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{{Short description|Demographic group in India}}
'''Women in Punjab''' can also be known as '''Punjabans''' or '''Punjabi women'''. They are the female inhabitants of state of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] in [[India]]. They belong to diverse economic, social, cultural and caste backgrounds, but their residence in a common state gives them a shared identity. Women have made significant progress in Punjab but they still remain underrepresented in various fields due to the [[Patriarchy|patriarchal structure]] still remaining intact in Punjabi society.

==History==
During the rule of [[Maharaja Ranjit Singh]], schools for girls were also opened in many places.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.peepultree.world/livehistoryindia/story/people/ranjit-singh-educator | title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Pioneering Educator | date=22 November 2020 }}</ref> In 1870, to stop [[Female infanticide in India|female infanticides]], the British government passed a legislative act called [[Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870]]. This act banned the murder of female infants in Punjab and some other provinces. Names of some of the women from Punjab who participated in the freedom struggle of India are [[Amrit Kaur|Rajkumari Amrit Kaur]], [[Gulab Kaur]], Adarsh Kumari, Kishan Kaur, Amar Kaur, Dalip Kaur, Shushila Devi, Har Devi, Purani and Pushpa Gujral.<ref>{{Cite web |title=paragraph 5, line 6 |url=https://www.ijhssi.org/papers/vol10(3)/Ser-2/C1003021214.pdf |website=www.ijhssi.org}}</ref>

On 17 June 1956, [[Hindu Succession Act, 1956|Hindu Succession Act]] came into force. It gave the women right to inherit property.<ref>'Emerging Patterns: Property Rights of
Women in Colonial and Post-Colonial
South-East Punjab', by
Prem Chowdhry, Page 115, Paragraph 2, https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/sitefiles/journals/volume20/6-Prem%20Chowdhry%2020.pdf</ref>

In 1993 and 1994, the 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts were passed that reserved one-third of seats in Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) for women. These acts were passed to ensure equal participation for women. [[Rajinder Kaur Bhattal]] served as the first female Chief Minister of Punjab from November 1996 to February 1997. She took office after the resignation of [[Harcharan Singh Brar]]. She was the eighth [[List of female chief ministers in India|female Chief Minister in Indian history]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=papers |url=https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2203590.pdf |website=ijcrt.org}}</ref>

On 14 October 2020, Punjab government passed ‘Punjab Civil Services (Reservation of Posts for Women) Rules, 2020’. This gave 33% reservation to women in direct recruitment to posts in state government, boards and corporations.<ref>'Punjab approves 33% reservation for women in state civil services' – The Indian Express, by: Express News Service
Chandigarh, October 14, 2020, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/punjab-approves-33-reservation-for-women-in-state-civil-services-6725310/</ref>

In April 2024, [[Panjab University]] in [[Chandigarh]] became the first university associated with Punjab government to grant [[menstrual leave]] to female students, starting from the session 2024–25. The policy will allow leave of one day per one calendar month of teaching and maximum of four days leave per semester.<ref>'Punjab University Grants Menstrual Leave for Female Students' – Free Press Journal, https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/punjab-university-grants-menstrual-leave-for-female-students/ar-BB1lvcWM</ref><ref>'Universities That Allow Menstrual Leaves For Female Students Will Include Punjab University Now' – Her zindagi, by Jyoti Sethi, Editorial, Updated – 2024-04-12, https://www.herzindagi.com/society-culture/universities-in-india-that-allow-menstrual-leaves-for-female-students-article-276605</ref>

==Demographics==
As of 2011 census, women constitute 47.23% of total population of Punjab, as compared to 48.5% at the national level. In the same year, the [[sex ratio]] of Punjab was 895, which was lower than the national average of 943. As of 2011, the child sex ratio of children between the ages of 0 and 6 years was 846, which was lower than the national average of 914.<ref>https://www.ijrar.org/papers/IJRAR19D1257.pdf, Page number 781</ref>

The table below shows the [[sex ratio]] of Punjab through the years.<ref name="auto6">{{Cite web |title=District-wise Decadal Sex ratio in Punjab {{!}} Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India |url=https://punjab.data.gov.in/catalog/district-wise-decadal-sex-ratio-punjab |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=punjab.data.gov.in|date=21 January 2022 }}</ref>

