Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially

constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a
woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct,
gender varies from society to society and can change over time.

Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and
economic inequalities. Gender-based discrimination intersects with other factors of
discrimination, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic
location, gender identity and sexual orientation, among others. This is referred to as
intersectionality.

Gender interacts with but is different from sex, which refers to the different biological
and physiological characteristics of females, males and intersex persons, such as
chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs. Gender and sex are related to but
different from gender identity. Gender identity refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal
and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the person’s
physiology or designated sex at birth.

Gender influences people’s experience of and access to healthcare. The way that
health services are organized and provided can either limit or enable a person’s access
to healthcare information, support and services, and the outcome of those encounters.
Health services should be affordable, accessible and acceptable to all, and they should
be provided with quality, equity and dignity.

Gender inequality and discrimination faced by women and girls puts their health and
well-being at risk. Women and girls often face greater barriers than men and boys to
accessing health information and services. These barriers include restrictions on
mobility; lack of access to decision-making power; lower literacy rates; discriminatory
attitudes of communities and healthcare providers; and lack of training and awareness
amongst healthcare providers and health systems of the specific health needs and
challenges of women and girls.

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in
roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property.
Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are
inherited by the male lineage.
Patriarchy is associated with a set of ideas, a patriarchal ideology that acts to explain
and justify this dominance and attributes it to inherent natural differences between men
and women. Sociologists hold varied opinions on whether patriarchy is a social product
or an outcome of innate differences between the sexes.
Historically, patriarchy has manifested itself in the social, legal, political, religious, and
economic organization of a range of different cultures Even if not explicitly defined to be
by their own constitutions and laws, most contemporary societies are, in practice,
patriarchal.
Gender Discrimination in the Indian Society

Gender disparity still exists in India. Being born as women in the Indian
society one has to face gender discrimination at all levels. At the household
level – females are confined to the bounds of their household chores, raising
children and looking after families, irrespective of her education degrees or
her job profile. At her workplace: women have limited access to job
opportunities and are paid less for the same work.
Education and learning opportunities: gender-wise literacy rates in India
showcase the wide gap that exists between men and women. As per 2011
census data, effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) were 82.14% for men
and 65.46% for women. The main reason behind parents unwilling to spend
on girl’s education is the mindset that educating women is of no value as in
the future they will only serve their husbands and the in- laws.
The Indian constitution provides equal rights and privileges for both men and
women but still majority of women across India doesn’t enjoy these rights
and opportunities guaranteed to them. This is because of a number of
reasons.
Some of them are:
Poverty – This is the root cause of gender discrimination in the patriarchal
Indian society as the economic dependence on the male counterpart is itself
a cause of gender disparity. A total of 30 percent people live below the
poverty line and out of this 70 percent are women.
Illiteracy – Gender discrimination In India had led to educational
backwardness for girls. It’s a sad reality that despite educational reforms in
the country girls in India are still denied a chance at learning. The mindset
needs to be changed and people need to understand the benefits of
educating girls. An educated, well-read woman ensures that other members
especially the children of the house get quality education.
Patriarchal setup in our Indian society – Men dominate societal and
family life in India, this has been the case in the past ages and still continues
to be practiced in majority of the households. Though this mindset is
changing with urbanization and education, still there is long way to go for a
permanent change in the scenario.
Gender based discrimination across India can only be checked when girls are
not denied their chance to learn and grow in life. Girls like boys should get a
great start in life in terms of education opportunities. This will help them
attain economic independence and will also help them to be rightly equipped
to make a contribution towards their upliftment as well as that of the society
they are part of.
NGOs like Save the Children are doing what it takes to uplift the status of the
girl child in the society through a number of programmes across India. If you
care to bring hope in the lives of thousands of girls in India by ensuring the
right environment and opportunities for them, then support an NGO like Save
the Children.