Status Quo — Property Rights for Women

It is said that traditions instil a sense of identity, belonging and pride for one’s heritage but unfortunately much of this heritage honours the men. In Uttar Pradesh, for example, there is a “tradition” of brothers beating their sister’s dolls on Nagpanchami. This strange and violent practise originates from a story where a prince beat up his sister who had eloped — a reminder that no girl must dare dishonour the family. Such traditions have ensured the continued existence of a rigid gender hierarchy in our society. Women are considered little more than commodities — their behaviour is severely restricted and monitored to protect the “honour” of the family. Of course,
history shows us that such commodification of women is not a phenomenon restricted to one culture or a specific time period. The daughters, in many parts of India, are seen as an economic liability whose disposal is a boon to the family. A dowry is demanded by the groom’s side to compensate for the transfer of the “burden”. All this while, in all these circumstances women have been denied their fair right to live with dignity but for how long?

Unsurprisingly, overt and covert subjugation of women has frequently led to denial of various rights to women. A strong, independent woman is still perceived as a threat to our patriarchal society. And so exists the many ways by which women are relegated to the shadows. One such way is the
property rights. Ownership of property provides a sense of security since it makes a person financially and emotionally independent. Whether in the Muslim law or in the Hindu law, the fair distribution of inherited property seems like a distant dream. In many cases the women do not even
receive any share of the parental property. This is clearly illustrated in the case study followed by The Hindu, of 16 year old Anju. Anju was denied her claims to the property and the family had to adopt her uncle’s son to be the “rightful” heir of the property. This case highlights the plight of
women in rural India. Like Anju there are many women who have fought for their claims to parental property but the main deterrent for such strong women is the Panchayat. The Sarpanch is generally a male and during disputes and conflicts the Sarpanch’s word is binding.

Ownership of land cannot be seen in isolation from issues surrounding women’s safety and emancipation. According to Research by Panda and Agarwal (2005) in Kerala**, among those women who do not own land, 49% experienced physical violence and 84% experienced psychological violence as compared to women who owned land (7% and 16% respectively). These
findings demonstrate the significant social impact that ownership of land can have on the condition of women in the country.

Education by itself is not a panacea for the oppression women face in our society. Patriarchal power structures ensure that even women work against their own well-being and adaptation to change is confronted with resistance. The fear and coping mechanisms instilled by a patriarchal society
continues to plague every bit of progress made in women’s emancipation. There have been instances of reputed and well educated women resorting to discrimination between genders in terms of property rights. In Ratna Vira’s controversial novel Daughter by Court Order, which is alleged to be based on real incidents, there is a portrayal of a highly educated daughter fighting her
own mother, an illustrious journalist, for property rights that have been denied to her.

Our patriarchal society has plotted and played to the strengths of men. At every juncture a clear trap is laid out to deepen the quagmire. However, a way out of this quagmire is to become aware of and spread awareness about how women are generalized. There are many (men and women) who have realised the fallacies in this cleverly spun web and endeavour to bring in balance to the societies. And some of them are a part of the initiative of Women Property Empowerment. However, the challenge remains.

Fear plays a paramount role in our lives as humans. Fear has propelled terrorism, fear has propelled atrocities against women, fear has led to injustices to the wronged and fear leads to the acceptance of what the dominant says. Educated and aware women fear the society (the society that seldom provides a safe environment for them) when it comes to claiming property rights. To eradicate this fear we must ensure a legal system that promises the inheritance of what is rightfully ours — ours as mothers, ours as daughters, and ours as sisters. We need to ensure that when inheritance laws are violated, the violator will be punished. Only then can we claim to have made holistic progress as a country and taken a concrete step toward ensuring that our mothers, daughters and sisters are financially and emotionally safe from menacing influences.

That is the tool that we must develop and use in order to truly bring justice to the lives of women. Education, awareness, and police intervention have proved to be beneficial but not enough. The last and the most important part is to bring justice to them instead of bringing them to justice. The judiciary brings in the hope for these women. Fear is best tackled by law and it is this law that empowers the citizens.

Footnotes
*http://www.thehindu.com/thread/politics-and-policy/property-rights-are-key-to-womens-
empowerment/article18699165.ece
**https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/92357/original/Marial%2BViolence%252C%2BHuman%2B
Development%2Band%2BWomen%2527s%2BProperty%2BStatus.pdf