National Policy for Women to focus on cyber crime, surrogacy

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi today released the draft of National Policy for Women, 2016 which seeks to address emerging challenges confronting women, including protection against cyber crime, security to surrogate mothers and bringing gender sensitivity in family planning policies. The policy provides a roadmap for dealing with women's issues for next 15-20 years and will replace the earlier policy of 2001. It will be finalized after consultation with all stakeholders including NGOs, civil society among others, the minister said. The priority areas laid down by the policy include health, food security and nutrition, education, economy, governance and decision making, violence against women and climate change. "This policy is coming after 15 years. In these years, many things have changed and the most important of them is women's attitude towards challenges. The most important part of the policy is that it shifted from 'just welfare' to 'welfare with heavy dose of rights' in it which is reflective of change in women's attitude," Gandhi said. The policy is expected to focus on increasing trends of crime against women, including rape, trafficking and dowry, along with the expansion of new work opportunities for career women. "The draft has been made in consultation with a lot of women, lawyers, journalists, bureaucrats and non-working women to see what we can do in terms of defining government action in the next 15-20 years," the minister said.