“To all the little girls who are reading this article, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

Women empowerment refers to making women powerful to make them capable of deciding for themselves. Women have suffered a lot through the years at the hands of men. In earlier centuries, they were treated as almost non-existent. As if all the rights belonged to men even something as basic as voting. As the times evolved, women realized their power.

As women were not allowed to make decisions for them, women empowerment came in like a breath of fresh air. It made them aware of their rights and how they must make their own place in society rather than depending on a man. It recognized the fact that things cannot simply work in someone’s favor because of their gender. However, we still have a long way to go when we talk about the reasons why we need it.

Women empowerment is the process of giving women the ability to live a happy and respected life in society. Women are empowered when they have unrestricted access to chances in a range of domains, such as education, profession, and lifestyle, among others. It involves things like education, awareness, literacy, and training to help them improve their position. It also involves decision-making authority. A woman feels powerful when she takes a significant decision. Empowering women is the most important factor in a country’s overall growth. If a household has just one earning member, while another family has both men and women earning, who will have a better standard of living? The solution is straightforward: a household in which both men and women work. As a result, a country where men and women work together grows more quickly.

Almost all countries, regardless of how progressive, have a history of mistreating women. To put it another way, women from all over the world have been defiant to achieve their current standing. While Western nations continue to make progress, third-world countries such as India continue to lag behind in terms of women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is more important than ever in India. India is one of the countries where women are not safe. This is due to a variety of factors. Not only that, but horrific crimes against women such as rape, acid attacks, the dowry system, honour killings, domestic violence, and other forms of violence against women continue to occur throughout India. Women should account for 50% of the entire population. However, due to female feticide practices, which is still prevailing in the rural and underprivileged sections of the Indian societies, the girl child population is rapidly declining, affecting the country’s sex ratio. Furthermore, the education and freedom scenario is extremely regressive in this situation. Women are not permitted to continue their education and are married off at a young age. In certain areas, men continue to dominate women, as though it is the woman’s responsibility to labour for him indefinitely. They don’t let them go out or have any form of freedom and personal life. As a result, we can see how women empowerment is a pressing issue. We must equip these women with the tools they need to stand up for themselves and never be victims of injustice.

“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”

The history of women empowerment does not start from an exact date, It is a cumulative process. However, there are certain movements, protests, revolutions that furthered the cause of women empowerment much more speedily.

In the ancient days and even in the recent past, women, in hundreds of countries, were not allowed to vote. As time passed, more and more women came together and made their voices heard. Gaining voting rights significantly lifted the position of women in society. Many suffrage movements campaigned daily in support of women's voting rights. In the US, individuals like Elizabeth Stanton and organisations like National American Woman Suffrage Association, National Woman’s Party played a key role in securing the voting rights for women. In the UK, the Women's Social and Political Union aggressively campaigned for women’s suffrage. It is a shame for society at large when we consider that many countries granted women the right to vote after a very long time. Kuwait, Qatar, Zaire, Bahrain, Andorra, Central African Republic etc granted women the right to vote after the second half of the 20th century.

No woman can be empowered if she is not financially independent. Gone are the days when women had to depend on their fathers or husbands to get things that they wanted. From the 20th century onwards women got more opportunities to join the workforce. However, at the same time, many women in England were forced to work both in the workplace and in the household to support the family. After the Second World War women, on their own, chose to join the workforce. Today more and more jobs are opening up for women. Women are proving to be worthy of the designations assigned to them.

In the household, too, women have gained significant decision-making powers. The decision to have a baby or not is now decided by both men and women. The use of contraceptive pills empowered women further. Women can now enjoy unhindered work life and education.

Women empowerment cannot be successful if the women in the lower rung of the society are not empowered. After the onset of the 21st century, women belonging to the grassroots level have found many vocational works, labours that were only reserved for men. Today there are many female masons, bus drivers, petrol pump attendants, farmers etc. And all these women are doing their job extremely well.

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.”

To empower the women first it needs to kill all the demons of the society, killing women’s right and values in the society such as dowry system, illiteracy, sexual harassment, inequality, female infanticide, domestic violence against women, rape, prostitution and illegal trafficking etc.

Women must be given equal opportunities in every field, irrespective of gender. Moreover, they must also be given equal pay. We can empower women by abolishing child marriage. Various programs must be held where they can be taught skills to fend for themselves in case they face financial crisis.

Most importantly, the shame of divorce and abuse must be thrown out of the window. Many women stay in abusive relationships because of the fear of society. Parents must teach their daughters it is okay to come home divorced rather than in a coffin.

Women Empowerment is the need of the day and very essential for the growth and development of a nation as well as that of the world. The economic and political empowerment of women is very essential for improving their social status and making them independent. Without equal opportunities provided to each and every woman on the planet, the dream of a sustainable development society will be a distant reality. Governments, people and organizations all must work together to provide equal opportunities to the women in all fields of life. The dream of a developed nation could only be achieved if the women enjoy equal power and opportunities as that of the men in society.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 04 2023

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