Rekha Pande

Abstract

South Asia is home to around a fifth of world population. Most of the South Asian countries were under direct or indirect European Colonial subjugation in the past and hence due to their experiences of Colonialism and exploitation they have not been able to keep up with the development of Capitalism in the world. Presently poverty, illiteracy, backwardness and a large population characterizes this region to a large extend. In this region, the family is very important and traditional values and cultures have a strong hold over the people. Patriarchal families which were earlier Joint families and have now become nuclear and extended family arrangements are very significant and gender issues play a very major role in the family structures.  South Asia has a family oriented culture where interdependence is valued more than independence. In this era of modernization and globalization, the family in these regions is facing a lot of challenges. While on the one hand families have found a way to stay close and resilient during these times of rapid socio- economic and political changes, yet they are also encountering new and disturbing problems that are putting them at risk. Globalization has seen the withdrawal of the State from welfare measures and the large scale migration from rural to urban areas and this affects the women much more than the men.  There has been a threat to the very structure and well being of the family resulting in a struggle to balance traditional family structures and practices with the changing values, attitudes and life styles. The present paper looks at the families in this region, with a focus on India and examines the strengths and vulnerabilities and the challenges that the family faces in the new millennium. Within the Indian context, this paper highlights four major issues, namely, declining sex ratio, early marriages, increasing violence against women and existence of child labor in many families. The paper concludes by stating that in this new millennium there is a need to look into gender issues to strengthen the family structures. The family should be a safe haven to develop the potentials, capabilities and competencies of its members especially women, to face the challenges of the future. In this globalised world a new approach is needed, one that supports the family as an institution based on equality love and respect rather than on power and privilege for men and boys and weakness and subservience prescribed for women and girls.

Gender issues in South Asia with special reference to Indian Families- Challenges in the New Millennium

South Asia is home to around a fifth of world population. It consists of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and the British Indian Ocean territories. From the civilizations of 5,000 years ago to the present day, South Asia has hosted countless numbers of cultures, creating a land with diverse beliefs where modern concerns mesh with traditional values. The region has often seen conflicts and political instability, including wars between the region's two nuclear states India and Pakistan. Most of the South Asian Countries were under direct or indirect European Colonial subjugation at some time or the other and hence due to their experiences of Colonialism and exploitation they have not been able to keep up with the development of Capitalism in the world. Most of the region gained independence from Europe by the late 1940s. Though today this region is characterized by high economic growth for the past 10-15 years yet poverty is also a reality along with illiteracy, backwardness and a large population. In the absence of a State support structure, the family plays a major role in this culture.

In spite of globalization and modernization, what characterizes South Asian region is the hold of traditional values and culture over the people and families. The families which were earlier Joint families have now become nuclear and extended families and are patriarchal but continue to play a very significant role in the life of individuals.  Family members vary in terms of how much power they have in family relationships depending on their gender, role, and status. All of South Asia has a family oriented culture where interdependence is valued more than independence. Personal goals and wishes are expected to be subordinated to those of the family. Elders and males serve as guides for family decision-making and appropriate cultural and individual behavior. Since State does not own any major social responsibility primarily of health care and Old age it is the family which takes care of the individuals in times of crisis. This region also has the largest number of people living below the poverty line.  Among developing regions South Asia has almost twice as much distance to cover as East Asia and more than three times as much as Latin America and the Caribbean. (UNDP 1998). Forty-five percent of its poor will live in urban areas by the end of this decade while 50 percent of the region's poor population is infants, children, and adolescents. Overall, 60 per cent of women of childbearing age in South Asia -- where half of all children are underweight -- are themselves underweight ( UNICEF 1998). Globalization is now changing the family structure and we have a broad division between the haves and the have nots giving rise to two different kinds of families. The present paper looks at the families in this region, with a focus on India and examines the strengths and vulnerabilities and the challenges that the family faces in the new millennium. Within the Indian context, this paper highlights four major issues, namely, declining sex ratio, early marriages, gender violence and existence of child labor in many families.

The declining sex ratio:

All South Asian cultures are patriarchal. There is a lot of value placed on the birth of a son and one of the major problems facing the family today is the declining sex ratio. In the Indian family culture which idolizes sons and dreads the birth of a daughter, to be born female comes perilously close to being born less than human. For a girl discrimination begins even before birth. Our statistics clearly point out to some facts that abortion of female fetuses is on the rise, the ratio of female to male is declining, there is reluctance to seek medical aid for ailing daughters, girls are breast fed for a shorter duration than boys and girls are easily with drawn from school to look after their young siblings. Regardless of the economic background the status of the female child has never been the same as that of the male at any level.

