star’s body was transported to the united states. Eagle...
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...the Navajo Reservation like she did, she made sure my sisters and I understood what our ethnicity entitled us. As a Native woman, I was expected to learn our language, because our language defined our tribe. I was expected to respectfully follow our beliefs and traditions, because our beliefs and traditions made us distinct and allowed us, as woman, to keep the tribe in order. It was the woman’s job to make sure our tribe or family represented well. And lastly, I was expected to always fight for what I believed in. I was always afraid about the responsibility of fighting back and standing up for my beliefs. Nevertheless, when it comes to my people, I believe it is my place and my right to inform American citizens of the effects caused by the United States Government. Native Americans aren’t as prosperous as they used to be and being contained on reservations has only deteriorated our people, our land and our entitlement to justice and protection. There has been a rise of many destroying factors on reservations, such as abuse of alcohol and the rise of brutal crimes, but the most important and overlooked is the crimes against Native women. Justice on Native American reservations requires a fight. The backbones of most tribal communities are continually and increasingly being taken advantage of. With tribal authority ranging from little to none, Native women on reservations have become targets of attack by non-Natives. To protect and reestablish Justice on reservations, Congress...
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...existing power structure. Women's empowerment is the process by which women negotiate a more equitable distribution of power , a greater space in the critical decision making processes in the home ,in the community and in the economic and political life.The aim of empowerment of women is the fuller and wholesome development of both men and women. Empowerment of women is anti-men.It is against patriarchy.Changes in law pertaining to marriage ,property,sexual harassment ,dowry,rape and other forms of violence,so as to bring in laws favouring or supporting women's empowerment are necessary but not enough.Enabling women to actually access to the benefits of appropriate laws is the key task of the empowerment process. The process of empowerment which seeks an equitable and active share for women has to deal with the burden of ideas and values which are passed on to women as part of their socialisation process from their very childhood.This social conditioning becomes part of her person and mindset and influences her behaviour.The empowerment process must begin with women changing their own ways of thinking and behaving .They must try to appreciate themselves more and to recognise and value their knowledge and skills and their contribution of the sustainability of the households and the community. Women then,must wage a multi-prolonged battle at many levels and this battle has necessarily to begin with the women themselves at a personal and...
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...Women in India constitute nearly 50% of its population. According to 1991 census, there were 40.6 crores of women as against 43.7 crores of men. Roughly, there are 929 women for every 1000 men. Man considers woman to be frail and weak by nature. She is shorter and delicate compared to the strongly build man. But man forgets that a woman is made so, so to play a specific fro in nature which a man cannot play, that is the role of the mother. In intelligence both are equal. Man is aggressive and emotional. A woman is patient, calm and receptive. She can bear more pain and has more tolerance than a man. She is stronger in conviction and in perseverance. Yet women all over the world are playing a secondary role only. The position in India is no different. Women were glorified in epics and puranas, for their service to their men. Serving a father first, secondly a husband, and later serving her children and grandchildren, had been her lot. Puranas mention the names of Seeta, Savitri and Anusuya and glorify them for their devote service to their husbands. They even say that a woman can easily get salvation by serving her husband. After Independence the Constitution of India gave equal rights to men and women in all walks of life. But even today one cannot say that all women in India enjoy equal rights with men in all matters. There are many reasons for this (1) the customs and traditions prevalent for centuries, (2) The high percentage of illiteracy among women, (3) Ignorance of...
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...after the arrival of the United States Army and the frontiersmen, the Apache were established on the Apache Pass Reservation in what is now known as Cochise County, in the south east corner of Arizona that included at least a portion of their homeland. Shortly after the Apache Pass War and the death of Cochise, the Chiricahua Apache were forcibly gathered with other Apache bands and moved 131 miles north to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation which was less than desirable location originally known to the government and the Apache as “Hell’s Forty Acres”. The Apache hated being confined to a location, especially since the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation was horribly...
