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| Women’s Empowerment is a Multi-Dimensional Concept | | | Vijay Garg
Women’s empowerment is a process that gives women and girls the power and control to make strategic life choices and improve their social standing. It aims to eliminate gender disparities by providing women equal access to opportunities, resources, and rights in all aspects of life.
Women Empowerment refers to the process of eliminating the social, economic, and political disparities between men and women. The term itself gained prominence in the 19th century, with empowerment signifying the act of enabling or granting power. For centuries, women have been perceived as the weaker gender across the world. Even after India attained independence, women continued to be deprived of equal socio-economic status. To address this, both the Government of India and various non-governmental organisations have undertaken initiatives to promote the holistic development of women in society.
Types of Women’s Empowerment
Women’s empowerment is a multi-dimensional concept that can be broken down into five key types:
* Social Empowerment: This type focuses on improving women’s social status and relations. It challenges traditional patriarchal norms, discrimination, and harmful practices to give women the right to make independent decisions about their health, marriage, and lifestyle.
* Educational Empowerment: This is a foundational type that provides girls and women access to quality education. Education is vital for boosting self-confidence, improving self-sufficiency, and enabling women to participate actively in social and political life.
* Economic Empowerment: This involves giving women equal access to economic resources, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Financial independence allows women to assert their rights, make their own decisions, and contribute to their household and community’s economic well-being.
* Political Empowerment: This type ensures women have the right and ability to participate in political processes. It includes having a say in governance, voting, and holding public office, which helps in shaping policies that are beneficial to women.
* Psychological Empowerment: This is about building women’s self-esteem and confidence. It helps them to overcome social and cultural taboos and gain the courage to challenge what’s expected of them in society.
Difficulties in Achieving Women’s Empowerment
Despite progress, significant challenges hinder women’s empowerment globally. Some of the major difficulties include:
* Cultural and Social Norms: Deeply ingrained patriarchal beliefs and social customs often dictate women’s roles, limiting their freedom and opportunities. Practices like child marriage, female genital mutilation, and dowry are still prevalent in many parts of the world.
* Economic Inequality: Women often face a significant wage gap, occupational segregation, and limited access to financial resources and property ownership. This economic disparity makes it difficult for them to achieve financial independence and escape cycles of poverty.
* Lack of Access to Education and Healthcare: Millions of girls are denied access to education due to poverty, cultural traditions, or early marriage. Additionally, women often face poor healthcare facilities, particularly concerning reproductive health.
* Gender-Based Violence: This is a pervasive issue that includes domestic violence, sexual harassment, and human trafficking. The high rates of violence against women create a constant sense of insecurity and fear, impeding their ability to participate fully in public life.
* Limited Political Representation: Women are often underrepresented in political leadership and decision-making bodies. This lack of representation means that their unique needs and perspectives are often not adequately addressed in policy and legislation.
Violence Against Women
Violence Against Women and girls remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations. It severely impacts women’s physical, emotional, and social well-being, creating barriers to achieving gender equality. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows a 15.3% increase in crimes against women in 2021. Domestic violence, sexual harassment, trafficking, and honor killings continue to undermine women’s freedom and dignity.
Types of Violence against Women
Violence against women takes many forms, cutting across social, cultural, and economic boundaries. Some of the most prevalent Types of Violence against Women are:
Domestic Violence: One of the most widespread forms, domestic violence includes verbal, non-verbal, physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse inflicted by an intimate partner.
Female Infanticide/Femicide: This refers to the deliberate killing of a girl child, either before birth (through sex-selective abortion) or after birth, simply because she is female.
Honor Killing: Honor killings involve the murder of a woman by her own family members, often justified as preserving the family’s so-called honor.
Online Violence/Cybercrime: Digital spaces are increasingly unsafe for women. This category includes cyberstalking, online harassment, circulation of morphed or intimate images, and other forms of technology-enabled abuse.
Sexual Violence: This category has multiple forms:
Sexual Harassment: Unwanted physical contact, sexual comments, demands for favors, or stalking.
Rape: A non-consensual act of sexual penetration.
Human Trafficking: Millions of women and girls are victims of trafficking, often pushed into forced labor or sexual exploitation. (Read more: Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act)
Child Marriage: The marriage of a girl below 18 years is recognized as child marriage. It violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and exposes girls to lifelong risks of exploitation and abuse.
Women’s Empowerment Schemes (India)
The Indian government has launched various schemes to promote women’s empowerment, focusing on different aspects of their lives. Here are a few prominent examples:
* Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP): This scheme addresses the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and aims to promote the education and welfare of the girl child. It’s a national campaign to change societal mindsets and empower girls.
* Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): This is a maternity benefit program that provides cash incentives to pregnant and lactating mothers for their first live child. The objective is to ensure proper nutrition and health for both the mother and the newborn.
* One-Stop Centre (OSC) Scheme: These centers provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in public and private spaces. Services include medical aid, legal assistance, temporary shelter, and psychological counseling.
* Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) Scheme: This scheme aims to empower rural women through community participation. It provides a platform for them to develop skills, access government schemes, and participate in decision-making processes at the local level.
* Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP): This program provides training and employment support to women in various sectors, such as agriculture, handlooms, and handicrafts. It helps them acquire skills and become self-reliant.
Vijay Garg Retired Principal Educational columnist Eminent Educationist street kour Chand MHR Malout Punjab |
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