India acquired its independence from Britain in 1947. The Indian Constitution drafted based on secularism and democracy guarantees equal rights to all citizens, and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, caste, and religion. The Constitution also includes "directive principles of state policy" which requires the government to set goals for the welfare of the people, such as a minimum wage, jobs for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and subsidized medical care (History and Politics: Constitution of India, September 12, 2002). In sum, it promised rule of law, equal and efficient public service, and gender equality. Thus, democratization provided a foundation for civil society and made a space for the women’s movement to raise their voice. Indeed, the first wave of the women’s movement used the concept of Rights to question and overcome the existing prejudices and legal impediments for gender justice (Gurpreet, 1996).

Despite the equality before the Constitution, on the issue of Family Law, distinctions are made among citizens of different religions. Hindus, Muslims, and Christians are each governed by separate Personal Laws, which often sanction and justify different treatment for men and women of the same religion. The terms for separation, divorce, remarriage, and maintenance are often weighted in favor of men. For example, according to the Christian divorce law, if a wife and her husband separate, the husband can claim her property and custody of their children, and even can restitute his conjugal right (Gurpreet, 1996). The democratic Constitution contradicts the religious laws because the former guarantees gender equality, but the latter practically subordinates women. Therefore, although Independence made some improvements in the status of women, patriarchy had simply succeeded by a new and different form, in this case, as religious norms.

In the 1960’s and 70’s, the women’s movement in India erupted because of the catalyst of the international women’s movement and dissatisfaction among Indian women against unfulfilled promises of democratization. One of the first issues to receive countrywide attention from women’s groups was violence against women, specifically in the form of rape and dowry death. The State responded to women by creating legislations to criminalize rape and prohibit dowry. This movement against violence was initiated by urban and upper middle-class women who were more aware of and concerned women’s Human Rights (Butalia, December 5, 2002).

Women in rural and lower classes also participated in a different type of women’s movement in India because they had different interests. Their interests were directly related to their livelihood rather than rights-based interests. For example, anti-alcohol protests in many parts of India were started and sustained by poor, low caste, often working-class women because they suffered financially from husbands who squandered the family income on liquor. The Chipko Movement, an environmental movement against commercial logging, was initiated by poor women in a small village in Northern India. These women had traditionally collected firewood for living; therefore, they suffered the most from depleting natural resources (Butalia, December 5, 2002).

Hindu Indians have always believed in Shakti, women’s power, for example, Hindu mythology portrays Shakti in a handful of heroic tales on Hindu Goddesses. Shakti spirit is reflected in women’s movements even before India gained independence. For example, during Gandhi’s freedom movement, women challenged Gandhi’s policy in which he excluded women from participating in the movement. During the British colonialism, salt-making was a monopoly and earned considerable revenues for the British. Gandhi began his campaign against British monopoly of salt production by marching through many villages on his way to the sea, where he and others broke the law by making salt. Initially, Gandhi forbade women to participate as marchers in this the "Salt March." However, Sarojini Naidu, then female President of the Indian National Congresses, led a protest against Gandhi’s gender exclusive policy, and eventually the salt protest was made successful by the many women making, selling, and buying salt (Butalia, December 5, 2002).

Despite the philosophy signified by the concept of Shakti and the history of women’s movement in Gandhi era, the women’s movement in India has not been one single cohesive movement by "women" as "individuals," but rather fragmented campaigns based on other social groups such as religion, caste, class and location (i.e. urban/rural). Such collectivistic aspect can be observed in the civil society in India as well. Although the NGO sector in India is the largest and the most vital in the world, and there are more than 12,000 women’s NGOs, women’s NGOs do not have as tight of a connection among themselves as the case with other countries, such as Botswana, the Phillipines, or Paraguay (Concluding Observations: India, 2000). Women’s NGOs do not have an umbrella organization, rather they join umbrella organizations which are issue-specific, such as HIV/AIDS, or region-specific at the district or state level.

In this research paper, I will measure gender accountability of the government of India using framework by Kardam (2002). According to Kardam (2002), gender accountability can be identified by 1) the formal political commitment, 2) the compliance to the commitment by institutions (behavior), and 3) the gender mainstreaming at the cognitive level. I will first assess government accountability in gender as a whole, and then more specifically in sex-trafficking and reproductive health rights.

India supports the main international women’s conferences including the 1975 Mexico Plan of Action, the 1985 Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. The government showed its commitment by drafting the "National Policy for the Empowerment of Women" as a comprehensive national policy, which was mandated at the Beijing conference. In terms of following the conference, the Indian government responded to a questionnaire disseminated by the UN Secretary General regarding the implementation of Beijing Platform for Action (Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, 2002).

Table 1 shows international instruments ratified (or not ratified) by India. Overall, gender accountability exists at the international and the formal level considering the government’s positive attitude towards supporting international women’s conferences and instruments related to women’s human rights.

Source: Women Watch

India ratified CEDAW with declarations and reservations regarding registration of marriages (Article 16) and modification/prohibition of gender-biased customary practices (Article 5). India claimed that the registration of marriage is "not practical in a vast country like India with its variety of customs, religions and level of literacy." Although not legally required, marriage is registered under different procedure by different religions. For example, Hindu couples and Muslim couples are registered under the Hindu Marriage Act and Kaziz Act, respectively (Marriage Registration, December 8, 2002). In terms of gender-biased customary practices, India declared that it would make an effort to regulate such practices "in conformity and with its policy of non-interference in the personal affairs of any community without its initiative and consent" (CEDAW, September 9, 2002).

