Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India. (UPSC 2015)

Globalisation has expanded opportunities for Indian women, but benefits are uneven.

• Positive effects: Growth of IT, services and e-commerce has generated jobs for women; they form about 36% of the IT workforce. It has improved literacy, mobility, delayed marriage, raised rights awareness, and widened access to credit, markets and entrepreneurship, with women owning over 20% of MSMEs.
• Negative effects: Many women remain in informal, contract and low-paid “pink-collar” work, with a wage gap of around 19%. The double burden of unpaid care work persists, the digital divide limits access to new opportunities, and cyberstalking/deepfakes have increased risks.

Thus, globalisation empowers women when supported by education, safety, social security and digital inclusion, but without these it can reinforce inequality.