Asian and middle eastern countries are backward when it comes to treating women with respect and giving them equal rights. India is a prime example of a country with a prehistoric idea about women and their role in society. Here are reasons why a country like India needs feminism.
Feminism and Caste systems in India
India has a hierarchical structure based on the family you are born to and under those conditions your life is predetermined. This is what Indian caste system is. And women are on the lowest totem pole even without the burdens of the caste-based hierarchy. Women are treated worse even if they were born in a high caste, wealthy family in India. They are not given the freedom to choose the path which they want to walk on.
‘Four Dalit Women Raped Every Day’: Why Caste Matters In Sexual Assault
https://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/awareness/dalit-women-sexual-violence/
Menstruation
Having a period in India or even just mentioning it is seen as blasphemy. Women are often locked in their room or even made to live outside the house while on their period. It is seen as a shameful event and women are traumatized by this idiotic idea about menstruation.
Menstruation related myths in India: strategies for combating it https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408698/
Honor Killing Women
Most people have only ever heard of honor killing in Islam. But this practice is widely accepted in a Hindu majority country like India. If a woman chose to marry the person she loves, the family is thought to have the right to either kill her or the spouse to save their supposed honor which was ruined by the girl’s disobedience. This backward ideology still exists even in the 21st century.
For One Of India’s Most Brazen “Honour Killings”, Justice Denied https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/for-one-of-indias-most-brazen-honour-killings-justice-denied-2252889
Arranged Marriage
Women are not allowed to marry the person they choose. Typically, the father gets to choose the spouse and the women have to oblige or they might be killed or abused. There are even customs where the girl is forced to marry their own uncles.
Child marriage
Another thorn in Indian culture. Children who are not even at an age where even the idea of sex has manifested, are married off. This outrageously dehumanizing custom is celebrated in certain parts of the Indian subcontinent.
According to UNCIEF, India has the highest absolute number of child brides in the world – 15,509,000. https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/child-marriage/india/
Rape Culture
Children are thought that rape only happens if the women allow it. The men are not held responsible for this gross violation. It is even taught in schools. It is a shame on the Indian Culture. Victim blaming is normalized and even a farce spread on television.
Education
Many families decide not to educate their female offspring because they are seen as a burden and it is believed that since they will be married off to another family, the male child is the only one who will take care of the elderly. This kind of belief is so rampant that the literacy rate amongst the female population in India is abhorrent.
School Has Been a Right for Girls in India Since 2009. So Why Aren’t They Going?
Female Infanticide
If they decide to have a female child, she will be uneducated. But that is if they decide to keep her. Even though female infanticide is illegal, it is still prevalent in India.
India witnesses one of the highest female infanticide incidents in the world: study
Economics and Politics 