{|class = "wikitable sortable"
|+Decadal sex ratio of Punjab by census years<ref name="auto6"/>
!Year (Census)!!Sex Ratio
|-
|2011||895
|-
|2001||876
|-
|1991||882
|-
|1981||879
|-
|1971||865
|-
|1961||854
|-
|1951||844
|-
|1941||836
|-
|1931||815
|-
|1921||799
|-
|1911||870
|-
|1901||832
|}

As of 2011, among the different districts of Punjab, the sex ratio was highest in Hoshiarpur at 961 and lowest in Bathinda at 868.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=papers |url=https://www.ijrar.org/papers/IJRAR19D1257.pdf |website=www.ijrar.org}}</ref> The table below shows the sex ratio of Punjab by district, according to the 2011 census.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Sex ratio of Punjab by district, 2011 census<ref>{{Cite web |title=District-Wise Decadal Sex Ratio in Punjab |url=https://punjab.data.gov.in/catalog/district-wise-decadal-sex-ratio-punjab |website=punjab.data.gov.in|date=21 January 2022 }}</ref>
!Sr. No.!!District!!Ratio
|-
|1||Hoshiarpur||961
|-
|2||SBS Nagar||954
|-
|3||Rupnagar||915
|-
|4||Jalandhar||915
|-
|5||Kapurthala||912
|-
|6||Gurdaspur||907
|-
|7||Tarn Taran||900
|-
|8||Sri Muktsar Sahib||896
|-
|9||Fazilka||894
|-
|10||Moga||893
|-
|11||Ferozepur||893
|-
|12||Patiala||891
|-
|13||Faridkot|| 890
|-
|14||Amritsar||889
|-
|15||Sangrur||885
|-
|16||Mansa||883
|-
|17||SAS Nagar||879
|-
|18||Barnala||876
|-
|19||Ludhiana||873
|-
|20||Fatehgarh Sahib||871
|-
|21||Pathankot||869
|-
|22||Bathinda||868
|-
| ||Punjab||895
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Number of urban people by gender in districts – Census 2011<ref>{{Cite web |title=District-wise No. of Male (Urban) Population from 1971 to 2011 {{!}} Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India |url=https://punjab.data.gov.in/resource/district-wise-no-male-urban-population-1971-2011 |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=punjab.data.gov.in|date=21 January 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=District-wise No. of Female (Urban) Population from 1971 to 2011 {{!}} Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India |url=https://punjab.data.gov.in/resource/district-wise-no-female-urban-population-1971-2011 |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=punjab.data.gov.in|date=21 January 2022 }}</ref>
!District!!Females (Urban)!!Males (Urban)
|-
|Gurdaspur||1,68,563||1,92,059
|-
|Pathankot||1,33,923||1,64,243
|-
|Amritsar||6,23,469||7,11,142
|-
|Tarn Taran||66,748||75,047
|-
|Kapurthala||1,32,083||1,50,379
|-
|Jalandhar||5,44,750||6,16,421
|-
|SBS Nagar||60,243||75,173
|-
|Hoshiarpur||1,60,382||1,74,587
|-
|Rupnagar||84,411||93,396
|-
|SAS Nagar||2,56,342||2,88,269
|-
|Ludhiana||9,55,336||11,14,372
|-
|Ferozepur||1,32,034||1,53,433
|-
|Fazilka||1,25,093||1,41,996
|-
|Faridkot||1,01,162||1,15,889
|-
|Sri Muktsar Sahib||1,18,771||1,33,420
|-
|Moga||1,07,030||1,20,216
|-
|Bathinda||2,30,504||2,68,713
|-
|Mansa||77,056||86,548
|-
|Sangrur||2,42,589||2,73,376
|-
|Barnala||88,373||1,02,312
|-
|Patiala||3,59,558||4,03,722
|-
|Fatehgarh Sahib||84,737||1,00,745
|-
|Punjab (whole)||48,53,157||55,45,989
|}

