Bodily autonomy in this patriarchal society

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What is a Patriarchal society?

Even though the actual definition of patriarchy is that the male is the lead role in decision making in a family, it goes much beyond this to mean in a broader sense of male domination. 

How is patriarchy manifested and propagated in a society?

  • Societal norms and mores.
  • Prevalent cultural norms.
  • Having more male Heroes and Gods in our mythology.
  • Egoistic male attitude learnt in early stages of life.
  • Primary and secondary socialisation factors.
  • Objectification of women in advertisements.
  • Over emphasis of a man as a lead role in films.
  • Lack of sex education.
  • Denial of basic human rights to those other than men.
  • Exploitation and violence.
  • Child marriage
  • Female genital mutilation
  • Unwanted pregnancy
  • Treating women as one's own property
  • Lack of bodily autonomy



What is Bodily Autonomy?

Usually referred to women, even though applicable to men and LGBTQ community, bodily autonomy is the agency and power of a person to make a choice about one's body without the fear of negative sanctions and violence from the society.

What does it include?

It is a comprehensive term covering the way of life including:

  • Right to reject or accept physical touch.
  • Right to decide whether to conceive or not.
  • Right to choose whether to have sex or not.
  • Right to decide about getting married.
  • Right to choose their dress, what to expose and not to expose.

Facts to be known:

United Nations Population Fund(UNPF) has released "State of World population report 2021" titled "My body is my own". According to the report,
  • Only 55% of the women in 57 developing countries are enabled to make their choice whether to have sex and to use contraception. 
  • Only 71% of the countries guarantee access to overall maternity care.
  • Only 80% of the countries have laws supporting sexual health and well being.
  • Only 56% of the countries have laws and policies supporting comprehensive sex education.
  • Twenty countries or territories have "marry your rapist" laws, where a man can escape criminal prosecution if he marries the women or girl he has raped.
  • 43 countries have no legislation addressing the issue of marital rape.
  • More than 30 countries restrict movement of women outside the house.

Facts specific to India:

  • National Family Health Survey 2015-16 - Only about 12% of the currently married women independently make decisions about their own healthcare.
  • Only 8% of currently married women take decisions about contraception independently, 83% decide jointly with their spouse.
  • Only 47% of women were provided information about the side effects of usage of contraceptives.

Impact:

  • The power of bodily autonomy is primary to an individual and it affects other spheres of decision making about, health, education, self worth, income and safety.
  • Lack of bodily autonomy can reduce economic productivity, skill development and lack of individual freedom and privacy. It is in fact violative of Article 21 i.e. Right to life where privacy is a fundamental right.
  • It can lead to extra costs on health care and judicial systems.
  • Any society in order to survive must evolve and change in time.
  • Lack of change with time leads to degradation of values.
  • This degradation manifests in human rights violation.
  • This creates social tension which will reduce the overall efficiency of the society.
  • Reduced efficiency leads to less development and it can become a vicious cycle.

Way forward:

  • Countries and cultures have to evolve with time.
  • Laws and legislation which specifically target discrimination have to be brought and executed in letter and spirit. 
  • Yes we have Maternity benefit Act, Matritva Vandana Yojana, Prevention of child sex determination act, Prevention of child marriage Act, Beti Bachao, Beti Padao, etc and many others. But just bringing in legislation will not suffice. People have to change. There needs to be a behavioural change in people and society as a whole.
  • Only the prevailing government can do nothing if people have no incentive to evolve.

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