Woman empowerment

 Introduction

• The two genders, men and women, have always co-existed. There have been times when women have been subdued, subjugated to oppression and ridicule and their freedom has been taken away. The fact can’t be denied that empowerment of women is necessary for the development of the society. Women
  
  
  empowerment points to the fact that social, political, judicial and all other rights should be equally given to women and there should not be any discrimination.
• Women empowerment, to some extent, points towards gender equality, mainly due to the fact that it has been a male patriarchal society for a long time and women have not been able to exercise their rights efficiently. Entire nation, communities, groups stand to benefit from measures taken for women empowerment as it not only increases the quantity and quality of human resources available, but also helps to overthrow the obstacles of development and poverty.

The present scenario

• The issue of women empowerment has been taken up seriously in the past few decades because of the realization of the fact that women are entitled to all the rights available to men and that the society can gain exponentially if it is ably supported. There has been a creation of a safe environment where a woman can take her own decisions owing to their personal benefits as well as benefit of the society. Women have equal rights to economic and social justice, have equal rights to education and a conducive environment at work, enabling them to live with dignity and self-respect.

• The Constitution has introduced a number of Articles which guards the interest of women. Equal pay for work under Article 39(d), Relief for Maternity under Article 42, Dowry Protection Act of 1961, Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005 and the Prevention, redressal and prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act of 2013 are some of the notable changes that have pointed towards women empowerment.

Importance of women empowerment

• Women form approximately half the population of the world, but very few are employed even though they are equally capable of doing so.
• Women are talented enough to do most of the work that men do.
• It leads to an overall development of the society as a society with equality is bound to flourish.
• Women will be able to earn their own living and also be able to share the financial burden of the family. This will eventually lead to growth in the economy of the country.
• There will be significant reduction in domestic violence. Once women are given proper education, they will not only earn the respect of the society but will also be able to tackle the problems of domestic violence, as most of it stems from the fact that the woman is not aware of what she is supposed to do.
  
  
  

• Once women are educated and given the freedom to execute their fundamental rights like casting votes for political outfits, there will be a marked reduction in corruption.
• Once women become capable of earning money through the job that they do and are paid for it, they can sustain themselves effectively or contribute to the total income of the family. This will reduce the poverty and will encourage more and more women to take up work.
• They will make the nation proud in whatever field they choose to explore, whether it be medical science or sports or the business industry.

Quick facts about women empowerment

• Education of women has resulted in economic growth of about 50% in the last 50 years.
• After analysing 219 countries from 1979 to 2009, it was found that if women are educated, it reduces the chance of death during childbirth by
• 9.5 percent.
• Over 60 million girls are still married off as a child before they become 18 years old.
• Women form the majority, almost 70%, of the people staying in poverty.
• They form 80% of the total number of displaced refugees.
• Only 47 percent of women have access to the financial institution.
• Female employment is at a mere 47.1 percent as compared to men at 72.7 percent.

Conclusion: 

• As mentioned above, empowering women is very important from a number of aspects of life. They also have all the rights that a human being has and if given the right opportunities, they will be able to lead a dignified life. Women empowerment has not been exercised completely yet, but the world is definitely on the right path.