==Health==
As of 2020, the percentage of deaths due to [[cardiovascular disease|heart disease]] was higher in women than men, 41.8% for females compared to 32.2% for males. In the same year, the percentage of deaths due to [[COVID-19]] was lower for women compared to men, 13.4% for males and 9.9% for females.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/in-2020-punjab-saw-more-deaths-due-to-cardiovascular-diseases-than-covid/articleshow/91844345.cms?from=mdr|title=In 2020, Punjab saw more deaths due to cardiovascular diseases than Covid|newspaper=The Times of India |date=28 May 2022|access-date=15 January 2024}}</ref>

The table below shows the state nutrition profile of Punjab for women between the ages of 15 and 49 years.
{| class = "wikitable sortable"
|+State nutrition profile of Punjab of women below the age of 15 to 49, by years
!Indicators!!2019–21!!2015–16!!2005-6
|-
|Underweight||13%||12%||19%
|-
|Anemia (non-preg)||59%||54%||38%
|-
|Anemia (pregnant)||52%||42%||42%
|-
|Hypertension||31%||15%||NA
|-
|Diabetes||15%||NA||NA
|-
|Overweight/Obesity (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2)||41%||31%||30%
|}

In 2019, the female [[cervical cancer]] incidence rate in Punjab was 13 per 100,000 women in all ages. This was less than the rate of 14.75 in 1990. The female cervical cancer [[mortality rate]] was 7.14 per 100,000 women of all ages in 2019. This was lower than the rate of 9.34 in 1990.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Mayank |last2=Jha |first2=Ravi Prakash |last3=Shri |first3=Neha |last4=Bhattacharyya |first4=Krittika |last5=Patel |first5=Priyanka |last6=Dhamnetiya |first6=Deepak |date=2022-02-07 |title=Secular trends in incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in India and its states, 1990–2019: data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study |journal=BMC Cancer |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=149 |doi=10.1186/s12885-022-09232-w |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2407 |pmc=8819855 |pmid=35130853}}</ref>

===Life Expectancy===
Between 2013 and 2017, the [[life expectancy]] at birth for women in Punjab was 74 years, compared to the total of 72.4 years and 71 for males.<ref name="pib.gov.in">{{Cite web|url=http://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1606209|title=Average Life Expectancy|website=pib.gov.in}}</ref>

The table below shows the life expectancy in Punjab by gender and residence in 2013–17.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Life expectancy in Punjab by gender in 2013–17<ref name="pib.gov.in"/>
!Residence!!Female!!Male!!Total
|-
|Rural||72.9||70.1||71.4
|-
|Urban||76.6||72.4||74.1
|-
|Total||74||71||72.4
|}

Estimated from [[civil registration and vital statistics]] system (CRVSS) data, the table below shows the life expectancy by gender in the districts of Punjab, in 2012.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Estimated life expectancy in the districts of Punjab, in 2012, based on CRVSS data<ref>{{Cite web |title=Estimating mortality using data from civil registration: A cross-sectional study in India |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289496442 |website=www.researchgate.net}}</ref>
!District!!Female (Years)!!Male (Years)
|-
|Amritsar||69||64
|-
|Bathinda||81||71
|-
|Barnala||76||70
|-
|Faridkot||73||67
|-
|Fatehgarh Sahib||77||72
|-
|Firozpur||80||74
|-
|Gurdaspur||76||70
|-
|Hoshiarpur||75||68
|-
|Jalandhar||69||63
|-
|Kapurthala||84||74
|-
|Ludhiana||77||69
|-
|Mansa||76||69
|-
|Moga||74||70
|-
|Muktsar||66||69
|-
|Patiala||72||68
|-
|Rupnagar||75||69
|-
|SAS Nagar||76||70
|-
|Sangrur||76||70
|-
|SBS Nagar||75||64
|-
|Taran Taran||73||66
|}

===Childbirth===
In 2019–21, 94.3% of the births were [[institutional births]] in Punjab, which was an increase from 90.5% in 2015–16. Of this, 53.9% were institutional births in public facility, which was up from 51.7% in 2015–16. In [[rural areas]], the births in public facility were 57.6%, compared to 47.0% in [[urban areas]], for year 2019–21. The percentage of [[home births]] that were conducted by a skilled health personnel was 2.6%, it was 3.0% for urban areas and 2.3% for rural areas. In 2015–16, this percentage was 4.5%. Of the total, 95.6% births were attended by a skilled health personnel, 2019–21. For urban areas, this rate was 93.7% and 96.6% for rural areas.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |title=National Family Health Survey 5 2019 |url=http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-5_FCTS/Punjab.pdf |website=Ministry of Health and Family Welfare |access-date=2024-03-20 |archive-date=2023-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720191537/http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-5_FCTS/Punjab.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Of the total births in Punjab, 38.5% were delivered by [[caesarean section]] in 2019–21. This number was 24.6% in 2015–16. For [[private healthcare in India|private health facilities]], 55.5% of the births were by caesarean section, in 2019–20, compared to 29.9% for [[public healthcare]] facilities. In 2015–16, this number was 39.7% for private and 29.9% for public health facilities. For private health facilities, the rate was 57.0% for rural areas and 53.4% for urban areas in 2019–21. For public health facilities, the rate was 29.1% in rural areas and 31.1% in urban areas, in the same year.<ref name="auto2"/>

The table below shows the maternal mortality rate per one [[lakh]] (1,00,000) per year, through the years.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Maternal mortality rate per one lakh (1,00,000) per year, in Punjab through the years<ref>{{Cite web |title=Birth Rate, Death Rate, Infant Mortality in Punjab |url=https://punjab.data.gov.in/resource/area-wise-birth-rate-death-rate-infant-mortality-rate-and-maternal-morality-rate-punjab |website=punjab.data.gov.in|date=21 January 2022 }}</ref>
!Year!!Rate
|-
|2017||122
|-
|2016||122
|-
|2015||122
|-
|2014||122
|-
|2013||141
|-
|2012||141
|-
|2011||141
|-
|2006||192
|}

According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2015–16, the percentage of women age 15–19 who have begun childbearing ([[teenage pregnancy]]) was 2.6%.<ref>{{Cite web| title=National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-16 | url=http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-4Reports/India.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202180458/http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-4Reports/India.pdf | archive-date=2018-02-02}}</ref>

The table below shows the variation the fertility rate (children per woman) according to the education of a woman in Punjab, as of 2019–21.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Fertility rate by number of years of schooling completed by women in Punjab as of year 2019–21, NFHS-5<ref>http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-5Reports/Punjab.pdf, page 8</ref>
!Years of schooling!!Fertility rate
|-
|No schooling||2.5
|-
|<5 years||2.5
|-
|5–9 years||2.0
|-
|10–11 years||1.9
|-
|12 or more years||1.5
|}

===Reproductive Health===
The table below shows the current use of family planning methods by currently married women between the age of 15 and 49 years, in Punjab.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Family planning methods used by women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, in Punjab<ref name="auto2"/>
!Method!!Total (2019–21)!! Urban (2019–21)!!Rural (2019–21)!!Total (2015–16)
|-
|Female sterilization||22.8%||18.0%||25.6%||37.5%
|-
|Male sterilization||0.5%||0.5%||0.4%||0.6%
|-
|IUD/PPIUD||3.1%||2.8%||3.2%||6.8%
|-
|Pill||1.5%||1.1%||1.7%||2.5%
|-
|Condom||22.2%||26.6%||19.7%||18.9%
|-
|Injectables||0.1%||0.1%||0.1%||0.1%
|-
|Any modern method||50.5%||49.4%||51.1%||66.3%
|-
|Any method||66.6%||68.4%||65.4%||75.8%
|-
|Total unmet need||9.9%||8.8%||10.5%||6.2%
|-
|Unmet need for spacing||3.7%||3.3%||3.9%||2.4%
|}

The table below compares the reproductive health statistics women between the ages of 15 and 45 years in Punjab at the national level.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Comparison of reproductive health statistics of women between the ages of 15 and 45 years in Punjab at national level<ref>"The Family Planning Programme – Punjab, India", Page 3, Table 1, https://nhm.punjab.gov.in/advertisements/guidelines/familyplanning.pdf</ref>
!Indicators!!Punjab (2015–16)!!India (2015–16)
|-
|Total Fertility Rate (TFR)||1.6||2.2
|-
|Any Method Contraception Rate (CPR)||75.8%||53.5%
|-
|Modern Contraception Rate (mCPR)||66.3%||47.8%
|-
|Total Unmet Need||6.2%||12.9%
|-
|20–24 year olds who were married before the age of 18 years||7.6%||26.8%
|-
|15–19 years olds who were already mothers or pregnant||2.6%||7.9%
|}