This reservation implies that the government attempts to limit its accountability to CEDAW on the grounds of respecting "cultural diversity." This non-interference policy is exemplified by the Indian personal laws, which control matters such as inheritance, property rights, and adoption. For example, according to Hindu personal law, daughters are denied most of the important coparcenary property rights that are granted to sons; women’s guardianship of their children is secondary to that of men’s; and wives cannot initiate adoption. Such legal restrictions contradict with CEDAW, which guarantees equality before the law and equal access to administer property (Article 15), and requires steps to ensure equality in marriage and family relations (Article 16) (Implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). Although women’s equality rights are already recognised and respected in many of India’s laws affecting public life, so long as private life is thoroughly regulated according to patriarchal principles, it will not be possible for women to exercise their public rights in a meaningful way.

Moreover, the fact that India did not ratify the CEDAW optional protocol limits its accountability as well, because without this protocol ratified, individuals or groups are not allowed to file their complaints to the Committee of CEDAW (Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, 2002). India submitted the initial CEDAW report to the Commission on the Status of Women on February 2, 1999 although the due date was set on August 8, 1994 (CEDAW, September 9, 2002). This 80- page report explains the details of women’s current status, identifies main issues, discusses the legal framework, and describes India’s past and current national plan for women’s empowerment and on-going programs. However, the second periodic report (due on August 8, 1998) was never submitted, nor was any NGO report submitted (CEDAW, September 9, 2002). Government accountability for CEDAW follow-up is visible to some extent, but is not fully satisfactory considering that India did not follow the deadline of the first report, or never submit the second report.

The Department of Women and Child Development was established in 1985 as a National Women’s Machinery (NWM) (Department of Women and Child Development: Introduction, October 24, 2002). The department, located under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, formulates governmental plans/policies/programs, enacts or amends legislations, and guides and coordinates the work of both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the field of Women and Child Development. The mission of the department is to:

The department also collaborates with bilateral as well multilateral donors in terms of funding and project implementation. The main funding comes from diverse donors, such as the Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.

The budget allocated to NWM is an important parameter to measure gender accountability by states. (Kardam & Acuner, 2002) The Department of Women and Children obtained 2.7% of the total government budget in 2001-2002 and 3.3% in 2002-2003. Within the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the department was allocated 22% of the total budget in 2001-2002 and 24% in 2002-2003. Ministry of Human Resource Development was allocated 12% of the government total budget in 2001-2002 and 14% in 2002-2003 (Expenditure Budget 2002-2003, 2002). Considering the increase in budget allocation to the department was proportionate to the increase in overall grants received by the Ministry from the government, the NWM maintains its visibility. However, 3% of the total budget does not indicate significant government accountability in terms of financial resource allocation.

Before the Indian government drafted the independent national policy for gender equality, it incorporated gender program into the development policy. In fact, the first national development policy, the First Five Year Plan in 1951 incorporated the welfare approach, mainly focusing family planning programs, as a strategic goal for gender equality in the field of development. Since then, the gender approach evolved (e.g. shift from welfare to efficiency, and from efficiency to empowerment). In terms of the budget outlay, the Ninth Five Year Plan launched in 1997 increased the budget 500 times that of the First Five Year Plan Policy back in 1951 (Formulation & Analysis in India, September 9, 2002).

In 2001, mainly due to external pressure, such as the Beijing conference, this policy to incorporate gender components in the development policy was replaced by the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, an independent national gender policy. This national policy pledges women’s empowerment through mainstreaming a gender perspective in the socio-economic development, legislation, and political processes. This national policy aims at women’s empowerment not only through women’s social participation (e.g. education, health/nutrition, housing) and economic participation (e.g. micro-credit, gender-sensitive work environment, agricultural training), but also through utilizing the links between women and socio-economic variables, such as globalization, environment, science/technologies and mass media. Violence against women and girl child issues are specifically mentioned as new imminent problems to be solved (National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, September 9, 2002).

The operational strategies of the national policy include research-oriented, program-oriented, and administrative-oriented tasks. The research tasks include developing gender disaggregated data, conducting gender surveys, developing training and awareness raising programs, and building a networking system among women’s research institutions. The program tasks include establishing of National State Councils, which would monitor policy implementation, organizing Self-Help Groups (SHGs) at the grass-roots level, and strengthening partnership with NGOs and bilateral/multilateral donors. The administrative tasks include gender budgeting (resource allocation to each departmental units for gender mainstreaming), and gender sensitization (gender training of policy-makers, judicial personnel, police, and civil servants) (National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, September 9, 2002).

As this national gender policy was drafted and accepted in 2001, there is no data available to evaluate implementation. Future research must be done in order to asses the government accountability for the policy implementation.

Even before India ratified CEDAW, India had legislation which protects women’s human rights in terms of certain cultural practices, property, sex trafficking, child marriage, and marriage/divorce. The important legislation includes the Married Women’s Property Act (1874), the Legal Practitioners (Women) Act (1923), the Child Marriage Restraint Act (1929), the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act (1956 and amended in 1986), the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961 and amended 1986), the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971), and Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act (1987) (Formulation & Analysis in India, September 9, 2002). Some of these Acts are proposed for amendment for the stringent punishment to the violators, the redefinition (expanding interpretation) of the offense, and the strengthening of implementation and enforcement.

After India ratified CEDAW, the Indian Parliament legitimized the establishment of the National Commission for Women, a statutory body in the Department of Women and Child Development, by passing National Commission for Women Act (1990). The main mission of the Commission is to review laws and legislation for gender justice. However, the work of the Commission expands to court interventions, legal awareness programs, sensitization programs for better enforcement of safeguards and laws among the police and government officials, and promotion of rights of minority women.

However, the Commission suffers from the lack of financial resources so that it cannot adequately enforce its proposals for law reform in the public as well as private sector. The Commission has satellite state commissions, but has no formal link with them. Similarly, the Commission does not have strong network with NGOs (Concluding Observations: India, 2000).

