Gender hierarchies are strong and foster discrimination and deprivation.

Female literacy rate is 54.16 percent as opposed to the male literacy rate, which according to the 2001 census, is 75.85 percent.

More than 50 percent of girls drop out by the time they are in middle school.

Maternal mortality in India is estimated to be between 385-487 per 100,000 live births. Almost 125,000 women die from pregnancy and pregnancy-related causes each year.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS III) contains grim statistics: As many as 79.1% of India’s children between the ages of three and six, and 56.2% of married women in the age-group 15-49 are anaemic.

Women’s empowerment has not translated to a substantial difference for over half the country’s women. Only 52.5% of women -- 61.4% urban and 48.5% rural -- said they participated in household decisions.

As much as 37.2% of married women have reported experiencing spousal violence, with 30.4% of those affected living in urban areas. The survey also brought home the fact that gender biases are still deeply prevalent, with boys having greater access to education and food and more exposure to the world.

A very recent UN report (2007) estimates 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India. This has led to skewed sex ratios in regions like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh as well as the capital, New Delhi, where a census in 2001 showed there are less than 800 girls for every 1,000 boys.

Currently, 39.7 million women are missing in India.