(Corrects reference in "high achievers" category to clarify that Indira Gandhi was the second woman ever elected to lead a democracy after Sri Lanka's Sirimavo Bandaranaike who was elected prime minister in 1960).

March 5 (Reuters) - Here is an overview of the situation and status of women in India.

INFANTICIDE:

- A traditional cultural preference for sons has fed into female infanticide, neglect of girl children, high maternal mortality and sex-selective abortions, experts say.

- Aid Agency Oxfam says the trend is regional. In 2003 it said South Asia was missing some 50 million women.

- It is normal for more male babies to be born than females, but India's sex ratio is one of the world's lowest with an average of 933 females recorded for every 1,000 males in the 2001 census, up from the 1991 census figure of 927.

LITERACY:

- India's adult female literacy rate is 47.8 percent, compared to the adult male rate of 73.4 percent in 2004.

INCOME GAP:

- Women's average annual earned income was US$1,471 in 2002, almost three times less than the average for men of US$4,723.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

- Dowry-related violence, where in-laws beat and abuse new wives for not bestowing enough gifts or money at the time of marriage, is the most commonly reported domestic abuse. Some 6,787 cases of dowry-related deaths were recorded in 2005.

RAPE AND FORCED SEX:

- More than two-thirds of married women in India between the ages of 15 and 49 are victims of beating, rape or forced sex, according to a 2005 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF).

- Sexual harassment, known as "Eve Teasing", is also reportedly on the rise as more women enter the workforce.

PROGRESS MADE:

- Since independence six decades ago, India has enacted about 10 landmark laws to support and protect women.

- More women now serve in the armed forces, in senior corporate, media and government positions, and there are more girls in schools.

- One-third of seats in village councils are now reserved for women. However, a bill to give women one-third representation in parliament has been stalled for a decade.

HIGH ACHIEVERS:

- Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister from 1966-77, was the second woman ever elected to lead a democracy. The first was Sirimavo Bandaranaike who was elected as the prime minister of Sri Lanka in 1960.

- Other high-achievers include Booker Prize winning writers Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai, and Kalpana Morparia, Joint Managing Director of ICICI, India's largest private bank.

Sources: Reuters, U.N. Population Fund (www.unfpa.org), UNICEF (www.unicef.org/india/media_2576.htm), United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2006 (http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/data_sheets/ct y_ds_IND.html) ((Writing by the Singapore Editorial Reference Unit, gill.murdoch@reuters.com, Editing by Nita Bhalla; Reuters Messaging gill.murdoch.reuters.com@reuters.net; +65 6870 3922)) REUTERS

AlertNet news is provided by

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit                                                                                  Permalink