Women Empowerment through Constitutional Rights

India is a country known for age old customs, traditions, blind beliefs and patriarchal families. Women's being the weaker section of the society has discriminated in all spheres of social life. Women were virtually deprived of all their rights to stand as human beings and were also deprived of expressing themselves. Several social reforms were made to awaken public opinion against sati system, child marriage and other oppressive social evils which had harmed women colossally. In order to enable them to participate in the socio-economic development of the country, a climate had to be created for them to be equal partners in development With men, rather than being mere beneficiaries of developmental activities. One of the most basic causes for the women's inferior status is the inadequacy of the legal systems to keep pace with the changing needs and times and to provide her with the framework which would enable her to contribute her ability fully to society. Discrimination between sexes may stem from attitudes, customs, traditions and cultural norms. The victims of discrimination look upon law for equality and Justice. Law includes not only the provisions of constitution and legislation but judgments and governmental decisions and actions. The Constitution of India in Article 15 states: "the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them" The incorporation of equality before the law in the Constitution "enabled the passage of variety of laws and development of deliberate measures aimed at the improvement of the status of women in post-independent India. The sum and substance of the Constitutional provisions is that women stand on equal footing with men in all spheres of economic, social and political life of the country. Before the enactment of legislations, women's life in India, almost everywhere, was governed only by the archaic and oppressive male 'perpetuated law'. The legislation concerning amelioration of women's condition generally revolved around their: i) marriage; ii) divorce; iii) family courts; iv) dowry v) abortion vi) guardianship; vii) adoption viii) maintenance ix) inheritance and succession x) prostitution and xi) women's labour. Various legal measures are undertaken to ameliorate the deteriorating status of women.