===Other===
According to the NFHS-5 (2019–21), the percentage of women between the ages of 15 and 24 years who use hygienic methods of protection during their [[Menstruation|menstrual period]] in Punjab was 93.2%. This was an increase from the 2015–16 percentage of 84.4%. In the year 2019–21, the number was 95.4% for urban areas and 91.9% for rural areas.<ref>National Family Health Survey – 5
2019–21, State Fact Sheet
Punjab, Row Number 124, http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-5_FCTS/Punjab.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720191537/http://rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-5_FCTS/Punjab.pdf |date=2023-07-20 }}</ref>

==Education==
According to the 2011 census, the [[literacy rate]] of women in Punjab was 70.73%, as compared to 80.44% for men and 75.84% as a whole.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.punjabdata.com/Literacy-Rate-In-Punjab.aspx | title=Literacy Rate in Punjab | Punjab Literacy Rate }}</ref> The median number of years of schooling completed by females in the state was 6.5 years, as compared to 7.8 for males, as of 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chapter 3 LITERACY AND EDUCATION |url=https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/reports_and_publication/statistical_publication/social_statistics/WM17Chapter3.pdf |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=www.mospi.gov.in}}</ref>

Between 2001 and 2011, the literacy gap between men and women decreased from 11.9% to 9.7%. Among the different districts of Punjab, the literacy rate of women was highest in [[Hoshiarpur district|Hoshiarpur]] at 80.3% and lowest in [[Mansa district, India|Mansa]] at 55.7%.<ref name="auto"/>

The table below shows the difference in the literacy rate by gender in Punjab through the years.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Difference in the literacy rate by gender in Punjab through the years<ref>'Participation of women in education in Punjab', by SA Saiyed and Rajni Pathania, International journal of applied research, Page 67, Table 1, https://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue9/PartB/1-8-62-166.pdf</ref>
!Year!!Female!!Male!!Gap!! Total
|-
|2011||70.73%||80.44%||9.71%||75.84%
|-
|2001||63.55%||75.63%||12.08%||69.95%
|-
|1991||50.41%||65.66%||15.25%||58.51%
|-
|1981||34.35%||51.23%||16.88%||43.37%
|-
|1971||26.65%||42.23%||17.58%||34.12%
|}

The table below shows the difference in the literacy rate of women in rural and urban areas in Punjab.

{|class ="wikitable sortable"
|+Difference in the female literacy rate in rural and urban areas in Punjab<ref>'Participation of women in education in Punjab', by SA Saiyed and Rajni Pathania, International journal of applied research, Page 67, Table 2, https://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue9/PartB/1-8-62-166.pdf</ref>
!Year!!Rural!!Urban!!Gap
|-
|2011||65.70%||79.20%||13.50%
|-
|2001||57.75%||74.49%||16.74%
|-
|1991||43.85%||66.10%||22.25%
|-
|1981||27.63%||49.70%||22.07%
|-
|1971||19.88%||45.40%||25.52%
|-
|1961||11.51%||37.70%||26.19%
|}

The table below shows the women proportion in the total enrolment at different levels of school education in Punjab by years.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Percentage of women in the total enrolment in different levels school education in Punjab<ref>'Participation of women in education in Punjab', by SA Saiyed and Rajni Pathania, International journal of applied research, Page 68, Table 3, 4, 5, 6, https://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue9/PartB/1-8-62-166.pdf</ref>
!Level!!2012!!2010!!2005
|-
|Primary||47.38%||47.36%||47.32%
|-
|Middle||44.10%||44.65%||46.85%
|-
|Secondary||43.59%||43.98%||46.33%
|-
|Senior-secondary||43.74%||55.23%||44.58%
|}

