Major issues of the women’s in the 19th century social reform movement

The 19th century in India was that of contradictions as the European values and principles were being adopted in the Indian society. 

1. Denial of Education- Majority of men were against the women education. But some initiatives were taken :

• 1819 Calcutta Female Juvenile Society set up by Christian society 

• 1849 Bethune School, Calcutta 

• 1854 Wood's Dispatch on Education laid emphasis on woman education 

• Jyotiba Phule was the greatest champion of women education in 19th Century. 

2. Female Infanticide-especially in northern and western India, mainly by landed and the dominant castes. 

3. Child Marriages 

• B.M. Malabari worked against child marriage and got the enactment of the Consent Act (which fixed minimum age of female bride at 12, raised by Sharda Act to 14 and ultimately to 18 by Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. 

• This issue assimilates all the social issues like poverty, bride price, religious and social pressures, regional customs, perceived inability of women to work for money, dowry, patriarchal emphasis on virginity of bride etc. 

4. Dowry System 

• prohibited under The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 

5. Sati pratha 

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy worked for abolition of Sati 

6. The regulations imposed on the life of widow (eg. seclusion in family, not allowed to attend ceremonies, tonsure etc). 

• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar worked for this issue and Hindu Widwon Remarriage Act 1856 was passed by the British Government. 

• Vishnu Shastri Pandit founded Widow Remarriage Association 1850 

• D.K Karve, opened widows home in Poona, set up women university in Bombay in 1916, himself married widow. 

• Veerasalingam Pantulu in Madras made efforts on this issue 

7. Devdasi system-the sacred prostitutes, many of them attached to the temples. 

• Outlawed in 1988 

8. Women were denied property rights 

• Hindu Women's Right to Properties Act, 1937 gave them legal right to property 

9. Even majority of social reformer were male. This was marked by patriarchal and male centric instrances. Eg-Keshub Chandra Sen, a crusader against child marriage, married off her minor daughter to a 60 year old feudal lord. 

• Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922) was ducated by her father. She had founded Arya Mahila Samaj to help women in need and raised awareness and funds in America to aid women. 

10.Even the social reformers viewed women as pious and sacred and emphasised on ideal women, comparing them with Sita and Savitri. 'women for society' was given preference over 'society for women'.

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