In 1993, India amended the 73^rd and 74^th Article of Constitution in line with CEDAW. This amendment provided women with 33% of the seats in Panchayats and Municipalities aiming at enhancing women’s participation in decision-making at the local level (Concluding Observations: India, 2000). Panchayat is the highest decision-making authority at the village level, and is usually composed of respected male residents in a community. In 1996, India also amended the Criminal Laws Ordinance with reference to child rape. This Ordinance provided the severe punishment for the offence of child rape and incest and safeguards to the victims of rape including girl children (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Concluding Observations: India, 2000).

At present, several bills have been proposed in line with CEDAW. For instance, the Marriage Bill (1994) recommended the enactment for a uniform law relating to marriages across religions. Currently, each religion has its own marriage law, which makes it difficult to ensure women’s human rights. It also recommended the compulsory registration of marriages with the aim of preventing child marriages and polygamy. The Domestic Violence to Women (Prevention) Bill (1994) recommended protection to the victims, their rehabilitation, and severe punishment to the violators. The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance calls for severe punishment for the offence of child rape and incest, and also safe home for the victims of rape (Legal Amendments Proposed, October 29, 2002). The National Commission for Women is currently conducting research regarding the situation of sexual harassment at work place in order to create the law to prevent it. It also prepared the code of conduct at workplace and circulated it to governmental, educational and public/private institutions (New Bills/Laws Proposed, October 29, 2002).

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is India’s largest grantor among multilateral donors. UNDP holds the mandate for gender mainstreaming in its programs, and its documents clearly situate women’s empowerment and gender equality at the center of a strategy for poverty alleviation. UNDP practices this mandate by building an extensive network with women’s NGOs, and by incorporating gender analysis in its programs (Gender Mainstreaming: A UNDP Mandate, 2002). The recent work of UNDP includes women’s empowerment for sustainable natural resource management, capacity building of women for monitoring local governance (e.g. panchayats), saving and credit programs, empowerment of women from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe, and empowerment of women farmers for food security (Community-based Pro-poor Initiatives Programme of the Government of India: Sub-prgramme Document, 2002).

The German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) is one of the biggest bilateral donors in term of grants and loans. Overall, the GTZ focuses on women’s empowerment through economic participation carrying out micro-insurance, micro-credit, and rural banking programs. The GTZ collaborates extensively with other stakeholders including grassroots organizations (e.g. the Self-Employed Women’s Association), the governmental agencies (e.g. the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) and international donors (e.g. UNFPA) (India: Project, October 29, 2002).

According to Kardam (2002), the government must establish principles, legal instruments, and monitoring mechanisms to prove the existence of gender accountability at the formal level. She also argues that accountability at the behavioral level is measured by examining to what extent that the government includes gender issues in central policy statements, guidelines, and procedures of major donor agencies to demonstrate its formal acceptance. Following this framework, it is fair to say that the Government of India demonstrates its gender accountability at the formal, as well as behavioral level. India ratified major international conventions, supported strategic plans produced by women’s conferences, and took policy as well as legislative initiatives to enhance gender equality. The NWM was established at the departmental level, comprehensive national policy was drafted, and gender-sensitive legislations have been created. The NWM is active in the field of gender and development, collaborating with international donors and non-governmental organizations. These behaviors indicate that the government is making an effort to comply and fulfill its commitment to gender equality.

Kardam (2002) argues that the importance of women’s human rights must be recognized not only at the international (and national) level but also at the cultural (cognitive) level. Indeed, in the case of India, the constraint that limits government accountability lies at the cognitive level. The concepts of "human rights," "liberalism," and "representative government" are based on Western-oriented individualism. However, in the case of India, the concept of democracy is interpreted in a different way. The operating principle of Indian democracy is equality between groups rather than individual autonomy; therefore, equality between a man and a woman as "an individual" is pushed aside, instead, equality between "religions" or "tribes" is emphasized (Gurpreet, 1996). In other words, women’s human rights are subsumed in the group-oriented principle of Indian democracy.

"Secularism" in India has a different connotation from the way it is interpreted in elsewhere in which it means the state separates from religion. In India, "secularism" means that the state cannot interfere with religion. Therefore, in terms of gender accountability, the Hindu central government avoids being accountable to other religious communities in order to protect its secularism principle and its political constituencies. As a result, gender is relegated to the private sphere shaped by different religions. The government is reluctant to intervene in "cultural and religious" matters (i.e. gender issues) because it is afraid of losing its political constituencies in these communities by undermining the secularism principle (Gurpreet, 1996). The limitation of gender accountability at the cognitive level is clearly exemplified with different Family Laws for different religions, and the reservation in CEDAW for marriage registration and gender-biased customary practices on the grounds of respecting culture of different ethnic (religious) groups.

India is a major recipient country of sex trafficking from Nepal and Bangladesh. It is estimated that 200,000 Nepali girls and women work in the brothels of Indian cities like Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi, that 20% of them are under 18 years, and that at least half of them infected with HIV (Human Rights Watch, 1996). Prostitution per se is not illegal in India, however, trafficking has some penal clauses in the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act (1956 and amended in 1986). However, various research and surveys have found the problem with law enforcement in which the police is often bribed by traffickers, or even if victims are rescued, they are often sexually and verbally harassed by the police (Nikhil, 1994).

The Indian government is visible in most international human rights instruments relevant to trafficking in women and girls. India is a party to Forced Labor Convention (1930), a signatory to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, and ratified the Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (Human Rights Watch, 1996). The government also drafted and ratified the South Asia Regional Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children (SAARC), in which South Asian countries pledged to jointly eliminate cross-boundary sex-trafficking (New Bills/Laws Proposed, October 29, 2002).

At present, a principal law to criminalize the sex-trafficking is the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act. Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act and article 376 of the Indian Penal Code also prohibit the purchase and sale of human beings, forced labor and all forms of bonded labor (Human Rights Watch, 1996). The government is in the process of drafting a new legislation in line with the SAARC convention (New Bills/Laws Proposed, October 29, 2002). At the direction of the Supreme Court, the government formed Central and State Advisory Committees, which drafted a plan of action to combat trafficking and to rescue/rehabilitate those who are sexually exploited.

