Dear India Inc., It’s Time To Do Away With Tokenism Of Women's Day

As the embers settle on Women’s Day, let me leave you with some news and statistics coming from across the world:

• Women in India are falling off the workforce—from 32% in 2005, to 19% in 2021. 

• A new report by the National Family Health Survey suggested that only 32% of married women aged between 15 to 49 years are employed. 

• Women hold only 15% of C-suite roles in India. 

• Women hold only 17.1% positions in companies' boards.

• Post-Covid, 17% women lost their jobs and they continue to get laid off even now.

• 85% of the married women who earn cash say that they make decisions alone or jointly with their husbands on how their cash earnings are used.

• Women across the world are struggling to balance their roles as caregivers and workers.

• Women are increasingly facing microaggression and harassment—more than ever before.

• Women struggle to work at the same pace as men after maternity.

These are all plain facts. Adding to this are some stark headlines. 

• Women in South Korea are on a strike against being forced to become ‘baby making machines’. 65% women do not want to have children, they don’t want to get married and this is how they are choosing to fight patriarchy.

• Japan has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, with many women choosing to delay or forgo marriage and parenthood due to economic and social factors, such as a lack of affordable childcare and limited opportunities for women in the workforce.

• Almost one in three women across the world and in India have experienced gender-based violence—physical, sexual, emotional, or  psychological—at least once in their lifetime, says a WHO study published in 2021. 

• Women make up 80% of all refugees and displaced people. 

We need to make equity and safety for women long-term commitments: Gender inequality is a complex issue that cannot be solved overnight or by celebrating one day.