~ 214 ~ International Journal of Home Science 2016; 2(3): 214-218 ISSN: 2395-7476 IJHS 2016; 2(3): 214-218 © 2016 IJHS www.homesciencejournal.com Received: 07-07-2016 Accepted: 08-08-2016 Dr. Neeta Khandelwal Assistant Professor, KVK, SDAU, Deesa, Banaskantha, Gujarat, India Correspondence Dr. Neeta Khandelwal Assistant Professor, KVK, SDAU, Deesa, Banaskantha, Gujarat, India Gender sensitization among women in ancient India and their contemporary relevance Dr. Neeta Khandelwal Abstract This paper presents insights from historical study in order to explore the gender sensitization between men and women from ancient to modern period and to study their contemporary relevance in present times. It revealed that there was no gender discrimination existed in ancient period. Girls had equal privileges, in all spheres of life viz., education, marriage, employment etc. But in medieval period, the women were pushed downhill from the highest freedom and status due to the impact of Muslims, corruption vices like purdah system, child marriage etc. In modern era, in spite of several legislative regulations and acts, the discrimination between men and women still exist due to the negative attitude of men towards women and several other atrocities are being faced by women viz., dowry death, rape, prostitution etc. Thus for the progress of nation and for the freedom and right to equality of women, it becomes imperative to have a fresh look on the past so that stratagem of women development could be decided in future. Keywords: Gender sensitization, ancient, medieval, modern, women Introduction “I should treat daughters and sons on a footing of perfect equality …..Both are God’s gifts. They have an equal right to live and are equally necessary to keep the world going” Mahatma Gandhi (Young India 1929/1938) In ancient India, women were considered sacred as our ancient scriptures have pronounced that- “God lives where women are venerated”. Even while reciting god as divine couple, the name of the feminine typically precedes that of masculine like Sita-Ram, Radhe-Shyam, Gauri-Shankar, Lakshmi-Vishnu and so on (Muthuswamy 2014) [9] . In the Hindu mythological it is believed that all deities are supposed to have evolved from a women form, named as – Shakti; means "power'' and "strength. From equal status with men in all aspects of life during ancient period (i.e. Vedic and Epic), position of women attained lowest point during medieval period (Jayapalan 2001) [6] , particularly after the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent. Till the later stage of colonial period similar situation prevailed. However, at the start of 19 th century, many reformers started to work for betterment of Indian women and their rights. In Independent India several legislations are framed to give women equal status. The Indian Constitution guarantees to all Indian women equality, no discrimination by the State, equality of opportunity and equal pay for equal work and host of other benefits like maternity and child care leaves. Indian women now participate fully in areas such as education, sports, politics, media, art and culture, service sectors, science and technology etc. Despite so much progress on the front of gender equality, India remains one of the most dangerous country in the world for women (Bowcott 2011) [4] and the worst country for women among the G20 countries (Baldwin 2012) [1] . Spate of recent gang rapes, acid attacks and murder/ death of several victims brought the spotlight back on crimes against women in the country. Brutal gang-rape and assault of paramedical student on 16 December, 2012 in Delhi, resulted widespread protests and emotional outbursts across the country. It raked up society and government with renewed demand for reframing laws with strict punishments to deter wrong-doers. Abuse and discrimination against women is taken a steep rise in last two decades (Kaur 2014) [7] . Statistics provided by National Crime Record Bureau (http://ncrb.gov.in/) suggest that since 2010, crimes against women increased by7.1 percent across the nation.