Gender roles are conceived, taught and enacted in a complex set of relationships with in the family and society at large. Needless to say the Media reinforces the same stereotyped gender roles. The girl child grows up with a low self esteem. She grows up with a notion of temporary membership in her natal home to be disposed off with assets and dowry. A tradition saying sums it up thus, a daughter is like ghee( clarified butter)- both are good up to a point. If you do not dispose them off they start stinking” Her productive role is to continue the household drudgery added to which is her reproductive role.

Even as a reproductive machine, a woman’s life is worth only if she produces a son. Tradition and scriptures reinforce societal biases against the girl thus, “the birth of a girl grant it elsewhere, here grant us a son”. Sophisticated medical technology now strengthens societal biases against girls in the form of prenatal sex determination tests which have resulted in female feticides. Education, global exposure and affluence, all of which translates into easier access to expensive technology have made it easier to select the sex of the child ( Pande, Rekha, 2004, ).  If there is a choice it is always for the male child. Despite a stringent law, doctors and patients manage to evade it. Hence there has been a decline in female ratio. ( Table 1).

A Report by India’s Registrar General and Census Commissioner, the Ministry of Health and family welfare and the United Nations Population Fund, based on the 2001 census, points out that in the 0-6 age group, the most prosperous states of India like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat have the lowest sex ratio ie. number of girls per 1000 boys. The most affluent pockets in some cities show the sharpest drop. South west Delhi for instance where some of the richest and most educated Indians reside has a sex ratio of only 845 against 904 in 1991. The situation is no better in other major cities which show a downwards trend. ( Table 2).Well-off states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana recorded more than a 50 point decline in the Child sex ratio since 1991. In Haryana almost all the Districts recorded a Child sex ratio of 850 and today there are many villages in Punjab and Haryana where there are no girl children.

The Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques ( Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Amendment Act was framed in 1994. Renamed the Pre- Conception and Pre- Natal Diagnostic Technique( Prohibition of sex selection) Act, it came into force in 2003. The Act prohibits sex selection before or after conception. It regulates, but does not ban the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques like ultra sound for detecting genetic abnormalities or other disorders. Any nursing home, registered medical practitioner or hospital that does the ultra sound test is required to state that it does not do sex determination. The State Medical Council can cancel a registration to a doctor guilty of violating the law. Under the Act any person who seeks sex selection can face a three year imprisonment ( on first conviction) and fined Rs. 50, 000.

The implementation of laws is just one facet of the war against female feticide.  However in India there is a big gap between the law on paper and its implementation and of every law there are hundreds of ways in which it is bypassed. All across India the birth of a son is announced triumphantly with the beat of a brass thali ( plate) and the distribution of sweets and money while that of a girl is met with silence and dejection, if not condolence. In North India dowries are much bigger and dowry deaths more common. In many states marrying a daughter can reduce the parents to penury. (Pande, 2001)

Status of the Girl Child:

 In the South Asian context, the girl child’s status in the family cannot be looked in isolation. Her status is a product of the general societal attitudes towards women at large. Women face higher risks of malnutrition, disease, disability, retardation of growth and development. They have no access of control over resources. Their work is invisible and hence undervalued. All there disabilities are powerfully reinforced through our culture, media, and education and socialization process. A look at some of the proverbs and saying in local languages throughout India sums up these attitudes. A popular Telugu saying from Andhra is, “Bringing up a daughter is like watering a plant in another’s courtyard”. Other states, “If you tell lies you will get a female child”, “ It is better to be born as a tree in a jungle than to be born a girl”.  As a result of the cultural milieu the women’s and the girl child’s self image as well as society’s image of her is negative. She has no value as an individual who contributes to the nation’s development and her work is invisible and unrecognized.

In one of the study that we conducted on the Girl child and the family in India, we found that, there are special celebrations for the birth of the girl in many of the families. Given the parental expectation it was clear that the arrival of the girl child was considered not a happy event even by most members especially if it was the second girl child. Preference for a son is clearly related to patriarchy, to lineage being continued by male progeny in addition to several other well known factors. It was interesting to note that the unhappiness over the birth of a daughter is a little higher in the case of the paternal grandparents, compared to maternal grandparents. This could also be related to the erroneously held belief that the sex of the child is determined by the mother. The tendency to be disappointed and unhappy that the grandchild is a girl is further compounded by the implied blame on the mother. ( Pande, 2004).  

