Women empowerment in
India is heavily dependent on many different variables that include
geographical location (urban/rural), educational status, social status (caste
and class), and age. Policies on women empowerment exist at the national,
state, and local levels in many sectors, including health, education, economic
opportunities, Gender-based violence, and political participation. Furthermore
the community and household structure is highly governed by a patriarchal
society.
Women Empowerment in
villages is much less visible than in the city. Women in the village, as
opposed to women in the city, face inequality in all spheres of life. Despite
being educated, women in India are not treated at par with their male
counterparts.
Discrimination against
women in most parts of India emerges from the social and religious construct of
women’s role and their status. As such women are considered to be less than
men, occupying a lower status in the family and community, which
consequentially restricts equal opportunity in women and girls’ access to
education, economic possibilities, and mobility.A women’s choice and freedom is
also limited by prejudiced treatment. Women don’t have free access to education
because preference is given more to males rather than females. Younger women
and girls experience more prejudice as a result of their age. Mobility
restrictions for women are dependent upon how the family and community view
women’s rights.
Abuse and violence
towards women is predominant within the household, and marital violence is
accepted by both men and women. Wife beating, rape, dowry, trafficking, sexual
abuse, etc. permeate the social fabric and create one of the most serious
obstacles in achieving Women’s Empowerment.Despite the policies, laws and
initiatives by civil society institutions, violence against women in India is
widespread. Additionally, social stigma and the fear of abandonment by the
family play a big role in women and girls’ ability or inability to access laws
and policies to address sexual and physical violence.
Despite women having
made a foray into the most difficult fields, they are yet not treated with
dignity.Kalpana Chawla became the first Indian woman to go on a space mission,
and yet nothing really has changed in the context of empowering women and
realising their potential. The acceptability of an intelligent, thinking woman
is much discounted in our country.
Empowerment can come
only when the value systems change; only when the girl and the boy are treated
equally in every aspect of life; only when the social fabric becomes large
enough to encompass the talent, skills, and calibre of every woman within
families as well as the workplace.