The Department of Women and Children is in charge of implementing the plan of action, and the funds have been earmarked for various activities such as rehabilitation of victims, sensitization of police officers, database building, and networking among governmental organizations and NGOs for information exchange and anti-trafficking joint programs (National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, September 9, 2002).

With the U.S. Embassy's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) assistance, the government of India established Mumbai Police Anti-Trafficking Unit, which is an Anti-Trafficking Unit consisting of officers dedicated exclusively to anti-trafficking work to investigate, arrest, and prosecute traffickers. The unit will work with NGOs in conducting brothel raids, and debriefing and assisting rescued trafficking victims in order to gain evidence for the prosecution of traffickers, recruiters, pimps, and brothel owners (Preventing Trafficking of Women and Children in India, October 13, 2002).

Since the plan of action and the anti-trafficking unit are at the initial stage, at this point, there is no data disclosed regarding resource allocation (e.g. budget, personnel, and infrastructure) and its activities to assess government accountability for these interventions and to evaluate implementation.

The Indian government collaborates with donors and NGOs for interventions as well. For example, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting collaborates with UNIFEM in raising awareness about trafficking along the India-Nepal/India-Bangladesh borders in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Bihar. Utilizing the strong village-level outreach network of the Ministry, UNIFEM has developed and supplied posters, brochures, films, and banners to the village for an awareness raising campaign (Programmes, September 19, 2002). The Asian Development Bank (ADB) started a Regional Technical Assistance (RETA) Project in South Asia in July 2001 to address the anti-trafficking concerns through its country programs and regional policy. ADB held a series of regional workshops to exchange ideas and study legal frameworks among the government, NGOs, and donors in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal (Combating Trafficking of Women and Children in South Asia, October 13, 2002). The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is working closely with UNIFEM to provide local NGOs with capacity building (especially legal skills), provide grant support for the Department of Women and Children for implementation of its plan of action, and provide victims with rehabilitation through education and skill building (Preventing Trafficking of Women and Children in India, October13, 2002).

Many local NGOs initiate anti-trafficking movement as well. With financial and technical support from international donors and NGOs, local NGOs provide sex-workers with free health check-up in red-light districts, and carry out awareness-raising and skill building programs in various regions supplying women for the sex-industry. NGOs-run counseling centers provide legal assistance, access to police, rescue/repatriation, and schooling for young victims. Some NGOs are specialized in research work, identifying the nexus between "push" and "pull" factors of sex trafficking, and the relationship between trafficking and illegal migration. Other NGOs are active in advocacy and awareness raising through media, public awareness campaign, and sensitization training for law enforcement and relevant law practitioners, police officers, and government officials (Preventing Trafficking of Women and Children in India, October13, 2002).

Government accountability in sex trafficking exists at the formal level, and is visible at the behavioral level. The government ratified the international as well as regional conventions, drafted the national plan, and strengthened the existed anti-trafficking legislation, and various donors and NGOs are working toward anti-trafficking, often collaborating with governmental agencies. However, the accountability at the behavioral level must be further improved.

Firstly, the quality of the law needs to be improved. The existing laws still perceive women as subjects to be arrested, thereby, increasing arrest and detention of women who are the victims of sex trafficking. Moreover, the police tend to sexually as well as verbally harass criminalized victims during interrogation, thereby further undermining their human rights (Human Rights Watch, 1995). It is urgent for the Indian government to amend the existing law and decriminalize the trafficked victims. In order to enforce this law effectively, the government should establish a comprehensive and compulsory system of birth registration. Inability to prove birth by documentation prevents effective implementation of laws that protects girls from sex-trafficking.

Secondly, the law enforcement authorities need to be strengthened. The authorities are undertrained and corrupt. Bribery among police, border officials and traffickers is so rampant that traffickers often go without being punished even if they are arrested and that victims are returned to brothels even if they are rescued (Nikhil, 1994). To enhance the law enforcement at the local level, the Indian government should ensure the presence of women police officers, investigate extortion and sexual abuse in detention, and prosecute responsible individuals.

Such accountability problems at the behavioral level often results from the lack of accountability at the cognitive level. For example, if a police officer is not properly sensitized to perceive the trafficking as being problematic, the presence of law itself does not mean much to its enforcement (Human Rights Watch, 1995). In order to implement and enforce anti-trafficking legislations and programs, the government should implement legal training, education, sensitization, and awareness raising among police, government officials and law practitioners.

Major constraints at the cognitive level lie in "pull" and "push" factors related to cultural norms that tolerates commercial sex industry and sex-trafficking. Ucarer (1999) explains that pull factors make recipient regions or countries attractive to individuals who have decided to make a living outside their residence. Ucarer (1999) also explains that push factors have to do with the circumstances in the country of origin which drive individuals outside. Major pull factors at the cognitive level include myths on HIV, STD, and on sexuality. The scare of AIDS has developed a myth among the clients of prostitution. For example, many believe that a child is less likely to carry HIV than an experienced adult prostitute, having sex with a child is a cure for sexually transmitted diseases, or sex with a child can cure impotency, thereby promoting male virility. Socialisation of the role of women as sex providers and men as customers for paid-sex is another important pull factor (Sinha, December 5, 2002). In sum, commercialization of sex is culturally tolerated, and, moreover, this cultural norm in addition to various myths increase the demand for younger girls.

