A Report on Female Autonomy

     As I sit down to write this report on the status of female autonomy in India, a barrage of images comes to my mind. A fortnight ago, first Adivasi and the second female President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, took a historic sortie in a Rafale jet. A powerful image came out of her posing with Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh. Earlier this year, two other female officers of the Indian Armed Forces took the nation by storm with their daily briefings during the turbulent times of Operation Sindoor: Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. Another image that comes to my mind is of the captain of the Indian Women’s cricket team, Harmanpreet Kaur, lifting the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy with her teammates. Indeed, this has been a powerful year for Indian women in almost every field. I feel empowered. I want to beam with pride, but something stops me.

     The same India that has given female world champions in badminton, cricket, chess, and so forth, has a society where a tennis player was shot by her father for wearing shorts, for it was seen as immoral by relatives. On top of it, the men applauded the father on social media platforms for taking the righteous step. In 2023, India reported 448,211 cases of crimes against women, a small rise from 445,256 cases in 2022, as per the report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Cruelty by husband or relatives (Section 498A IPC) accounted for the largest share with 133,676 cases (29.8 per cent reduced from 31.2%), while rapes made up 6.6% (if reported).

     The sufferings faced by women increase manifold when caste, class, and religion are used as an excuse to deny women their rights. The Bulli Bai app illegally “auctioned” photos of Muslim women activists, threatening their personal safety. Statistics from NCRB reveal a disturbing surge of 45 percent in reported cases of rapes against Dalit women from 2015 to 2020. Furthermore, data reveals an alarming number of 10 incidents of rape against Dalit women and girls are reported daily in India.

     Although the President of India and the Finance Minister of India are women, India's women's representation in the Parliament remains well below the global average of 25%. It is 13.6% in the 18th Lok Sabha and 13% in the Rajya Sabha.

Unfortunately, it is a society where honour is equated with a woman’s body, and autonomy over that body becomes a radical act. National Family Health Survey 5 (2021-22) shows that only 5% of married women make independent decisions on contraceptive use. In the Hadiya case, the Supreme Court had to uphold a woman’s right to choose her partner, rejecting parental interference. Yet, in Revathi v Union of India (2023), the HC upheld employer-imposed dress codes, undermining bodily freedom.

     Financial autonomy of Indian women is entangled with their bodily autonomy.  

India’s women have gained unprecedented access to welfare schemes, bank accounts, and political participation through policies such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Gruha Lakshmi, and Ladli Behna Yojana. Yet, empowerment, the ability to make autonomous choices, often remains constrained by digital divides, patriarchal control, and limited decision-making power.

     Women now own over 55.7% of the 56 crore PMJDY accounts, but nearly 20% remain dormant due to social or digital barriers.  World Bank (2025) notes that 54% of women opened bank accounts primarily to receive government transfers rather than to save or invest. Women are 19% less likely to own a mobile phone, reducing their capacity to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay cards effectively. Despite ₹18,600 crore UPI transactions in FY25, women’s usage of digital payments trails men’s, highlighting access without autonomy. Over two-thirds of women rely on male relatives for bank transactions, negating the intended empowerment of direct transfers, particularly in rural areas. Without property rights or joint land titles, women lack collateral for loans, undermining their capacity to grow micro-enterprises. Representation in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) has expanded access but not always authority. Many female sarpanches act as “proxy leaders,” with real decisions taken by male relatives (the “sarpanch pati” phenomenon as famously shown in the Panchayat web series). National Statistics Office (NSO) Education Survey 2022 found that only 24% rural households have internet access, widening educational inequality. Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023–24 reported the female labour participation rate at 30%, indicating poor translation of education into employment.

     Yet, all is not lost. Ujjwala Yojana (Odisha) includes CSE in adolescent health outreach, improving awareness of bodily rights. Mahila Samakhya Programme (Bihar) empowered women to assert reproductive autonomy. ASHA workers under the National Health Mission have increased access to institutional births and contraceptive counselling. Karnataka Gender Budget (2023-24) allocated ₹30,000 crore across 42 departments for women’s empowerment with impact tracking. The Justice Verma Committee (2013) recommended gender sensitivity modules for all public functionaries. Panchayat quota in Rajasthan led to improved maternal health outcomes and sanitation in women-headed constituencies. Banking sakhis and women-led UPI groups have shown success in building financial confidence in rural clusters. Digital literacy campaigns under PMGDISHA have enhanced women’s confidence to manage DBT benefits independently. Telangana’s Mahalakshmi and Karnataka’s Gruha Lakshmi could be coupled with entrepreneurship cells for sustained livelihood creation. Companies must comply with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013 (SH Act). Mission Shakti, Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, Mahila Police Volunteers,  Meri Saheli initiative are some of the steps taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development along with Ministry of Home Affairs.

     In the Hindi film industry, if we have movies like Rakshabandhan in which Akshay Kumar tries desperately to get his sisters married at any cost, eventually having her sister committing suicide because of dowry pressure; we have begun to have movies like Stree 2 in which the Shraddha Kapoor’s protagonist kills a patriarchal Sarkata with her long and magical braid, while the “heroes” of the movie hide in a store of glass bangles. Still, it took four and a half years after submission to release the Hema Committee report revealing the exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry. Other film industries of India await such reports.

     Access is the starting line, not the finish line of empowerment. Real progress demands building financial agency, asset security, building adequate infrastructure for women's safety and security, and social legitimacy for women’s autonomy across all the strata of caste, class, and religion. Coupling welfare access with all-encompassing literacy, property rights, mentorship, and institutional representation can ensure that India’s women not only receive benefits, but also control, multiply, and sustain them as genuine agents of change without a single shred of fear in their bodies and minds. I hope to see a day in my lifetime when women of India won’t have any fear before stepping out of their homes to achieve whatever they want.