The table below shows the literacy rate of women by district in Punjab.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Literacy rate of women in Punjab by district<ref>'An Overview of Female Labour Force Participation Rate in Punjab', by Balwinder Kaur and Sangeeta Nagaich, Page 7, Table 4, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID3438301_code2949276.pdf?abstractid=3438301&mirid=1</ref>
!District!!2011!!2001
|-
|Hoshiarpur||80.3%||75.3%
|-
|SAS Nagar||79.2%||72.1%
|-
|Jalandhar||78.5%||73.1%
|-
|Ludhiana||77.9%||71.9%
|-
|Rupnagar||76.4%||68.7%
|-
|FG Sahib||74.8%||68.3%
|-
|Gurdaspur||74.8%||67.1%
|-
|Kapurthala||74.6%||68.3%
|-
|SBS Nagar||73.9%||72.1%
|-
|Amritsar||72.0%||65.2%
|-
|Patiala||69.8%||62.6%
|-
|Moga||66.5%||58.5%
|-
|Faridkot||63.9%||55.0%
|-
|Barnala||63.6%||54.5%
|-
|Sangrur||62.2%||53.0%
|-
|Bathinda||61.9%||53.7%
|-
|Tarn Taran||61.9%||52.3%
|-
|Firozpur||61.7%||51.7%
|-
|Muktsar||59.2%||50.3%
|-
|Mansa||55.7%||45.2%
|-
|Punjab (whole)||70.7%||63.4%
|}

==Politics==
In 2022 state assembly elections, out of 117 seats 13 seats were won by women, of which 10 were first-timers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/woman-power-in-punjab-assembly-101647029543767.html|title=Woman power in Punjab assembly|date=March 12, 2022|website=Hindustan Times}}</ref> Of these 13 MLAs, 11 were from [[Aam Admi Party]] (AAP), 1 from [[Indian National Congress]] (INC) and 1 from [[Shiromani Akali Dal]] (SAD).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/amritsar/of-13-women-entering-state-assembly-11-have-aap-ticket/articleshow/90161018.cms|title=Of 13 women entering Punjab assembly, 11 have AAP ticket|newspaper=The Times of India |date=March 12, 2022}}</ref>

The table below shows the number of women in the Punjab legislative assembly by election years.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Number of women in Punjab legislative assembly by election years<ref>International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJ RT), Volume 10, Issue 3 March 2022, 'WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS IN
PUNJAB', by
Kanwardeep Singh, Page f123, Table 2, https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2203590.pdf</ref>
!Year!!Female members!! Female percentage
|-
|2022||8||6.83%
|-
|2017||6||5.12%
|-
|2012||14||11.96%
|-
|2007||7||5.98%
|-
|2002||8||6.83%
|}

As of 2023, there was 2 women Members of Parliament (MP) in the [[Lok Sabha]] representing Punjab, out of the total 13 [[List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha|constituencies]] in the state. There were no women MPs representing Punjab in [[Rajya Sabha]], out of the total of 7 representatives.<ref>'Government of Punjab ', MPs, retrieved on 2 April 2024, https://punjab.gov.in/government/whos-who/mps/</ref>

During the [[2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election|2022 Punjab legislative assembly elections]], 71.91% of eligible women voters voted, as compared to 71.99% of eligible male voters.<ref>'Higher turnout among women voters, says data', Hindustan Times, By Deeksha Bhardwaj, New Delhi
Mar 08, 2022, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/higher-turnout-among-women-voters-says-data-101646679365383.html
</ref>

The table below shows the polling percentage in Punjab legislative assembly elections by gender.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Polling percentage in Punjab legislative assembly elections by gender<ref>'Barriers to Political Participation of Women: A Case Study of Punjab, India', by Hardeep Kaura and Dr. Manvendra Singh, Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry (TOJQI)
Volume 12, Issue 8, July 2021: 2808-2816, Page 2811, 5.1, 5.11, Table 1, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hardeep-Kaur-33/publication/354325602_Barriers_to_Political_Participation_of_Women_A_Case_Study_of_PunjabIndia/links/613129af2b40ec7d8bdf7d23/Barriers-to-Political-Participation-of-Women-A-Case-Study-of-Punjab-India.pdf</ref>
!Year!!Female!!Male
|-
|2017||77.90%||75.88%
|-
|2012||78.90%||77.58%
|-
|2007||75.47%||75.36%
|-
|2002||64.27%||65.92%
|-
|1997||67.84%||69.51%
|-
|1992||21.59%||25.72%
|-
|1985||66.72%||68.20%
|-
|1980||62.80%||65.64%
|-
|1977||63.65%||66.82%
|-
|1972||66.64%||70.36%
|-
|1969||69.61%||74.54%
|-
|1967||68.50%||73.47%
|}

