Gender and Democracy in North-East India: Politics of Inclusion and Empowerment.

• Author: Haroon, Sehrish

Sarmah, Jayanta Krishna, ed. Gender and Democracy in North-East India: Politics of Inclusion and Empowerment. Purbanchal Prakash, Guwahati, 2019. 512 pages. Hardcover, $16.81

South Asia, one of the oldest inhabited places on the planet, has an intriguing history. This region of course includes India, the largest democracy in the world, with nearly half of its population being female; yet, the plight of India's women is just being told. Gender and Democracy in North-East India throws light on multifarious dimensions of the obstacles in the way of the empowerment of India's females. The book is a compilation of twenty-six chapters, written by thirty-six scholars, who collectively unveil the multi-layered prejudices and discrimination directed against women in India's north-east states.

Social sciences view gender as a social construct, including gender discrimination in traditions, customs, and even architectural designs. In India, women exist within the confines of well-defined traditional roles of being shy, submissive, imperceptible, and self-sacrificing, all of which strengthen the patriarchal system. The contrasting characteristics of the public and private lives of women create a multitude of challenges, often resulting in their reversion back to traditionally constricted roles as a means of resolving conflict. Although the Indian constitution affirms the equality of women, violence against women largely goes unresolved.

A core theme of the book centers on education. While education is a tool of emancipation for women, the authors demonstrate that women in India's northeastern states have higher dropout rates than the national average. While enhancement in women's literacy rates have increased their rate of labor market participation and their earnings, there is still a long way to go before women have equal respect and position in the domestic and social spheres of life. Indian women constitute the largest illiterate group in the world, which also has the effect of exacerbating criminal activities against women. Less awareness and lower socioeconomic standing push women into trafficking. Assam, for example, with its low educational attainment rates for women, has double the crime than the national rate.

The authors make clear that, for the sustenance of democracy, equality of all before law is imperative. While there is increasing trend in women's political participation and leadership, since independence (over seven decades ago) there...