A ‘Men’s Parliament’ striving for an inclusive India

In 1952, when the Republic of India held its first parliamentary session, 39 strong, intelligent and passionate women leaders sat in the hallowed halls of power, challenging the tide of male dominance over centuries-old politics.

a slide from the early years

At a time when women constituted only 1.7% of the total members of the United States Congress and 1.1% in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, India was at the forefront of the fight for more inclusive world democracies with 5.5% women’s representation. India’s freedom struggle can never be separated from the contribution of thousands of our women in profession, class, caste and religion. The proof of his invaluable contribution must be his loud voice in our parliamentary democracy; What happened in 1952 was a very progressive step, but after 70 years it seems that we have strayed from that path.

Despite a woman prime minister, a president and a relatively high percentage of women lawmakers compared to some other mature democracies in the past, our struggle with inclusivity has not been easy. Due to systemic issues, Parliament has been alienating women. The number of women representatives is still quite small, but even more subtly, Parliament is being built as a workspace for men only.

India has witnessed a rapidly growing movement for gender inclusion during the last few years. The Supreme Court ruling on gender identity (National Legal Services Authority v Union of India, 2014) has given further impetus to the movement. In solidarity, citizens have begun to assert their gender identity by specifying their personal pronouns (he/her, they/they, etc.). Parliament, being the pinnacle of law making and the symbolic center of our democratic aspirations, must reflect this change as well. However, the matter seems to have largely escaped the notice of the Legislature.

not gender neutral

A closer look at our parliamentary discourse and communication reveals a worrying and worrying absence of gender-neutral language. For example, after 75 years of independence, and the ‘Nectar Festival of Independence’, Parliament often refers to women in leadership positions as president and party men.

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In the Rajya Sabha, the rules of procedure refer to the Vice President of India as the ex-officio Chairman, which stems from the lack of gender-neutral language in the Constitution of India. Additionally, references to naturally masculine pronouns have been made over 150 times in the former and 600 times in the latter. The alarming degree of use of masculine pronouns assumes a power structure biased towards men. This manifests itself in parliamentary debates, for example, when a senior woman MP from Tamil Nadu was referred to as “Madam Speaker” in the Lok Sabha during last year’s winter session.

The issue extends to further legislation. In the past decade, there has hardly been a gender-neutral act. The Acts did not refer to women as leaders or professionals (such as policemen), but generally as victims of crimes.

The root of such examples lies in the gender-conforming constitution. In its current state, the Constitution reinforces historical stereotypes that women and transgender people cannot be in leadership positions, such as the President and Vice President of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the governor of states, or a judge. This is not a criticism of the Constitution, but a failure of several central governments, which did not take the initiative to amend it. In the past, amendments have been made to make documents gender neutral. In 2014, under the then Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the rules of procedure of the Lok Sabha were made completely gender neutral. Since then, the head of each Lok Sabha committee has been referred to as the Speaker in all documents. This initiative is proof that amending legal documents to make legal documents inclusive of all genders is an achievable goal, if so desired.

Despite certain reforms, both the Houses of Parliament and the Central Ministries have failed in a similar aspect. In a compilation of ministerial answers to questions of 75 women MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha so far, it was found that the salutation (Sir/Madam) was used as ‘Sir’ to women MPs in 84 per cent of the answers. During the 15th Lok Sabha, when we had a woman Speaker, only about 27% of the answers made this error. However, there is no indication of a clear reason for such omissions, either pure administrative errors or ignorance of the rules of the addressee.

in other countries

Internationally, even mature democracies after India legalized universal suffrage, such as Canada (1960 for Aboriginal women), Australia (1962 for Indigenous women), and the United States (1965 African- for women of American descent), has now taken concrete measures. Towards gender-inclusive legislation and communication. The Canadian Department of Justice has guidelines for using gender-neutral language in all types of law and legal documentation; The Australian government has incorporated gender-neutrality in the drafting of its style manuals; The UK House of Commons declared in 2007 that all laws would be framed gender-neutral.

When parliament and government offices reinforce gender biases in their communications, conservative language referring to women and transgender people becomes more palatable to the rest of the country. The leaders of the country should give the right message to the citizens to follow. They can and should begin with amending the Constitution and the entire trove of laws.

getting ahead

Once the language is fixed, the entire country, including Parliament, can focus on the aspirations of its women workforce and the deeper issues of development. In 2018, the UK Parliament conducted a gender audit to understand its culture, environment and policies as a workspace. If the report is any indication of what the scenario could be in the Indian Parliament, which has an even smaller number of women employees, it raises the question of whether Parliament has a single, transparent recruitment and promotion process for women employees. , and whether other issues such as harassment and domestic responsibilities are hindering their professional development.

In the 21st century, when people of all genders are leading the world with compassion, strength and ambition, the Indian Parliament needs to reflect on its position. Recognition and rectification of past errors through amendments to rulebooks, laws and constitution are just starting points, and there should be sensitivity, equal treatment and appreciation for the people of India, regardless of gender.

This article is also co-authored by Pallavi Baraya and Devak Namdhari. The four authors are former Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP)