International Law and Women Empowerment Swayam Course Women Law Tue, Apr 12, 2022, at ,10:41 AM Women constitute 50% of the population of the world but even after the dawn of the 21st century women are still not equally empowered as men. The need for empowerment of women arises due to centuries of domination and discrimination by the society on women. Women are the target of various forms of violence and face discrimination by society all over the world, and India is no different.The Constitution of India has sought to empower every citizen, including women, and to eliminate the evil practices and discrimination against women, but in reality there is a lot to be done to achieve equality of men and women. The society as a whole is yet to accept women as being equal to men and crimes or abuses against women continue unabated and are on the rise. Women’s empowerment should not only focus on giving women strength and skills to rise above their miserable situation, but there should be a simultaneous attempt to educate men regarding women’s issues and inculcating a sense of respect and duty towards women as equals. Women empowerment is giving power to women to decide for their own lives or inculcating such abilities in them that allows them choice to find their rightful place in the society. It is emancipation of women from the vicious grips of social, economic, political, caste and gender-based discrimination1.It leads to recognition of women’s basic human rights and creating an environment where they are treated as equal to men.The Indian Constitution includes provisions to eliminate age-old exploitative customs and traditions thereby empowering women socially, economically and politically. The Indian Constitution seeks to provide equality in general and gender equality in particular. The Preamble, the Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and other constitutional provisions provides several general and special safeguards to secure women’s human rights. The State is duty bound to apply these principles in taking policy decisions as well as in enacting laws. In the drive to providing women equal representation in the legislatures, the first step was taken by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1993, which conferred reservation for women in the local institutions.An overview of the Indian laws of the last six decades that have a bearing on women’s rights shows that there has been significant movement of the needle on empowerment of women. Burning issues like equal pay for women, guidelines on sexual harassment at the workplace are now part of the law. Hindu marriage laws have been reformed, good progress on the prohibition of child marriages. There have been several notable amendments to the laws of inheritance including the 2005 amendment to the Hindu succession Act which makes women coparceners in ancestral property. Maternity benefit has been enhanced to 262 weeks, family courts have been set-up, dowry prohibition laws have been strengthened, grounds to seek divorce have been widened and more importantly violence within home has been addressed by amending the penal laws and enactment of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Women’s commissions have been established at the central and state levels is a step in the journey towards women’s empowerment, but currently they run with limited powers and jurisdiction and at best can be described as token symbols. Some of the jobs pending are, marital rape, absolute prohibition of child marriages and declaring it null and void, rights of women on marital property, uniform civil code, etc.Role of International lawSince the founding of the United Nations, equality between men and women has been among the most fundamental guarantees of human rights. Adopted in 1945, the Charter of the United Nations sets out its faith in gender equality3.Documents asserting individual rights, such as the Magna Carta of 1215, the English Bill of Rights of1689, the French Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789, and the US Constitution and Bill of Rights 1791 are the written precursors to many of today’s human rights documents. Yet many of these documents when originally crafted excluded various categories of oppressed groups and generally excluded women. Nevertheless, oppressed people throughout the world have drawn upon the principles enshrined in these documents to support revolutions that assert their right to self-determination.The roots of the contemporary human rights can be traced to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (UDHR). While the UDHR was a mere declaration, and did not carry any binding obligation, nevertheless it was a mighty leap for human rights. Carrying forward that momentum, the United Nations played mid-wife to many major international covenants. After a brief examination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we will examine briefly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which placed a huge responsibility on nation states to provide these elemental rights to all of their citizens.Women’s empowerment in India would have been impossible without the contribution of international law. The Indian Constitution draws its spirit from the principles of international law reflected in various international conventions and covenants. India is a part to various international convention and treaties which are committed to secure equal rights of women. The principles of international law contained in various international instruments have been borrowed in framing Indian laws to address various women’s issues in the absence of domestic law occupying the field. The Supreme Court of India has expressly referred to international conventions like CEDAW and ICCPR in its judgment in Vishaka Vs State of Rajasthan4 and more recently in Charu Khurana and Others Vs Union of India and Others5.State parties to the international instruments undertake to adopt all necessary measures at the national level aimed at achieving the full realisation of the rights recognised in the Conventions. Accordingly the Indian courts do not hesitate in placing reliance on these international instruments for the purpose of construing the nature and ambit of fundamental rights expressly guaranteed in the Constitution of India which embody the concept of gender equality in all spheres of human activity.Read more at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PNGQDiBvzLOD9CL8aYkaiYE9iQ8qKeh8/view?usp=drivesdk