From Subordination To Constitutional Guarantees: The Legal Evolution Of Women's Status In India
Dr. Shilpa Tiwari, Principal, Haveli Institute of Legal Studies and Research, Silvassa, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, India (affiliated to the University of Mumbai)
ABSTRACT
This article traces the status of women in India from the Vedic period to the present, examining how religious texts, customary law, colonial legislation, social reform and constitutional guarantees have shaped women’s rights. It argues that the trajectory has not been linear: the relatively high status of women in the Vedic age declined through the post-Vedic and medieval periods, was partly restored by nineteenth-century reform and colonial statutes, and was given constitutional footing after independence. The article then surveys the post-independence framework on marriage, succession, workplace equality and violence against women, and assesses why socio- cultural barriers, unequal personal laws and weak enforcement continue to limit substantive equality. It concludes that legislative reform must be accompanied by gender-sensitive education, effective enforcement and movement towards a uniform civil code if the constitutional promise of equality is to be realised.
Keywords: Women’s status; gender equality; Indian Constitution; personal laws; social reform; uniform civil code
