Seven out of ten village women are uneducated. Barmer's literacy rate for women is a meagre 7.7%. Being poor also means being discriminated against for gender. Less than 10% of daughters in poor households complete eighth standard compared to one third of the male children.

Rate of women's deaths due to lack of healthcare facilities is substantially higher than that of men. Who hasn't read stories of young women being killed by their family members for daring to fall in love with the guy of their choice? Has anyone known a guy being killed by his own family members? Women complainants against rape are routinely subjected to insult and humiliation before the society and in courts. Women are not allowed to enter thousands of temples.

It is indeed a scandal of the gigantic proportion and a reflection on the "great culture" of the so-called "mahaan bharat" that half of the humanity in this country enjoys little more than a wretched life within the confines of the four walls of the house. Our great traditions apply a different standard to women than they do to men. In politics and business, women occupy a low single percentage point positions of power and authority.