METICULOUS STUDY ON WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: HER ASSESSMENT ON DECISION MAKING
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GRADIVA REVIEW JOURNAL ISSN NO : 0363-8057
METICULOUS STUDY ON WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: HER
ASSESSMENT ON DECISION MAKING
AUTHOR: Dr Stany R Miranda, Associate Professor and Head, Department of English
East West Institute of Technology, Bangalore-560091
ABSTRACT
The research article emits its radiance on women’s authority in different sectors of the society.
The paper continues to explore and evaluate the position of women empowerment in India with
her matchless roles and responsibly performed in various areas such as household decision
making authority, freedom of movement, financial independence, access to education,
knowledge of domestic violence, disparate gender role etc. supported on different sources
gathered. Women empowerment is giving lawful power or authority to achieve the tasks. If
women were being empowered they would certainly be able to partake in planning and decision
making task for the welfare of nation as well as to up bring her family in all respects. Education
is the true source of inspiration for all women to empower themselves both in the government
and in society, leading the one to play a significant role towards the development of nation.
Women education in India has been a need of the hour, as education is the main base stone for
women empowerment. The paper emphasizes upon the prime instrument Education through
which women can break all sorts of barriers of the society in constructing her identity and
enhance their status socially, economically and politically. This study winds up with an
observation describing the issues that woman confronting in their routine life and to make them
independent in all respects of the society, enabling characteristics to empowerment, success
towards the goal.
KEYWORDS
Women Empowerment, Education, Gender Equality, Decision Making
INTRODUCTION
Women's empowerment is the process of empowering women. India's journey on women
empowerment and gender equality started when it became a sovereign state in 1947. A more
concerted effort is needed to close the urban-rural divide and ensure that women in rural areas
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enjoy the same access to education, employment, healthcare and decision-making as their urban
counterparts.
Empowerment for women in India requires a crosscutting approach and one which addresses the
diversity of social structures that govern women’s lives. Identity politics in India is a very critical
political instrument, which is both used and abused throughout political and social institutions.
There are numerous social movements fighting for the rights of the marginalized, such as the
Dalit rights movement, the tribal rights movement, etc. These movements have achieved many
gains in assuring representation of the traditionally marginalized communities into mainstream
society. Women’s rights within these movements are largely unarticulated and thus reinforce
inequalities within the very structures from which they are demanding inclusion. Empowerment
approaches for women therefore is not only about providing services, but also about recognizing
their lived realities of multiple layers of discrimination that hinder their access to services. The
principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental
Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality
to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of
women. Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, Plans and
programmes have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres. The National
Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and
legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India
have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for
women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels.
Women empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion
in development and economics. It can also point to the approaches regarding other
trivialized genders in a particular political or social context. Women's empowerment refers to the
ability for women to enjoy their right to control and benefit from the
resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability to manage risk and improve
their economic status and well being.
Empowerment of women is a necessity for the very development of a society, since it enhances
both the quality and the quantity of human resources available for development.
Empowerment is one of the main procedural concerns when addressing human rights and
development. Women's empowerment and achieving gender equality is essential for our society
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to ensure the sustainable development of a country. Many world leaders and scholars have
argued that sustainable development is impossible without gender equality and women's
empowerment. Sustainable development accepts environmental protection, social and economic
development, including women's empowerment. In the context of women and development,
empowerment must include more choices for women to make on their own.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the specific objectives:
To identify the need of women empowerment.
To examine the women empowerments through decision making power at house hold
level.
To appraise the knowledge of women empowerment in India.
To examine various issues influencing the financial empowerment of women.
To identify the constraints of economic empowerment of women.
