In the first such study of the Constitution, legislation, schemes, policies, etc, vis-à-vis the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has concluded the rights of women remain restricted in all spheres of

“Women hold up half the sky”, the Chinese saying goes. But we need to recognize that it is not an equal world for women, globally and in India.

Change in the size of a population takes place due to births, deaths and migration.

It is now common practice to infer the social status of women from their demographic characteristics. Yet it is not so easy to read through demographic progress, in terms of declines in mortality and fertility, to make unambiguous judgments about trends in women's social standing.

THERE is enough evidence to show that often, development policies adopted by governments have widened the disparities amongst sections of people.

Status literally means position in relation to others. The status enjoyed by women in any society is an index of the standard of its social organisation.