Propagating gender equality in modern China, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party of China, famously observed: “Women hold up half the sky.” In India, deeply entrenched patriarchal attitudes, misogyny and rising crimes against women, are risking half the sky crashing down. In the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report 2024, India is ranked #129 of 146 countries assessed, 18th from bottom. According to latest data from the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB), crimes against women (calculated as crimes per 100,000 of the female population) increased from 58.8 in 2018 to 66.4 in 2022, an increase of 12.9 percent. Moreover, India’s female labour participation rate (FLPR) is 41.7 percent cf. 63.1 percent in China and 69 percent in Vietnam. Even as 21st century India is aspiring for Viksit Bharat and superpower status within the global community, millions of girl children and women are being denied their fundamental right to equality and equal opportunity.
Sadly, in the new age of the internet and social media, deeply entrenched patriarchy, gender discrimination and misogyny are receiving a new lease of life. Adolescent and youth addiction to social media platforms, especially Instagram (54 million teen accounts) is fueling instead of dissipating aggression and crimes against women. The recent Netflix hit Adolescence indicates proliferation of a hidden online ‘incel’ and ‘manosphere’ culture which bodes ill for greater FLPR and gender egalitarianism.
Coterminously there is growing awareness that there’s only so much the police and law enforcement agencies can do to protect the safety and rights of women citizens. Self-evidently, the first lessons of gender sensitisation and respect for girl children and women must be given to male children at home and continuously in education institutions to ensure that boys don’t transform into brutes who disrupt the social order and harmony.
In our cover story this month, we invoke expert opinion suggesting ways and means for parents to raise sensitive and respectful boys who respect girls and women. This is a necessary precondition for women to hold up half the sky and fully contribute to the national development effort.
There’s much else in this issue of ParentsWorld. Check out the Early Childhood story in which clinical psychologist Akanksha Pandey offers valuable advice on raising Gen Beta, second-generation digital natives. In the PW Focus feature parenting coach Rahul Shah warns parents to safeguard against stress and burnout. Also recommended is the Health essay in which pediatrician Dr. Tarun Singh presents a detailed guide to prevent children’s sleep debt accumulation.
