Introduction
“Empowerment” literally means to equip your ability/ supply with opportunity i.e., enabling and enhancing the ability which is existing with you but not yet realized by you. Through empowerment process, one is gaining knowledge, developing skills and attitude for adjusting with the changing environment.
Empowerment can be defined as a “multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives. It is a process that fosters power in people, for use in their own lives, their communities, and in their society, by acting on issues that they define as important” [1]( Page and Czuba, 1999). In the same way, women’s empowerment refers to “women’s ability to make strategic life choices where that ability had been previously denied them” (1).
Women empowerment can be achieved through modes like education, awareness, literacy, training which can help them being accepted in society and increase their involvement in social reforms and development.
Another equally important and related concept is gender equality which is closely related to women empowerment. Gender equality means provision of rights, responsibilities, opportunities irrespective of gender. The ultimate goal of gender equality is the non-existence of discrimination on the basis of one’s gender. Thus, women empowerment has indispensable role to achieve gender equality.
[1] https://archives.joe.org/joe/1999october/comm1.php
Sustainable development
In the economics study social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and objectives.
As the time progresses the needs of people and nations also diversify. Continuous increase in population creates the problems of allocation of resources and increase in crime due to dissatisfaction of public.
Since, the resources in a country is limited and is dependent upon the geographic condition of that country, the happiness and satisfaction of general public must be monitored and controlled through government schemes.
Dudley Seers suggests that development is when a country experiences a reduction or elimination of poverty, inequality and unemployment (2). Development is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and demographic components. The purpose of development is a rise in the level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities, without damaging the resources of the environment. [1]
Only economic progress cannot be the measure of rise in quality of life but needs emphasis on specific policies that would efficiently channel the resources and enable social end economic contentment for various layers of population.
Through the years, professionals and various researchers developed a number of definitions and emphases for the term “development.” Amartya Sen, for example, developed the “capability approach,” which defined development as a tool enabling people to reach the highest level of their ability, through granting freedom of action, i.e., freedom of economic, social and family actions, etc. This approach became a basis for the measurement of development by the HDI (Human Development Index), which was developed by the UN Development Program (UNDP) in 1990. Martha Nussbaum developed the abilities approach in the field of gender and emphasized the empowerment of women as a development tool.
Sustainable Development means development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs[2].
The Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The 17 Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals.
Today, progress is being made in many places, but, overall, action to meet the Goals is not yet advancing at the speed or scale required. 2020 needs to usher in a decade of ambitious action to deliver the Goals by 2030.
[1] https://sid-israel.org/en/what-is-development/
[2] Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
[3] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/
Types of Female Empowerment
Keshab Chandra Mandal wrote that female empowerment could be defined in five separate categories: social, educational, economic, political, and psychological [1].
Social
Social empowerment might be one of the most prominent forms of empowerment shown in the mainstream media. It strengthens women’s social relations and their positions in social structures, giving them more of a purpose outside of the home. Their contributions to society are recognized and valued as opposed to looked down upon simply because it was a woman’s creation. Social empowerment also fights back against discrimination, no longer letting people of different disabilities, races, ethnicities, religions, or genders be walked over by what’s considered ‘normal’.
Educational
Education is a crucial part of growing and developing, but there are still places in the world that deny education to girls. This takes away a fundamental skill everyone has the right to: knowledge. Without a proper education for all, gender empowerment isn’t possible. Education puts everyone on equal footing, and lets young girls have access to what their rights and duties are. Not only that, obtaining knowledge can boost self-confidence, self-esteem, and make girls self-sufficient. It also gives them access to the development of social, political, intellectual, and religious consciousness, and can discourage the growth of bigotry, narrow-mindedness, superstition, intolerance, and so on.
Economic
People say money can’t buy happiness, but being at an economic disadvantage can take away access to becoming empowered. Being poor, landless, deprived, or oppressed doesn’t allow access to resources that those in good financial standings do. Closing this gap would allow everyone to have equal footing, and women, in particular, would gain a more significant share of control over the material, human, intellectual, and financial resources.
Political
Having a voice in politics can be substantial in letting a group’s view be pushed into the light of mainstream media, and that’s no different for advocating women’s rights. The political involvement of women “implies the decentralization of power and authority in the deprived, oppressed, and powerless people who have not been able to participate in the decision-making process and the implementation of policies and programs of both government and organizations as well as familial and societal matters”. In other words, having political influence would not only give a voice to those who haven’t had a voice in how things are governed, but it would also allow the possibility of policies and programs being put into place that would work with these discriminated groups.