Major push factors include religious and social practices, such as child marriage and dowry, and traditions and religions that promote and support prostitution, particularly of the girl child, such as Devadasi. Devadasi is a religious practice in parts of southern India, in which parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty and requires the girl to become a prostitute for priests and upper-caste community members. Such girls are forbidden to enter into a real marriage (Carroll, December 7, 2002). The practice of bigamy, physical and sexual abuse at home also contribute to create social norms that tolerates sex-trafficking. (Sinha, December 5, 2002). Such gender discriminatory cultural practices are based on the bias that girls and women should compensate for being a financial burden on their family by becoming a sexual commodity. Based on this bias, trafficking of girl children, with and without consent of parents, has become a viable alternative source of income. Among many impoverished communities trading of girl children for money is on the verge of becoming a socialised norm. In many cases, sex-trafficking of girl children has reached beyond the entire Indian sub-continent, spreading to Nepal and Bangladesh (Nikhil, 1994).

Also, it has been pointed out that the members of lower castes and ethnic minorities appear to be disproportionately represented in the sex worker population. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that some traditional practices in certain villages and among certain castes encourage young girls to become concubines for feudal lords or force them into prostitution. For example, historically, there have been a few districts in Nepal among the Tamaji tribe, where the men have knowingly acted as suppliers of their daughters, sisters, wives, and distant relatives to Indian brothels (Nikhil, 1994).

Not only cultural norms, but also a false expectation that rural girls have for urban life perpetuates sex-trafficking. Many girls have the misperception that urban life is glamorous, and hope to go to cities in order to aquire the wealth that the girls who return to their villages have aquired. Also, there is also social respect for such "earning women" in many villages, and these women returning to their villages after their "captive years" with money and goods without sexual diseases often marry and settle down in their villages, or begin to work as procurers for "fresh" girls (Human Rights Watch, 1997). At the cognitive level, mainly due to the lack of awareness and education of sex-trafficking, it is sometimes not recognized as the violation of human rights, but as the opportunity to have a new life in urban cities.

Moreover, sexual exploitation is a taboo topic in India; therefore, the crimes related to trafficking are often underreported because of the shame that it brings to families. Furthermore, some trafficking victims do not wish to return to their homes even if they had been rescued. They are afraid of the stigma because they deviated from "normal life." They are afraid of physical, and/or sexual and social discrimination from the community, but also do not want to return to the same lives that they had sought to escape (Human Rights Watch, 1997). In general, it is the gender inequity and inequality that make women and girl children particularly vulnerable to being trafficked.

However, it is not necessarily true that all parents take it for granted that girls can be sexually commodified. In some cases, parents sell their daughters reluctantly because they don’t see any other choice, or ways to change their impoverished life. Or girls simply run away to escape from harsh physical labor in rural life. Parents and their daughters are also vulnerable to traffickers’ false promises of job perspectives in cities, such as waitressing or carpet weaving (Sinha, December 5, 2002). Therefore, it is wrong to assert that sex-trafficking is completely tolerated and acknowledged at the cognitive level.

The government must make an effort to enhance its cognitive accountability at the local level. The public awareness campaigns often do not reach many poor rural villages, which are the main suppliers of the girls for the sex-industry (Programmes, September 19, 2002). For further outreach, the government must expand its network with NGOs capable of reaching out such remote areas to bring about behavior and attitude change among local people. The government also must cooperate with the sender countries of sex-trafficking, such as Nepal and Bangladesh to address the cognitive-level interventions in their jurisdiction.

In 1952, India became the first developing country to establish a national family planning program to address the issues of high fertility and rapid population growth (Reproductive and Child Health Programme, September 28, 2002). In the 1970’s-80’s, the family planning prioritized population control over women’s reproductive health. The government set a monthly target for contraceptive acceptance, thereby causing rampant coercive, uninformed, defective operations of sterilization and abortion. As the result of quantative outcome emphasized over qualitative outcome, many women were maltreated with low quality of maternal care (Koenig, A., & Khan, M.E., 1999). Indeed, India’s coercive family planning did not comply with CEDAW Article 12, which guarantees a woman for an access to good healthcare and family planning services during pregnancy, confinement and the postnatal period.

India’s population policy shifted its focus from population control to reproductive health rights after the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The "Target-Free Approach" announced in 1996 eliminated national targets for contraceptive acceptance. Instead, a new approach called for planning at the community level, where grassroots workers would set targets for themselves after assessing the needs of individual clients (Karkal, 1998). From the 1990’s onward, India publicly pledged to improve reproductive health showing its commitment and dedication to ICPD.

The Department of Women and Children is not directly involved with the reproductive health issues. Instead, the Department of Family Welfare located under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is in charge of reproductive health. The Department of Family Welfare obtained 7% of the total government budget in 2001-2002 and 7.3% in 2002-2003 (Expenditure Budget 2002-2003, 2002). The Department of Family Welfare, in spite of being at the department-level, obtains more funding from the central government than the most Ministries do. Within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the department was allocated 73% of the total budget in 2001-2002 and 74% in 2002-2003 (Expenditure Budget 2002-2003, 2002). In terms of resource allocation, the government is showing high level of accountability to the department.

The department has been carrying out the National Family Welfare Program initially launched nationwide in 1951. The program include various reproductive health projects including immunization and vaccination against preventative diseases for pregnant women, information dissemination through media and education, training medical/health personnel, distribution of contraceptives, and sterilization operation (Department of Family Welfare, November 15, 2002).

The department collaborates with the donors including the World Bank, USAID, and UNFPA in project implementation to enhance reproductive health and family welfare service by reducing maternal (infant) mortality, morbidity and birth rate. The collaborative projects include strengthening service delivery and infrastructure and upgrading facilities and skills of medical as well as paramedical personnel through training and better program management. The department also coordinates with local NGOs at the village level working for advocacy and counseling to bring about changes in social and personal attitude, perception and behavior. The department is also responsible for the National Family Health Survey conducted every 5 years, which provides information on fertility, mortality, unmet need for family planning, and health/nutrition status. Population/Health related research institutes are set up and run by the department as well (Department of Family Welfare, November 15, 2002).