RIGHTS FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA
Women empowerment is giving legitimate power or authority to perform the tasks. Women are
significant to the family as a mother as well in a society. Women are working in the family
without any reparation but in the workplace they earn more money with their high position. As
India progresses economically, there are calls for the country to pay more attention to social and
human development, including women empowerment. Women empowerment is a critical aspect
to achieving gender equality, where both men and women have equal power and opportunities
for education, healthcare, economic participation and personal development. Equal rights for
men and women are enshrined under Articles 14 to 16 in the Indian constitution, which came
into effect on 26 January 1950. Discrimination based on gender is strictly prohibited. Indian
women received universal suffrage during India’s independence in 1947, long before several
Western countries granted women the right to vote. India was the second country in modern
history to have a female leader, Indira Gandhi, in 1966 after another South Asian state, Sri
Lanka, elected Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960.
The impact of the patriarchal structure can be seen in rural and urban India, although women’s
empowerment in rural India is much less visible than in urban areas. This is of meticulous
concern, since much of India is rural despite the high rate of urbanization and expansion of cities.
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Rural women, as opposed to women in urban settings, face inequality at much higher rates, and
in all spheres of life. Urban women and, in particular, urban educated women enjoy relatively
higher access to economic opportunities, health and education, and experience less domestic
violence. Women (both urban and rural) who have some level of education have higher decision
making power in the household and the community. Furthermore, the level of women’s
education also has a direct implication on maternal mortality rates, and nutrition and health
indicators among children.
Women all over the world have been challenging and changing inequalities since the beginnings
of history. These struggles have been supported by men who have been impaired at injustices
against women and society. Empowerment is defined as a process that women are able to
transform their self perceptions equivalent to alchemy of obviously transforming gender roles.
Empowerment and development are closely related. Empowerment leads to development. It is
giving lawful power or authority to act. The process of empowerment should start from our own
home. Women’s position in the household determines women’s autonomy in the family. It is
worth to examine whether can decide about household matters like buying household assets and
jewelleries, having access to money, having mobility to go to relatives’ house or getting health
care facilities. In our country, women have reached a long way eventually and have discovered a
new path for them to come. Women rights are human rights. The concept of feminism is very
vogue. Feminist usually deals out balky attention. Women’s right and changes effort to win
equality for women have containing women’s suffrage, feminism, women’s property rights,
equal opportunity in work and education, and equal pay.
ROLE OF EDUCATION
It is said that education increases "people's self-confidence and also enables them to find better
jobs and they can work shoulder to shoulder with men”. Education and knowledge empower
women. ... Education is a milestone of women empowerment because it enables them to respond
to challenges, to confront their traditional role and change their life. Education is one of the ways
to spread the message of women empowerment. With the ongoing multi-faceted process for
women empowerment confidently taking over social spaces, there has been a positive influence
in the corporate world. Looking back 10 years from now, positions of power for women have
increased substantially. Women have a very in-distinctive position in our economy and are an
indispensable part of the society. Yes, education and knowledge empower women. The only way
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a society or nation can move forward, and aspire to economic growth and development is not just
through education- but especially education among the women citizens.
The Constitution of India empowers the state to adopt affirmative measures for prompting ways
and means to empower women. Education significantly makes difference in the lives of women.
Women Empowerment is a global issue and discussion on women political right are at the fore
front of many formal and informal campaigns worldwide. Education is milestone of women
empowerment because it enables them to responds to the challenges, to confront their traditional
role and change their life. So we can’t neglect the importance of education in reference to
women empowerment. To see the development in women education India is supposed to
upcoming super power of the world in recent years. The increasing change in women education,
the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of
women.
Education is one of the ways to spread the message of women empowerment. However rich and
humongous our country is no goals or dreams of our citizens will be achieved without effective
education. Education not only educates a person but also helps her realize that she is a vital part
to the society. Thus, Women's empowerment means to promote women's sense of self-worth,
their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for
themselves and others. In Western countries, female empowerment is often associated with
specific phases of the women's rights movement in history. Education not only educates a
woman but enables her to take decisions and accept responsibilities at her home and outer world.
Education helps a woman to understand her rights to equal treatment like a man in the society of
this nation.