==Economy==
As of 2022–23, 25.2% of the women in Punjab are employed, which was an increase from the rate of 21.9% in year 2021–22. But it was lower than the national average of 36%.<ref>'Punjab grapples with low women employment rate' – The Tribune, by Neeraj Mohan, New Delhi, Updated At: Feb 06, 2024, https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/punjab-grapples-with-low-women-employment-rate-587730</ref>

As of 2011, the work participation rate of females was 13.9% in Punjab, which was lower than the rate of men at 55.15%. It was also lower than the average female work participation rate of whole India at 25.51%.<ref name ="auto3">'An Overview of Female Labour Force Participation Rate in Punjab', by Balwinder Kaur and Sangeeta Nagaich, Table 1, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID3438301_code2949276.pdf?abstractid=3438301&mirid=1</ref>

The table below shows the work participation rate by gender in Punjab, as 2011 census.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Work participation of by gender in Punjab, 2011 census<ref name="auto3"/>
!Residence!!Female!!Male!! Gender Gap
|-
|Urban||13.2%||55.9%||42.2%
|-
|Rural||14.3%||54.9%||40.6%
|-
|Total||13.9%||55.15%||41.25%
|}

==Crimes==
In 2022, Punjab registered 517 rape cases, which was an increase of about 10% from the previous year, with 464 cases in 2021. However, the total number of FIRs in various crimes against women dropped slightly from 5,662 in 2021 to 5,572 in 2022. This was a drop of 90 registered cases. These cases included 1,478 for kidnapping and abduction of women and 1,640 of cruelty by husband, in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-05 |title=NCRB data: Jump in rape cases, but overall crime rate sees a dip in Punjab |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/ncrb-data-jump-in-rape-cases-but-overall-crime-rate-sees-a-dip-in-punjab-101701720183286.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref>

As of 2020, the overall share of women in the [[Punjab Police (India)|police force]] was 9.4% in Punjab, which was lower than the Indian average of 10.5%. At officer level, the share in Punjab stood at 7.1%.<ref>'An unfair representation: women in police force' – Tribune India,
Sep 11, 2022, by Seema Sachdeva, https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/features/an-unfair-representation-430584</ref>

According to the NFHS-5 (2019–21), percentage of women in between the ages of 20 and 24 years, who were [[Child marriage|married or in union before the age of 18]] in Punjab was 9%, which was lower than the [[Child marriage in India|Indian average]] of 23%.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moumen |first=Hana |date=2023-05-05 |title=Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India |url=https://data.unicef.org/resources/ending-child-marriage-a-profile-of-progress-in-india-2023/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=UNICEF DATA |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Honour Killings===
As of 2014, Punjab has one of the highest frequency of [[honour killings]] in India. Perpetrators are mostly the family members of the victim. A study of 100 sample cases of honour killings in Punjab between 2005 and 2012, revealed that the proportion of cases in which only girl was killed was 41%, cases in which only boy was killed was 12% and the cases in which both girl and boy were killed was 47%.<ref name = "auto1"/>

According to the same study, 40% of the girls were in the age group of 15–19 years and 60% in 20–25 years. According to the study, the most common cause of the killing was inter-caste relationship at 44%, followed by relationship within the same village at 28% and family intolerant to the relationship at 28%.<ref name = "auto1">'Honour Killings in India: A Study of the Punjab State', by Satnam Singh Deol, Table 2, Table 3, Table 6, Table 1 https://www.isca.in/IJSS/Archive/v3/i6/2.ISCA-IRJSS-2014-70.pdf</ref>

In the same study, of the 100 cases the caste of the accused has been known in 87 cases, which revealed that in the 80 cases among these the accused belonged to [[Jat]] caste. By proportion, 91.75% of the accused belonged to Jat caste, 6.89% to [[Khatri]] caste and 1.14% to were [[Dalits]].<ref name ="auto1"/>

==See also==
*[[Demographics of Punjab, India]]
*[[Health in Punjab, India]]
*[[Education in Punjab, India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Women from Punjab, India|Punjab]]

Women in Punjab, India - Revision history

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