Reproductive health is a major field for donors in India. For example, the World Bank implements several reproductive and child health projects in India. The biggest project is the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) jointly implemented with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It started with the financial help (US$ 248 million) from the World Bank in 1997. This project aims at improving performance of its existing Family Welfare Program based on the private sector-led growth, ultimately contributing to stabilization of population growth. The projected also aims to decrease diseases and maternal (infant) mortality associated with pregnancy and child bearing (Reproductive and Child Health Project, October 28, 2002).

CARE implements multiple projects related to reproductive health. The projects include reproductive health for women in slums by providing them with education and contraceptives. CARE is dedicated to quality improvement of reproductive care at the community level in terms of referrals, program monitoring, and supply logistics for contraceptive and essential drugs for STDs. CARE also implement projects to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission and other STDs, and to improve nutrition of pregnant women. CARE collaborates with USAID, the Department of Women and Children, and the Department of Family Welfare in funding, project implementation, and networking (Health, Nutrition & Population, September 9, 2002).

Reproductive health has been a major issue for the Indian women’s movement and strongly supported and politicized by civil society. In the 1990’s, the women’s movement generated debates and campaign over the declining sex ratio and the selective abortion of female fetuses, and significantly influenced the government population policy over certain contraceptive technologies and substances. In 1992, women’s groups presented a memorandum to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare demanding the exclusion of Norplant (a birth control device) in the Family Planning Programme because of its devastating side effects. This took forward the campaign against hazardous contraceptive technologies started in the 1980’s (Visvanathan, November 10, 2002).

After "population control" policy was further brought out at the international level in ICPD, early in 1997, the Indian women’s movements demanded the government to ban quinacrine sterilization (QS). Women’s group demonstrated and protested outside clinics using QS, and the issue captured media attention, which led publication of several reports on the abusive nature of chemical sterilization. After the women’s movement sought legal intervention from the Supreme Court, the government finally banned the drug (Visvanathan, November 10, 2002).

Such women’s movements include activities not only against harmful contraceptives, but also against the introduction of abusive contraceptive technologies. Forum against Oppression of Women, a Bombay-based NGO, utilized its national and international women’s network, and protested the misuse of prenatal diagnostic techniques for sex-determination. As a result, Maharashtra state government passed a bill banning the practice (Koenig, & Khan, 1999).

Government accountability on reproductive health is strong in the formal as well as behavioral context. The government fully supported ICPD, and made a drastic change in its population policy to show its commitment to reproductive health. The government also encourages donors and NGOs to work for reproductive health. As Kardam and Erturk (1999) explain that the synactic relationship between states and women’s organizations expands gender accountability in Turkey, women’s organizations in India indeed succeeded in demanding legal action (e.g. banning contraceptive and changing laws) from the state. Although passive, the government responded to the voice of civil society. In sum, as the second most populous country in the world, due to the external (ICPD) and internal (women’s movement) pressure, India formally pledges its commitment to reproductive health at the international as well as national level.

The government accountability is low at the cognitive level. Currently, the government is extremely passive in overcoming cultural norms and practices, which violates women’s reproductive health rights. The examples of such norms include child marriage and son preference. In northern states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, child marriage is common and perceived as a tradition. For example, some tribal groups practice child marriage because of their belief in the legend that Muslim invaders raped unmarried Hindu girls. These tribal groups believe that they must protect their daughters by marrying them off at a young age (Child Marriages, Though Illegal, Persist in India, November 15, 2002).

Child marriage contributes to reproductive health problems, because a girl who gets married at a young age tends to get pregnant at a young age as well, often when she is still in her early adolescence. Early pregnancy increases the maternal mortality rate during labor and pre- as well as post-natal period. Moreover, if a girl is taken out from school at early age to be married off, she hardly attains literacy. Low education and literacy leads to low contraceptive use, thereby increasing the chance and frequency of becoming pregnant. Birth spacing is one of the most important aspects in reproductive health because the frequent pregnancy adversely affects maternal as well as infant survival and health.

According to the Child Marriage Restraint Act (1978), Indian law sets 18 as the minimum age for a woman to marry and 21 for a man (List of Bills Introduced, September 19, 2002). In Rajasthan, every year, formal warnings are posted outside state government offices stating that child marriages are illegal, but they have little impact. Local people know that child marriage is against the law, but think that it cannot be detected because marriage registration is legally not required (Child Marriages, November 15, 2002). Besides, the fact that birth registration is not legally required further makes it difficult for law enforcement authorities to detect child marriage (Concluding Observation: India, 2000). In fact, marriage registration and birth registration were India’s reservation items in CEDAW and CRC, respectively.

The government must acknowledge that child marriage is an important variable threatening reproductive health rights. In order to improve the current status of reproductive health as a whole, the government must consolidate the separate marriage laws that exist for each of the major religious communities, namely, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian, and include a provision requiring that all marriages be legally registered. The unified marriage law across the different religions and marriage registration will enable the government to better enforce Child Marriage Restraint Act.

Son preference is another important variable adversely influencing reproductive health in India. Couples with strong preference for sons tend to have high fertility because they do not stop having children until they have a few sons. The goal of these parents is to ensure that at least one son survive to adulthood. Interestingly, a handful research shows that regions where son preference is strong match with regions where child marriage is common (e.g. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar) (Is Son Preference Slowing Down India’s Transition to Low Fertility?, November 15, 2002).

Son preference does not only increase fertility, but also causes frequent abortions and shorter birth spacing. If a mother keep aborting female fetus until having a few sons, the probability of having abortions would be very high. Frequent abortions affect maternal survival and health by inducing miscarriages and increasing complications during prenatal period as well as labor. Also, a pressure put on couples to have sons could shorten birth spacing period because couples try to have sons as soon as possible and do not wait long enough to have the next child (Arnold, Choe, Mutharayappa, & Roy, 1997).