Early marriage:

In many families the cycle of deprivation and disadvantage for the girl child is further compounded by premature pregnancies and its attendant risks due to early marriage. In India nearly fifty percent of the girls are married before attaining the legal age of eighteen years. In a United Nation’s list India stands fourth in this regards with a tie up with Bangladesh. Unfortunately this has not attracted enough attention of policy makers and this becomes a big impediment in the creation of a gender just society where women are empowered. There is a close relation between early age at marriage and the socio- economic variables-religion, caste, consanguinity, marital distance, spousal age difference, education and occupation of both bride and bridegroom and the socio- economic status of the family. All efforts to curb this evil through legislation has failed and marriage continues to be regarded as a private affair depending on the decision of the family.

During the 19^th centuries when the social reforms took place infant marriage had become a norm and there was a lot of gap between the ages of the husband and wife. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa married a girl of six, M.G.Ranade a girl of eight, D.K. Karve a girl of nine( Kapadia, 1966, 146). By this time marriages after puberty had become inconceivable and pre- puberty marriages had degenerated into infant marriages. Religious, social and psychological attitudes and tendencies conspired to make infant marriages for girls a rule and obligation. A fall out of this was that due to the vast differences in the age of the girls and boys many girls would become widows early on and they were treated very harshly by the society.

In societies where reproduction is primarily confined within marriage the changes in marriage ages and the resultant reduction in proportion of women remaining in married state are directly linked to fertility. Rising of female age at marriage has therefore been recognized as one of the important policy interventions that might be able to influence population growth. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 has laid down the minimum age at marriage for females in India as 18 years. Despite apparently vigorous efforts, including legislation prohibiting child marriages, the bulk of marriages in India continue to be performed at ages much below this legally prescribed minimum in several states.

Traditionally social and cultural factors have tended to support early as well as universal marriage for girls in India. The data on age at marriage is derived from marriage registration records. But in India a large number of marriages are not registered. In the absence of adequate data on this aspect one has to look at the Census data. The data of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) which was conducted in India during 1992-93 and covered 24 states is  another important source of information for the study of changes in nuptiality pattern among states in India on a comparable basis. During the 1921-31 the average age at marriage of females in India was too low at 12.5 years (Agarwala, 1962). Data clearly points out to the fact that after the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1928 although there had been a slow upward shift in female age at marriage, it was not until after 1951 that the marriage age of female was reported to be about 15.6 years for India during 1951 census.   As per the census information the two decades 1961-71 and 1971-81 recorded larger increases in female age at marriage at the national level as compared to earlier decades.( Table 3) yet much needs to be done.

In urban families, increasing educational attainment has helped to transform the entire value system governing marriage as well as to spread new ideas about marriage and the family. Work participation outside agricultural domain has substantially increased the individual's economic independence from parents, thereby helping young couples to determine their marriage mate( Das, 1998). Laws  have not been enough to deal with the issue and early marriages continue. Till early marriages take place we can never dream of a gender just society and an empowered woman. Early marriage also leads to domestic violence as women have no control over their lives. Today in India one of the important factors responsible for the present high population growth is the persistence of markedly low level of age at marriage. Age at marriage has become the focus of attention of scholars and policy makers because early and universal marriage is believed to contribute to high fertility levels. It is imperative to have changes in the existing marital behavior, and encourage late marriages because marriage spells a cessation of education for girls and premature assumption of domestic and child care responsibilities and does not lead to empowerment of the women in the family ( Pande, 2001).

Gender Violence:

In South Asia, in the absence of State support structures,  family is a group that one looks to for love, gentleness and solidarity, yet it is one of the very few groups  which uses physical force leading to  the increasing problem of violence in our society. It is well known that as bonds of tradition weaken with modernization, gender violence within families tends to increase. Domestic violence is not unique to India, nor is it a recent phenomenon. But in India what is unusual is the resistance to its elimination by society at large and society’s lack of recognition of it as a serious issue. What is recent however is the courage of women to face up to domestic violence—not just women in organized groups but also female victims who are well aware of the adverse consequences that “going public” will have on their lives. With the backdrop of the patriarchal social structure, the tradition of familial piety and the asymmetrical gender expectations in India, this defiant movement to expose domestic violence has created the space for a national debate on the issue.

