Sheila proposes, CII obliges

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit isn’t known for making stirring speeches. But she raised her pitch considerably when she spoke on the empowerment of women at the India Economic Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and World Economic Forum last week.

Asserting that political pressure and corporate muscle had combined to make women fall behind, Dixit said, “Wherever women have been given opportunities, they have proved themselves. There is, however, a lack of political and corporate will for the implementation of policies.” The double standards in gender issues also earned the chief minister’s reproof. “Over 75 per cent of the world’s work is done by women, but women inherit less than 0.1 per cent of the world’s assets. It is our responsibility to take action on what we debate,” she told an international gathering of economists and social planners.

Hopefully, this will not be another ‘all talk, no action’ forum. The CII said it had mooted a special task force in partnership with the government to encourage the recruitment of women and develop entrepreneurship amongst them.

Teach, touch

If you thought child abuse was all about dirty middle-aged men victimising little girls, think again. A recent US Department of Education study found a strong ‘woman’ factor in sexual abuse. And courts across the US are now cracking down on women who have sex with underage boys. In the past month, at least seven women have been charged or sentenced. The accused include Debra Lafave, a middle-school teacher in Florida, who had sex with a 14-year-old pupil and Nicole Barnhart, a Colorado teacher who coaxed a 16-year-old student to have sex with her.

Glam sham

There’s bad news for all you office glam girls who feel the best way to get that glowing appraisal is to dazzle the boss with your sexy get-up. A study published in the December issue of the US journal Psychology of Women Quarterly says short skirts and sexy low-cut tops put off co-workers and hurt the careers of those who wear them. It adds that “a woman whose appearance emphasised her sexiness was deemed less competent”. Women have to resist the siren call to emphasise their sex appeal if they are aiming high professionally, says the study.

Punch pack

Indian men may have made it a habit to come a cropper in boxing in the international arena, but the women of the Northeast are not taking that as a dampener. In Sikkim and the rest of the Northeast, amateur women boxers have surmounted various odds to take up boxing as a career. In fact, our top women boxers, including the 2003 World Boxing Championship gold medallist, Hmangte Marykom, hail from the region. Upcoming boxers have just one goal ? bringing prosperity to their region through the sport. As rookie boxer Pratima Gurung puts it, “We face a lot of problems in training as well as from the family. But that makes us more determined than ever.”

KICK IT AWAY

Last week, the 13th round of the Spanish Primera Liga was played for women. The league games saw teams carrying a banner onto the pitch with the slogan “Stop gender-related violence”. Not just that, awareness messages were also broadcast at half-time. Three of the league’s biggest stars have teamed up for the cause of their female fans. Real Madrid goalie Iker Casillas (picture right) and rightback Sergio Ramos and Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres sent out a very clear message: violence against women ought to be given the boot. The trio is also taking part in television advertise-ments encouraging people to reject domestic violence.

Overheard: As many as three in four companies would rather break the gender discrimination law than employ a pregnant woman or one of child-bearing age, according to a new survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation in the UK.