Table of Contents
Empowerment may be described as a person which helps people to asserts their control over the factors which affects their lives. Women empowerment, the words can be understood as giving power to women to decide for their own lives or inculcating such abilities in them so that women could be able to find their rightful place in the society. Empowerment of women developing them as more aware individuals, who are politically active, economically productive, self-independent and are able to make own intelligent decision in matters that help them.
According to united nations, women empowerment has 5 components:
- Generating women’s sense of self- worth
- Right to have and determine their own choice and preference
- Right to have power to regulate their own lives, within and outside home
- Right to have access to equal opportunity and all kinds of resources
- Ability to contribute in creating social and economic decision, order.
Thus, women empowerment is basis on the human rights and creating an environment where men and women are same, both have equal rights, and also where both treated equally, no gender biasness.
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Why we need women empowerment? – India is male dominated country. So here women empowerment is only one way to get the underprivileged as well as the reasonably privileged women to come to realise their worth and potential in the face of male dominated country. Women empowerment helps them to see their hidden skills that they contain. A proper nurturing, polishing, and sharpening of those skills is only made possible by better education, awareness and a environment where they express freely oneself.
Women empowerment helps in fighting this backwardness in ways mentioned below:
- Women are targeted various types of violence and discriminatory practices done by society all over the country. India is no different. These customs, practices are good as well as bad different part. For example- in India, we worship female goddesses, we have great respect to our mothers, daughters, wives, female relatives, but in another-part Indians are famous for treating their women badly inside and outside their homes.
- Indian society has various ill practices that harass women both physically and mentally. For instance, sati pratha, dowry, parda pratha, female infanticide, wife burning, child marriage, sexual violence and sexual harassment in work place also domestic violence.
- Around 50 % of world population of the world consists of women. Yet Indian society is patriarchal society where men are considered head of the family. If 50% global population suffers daily discrimination and other problems just by virtue of being female, and unemployment of women and unequal opportunity in the place of work cause great problems around the world, because true potential left. So, we can say that empowerment should be a top priority.
- Gender discrimination prevails in all most all areas throughout the country be it social, economic, cultural or educational. Killing of female child is still common in many rural areas. Sex ratio, gender equality has to same both male and female. But still now there is biasness. Society still thinking girls are not capable to taking sensitive decisions, they have lack of skill. In Indian society people are judge women based on their clothes.
- Sex violence is common to India. In India around 92 women were raped every day on average in 2014. Delhi is the rape capital of India, with 1813 rapes reported in 2014. Still now men are thinking women are their property, they can do everything with them. India is ranked 3rd in rape crime rate, as reported by the UN. It should be noted that in India, marital rape is not recognised as rape, which means that a large population of rapes haven’t been counted.
- Still now many girls don’t have proper education specially in rural areas, their family not allowed them to study. More than half of the 100 million children around the world not in school are girls, according to UNICEF. If they are not educated how they can aware, polish themselves. Education reduce infant mortality, reduce maternal mortality, improve socio-economic growth, reduce child marriage, reduce population explosion. ‘IF YOU EDUCATE A MAN YOU EDUCATE AN INDIVIDUAL, BUT IF YOU EDUCATE A WOMAN YOU EDUCATE A FAMILY(NATION).’
- Women empowerment plays great role in country’s economic development. When a woman gets socially, psychologically and economically empowered, she builds the family and community too and becomes a role model for her children and others. Hence it makes for smart economics and better society to empower women.
Therefore, the concept of women empowerment not only focuses on giving women strength and skills to raise above from miserable situation but it also stresses on the need to educate men regarding women issues and inculcating a sense of respect and duty towards women as equals. It also aware them about their own right to control and benefits from resources, freedom, improve their economic status. So, women empowerment is important to develop whole nation.
How Women Empowerment Developed Step by Step
Historical Background: From ancient periods to modern periods, women’s condition has not remained same, it changed with times. In ancient and vedic period they have equal status like man. But from medieval periods, the condition of women got worsened with the Muslim ruler in India and also in British period. Raja Ram Mohun Roy believed in modern concept of freedom and with help of British abolished sati pratha. Others reformer- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda etc worked for women power. Act of 1856- widow remarriage, 1917- women’s political right, child marriage restraint act in 1929 help in empowering women.