Abortions or prenatal test for sex-selection are prohibited by the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention Of Misuse) Act enacted in 1996. According to this Act, ultrasound, a common prenatal care tool to produce images of fetuses, is permitted only to test fetuses for genetic and congenital abnormalities or disease. In principle, any party involved in sex-determined tests and abortions, from doctors and the health care workers to the relatives, can be persecuted. However, in practice it is hard to prove that an abortion is done for sex selection because abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy is legal, but sex selection is not. Medical practitioners can charge extra fee for telling the couples the sex of fetuses. After all, such clandestine behavior cannot be regulated by this Act (Ramachandran, 1999).

Reproductive health does not only need the supply-side approach, such as improving infrastructure and services, but also needs the demand-side approach, namely, establishing the environment so that women can receive the service. Such environment cannot be established only by educating women, but also raise awareness of the importance of reproductive health among communities as a whole. In order to do this, the government must reconsider its consistent policy of not interfering in the personal laws, culture, and customs in different communities. While taking the supply-side approach, at the same time, the government must take action against cultural norms, which threaten women’s right to access reproductive health.

In conclusion, overall, I believe that government accountability increased after it ratified CEDAW due to external pressure by international communities and donors, and internal pressure by women’s movement. The positive influence of external as well as internal pressure in gender accountability is notably demonstrated by the Shah Bano case in the 1980’s. Shah Bano, an Indian Muslim woman claimed maintenance upon her divorce, but her claim was initially rejected by her husband and his family based on then Muslim Personal Law. The case was publicized worldwide and obtained a significant impetus by the international as well as domestic women’s movement. Regardless of the religious affiliation of their members, the women’s organization supported Shah Bano. The case was finally taken to the Supreme Court where eventually Bano’s claim was accepted (Engineer, 2000). I believe that the Shah Bano case embodies the Indian government accountability at the formal and behavioral level because the ratification of CEDAW created the space for external as well as internal pressure to disable the government to ignore women’s issues at the expense of secularism principle as before. The case was also inspired by changes at the cognitive level where women from different religions united and fight for the victory.

However, government accountability needs to be strengthened further at the cognitive level. After the verdict in 1986, the government passed and enacted the Muslim Women’s Act to protect Muslim divorcee. The Act guarantees divorcees three-month worth of maintenance after their divorce (Engineer, 2000). The government must amend the Act so that a wife can have an adequate amount of maintenance over an extended period of time. Extending maintenance is the first step towards greater reform. Eventually, the Indian government must reform the personal laws of different religious and ethnic groups, and even enact a uniform civil code, in consultation with these groups. Otherwise, the government’s policy of non-intervention will likely perpetuate sexual stereotypes and discrimination against women. The Shah Bano case indicates that a woman in India identifies herself in terms of her caste, religions, language, and location (i.e. rural/urban), along with gender; therefore, gender often gets subsumed in such different layers of identities. As Kardam (2002) claims, "the ambiguity and vagueness of global gender equality norms make ‘local’ interpretation and translation necessary." The Indian government, in all local languages, must instill the concept of gender equality, publicize related international conventions, and let society be aware of the government policy at the local level in order to maintain gender accountability for all groups of society.

Arnold, F., Choe, M., Mutharayappa, R., & Roy, T. (1997). Son Preference and its Effect

on Fertility in India. National Health Family Survey Subject Reports (3).

Retrieved November 15, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www2.eastwestcenter.org/pop/misc/subj-3.pdf

Butalia, U. The Women's Movement in India: Action and Reflection. Third World

Network. Retrieved December 3, 2002 from the World Wide Web

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/india1-cn.htm

Carroll, T. Devadasi. The Skeptic’s Dictionary. Retrieved December 6, 2002 from the

World Wide Web: http://skepdic.com/devadasi.html

CEDAW. Division for the Advancement of Women. Retrieved September 9, 2002 from

the World Wide Web: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw.htm

CEDAW Summary. WILD for Human Rights. Retrieved December 8, 2002 from the

World Wide Web: http://www.wildforhumanrights.org/cedaw_summary.html

Chakrabarti, D. (2001). Gender Inequality and Social Policy in India. (Rep.). International

Sociological Association.

Child Marriages, Though Illegal, Persist in India. USAID India. Retrieved November 15,

2002 from the World Wide Web:

Combating Trafficking of Women and Children in South Asia. Asian Development Bank.

Retrieved October 13, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.adb.org/Documents/Speeches/2002/ms2002068.asp

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Concluding

Observations: India. (2000). University of Minnesota. Retrieved

September 9, 2002 from the World Wide

Web:http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/index.html

Community-based Pro-poor Initiatives Programme of the Government of India:

Sub-prgramme Document. (2002). United Nations Development Programme.

Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.undp.org.in/Programme/subpro/TBS_FINAL.doc

Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

India’s First Report. The Department of Women and Child Development.

Retrieved September 9, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://wcd.nic.in/CEDAW4htm

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. United

Nations Treaty Collection. Retrieved September 19, 2002 from the World Wide

Convention on the Nationality of Married Women. The United Nation Treaty Collection.

Retrieved November 5, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.un.org/Depts/Treaty/final/ts2/newfiles/part_boo/xvi_boo/xvi_2.html

Documents available in ILOLEX for India. International Labor Organization.

Department of Family Welfare. Department of Family Welfare, Government of India.

