- a skewed sex ratio (934 women: 1000 men) in Gujarat reflects conditions prevailing across India (927:1000);
- an estimated 25 million women are "missing" due to sex-specific abortion, femicide, high rates of violence against women, nutrition and health care preferences disadvantaging girls, and other factors;
- 65% of all Indian women report having experienced some form of domestic violence, with the highest rates reported among women employed as agricultural laborers;
- 54% of Gujarati women marry before the age of 18; marriages are often arranged; widows rarely remarry, especially in rural areas;
- the average Indian woman is younger than 22 when she bears her first child and lacks control over her own fertility;
- 45 % of Gujarati women need permission to go to the market and 49% to visit friends and relatives; 29% are not involved in decisions even about their own health and 10 % about what to cook; only one quarter have access to household money;
- fewer women (48.6%) than men (73.13%) over six enjoy functional literacy; literacy rates are lower among adavasi or tribal women (24.20%) and women in the Scheduled Castes (45.5%);
- one in four girls did not attend school in Gujarat even before the earthquake destroyed their schools; many of these "nowhere children" are likely to be working in the informal sector;
- the vast majority of the nation's women earn income through informal work, where working conditions are poor and few workers are organized;
- women hold fewer than 8% of parliamentary seats, 6% of cabinet positions, and 3% of administrative and managerial positions in the nation;
- Indian women earn an average of 30% less than men;
- 100,000-120,000 women across India die every year due to pregnancy-related problems; half of all married women suffer from anemia;
- most Indian women do not own any property in their own names and don't inherit parental property; barely 2% of women claim their family property rights.

Sources: Sen and Kumar, 2001; Government of Gujarat, 2000.