Achieving Gender Justice through Human Development Approach: The South Asian Experience

Abstract

Ensuring gender justice has emerged as a big challenge in South Asian societies. This paper aims to understand gender issues and existing paradoxes of this region through the perspective of human development, especially in terms of the Gender Inequality Index. Sex-selective abortions, patriarchy and honour, and socio-cultural bias are the cardinal features of South Asian society. Poverty is one of the perennial issues of this region that gives rise to a vicious circle of exploitation and subordination. At the same time, a few people and families in all the countries of South Asia have control over the resources. Similarly, almost all South Asian countries have witnessed a female head of the state/government; yet gender discrimination is rampant in this region. This paper aims to examine various issues that are responsible for the prevalence of gender discrimination. It will also discuss how the human development approach could promote gender justice and strengthen the process of gender empowerment in South Asian countries. The paper is based on the hypothesis that if issues of health, education and a decent standard of living are addressed in the right direction, the idea of gender justice can be realised to a large extent. It particularly focuses on the status of women in this region to produce a more precise analysis.