INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Women at an anti-alcohol rally in northern India
In the world's
largest democracy, politicians are finding that they need to listen to women if they want power
In northern India, some women had long complained that they were fed up with their husbands being drunk.An alcohol ban brought in at their
request has affected 100 million people in the state of Bihar.The domestic violence, petty crime and wasted income that had long plagued
their region fell soon after, the state government claims
Women-centric campaigns are playing an even bigger role in India's upcoming national election, in a country of 1.3bn people
Politicians offering free girls' education, money to newlywed brides, and special women's police stations scored highly in the recent
regional polls.The reason In India's male-dominated, conservative society, women voters are rapidly gaining ground
Women votersImage copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Women queue with their identity cards at the state elections in
Rajasthan, December 2018
Ranked in the bottom third of countries for gender equality, India has long struggled to get women
to the ballot box.There are a number of reasons for this.The gender gap in voting is partly because women traditionally have been less
likely to register in the first place and even if they are registered, the idea of women leaving the household to vote is sometimes frowned
upon, and they can face harassment and intimidation at the polls
For decades, registered women voters' turnout in elections lagged behind men's by an average of 6-10%, reflecting their marginalisation in
society and giving them less opportunity to shape policy.There are also fewer women to start with
Sex-selective abortions, female infanticide and preferential treatment for boys in India, mean that there are only 943 women for every 1,000
men in the population.Despite these issues, the voting gender gap has recently shrunk to its smallest level on record
In India's 2014 general election it was 1.8%, down from 8.4% in 2004
In the 30 regional elections held from 2012 until mid-2018, female turnout was higher than men in two-thirds of states
Banning alcoholBihar in northern India is one of the states with a higher proportion of women voters
It has long suffered from problems of anti-social behaviour and crime, with alcoholism draining income away from some households
In the 2015 state elections, women's turnout exceeded men's by 7% - and they had a clear message: get rid of alcohol.Concerned about
re-election, Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar pledged to do just that when he won local re-election
He introduced a ban on drinking and selling alcohol in the state.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
A woman walks
past a shut alcohol shop close to the Bihar border
Within a year or two, the government reported that violent crime had
fallen drastically, while money available for cars and tractors increased.Social activists such as Medha Patkar have clong called on other
states to ban alcohol too, arguing that "liquor is the biggest reason for violence against women".However, one study found the police
resources needed to enforce the alcohol ban meant there was less capacity to deal with violent crime.Why are more women votingWhat has
caused the sudden political mobilisation of women across India Increased female literacy and education have certainly brought more women to
But while progress on those measures has been slow, female voter turnout has shot up in just a decade.A combination of personal factors and
government intervention is likely to have contributed.High-profile cases of violence against women have undoubtedly galvanised female voters
to fight for rights and safety in their communities
Image copyrightGetty ImagesProtests erupted across the country earlier this year after rape cases in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and
other states made headlines, while the #MeToo movement took hold from the autumn
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is trying to tackle the violence and intimidation faced by women going to the polls.It has tried to
improve security at India's more than 900,000 polling booths, meaning women can now vote in relative safety
The ECI has also experimented with setting up separate women-only queues on election day, and establishing polling stations run entirely by
A groundbreaking general electionIn 2019, voter turnout may be higher for women than men for the first time in an Indian national election
This trend has many implications, not only for how politicians campaign, but also how they govern
Since coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made no secret of his desire to appeal to women voters
Image copyrightGetty ImagesFor instance, he has introduced a scheme to provide cooking gas cylinders to millions of Indian households
His party claims this will stop women from breathing in harmful smoke or spending hours collecting fuel
Another scheme aims to provide every household with a bank account
At least half of newly-opened accounts are registered to women, who have historically lacked access to modern banking.Looking to the
futureThe path to female empowerment in India has been slow and prone to setbacks.India ranks 121st out of 131 countries when it comes to
women being represented in the workplace.In politics, women make up just eight per cent of parliamentary candidates and only 11.5 per cent
Women's activism is putting pressure on political parties to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, guaranteeing one-third of Parliamentary
Similar quotas already exist in local-level politics, creating a "pipeline" of women running for high-level office
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Women cast their votes in the state of Jammu and Kashmir
With
more women in charge, India's political establishment would look much more like the population it represents
Electing more women may benefit the country in unexpected ways as well: recent research links female politicians to higher growth and less
While gender equality in the world's largest democracy is a long way off, the influence of women at the ballot box and in the corridors of
power is already having a clear impact.About this pieceThis analysis piece was commissioned by the TheIndianSubcontinent from an expert
working for an outside organisation
Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which focuses on
issues of international democracyJamie Hintson is a James C Gaither junior fellow at Carnegie.You can listen to their podcast on the women
changing Indian politics here.Edited by Eleanor Lawrie
