The 7th January
Telegraph issue made for an interesting reading.There were two
articles in particular that caught my attention and made me think
about the issue of women's empowerment in India.
One was titled
"Undercover jobs for Saudi women" that was written by James Hider of
The Times, London and the other was an editorial by the much loved and
respected Kushwant Singh titled, "Keeping tabs on the taboo".
Both these
articles, although very different in their scope and approach, made a strong
case for women's empowerment. I personally feel that the problem of
prostitution in India is deep rooted in our dogmas and our age old
approach towards how we have been treating this class of women. Part of the
reason why women in our country are pushed and lured into this so -
called lowly profession is that fact that they are not educated or
literate to get into any decent job and don't even have the necessary
vocational skills to get self employment.
The decision of
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to ban men from selling underwear in lingerie
shops and introducing women in these shops has been criticised by
sections of ultra conservative society but it will result in upliftment of
women in a society that has traditionally decreed against working of women
outside their homes.
A similar move in
India can be adopted for so -called sex workers in India.With the Central
Govt.'s decision of introducing more FDI in retail and with many Indian
retailers opening their stores in B & C class cities, they may be trained
to work in these retail formats and in other private stores which have a huge
scope for employment.
It is we who are responsible for such
an appealing condition of the women in our society and efforts like
these can only help in improving their condition. Better late than never.
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