This post was originally published on the site Gender Across
Borders. Historically, property ownership by women is tied to
their level of independence and overall power in a society. In
India today, women gaining the right to own the land on which
they tirelessly toil alongside their husbands is a part of that
history. A recent report out of the world’s largest democracy
shows that the percentage of malnourished children is striking,
even though the country has made tremendous progress in many
aspects, including a significant growth of its annual gross
domestic product (GDP). With a 42 percent malnutrition rate
among children, low birth weight, and a maternal mortality rate
of 212 per 100,000, India, a rapidly developing nation, compares
with sub-Saharan Africa. While a high level of poverty in a
population, insufficient food production, and widespread disease
often explain why children go underfed; in India the cause is
the lack of women’s economic rights. All over the world women
suffer from inequality to v