Women Empowerment in India

Women Empowerment means to empower women in all aspects of their identity.

Empowerment of women in India is an issue which is widely discussed. Women constitute almost 50% of the world population but India has shown inappropriate sex ratio whereby female’s population has been comparatively lower than males and we know the reasons very well. As far as social status of women is concerned we all are much familiar about the evil practices against them and how they were suppressed from time to time, history is a witness of it.

We know this very well that Indian women are discriminated and marginalized at every level of society. However, with changing time status of women became a serious issue as a consequence of which people in India started thinking about it. The first attempt in this was taken up by Raja Ram Mohan Roy who took measures to abolish Sati pratha in the year 1829 and soon after it Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar revolted against enforced widowhood, because of his continuous efforts ‘Hindu Widow Remarriage Act’ was passed in 1856. In the early 20^th century Mahatma Gandhi favored removing of disabilities of women. 

Empowerment of women flows from power. It means women should be economically independent, self-reliant and strong enough to face any difficult situation. After independence of India law makers and leaders recognized equal position of women with men.  Since the condition of women was pitiful in India, constitution makers realized that there is a need of specific laws for women for uplifting their status in the society and to ensure them that their participation is important for democracy. Thereby several Acts were passed in this regard and rights of women were given space in the Articles including:

Ø  The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955- determined the age of marriage

Ø  Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956- an unmarried woman, widow or divorcee with sound mind can adopt a child legally.

Ø  Dowry Prohibition Act, 1966- any person who gives or takes dowry is liable for punishment like imprisonment, fine or both.

Ø   Article 14- equality before law

Ø  Article 15- no discrimination against any citizen on ground of sex.

Ø  Article 15(3) - special provision that enable state to make affirmative discrimination in favor of women.

Ø  Article 15 (A)- renounce derogatory practices to the dignity of women.

Ø  Article 42- provision for just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.

Ø  In 1993, 73^rd and 74^th amendments to  the Constitution provided special powers to women along with 33% reservation of seats in Panchayati Raj

Ø  The most positive development is “The New Panchayati Raj”, an effort to empower rural women.

Today we have dynamic female personalities in India almost in every field. From sports to education women are doing well, they have also proved themselves in politics. The most notable among these are ‘Sonia Gandhi’, Chairperson of UPA, Mamta Banerjee, Sushma Swaraj not to forget Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. We have sports persons like Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom and many more. Women of India are also involved in human development issues of child rearing, education and health. Moreover, they have indulged themselves in marketing through household business of pickels, ‘papad’, tailoring, embroidery etc.

This is just one sided truth of women empowerment in India that has shown significant changes in Indian society but there is a darker side as well.

Muslim Women in India, Muslim women in India face double discrimination: gender discrimination from traditional patriarchy and discrimination against religious minorities. It is estimated that 60 million Muslim women live in India out of which almost 2/3^rd of it is illiterate. In north Indian state like Haryana, the illiteracy rate of Muslim women is near about 98%.

It is true that empowered women in India access a better position and better situation in the society but it is a myth that the emergence of concept of Women Empowerment in India will make everything favorable for women and will change things in a better way forever. If this would have happened, women today would not become a victim of molestation, eve teasing, and sexual harassment. The worse thing than becoming a victim is to take blame of the society  and lack of strict and immediate actions against these crimes. Women are found to be less literate than men. Some of the women are found to weak to work, they consume less food and work more, so there are health related issues also, even there is lack of knowledge and awareness for pregnancy. But we just cannot always blame men, judiciary, society and administration responsible for the pathetic condition of women, there is yet another aspect and the question is “how much do women support one other?” This can be easily observed by the day-to-day domestic behavior of women.  In the creation of this male dominated society women have an equal role. Women need to encourage other women to go out and explore their desire, support of their male counterparts is also essential.

It is not true that women are weak; the only requirement is that they should know themselves. Self-confident and self-respect both should inbuilt. There are certain norms and moral values existing in the society and women are found to be afraid of going against it. But every girl must recognize her own morale and values and move ahead, society will definitely oppose because it doesn’t feel comfortable with changes. Apart from women’s personal attempts there is a need for increase in women education. An awareness campaign can be carried out in regard to issues like violence against women, nutrition and care of a pregnant women etc. we also need to empower rural women. Rural women are as capable as urban women but we need to amalgamate those capabilities. They can also indulge themselves in cottage business and call themselves as ‘entrepreneurs’  (like ‘Sridevi’ in the movie ‘English Vinglish’)

With the concept of women empowerment in India and by the efforts of all we can expect an improved society tomorrow.