It India, in the recent past, it has been primarily due to the efforts of the Women’s movement that violence against women was recognized as an issue meriting serious concern. Towards Equality, Report of 1974, this sharply highlighted the abysmal low status of women in modern India, and focused attention on the fact that despite many progressive social legislation’s and constitutional guarantees, women’s status had not improved much (Towards Equality Report, 1974).  However, this report did not include violence as an important issue in its discussion on the status of women.  It was only in 1995, the Indian Government had recognized violence against women as one of the eleven critical areas of concern. (Country Report, 1995).

Gender violence is rooted in the theory that the cause of domestic violence is one person’s arbitrary belief in the right to exert power over another person, interpersonal interactions or interpersonal relations and is situated in the socio-economic and political content of power relations (Kelkar, 1991). In Indian families, most of the working class women, even while facing violence, also face the trivializing of this reality in their lives. Middle class women face another kind of censoring of the violence that they face within homes. The public private divide which operates very strongly in many middle class women’s lives do not allow them to speak about the humiliation and violence they undergo. Both these, trivializing as well as silencing are political acts which support a structure of oppression of women( Pande, in Singh and Singh, 2008, p. 123) Girls who observe domestic violence are more likely to tolerate abusive partners as adults, thus subjecting another generation to the same sad dynamics. The wife’s tolerance is explained in terms of traditional socialization or learned helplessness (Agnes, 1980, Ahuja 1987 and Mahajan, 1988). Women tend to be the peacemakers on relationships, the ones responsible for making the marriage work.

Traditionally violence against women was considered women’s issue to be addressed through counseling,legal aid and organizing women’s shelters.  However, the issue came into sharp focus in the 1980’s with the widespread coverage by the mass media of growing incidents of torture of brides, of dowry deaths and of the localized populous protests against these heinous crimes. (Kishwar, Madhu, 1984). The campaigns by women and the slogan that, “ A suicide in the family is murder”, has brought about a change in the Indian Penal Code through Section 498 A, and for the first time criminalized domestic violence and created a much needed space for a distressed women facing violence in her marital home. The agitation against liquor in Andhra Pradesh also brought in the issue of violence in the public realm( Pande, 2002). There has now increasingly been a feeling that definition of violence only as physical acts of aggression are inadequate.  The understanding of violence has to incorporate the imperceptible psychological unseen day to day violence perpetrated within the families through cultural, religious practices, inter personal, interrelationships, language, gesture and socialization.

Despite the growing interest and recognition of the issue of domestic violence there is a dearth of literature on domestic violence in India. We do not have much data on domestic violence except few qualitative studies of a very small sample. (Mahajan, 1990, Rao, 1997). Three studies from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and Karnataka have clearly shown that domestic violence is an all-pervasive phenomenon in India.  It showed that violence cuts across caste, class, religion, age and education.  Inspite of economic prosperity and high literacy rate two out of every five wives experience physical abuse.(PROWID Report, 1999).

The liberalization of the economy in the wake of Globalization in many South Asian countries, has vastly diminished traditional livelihood means for the poor. The dominance of rich nations, multinational corporations and international capital over markets, resources and labour in the developing countries through trade, aid and technology transfer has greatly weakened the capacity of nation states and governments to promote human development and offer protection to the poor people.( Pande, 2001.a, 1). The conversion of large tracts of agricultural land for commercial aqua production, the diminishing viability of traditional livelihood skills, lack of education and skills for alternative means of income all reduce such victims to a situation of no other option but to enter into the sex trade. Poverty and deprivation, secondary status accorded to women in society, prejudice against the girl child, weakening of the family structure, changing public attitude towards sex and morality, the caste structure, urbanization, migration and the growing consumerism are some of the factors that have contributed to trafficking. Economic impoverishment provides the ideal ground for exploitation. It is no surprise therefore that nearly 70% of victims  in India come from drought-prone areas (Report, 1997,The Velvet Blouse, NCW). Majority of the children involved in trafficking are already HIV positive. It is also true that the increasing numbers of children who are orphaned because of AIDS are in fact being trafficked for sexual exploitation as they are without any protection and support. This in turn accelerates the transmission of the HIV virus and is an important contributing factor to the growing menace of AIDS in India. In India Who estimated in 1995 that as many as 1.5 million people may be infected with HIV virus, with the state of Maharashtra leading the nation in HIV infections ( Reuters, 1995).