GENDER EQUALITY IN PATRIARCHICAL WORLD
India’s journey on women empowerment and gender equality started when it became a sovereign
state in 1947. While visible gains have been made through legal reforms, human development
and grassroots initiatives, New Delhi still has a long way to go in many areas of women
empowerment. A more concerted effort is needed to close the urban-rural divide and ensure that
women in rural areas enjoy the same access to education, employment, healthcare and decision-
making as their urban counterparts. The hardest challenge will be to change attitudes, given that
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many barriers to women empowerment are attributed to patriarchal and matrilineal traditions that
are deeply entrenched in many South Asian societies.
Women’s equality has shown a major improvement as a result of adult literacy programs is the
area of enrolment of boys and girls in schools. As a result of higher participation of women in
literacy campaigns, the gender gap in literacy levels is gradually getting reduced. Even more
significant is the fact that disparity in enrolment of boys and girls in neo-literate households is
much lowered compared to the non-literate householders. Women and girls face barriers and
disadvantages in every sector in which we work. Around the world 62 million girls are not in
school. Though the Indian Constitution guarantees equal rights to all citizens, women are still
marginally represented in the Indian political arena. The principle of gender equality is enshrined
in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and
Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the
State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women.
India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments
committing to secure equal rights of women. Key among them is the ratification of the
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.
The gender equality and women’s empowerment isn’t a part of development but at the core of
development. To get rid of this we have to make some educational awareness programmes on
gender equality and women empowerment for cementing our commitment to supporting women
and girls. The women’s movement and a wide-spread network of non-Government Organizations
which have strong grass-roots presence and deep insight into women’s concerns have contributed
in inspiring initiatives for the empowerment of women.
WOMEN AS DECISION MAKER’S
Women’s equality in power sharing and active participation in decision making, including
decision making in political process at all levels will be ensured for the achievement of the goals
of empowerment. All measures will be taken to guarantee women equal access to and full
participation in decision making bodies at every level, including the legislative, executive,
judicial, corporate, statutory bodies, as also the advisory Commissions, Committees, Boards,
Trusts etc. Affirmative action such as reservations/quotas, including in higher legislative bodies,
will be considered whenever necessary on a time bound basis. Women–friendly personnel
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policies will also be drawn up to encourage women to participate effectively in the
developmental process.
Women are often dynamic leaders of change, galvanizing women and men to get involved, claim
their rights, strengthen their communities and protect their planet. Their participation is
fundamental to democratic governance. Yet women still have far to go towards equal
representation in positions of power and leadership, whether in corporate boardrooms or
presidential cabinets. Women empowerment is giving legitimate power or authority to perform
the tasks. If women were empowered they would be able to participate in the planning and
decision making task and contribute to the development programmes and activities individually.
Women have a right to equal participation. Once in leadership roles, they can make a difference
that benefits whole societies. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has found that women politicians
give more attention to social welfare and legal protections, and improve trust. Taking up the
Beijing commitments and rallying around women’s leadership could accelerate progress towards
equal participation—right now. We can’t wait until the next century!
CONCLUSION
The paper concludes saying that no doubt that women have the potential to battle their lives not
only as mother to her child in family but even a great administrator to navigate ones nation
towards the path of development among patriarchal world. But, it is the social practices and male
attitudes that are making an effective and invisible barrier preventing women from rising above a
certain point. Women play a very important role in nation building. The purpose of this study is
to uncover the role of empowering women and achieving gender equality in the sustainable
development. Women have been empowered through women art in many ways as I have
explained in my analysis. Although at the same time they have had to struggle a lot to gain this
power and get their voice heard. Women empowerment becomes possible only if their economic
and social status is improved. And to achieve this every woman should be given the right
education from the grass root level to culminate their destination. They are essential possessions
of a lively humanity required for national improvement, Empowerment means moving from a
weak position to execute a power. Thus, the study distinguishes that there is a strong relationship
between decision making authority and women empowerment. However, women should be
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allowed to take decisions not only at household level but also to drive our nation globally
eliminating gender discrimination through right education.
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