[1] http://americanscholarspress.us/journals/IFST/pdf/IFOTS-2-2013/IFOTS_v9_n2_art3.pdf
Psychological
Psychological empowerment aligns with social empowerment—it transgresses the “traditional and patriarchal taboos and social obligations” and lets women go beyond what’s expected of them in society. This can build self-confidence, help women recognize their self-worth, and gives them the chance to take control of their income and body.
All five of these categories intertwine with one another, but it’s equally important to consider them separately as well. Each group has different main goals they’re aiming for, so trying to focus on them as a whole would be unbeneficial ultimately. Knowing what work has to be put into these five categories can provide a boost in the right direction, and allow empowerment not just for women, but eventually for all.
Position of Women around the World
In Western countries female empowerment is often associated with specific phases of the women’s rights movement in history. This movement is split into 3 waves.
The first wave of feminism was in 19th and early 20th century and was focused on overturning legal inequalities particularly addressing issues of women’s suffrage.
The second wave was from 1960’s to 80s and was based on cultural inequalities gender norms and role of women in society.
The 3rd wave was from 1990s to 2000 Is a continuation of second wave and as a response to previous years.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.[1]
The Convention defines discrimination against women as “…any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”
The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women’s equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life — including the right to vote and to stand for election — as well as education, health and employment. States parties agree to take all appropriate measures, including legislation and temporary special measures, so that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
The main roles of UN Women are:
- To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
- To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
- To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.[2]
[1] https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
[2] https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2013/07/un-women-the-united-nations-entity-for-gender-equality-and-theempowerment-of-women/
Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. The private sector is a key partner in efforts to advance gender equality and empower women.
The Women’s Empowerment Principles offer practical guidance to business and the private sector on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. Developed through a partnership between UN Women and the United Nations Global Compact, the Principles are designed to support companies in reviewing existing policies and practices — or establishing new ones — to realize women’s empowerment.
- Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality. 2. Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination. 3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers. 4. Promote education, training and professional development for women. 5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women. 6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy 7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.[1]
[1] https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2011/10/ Women-s-Empowerment-Principles_en%20pdf.pdf
Position of Women in India
Historical Evidences
Historical evidences suggest that position of women in India has been deteriorating after the Vedic age. The oldest literature of India and world is Rig Veda and upon analysis of the verses of Rig Veda we can come to conclusion that women played a vital role in formulation of Rig Veda. Some of the women scholars are Gargi Vachaknavi who is considered as Brahmavadini, a person with knowledge of Brahma Vidya. Lopamudra has long conversations between the sage Agasthya. Together with her husband she is credited with spreading the fame of the Lalita sahasranama (the thousand names of the Divine Mother). She is also called Kaushitaki and Varaprada. A hymn in the Rigveda is attributed to her. Other prominent women in Vedic ages are Maitreyi, Ghosha. It is difficult to find any other religious sacred text that had the contribution of women in its formulation.
In Vedic age the contribution of women is not limited to literature, women were great warriors and rulers. In Rigveda there is a mention of queen named “Vishpala” who lost a leg during a battle. Then the twin gods Ashwins fitted her leg with iron prosthetic leg, allowing her to get back in action.
Rani Lakshmibai, Rani Abbaka Chowta and Kittur Chenamma are three of the more well-known examples. However, there are many more whose stories have been forgotten. Among these unsung warrior women is Naiki Devi, the Goan princess who went on to become the Chalukya queen of Gujarat and defeat the mighty Muhammad Ghori in the battlefield. [1]
Thus, we can say that women in early India had a prominent role significant contribution in culture, education, leadership, defence.
Foreign Invasions
In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Turks dominated the Caliphs of Baghdad. They extended their dominion beyond Sind and Multan into India. In 1001 A.D. Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India. Due to cultural differences of the invaders which believed women as commodity, economic exploitation, sex slavery, slave trading occurred. So, women had to cover themselves in order to hide from the eyes of soldiers and captivators. Women limited themselves to homes to save their integrity. The most famous incident that shows the brutality of the Islamic invaders is the Jauhar committed by Rani Padmavati in order to save her from enslavement and exploitation.
Almost thousand years of invasion and enslavement led to culture where it is inbred in Indian mindset that women should stay inside home to avoid exploitation and are refused participation in any social or political scenarios.
India for a thousand years was deprived of stable leadership due to its invasions. The defects and faults in Indian culture is a direct result of lack of strong and effective leadership rather than the people of India.