Child Labour:

The film Slum Dog millionaire has clearly shown that there are two worlds which are existing side by side in India. The same hold true for the families.  As the gap between rich and poor becomes large,  we have two categories of families and children, one for whom there are all the advertisements for a good life, with healthy drinks like Boost and Bourn vita and who live on Bisleri water and the other  who are the unprivileged poor who have to toil and work for a living and do not have clean drinking water also. All this discussion is taking place at a time when Children are employed all over the world more so in developing countries. As many of these families are very poor every member of the family is brought in to earn for the family. It is estimated that there are at least 44 million child labourers in the age group of 5-14 (Debi S. Saini, 1994, 2).

Childhood has been regarded as a time to play, to learn and to grow. It is believed that this is the best time to develop ones potential and enjoy the bright plans for a future.   A report of Committee on Child Labor by Government of India, 1979 also observes that child labor is not a new phenomenon to our age.  It has existed in one form or another in all historical times.  Traditionally, help of child was taken by parents and other members of family in their routine and family occupations.  It  also  provides  an  opportunity  for learning a trade, which  would  be  ultimately  their  source  of Livelihood. Whereas child labor  becomes  an  important  source  of capital accumulation in the process of economic development it is also an internal part of  developing  countries  associated  with poverty and deprivation.  In communities belonging to the  lower income groups in South Asia, it is difficult to  run  a family on the income of the parents especially if the  later  are daily rated or piece  rated or  casual  or  contractual  laborers without any stable avenue of durable employment.   In such cases the income of the working child thought small in itself assumes much more value.  Their low  cost  gives  to  the  employers  a  potential competitive advantage, both in the domestic  and  export  market children face a permanent disadvantage in the labor market.  The drift to urban areas in the early stages of industrialization  is usually associated  with  high  unemployment  which  forces  many families and their children to search out a  living  in  marginal and usual forms of employment.

The Convention of the Rights of Child is an important manifestation of the recent interest in the phenomena of child labor and the discourse on the Child rights. The international conventions of the ILO have played an anchor role to deal with the problem of children.   The protection of the child against exploitation in employment is one of the major concerns of international conventions.  So ILO  has  adopted  18 major conventions and recommendations regarding minimum  age  for employment of  children,  medical  examination  of  children  and prohibition of night work for children.  The major objectives of this convention are to provide certain norms and standards for the well being of the children.  Currently this discourse is taking place in a particular international context of globalization. This convention recognizes the right of every child to a standard of living, adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. It also recognizes the right of the child to education, and with the view to achieve this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunities , it makes primary education compulsory, encourages different forms of secondary education and makes higher education accessible to all.  It also recognizes the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous and to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental spiritual, moral or social development (ILO).

While this whole discourse is presented as a universal discourse in reality it projects only a very western notion of childhood and one that has arisen out of the historical experience of the west. In fact the modern western conception of childhood is barely three to four centuries old where childhood is seen as a distinct and separate phase of life characterized by innocence and frailty, where children were ejected from the real world of work, sexuality and politics and confined to the classroom. Childhood is a very modern western invention. (Aries, 1962) In the medieval world there was no place for childhood.  In  the  sixteenth  and Seventeenth centuries the child or infant  of  the  upper  strata dressed in special dress and thereby distinguished  from  adults. By the eighteenth century everything to do with children's health and education had become established as a concern worthy of serious attention. 

The experience of non western societies has been different. Here there is not much difference between the Child’s world and the adult’s world especially in poorer households. The child here is not viewed as different from the larger context of the family. The present day discourse on Child rights has no space for the experiences and reality of non western societies. (Raman, 1998, p.2) More over there is an underlying paternalism since there is an assumption that this dominant notion of child right is more civilized and must be accepted by all. This discourse denies the autonomy to non western families to deal with children given their own socio- historical and cultural context. Child hood is a very privileged class. This concept is a very class based definition and it does not exist in the cases of lower incomer groups. as our paper will show.

In India, many of the children are employed in Carpet, Beedi, match, firework, glass and Bangles industries.  The  other  notorious occupations employing child labor are the precious stone industry of  Moradabad  and  the  diamond  polishing  industry  of  Surat.  Besides the various types of industries mentioned above children also contribute to a large proportion of urban domestic servants.  Children also work as vendors, shoe shine boys, and newspaper hawkers.  They also contribute to the labor force in other works like building construction, coolies, tea gardens, transport, stone and quarry works. They are also engaged in agriculture and livestock, fishing and in plantation where they help during sowing, weeding and harvesting. The overwhelming majority of these children in fact work in the unorganized sector rather than in the organized sector (Pande, 2000).

