With COVID-19, women’s safety I’m India is more compromised as access to protective equipment and even vaccinations can be restricted. This, along with the fact that many women are on the ground responding to COVID-19 cases and caring for the sick, yet very few women hold decision-making authority, means support is vastly needed. These have become major forms of inequality on the basis of gender.
Recent research reveals gender discrimination mostly in favor of men in many realms, including the workplace. Discrimination between men and women affects many aspects of women’s lives, from career development and progress to mental health disorders. While Indian laws on rape, dowry, and adultery have women’s safety at heart, many highly discriminatory practices are still occurring at an alarming rate.

There is clearly a need for policy initiatives to empower women as gender disparities in India persist even against the backdrop of economic growth. Recent initiatives on training and recruiting young women from rural areas for factory-based jobs in cities provide economic independence and social autonomy that they were unaccustomed to in their parental homes.