Retrieved November 15, 2002 from the World Wide Web: from

http://health.nic.in/mmenu.htm

Department of Women and Child Development: Introduction. The Department of Women

and Child Development. Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://wcd.nic.in/intro1.htm

Engineer, A. (2000). Muslim Women’s Maintenance – Some New Judgement. Institute of

Islamic Studies and Centre for Study of Society and Secularism. Retrieved

November 19, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://ecumene.org/IIS/csss39.htm

Empowerment of Women Farmers For Food Security. (2002). United Nations

Development Programme. Retrieved October 24, 2002 from the World Wide

Web: http://www.undp.org.in/Programme/fsecurity/default.htm

Erturk, Y,, & Kardam, N. (1999). Expanding Gender Accountability? Women’s

Organizations and the State in Turkey. International Journal of Organization

Expenditure Budget 2002-2003 CENTRAL PLAN OUTLAY BY

MINISTRIES/DEPARTMENTS. (2002). Department of Expenditure. Retrieved

September 12, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2002-03/eb/stat12.pdf

Gender Mainstreaming: A UNDP Mandate. (2002). United Nations Development

Programme. Retrieved September 9, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.undp.org.in/report/Gstrat/strat-2.htm

Gurpreet, M. (1996). Gender Equality and Community Rights: Paradoxes of Liberal

Democracy in India. Journal of Gender Studies, 5(2).

Health, Nutrition & Population. CARE India. Retrieved September 9, 2002 from the

World Wide Web: http://www.careindia.org:

8080/displaySector.jsp?sCode=CIS14

History and Politics: Constitution of India. University of California, Los Angels.

Retrieved September 12, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/indep.html

Is Son Preference Slowing Down India’s Transition to Low Fertility?. National Family

Health Survey Bulletin. Retrieved November 15, 2002 from the World Wide

Web:http://www2.ewc.hawaii.edu/pop/misc/bull-4.pdf.

Implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against

Women (CEDAW). Unifem. Retrieved December 8, 2002 from the World Wide

Web: http://www.unifem.undp.org/resources/cedaw/cedaw10.html

India: Project. German Agency for Technical Cooperation. Retrieved October 29,

Interactive Video Presentation: Girls Trafficking. Building with Books Retrieved

November 5, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.buildingwithbooks.org/virtual/protected/ivp_girls.html

Kardam, N. (2002). The Emergence of a Global Gender Equity Regime. International

Journal, Summer, 57.

Karkal, M. (1998). Target Free Approach and Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) as

Population Policy. Harvard School of Public Health. Retrieved November 15,

2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/grhf/SAsia/suchana/0603/karkal5.html

Koenig, A., & Khan, M.E. (Eds.). (1999). Improving Quality of Care in India’s Family

Welfare Programme: the Challenge Ahead. New York: Population Council.

Legal Amendments Proposed. National Commission for Women. Retrieved October 29,

2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ncw-india.org/

List of Bills Introduced. India Code Information System. Retrieved September 19, 2002

from the World Wide Web: http://indiacode.nic.in/

List of International Labour Organisation Conventions Ratified by India. International

Labor Organization. Retrieved November 5, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.labour.nic.in/ilas/convention.htm

Marriage Registration Required. Season India. Retrieved December 8, 2002 from the

World Wide Web:

http://www.seasonsindia.com/marriage/marriagelicence_sea.htm

Meyer, M., & Prugl, E. (Eds.). (1999). Gender Politics in Global Governance. Oxford:

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

National Policy for the Empowerment of Women. The Department of Women and Child

Development. Retrieved September 9, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://wcd.nic.in/empowerment.htm

New Bills/Laws Proposed. National Commission for Women. Retrieved October 29, 2002

from the World Wide Web: http://www.ncw-india.org/

Nikhil, N. (1994). India: Trafficking in Nepalese Women Widespread. International

Policy Formulation & Analysis in India. United Nations Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and Pacific. Retrieved September 9, 2002 from the World

Wide Web: http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/rrg3/twsa-india-e1.pdf

Programmes. United Nations Development Fund for Women South Asia Regional Office.

Retrieved September 19, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.unifem.org.in/Programmes.htm

Preventing Trafficking of Women and Children in India. USAID India. Retrieved October

13, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and

Children,supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational

Organized Crime. United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime

Prevention. Retrieved November 12, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.undcp.org/odccp/crime_cicp_signatures_trafficking.html#I

Rai, S. (Ed.). (2002). Mainstreaming Gender, Democratizing the State. Manchester

University Press.

Ramachandran, R. (1999). In India, Sex Selection Gets Easier. UNESCO. Retrieved

November 15, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.unesco.org/courier/1999_09/uk/dossier/txt06.htm

Rape for Profit: Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India’s Brothels. (1995). New

York: Human Rights Watch.

Receipts Budget 2002-2003 External Assistance. (2002). Department of Revenue.

Retrieved September 12, 2002 from the World Wide Web:

http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2002-03/eb/stat12.pdf

Reproductive and Child Health Programme. Department of Family Welfare. Retrieved

October 28, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://health.nic.in/fsaidpro.htm

Reproductive and Child Health Project. The World Bank. Retrieved October 28, 2002

from the World Wide Web:

http://www4.worldbank.org/sprojects/Project.asp?pid=P010531

Senaparty, M., Gender Budget Initiative in India-Education Sector Insights. Retrieved.

Gender Information Exchnage. Retrieved October 13, 2002 from the World

Wide Web: http://www.genie.ids.ac.uk/gem/index_sectors/education/genbud.ppt

Sinha, I. India Profile: Sexual & Commercial Abuse of Children. Focal Point against

Sexual Exploitation of Children. Retrieved December 5, 2002 from the World

Wide Web: http://www.focalpointngo.org/DOCS/English/India2.htm

Visvanathan, A. Ethics of Care and Health Policy Change: Indian Women's Movement

Mobilizes against Quinacrine Sterilization. Retrieved November 10, 2002 from

the World Wide Web:

http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journals/Details/issue/sample/a010924.pdf.

Women’s Development. The Department of Women and Child Development. Retrieved

September 9, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://wcd.nic.in/women.htm