Gujarat may be vibrant, but unfair to its fair sex

For scores of women, who live a busy life working in big companies and competing with their male colleagues, gender discrimination may not seem a burning issue. Probably because the awareness created over the decades has made its prevalence more subdued, if not non-existent.

But for the urban poor and rural women, the battle of gender equality is a far cry. Even today child marriage, polygamy, dowry, exploitation and sexual abuse are very much a part of Gujarat’s society.

Take the case of seven-year-old girl Rama who helps her mother pick up bricks at a construction site in Himmatnagar in Gujarat. Little does she know that her father is willing to sell her off in exchange for a few thousand bucks.

Unfortunate as one may call her, her mother’s fate was no better.
Shaila was sold off by the male members of her family to one Shailesh, a rich man from the Patel community, when she
was only 13, said a CRY activist.

Shailesh had promised her work and had said that her wages would be sent to her home. But instead, he married Shaila at a local temple. The marriage was never made legal. She was kept in confinement in a shanty house on Shailesh’s farm for six years.

“He would come home drunk and then beat and abuse me. This went on for 12 years,” said Shaila, recalling her marriage with horror. During this time, she gave birth to two children, a boy (now 11) and Rama. She, however, managed to escape and went back to her parents who live in a village in Sindhura taluka.

She now works at a construction site, but lives in constant fear that her daughter will meet the same fate as her, that Shailesh will come back for Rama and sell her off to someone.     

"Girls are valued, not for who they are and their abilities, but as marriageable assets. They attract a price of anywhere between Rs1-Rs3 lakh. He wants my girl, he will sell her off. I need to protect my child," she said with tears in her eyes.

Selling off tribal women to people belonging to rich, dominant castes, such as the Patels, has become a practice. So much so, that even now Shaila refuses to give up on Shailesh's surname and marry again, said an activist from Buniyadi Adhikar Andolan, Gujarat, an NGO working for the betterment of girl child. Nearly 15% of the girls in rural areas are married off by the age of 13, of which 52% get pregnant between 15-19 years of age, he added.

"CRY, as part of Buniyadi Adhikar Andolan, has been tracking this problem for the past two years now," said Pravin Singh from CRY's Gujarat team. "We are working to create large-scale awareness against this form of exploitation so that such dominant castes are named and shamed. Criminal cases need to be filed against such people," Pravin said. Shaila has also become a member of the organisation, and hopes to save other girls by sharing her experiences. Her only wish is to provide safety and good education to her daughter.