Draft National Policy for Women, 2016

The draft National Policy for Women, 2016, was released by the Ministry of Women & Child Development on May 17, 2016 for consultation. The Policy seeks to create an effective framework for developing policies and practices which will ensure equal rights and opportunities for women.

Seven Priority Areas

It covers seven priority areas which include:

• Health, including food security and nutrition
• Education
• Economy
• Governance and decision making
• Violence against women
• Enabling environment through housing, drinking water, sanitation facilities and social security
• Environment and climate change

Health including food security and nutrition

• Focus on recognizing women’s reproductive rights
• Shift of family planning focus also to males
• Addressing health issues in a life cycle continuumsuch as psychological and general well-being
• Health care challenges related to nutrition/hygieneof adolescents
• Geriatric health care
• Expansion of health insurance schemes
• Addressing the intergenerational cycle of under-nutrition

Education

• Improve access to pre-primary education
• Enrolment and retention of adolescent girls
• Implement innovative transportation models for better schooling outcomes
• Advocate gender champions and address disparities with regard to ICTs

Economy

• Raising visibility
• Engendering macro-economic policies and trade agreements
• Generate gender-disaggregated land ownership database
• Skill development and training for women
• Entrepreneurial development
• Review of labour laws and policies
• Equal employment opportunities with appropriate benefits related to maternity and child care services
• Address technological needs of women

Governance and Decision Making

• Increasing women’s participation in the political arena, administration, civil services and corporate boardrooms

Violence Against Women

• Address all forms of violence against women through a life cycle approach
• Legislations affecting/relating to women will be reviewed/harmonized to enhance effectiveness
• Improve Child Sex Ratio (CSR)
• Strict implementation of advisories, guidelines, Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) and protocols
• Prevention of trafficking at source, transit and destination areas for effective monitoring of the networks

Enabling Environment

• Gender perspective in housing and infrastructure
• Ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation
• Gender parity in the mass media & sports
• Concerted efforts towards strengthening social security and support services for all women especially the vulnerable, marginalized, migrant and single women

Environment and Climate Change

• Addressing gender concerns during distress migration and displacement in times of natural calamities due to climate change and environmental degradation.
• Promotion of environmental friendly, renewable, non–conventional energy, green energy sources for women in rural households.

Emerging Issues

• The policy also describes emerging issues such as:
• Making cyber spaces safe place for women
• Redistribution of gender roles
• Reducing unpaid care work
• Review ofpersonal and customary laws in accordance with the Constitutional provisions
• Review of criminalization of marital rape within the framework women’s human rights etc relevant in the developmental paradigms
• Operational strategies of the policy have been identified as:

Enabling safety and security of women with initiatives such as

• One Stop Centres
• Women Helpline
• Mahila Police Volunteers
• Reservation of women in police force
• Creating immediate response mechanism through panic buttons in mobiles, public and private transport, surveillance mechanisms in public places

Creating eco-systems to encourage entrepreneurship amongst women – through platforms like

• Mahila E-Haat
• Dedicated theme based exhibitions
• Focussed skill training
• Mentoring through Women Entrepreneurship Council
• Availability of easy & affordable credit and financial inclusion

Training and capacity building of all stakeholders including youth through

• Gender Champion initiative
• Frontline workers
• Women sarpanches and all officials dealing with policy and delivery systems impacting women

Facilitating women in workplace through

• Gender friendly work place
• Flexi timings
• Increased maternity leave
• Provision of child care/creches at workplace
• Life cycle health care facilities