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...WOMEN EMPOWERMENT Since the older times, women have been treated as second rate citizens of all across the globe. The situation is almost the same everywhere-irrespective of the developed country or the developing country-caste, community, colour or creed a position which is comparable in many ways, with that of racial minorities. Women have been relegated to secondary position despite the fact that they numerically constitute about half the world population today. This situation has caused immense loss to their self-dignity as human beings and also their independent entities, associated with men, apart from other matter, in context with intellectual and professional capability. In the very beginning of civilization, women enjoyed a respectable position in society-at par with men. They actively participated in social, religious affairs as well as in warfare. The social, religious ceremonies were considered incomplete unless women participated in them. However, it was their physical constitution which acted as hurdles on the way to doing their various different difficult tasks. Gradually, they became dependent on men for food, protection for their other necessities. It was due to the strong built-up of men they risked their lives in course of hunting and food collection. It is really ironical that superiority is not accorded to the fair sex who are responsible for carrying forward lives on this planet but to men who have muscle power with the help of which they can subjugate...
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...Women Empowerment: Since the older times, women have been treated as second rate citizens of all across the globe. The situation is almost the same everywhere-irrespective of the developed country or the developing country-caste, community, colour or creed a position which is comparable in many ways, with that of racial minorities. Women have been relegated to secondary position despite the fact that they numerically constitute about half the world population today. This situation has caused immense loss to their self-dignity as human beings and also their independent entities, associated with men, apart from other matter, in context with intellectual and professional capability. In the very beginning of civilization, women enjoyed a respectable position in society-at par with men. They actively participated in social, religious affairs as well as in warfare. The social, religious ceremonies were considered incomplete unless women participated in them. However, it was their physical constitution which acted as hurdles on the way to doing their various different difficult tasks. Gradually, they became dependent on men for food, protection for their other necessities. It was due to the strong built-up of men they risked their lives in course of hunting and food collection. It is really ironical that superiority is not accorded to the fair sex who are responsible for carrying forward lives on this planet but to men who have muscle power with the help of which they can subjugate...
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...Nikki Perry Period 3 3/20/13 Effects of WW2 on minorities World War II brought about many socio-economic changes into the United States as it opened up new ways for the minorities as well as women to formally become part of the majority American society. For a long time African Americans, Native Americans (Indians), Mexican Americans, and women were treated differently compared to everyone else (white men) and not in a good way. World War II brought about a lot of changes including, more working opportunities and military opportunities for minorities. African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and women were allowed to join the military although there were still some segregation and discrimination. African-Americans gained economic independence during WWII because of the job openings throughout the industry. African-American soldiers were welcomed into certain branches of the armed forces in this war, but, like other wars, there was discrimination and segregation. Soldiers still fought in segregated units throughout the war, but there were advances in the number of commissioned officers. Other forms of racism included barring African-Americans from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Army Air Corps, and the Navy only allowed African-Americans as mess men. These conditions were not promising, and these policies have been called “Jim Crow military”. Some changes were made with the 1940 Selective Service Training Act which stated that all men between 18...
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...entire Louisiana Territory, New Orleans, and the New Orleans Port to the United States for fifteen million dollars instead. This arrangement advanced Jefferson to become uncertain about what’s located west of the Mississippi and the thirty-first parallel, thus inevitably allowing Jefferson to formulate and pass a bill to congress to discover the unknown areas of the newly obtained land with the assistance of Lewis and Clark. After Congress passed the bill for this investigation, Lewis and Clark were finally given a reason to investigate and acquire as much information possible about this new land. Furthermore, after the expedition into this unknown area, Lewis and Clark returned to Jefferson with a vast amount of information regarding all the discoveries that were procured, which inevitably advanced Jefferson to send Lewis and Clark to the west with numerous objectives in...
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...Americans in today’s modern society are not unaware of Columbus’ sins, however in President Bill Clinton’s 2000 Columbus Day speech, he states, “While more than 500 years have passed since Christopher Columbus first sailed to these shores, the lessons of his voyage are still with us: brave, determined, open to new ideas and new experiences, in many ways he foreshadowed the character of the American people who honor him today.” President Clinton does not accurately inform, nor remind, Americans of the treacherous acts Christopher Columbus imposed upon the Native American race. Due to the horrors lurking in Columbus’ past, including the slaughtering and enslavement of Native Americans, eventually leading to the natives being placed in reservations, Christopher Columbus began a nation growing on lies and inhumane cruelty. Christopher Columbus was an immoralistic fraud and a man who utilized merciless tactics to achieve a sense of greatness. As the first European to land in the Bahamian...
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