Within Navayana Buddhism as articulated by B. R. Ambedkar, women are understood to stand on a footing of complete equality with men in spiritual, social, and ethical terms. Any notion that women possess a lesser spiritual capacity is explicitly rejected, and there is no separate or inferior “female path” to moral development, wisdom, or liberation. The Dhamma is held to apply in the same way to all human beings, so women are regarded as fully capable of realizing its transformative potential. This doctrinal stance is inseparable from a broader critique of patriarchy, which is seen as intertwined with caste oppression and therefore as something the Buddhist path must actively dismantle.

From this perspective, women participate in religious life not as auxiliaries but as full and equal members of the community. They may take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha on the same terms as men and engage in rituals, study, and organizational work without gender-based restriction. Leadership and teaching roles are open to women, and they are encouraged to contribute to the propagation of the Dhamma and to community decision-making. The emphasis on equality extends to education, where women’s access to learning and scholarship is affirmed as an essential aspect of their religious and social dignity.

Because Navayana Buddhism is framed as a vehicle for social transformation, women are seen as crucial agents in the struggle against caste-based and gender-based subordination. Practices such as child marriage, constraints on women’s education and mobility, and other forms of patriarchal control are treated as ethically incompatible with the Buddhist ideal of justice. The vision of family life that emerges from this reinterpretation is one of companionate relations grounded in mutual respect, with men and women held to the same moral standards. In this way, the role of women is not confined to private or domestic spheres; it extends to shaping a more just society in which the spiritual and social equality taught by the Dhamma can be realized in everyday life.