The plight of these children staggers imagination. Small undernourished children work for long hours, seven days a week for a pittance.   They  work  where  safety  precaution  are negligible and where  welfare  provisions  never  exist.   They work near furnaces and perform dangerous jobs like operating various types for cutting and piercing tools.  They usually do not have any access to basic necessities like toilet, medical and safe water.  Devoid of a childhood child labor leads to serious health hazards and denies them opportunity for physical and mental development. (Pande, 1999).

The problem is more acute in South Asia, given the changes that they have undergone due to industrialization and urbanization. Rural areas constitute more of child labor activates than in urban areas, hence magnitude of problem is more in rural areas than in urban areas.  The form of child labor in agricultural sector in rural areas includes farm labor which constitutes seventy per cent of labor force.   In urban areas  its  form  changes  which includes activities in different sectors such as match  and  fire industry of Savakasi in Tamilnadu, glass industry of Firozabad, a town in Agra district (U.P), Aligarh’s  lock  industry,  (U.P)  , carpet making industry in Jammu and Kashmir and U.P., beedi making industry in Madhya Pradesh, pottery  industry  in  Khurja  (U.P), coir industry in Kerala, zari industry  in  Banaras,  brick  kiln industry of West Bengal, slate industry in  Markapur  (A.P)  kiln industry of Dhone (A.P) which constitutes thirty per cent of  the urban labor force. As is true of the All India picture child labor  in  Andhra Pradesh is  mostly  in  rural  areas  Nearly  92%  of  the  child laborers are in rural areas.  The reason for this is that most of the children live in rural areas.   In  rural  areas  adult employment is affected by Seasonal needs, and thoroughly out  the year when the seasonal activity is low men and  women  employ  in other areas to substantiate the family income and  children  also join in.  Besides this, children also help in the performance of a number of activities which are information nature and routinely performed and hence go unrecorded and unnoticed.   These  range from harvesting minor crops, animal grazing, collection  of  fuel and fodder,  looking  after  the  siblings  and  household  work, especially by girls. When compared to the males in many regions of Andhra Pradesh it is girls who are in large numbers employed as laborers.

The reasons for the increasing number of Girl child labor are not for to seek.  The girl child cannot  be  isolated  from  the  general  societal attitudes towards women at large Thus while more and more boys are being sent to school are being withdrawn and  being engaged in household chores looking after siblings and  assisting the mothers in supplementing  the  family  income.   Parents are afraid of sending the girls far away from home to study or stay in a hostel and therefore mostly after puberty or primary school girl’s drop out and help in household chores( Pande, 2003). The problem of child-wage labor in the unorganized urban industrial sector and in the service sector is also immense. Children work in the most adverse working conditions, are subjected to physical and mental torture and are super-exploited. Children working in family enterprise are also often very exploitative because the labor is totally invisible and hidden in the guise of the needs of the family (Pande, 1999).

Hence, to conclude, the family in the new millennium is facing a number of challenges in south Asia including India. At the dawn of the new millennium, South Asia is a land of juxtapositions. While some South Asians reside in villages, farming and raising families in the same manner as their ancestors, others have moved to the cities. Wherever they live, most maintain their cultural identities. However, today the gap between the haves and the have not’s has only increased with Globalization creating two distinct worlds and family structures. All South Asian cultures are patriarchal and the major concerns today are a decline in the sex ration, early marriage, increasing gender violence and child labor in many families.   The family should be a safe haven to develop the potentials, capabilities and competencies of its members especially women, to face the challenges of the future. In this globalised world a new approach is needed, one that supports the family as an institution based on equality love and respect rather than on power and privilege for men and boys and weakness and subservience prescribed for women and girls.

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UNDP, 1998, The State of Human Development Report, Chapter 1, http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1998_en_chap1.pdf, accessed on 21st December, 2008.

UNICEF 1998, http://www.unicef.org/sowc98/ accessed on 21st December, 2008

WCD and UNICEF, 1999, The lesser child, Produced by Department of women and Child welfare and UNICEF, New Delhi.

Table 1:

Male Female Sex ratio in India:

Source: Registrar General of India, Reported in Health Statistics of India ( 1985), Central Bureau of Health Intelligence Directorate General of Health and family welfare, Government of India and Census of India.

Table 2:

Sex Ratio ( No. of Girls per 1000 Boys) in some Major cities of India

Souce: Census of India, 2001

Table 1II: Singulate Mean Age at Marriage of Females in India, 1961-1993

Source: Computed from census data for the period 1961-91. Office of the Registrar General Commissioner , India (1995).