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Sikh women may, in theory, perform any religious function in the gurdwara, and they are full members of the Khalsa, together with men. This includes wearing a sword and some engaged in armed combat in the eighteenth century. Women and men may sit separately on the floor in the gurdwara but this is simply to avoid distraction.

Sikhs campaigned hard for the right of Sikh women to vote in elections for religious bodies in the early years of the 20th century. This was resisted by the British who ruled India at the time and who had refused to give the vote to British women. After much campaigning, Sikh women achieved the vote before British women.

In 1999, marking 300 years of the Khalsa, the most powerful position in the Sikh religious world was held by a woman, Bibi Jagir Kaur, who was the President of the Sikh religious body that is in charge of the major gurdwaras in India.

Where Sikhs live can affect their freedom. Punjabi culture can restrict the freedom of women. Like many cultures of the world it is patriarchal. As a result, male babies are sometimes preferred to female ones and there has been a scandal of female feticide in India. This means that following a scan to determine the sex of the baby, female fetuses may be terminated. This practice has been condemned by all religious authorities.