[1] https://www.thebetterindia.com/143628/naiki-devi-chalukya-queen-gujarat-goa-defeat-muhammad-ghori/
Post-Independence
India became independent in 1947, and we have written constitution which governs the formulation of government and provides guidelines for the governments in the centre and state to make policies for the development of people of India.
The Constitution of India guarantees to all women, Equality [Article,14], No discrimination by the State [Article 15(1)], Equality of Opportunity [Article 16], Equal work [Article 39(D)], Renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women [Article 51(a), (c)]. The Constitution also allows the State to make special provision in favour of women and children [Article 15(3)], and securing just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief [Article 42]. (4)
Women in India had given assurance that they were given equal priority along with men to participate in areas such as education, politics, sports, media, art and culture, service and science and technology. Though constitution gave equal rights to women along with men, the age old deep rooted patriarchal mentality of the Indian society, women are still victimized, humiliated, tortured, exploited, women are still subjected to the discrimination of social, economic and education elds. They were meted with ill treatment.
Empowerment of women is ensured through various government policies. According to Census 2011 48.5% of India’s population is women. And thus, in the changing dynamics of society women empowerment is much relevant in very important. Education plays an important role in building self-confidence among women and it also enables to change her status in society. Education builds the decision-making capability and confidence in women.
Various legal provisions in India insure the protection and safety of women and their rights. Some of the examples are:
The equal remuneration act 1976 which was establish to ensure that men and women both get equal pay and wages for the work done and there is no discrimination on the ground of gender in the matters of employment.
The dowry prohibition act 1961 was established to stop the practice of demanding and accepting dowry as consideration for marriage.
The special Marriage Act 1954 Was established to provide a special form of marriage irrespective of faith or religion.
The medical termination of pregnancy act 1971 was enacted to prohibit the practice of illegal abortion this act mentions the provision by which pregnancy can be terminated or aborted.
The sexual harassment of women at workplace (prevention, provision and redressal) Act 2013 was enacted to ensure that women are protected India workplace. In the case of Vishaka versus state of Rajasthan 1997 the court laid down certain principle known as the Vishaka guidelines these principles were later converted into the sexual harassment of women at workplace Act 2013.
Apart from legal provisions various Indian government policies and schemes have also been helpful in empowerment of women. Some of the policies are: National policy for women empowerment 2001 with main objective of upliftment and wellbeing of Indian women.
The National Commission for women was set up in 1992 and was implemented to protect the legal rights of women. It keeps checks on legal protection that are available to women and recommends legal measures, solves grievances and issues of women and help government in implementing various policies for women. Beti bachao Beti padhao scheme was launched recently in 2015 and has emerged as one of the important policies for women empowerment.
The campaign aims to prohibit female foeticide. This scheme also includes education and protection of girl child, creating awareness among the weaker section of society eliminating gender bias sex.
The scheme mainly targets the region of Uttarakhand Haryana Delhi Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The support to training and employment programme for women came into force in 1986. This scheme was established to provide employment for women and also skill and training needed to become self-employed.
The Ujjwalla scheme Ames to prohibit the human trafficking of women and children. It was launched in 2007. this scheme was implemented by ministry of women and child welfare development with objectives off preventing trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children, rescue of victims and taking care of them, rehabilitation services for the victims.
Some case laws examples where the women rights have been insured by the Supreme Court of India are as follows: Vineeta Sharma versus Rakesh Sharma 2020 – in this case the Supreme Court ensure that the right of women of Hindu undivided family are protected.
The court held that daughters of Hindu undivided family shall have equal coparcenary right by virtue of their birth. Shayara Bano versus union of India 2017 – the Supreme Court held that the practice of instant triple talaq is against the sentiment of holy Quran. This led to Muslim women protection of rights of marriage 2019. According to this act any Muslim husband who pronounces triple talaq to his wife shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to 3 years.
The Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya (2020) – In this case, the Supreme Court granted a permanent commission to the women in the Indian Armed Forces. The women now are eligible for ranks, benefits, pension, and other schemes in the forces which are given to the male officers. Mackinnon Mackenzie v. Audrey D’costa (1987) – the Supreme Court delivered its first judgment on the Equal Remuneration Act.
Conclusion
In present time woman has proved to be better than men in any field. With encouragement of their family, friends and society they are gaining new heights of success every day. We can see women entrepreneur making new unicorns company every year. But there is also a section of society who are still underprivileged due to illiteracy and lack of knowledge of the government schemes, corruption of officials and political leaders. orthodox mindset of people living in remote locations and villages. Although technology have been a great tool to spread information and awareness but it should be carefully monitored and control to stop misinformation and keep in check that right information is available easily and is understandable to the local people in their own language.