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Description
There is one aspect of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), launched 10 years ago, that has perhaps not been sufficiently addressed - women comprise a third of all workers under this programme, and crimes against women appear to have increased since the introduction of this programme. That, at least, is the finding of researchers Sofia Amaral and Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay of the University of Birmingham, UK, and Rudra Sensarma of IIM Kozhikode. The three researchers have authored the paper 'Employment programmes for the poor and female empowerment: The effect of NREGS on gender-based violence in India,' published in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics. Using data from the National Crime Records Bureau and drawing inferences from household income and violence against women in studies from across the world, the authors write: "We find evidence that increased female labour participation following the NREGS has increased total gender-based violence. There have been increases in kidnappings, sexual harassment and domestic violence, while dowry deaths have decreased." The authors note that the gender gap in India runs across several areas. Despite legislation that has increased women's political participation, property rights and access to employment, "female labour force participation has been decreasing and ranks among the lowest, in comparison to other emerging economies". The authors also note a paradox: Women's education and status negatively affect enrolment in the labour market in rural areas, as traditional roles prevent women from working outside the household. The interesting finding, however, is that while other forms of violence against women increased, dowry deaths decreased since NREGS. This suggests that participation in work under NREGS can financially empower women to face pressures from the husband's family. Dowry, the authors note, is an economically motivated crime, and could mean that the husband's family has less need to extract payments from the bride's. The authors also suggest that the government must pay greater attention to policing and security, as women spend more time outside the house and are more exposed to unsecured workplaces. Cases of rape, sexual harassment and abductions are more likely, under such circumstances.
Keywords
MGNREGA, women, women security, crime, female empowerment, NREGS, gender-based violence,National Crime Records Bureau,violence against women
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