Constitute of India: After 1947, Indian constitution would help to eliminate this ill exploitative customs and traditions which would help in empowering women socially, economically, politically. The preamble, the fundamental rights, DPSPS and others constitutional provisions secure women’s human rights.
Preambles to the Indian constitutions assures fair justices, equality of status and opportunity and dignity of individuals. So, preambles treat men and women both equal.
Women empowerment is well entrenched in fundamental rights in our constitution. Article 14 – Ensures women the right to equality. According to the article, equality before law ‘The state shall not deny to any person equality before laws within the territory of India prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth’.
- Article 15(1) – Specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
- Article 15(3) – Empowers the state to take affirmative actions in favour of women.
- Article 16(2) – Equal opportunity ‘No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, resident or any of them, be ineligible for, or discrimination against in respect or, any employment or office under the state’.
- Under DPSPs some article also contains important provisions regarding women empowerment. Some of them are-
- Article 39(a) – Provides that the state to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally the right to an adequate means of livelihood.
- Article 39(d) – Mandates equal pay for equal work for both men and women
- Article 42 – Provides that the state to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.
Under fundamentals duties, Article 51(A) – Experts from the citizen of the country to promote harmony and to sprit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
Others constitution provisions – 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment of 1993, women were given 33.33% reservation in seats at different levels of elections in local governance i.e. at panchayat, block and municipality elections.
Specific laws for women empowerment in India:
- The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
- The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
- The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,1956
- The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
- The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987
- The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
- The pre-Conception & Pre- Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994
- The Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Protection) Act, 2013.
Above mentioned laws are not only gives specific legal rights to women, but also provides a sense of security and empowerment to them.
International commitment for women empowerment: Women empowerment as a concept was introduced at the international women conference in 1985 at Nairobi, which defined it as redistribution of social power and control of resources in favour of women, The Mexico plan of action in 1975.
All these have been whole-heartedly endorsed by India for appropriate follow up. These various national and inter-national commitment, laws, polices improve women’s condition.
Government policies and schemes for women empowerments: In the year 2001, the Government of India launched a National Policy for Empowerment of Women. The specific objectives of the policy are as follows:
Creation of an environment through positive economic and social policies for full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential.
Creation of an environment for enjoyments of all human rights and fundamental freedom by women on equal basis with men in all political, economics, social and cultural spheres.
Providing equal access to participation and decision making if women in social political and economic life of the nation.
Providing equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security and public life etc.
Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
Changing societal attitude and community practices by active participation and involvement of both men and women.
Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child.
Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.
Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly women’s organizations.
Various scheme like Swashakti, Swayamsidha, Kanyasree, Beti bachao beti parao, STEP and Swawlamban enable economic empowerment. The ministry of women and child development also supports autonomous bodies like National Commission, Central social welfare board, Rashtriya mohila kosh which work for the welfare and development of women.
Conclusion
Road map for women empowerment is ready but still we have to go miles on this path of empowerment to develop our women our nation. We hope that in coming years women empowerment proves its worth and every woman enjoy their own life freely like bird, control their rights and duty. Women are vital part of society, they determine destiny of a nation. ‘The best thermometer to the progress of nation is its treatment of women’-by Swami Vivekananda.
However, we are still far behind in achieving the equality and justice which the preamble of our constitution talks about. The real problems lie in the male dominated society, which considers women as subordinate to men and creates differences. We have to change their mentality, otherwise no option left. For this, we have to also educate and sensitize male members of the society regarding women issues and try to inculcate a feeling of togetherness and equality among them, so that they would stop their discrimination practices towards women.
Women must also be motivated to fight discrimination. One important step in this direction is imparting physical education – like Judo and Karate – for self-defence to girl students from very early age so as to make them physically strong and to build-up self-confidence to face the challenges of life. Self-defence is the best defence.
Apart from the Government, various NGOs takes various steps and aware society to stop this discrimination towards women. And first of all, efforts should begin from our house where we must empower female members of our family by providing them equal opportunity of education, health, nutrition and decision making without pressure or discrimination. Because India can become a powerful nation if it truly empowers its women.
