WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Women Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of a women. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.

In simple meaning..

To give certain rights or authority.

To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority.

To equip or supply with an ability to women.

Why it should be..?

60 % of the Girls are married before the age of 16

Nearly 60% of the married girls bear children before they are 18

125,000 women die from pregnancy and related causes every year

Maternal mortality in India is the 2nd highest in the world

China: Suicidal rates are higher in case of women

Womens life at risk because of acid attacks in Ethiopia

37% women victims of domestic violence: NFH survey

Almost half of Indian women have not heard of AIDS

Married women, children most anemic in India

injustice

low economic independence.

With their age, they have been raped, kicked, killed, subdued & humiliated almost daily.

About 66% of the female population in rural area is unutilized. This is mainly due to existing social customs.

In agriculture & animal care the women contribute 90% of the total work force.

70% of people living in poverty are women.

Lower sex ratio i.e. 933.

Due to bad practices like..

Child marriages

She is just 15 yrs, her son is 18 months old

Dowry system

Sati system

Gender inequality

The existing studies show that the women are relatively less healthy than men even though, they belong to same class.

They constitute less than 1/7th of the administrators & managers in developing countries.

History

It dates back to the 1970s and the beginnings of the international women's movement.

Many women's organizations worldwide set up credit and savings components as a way of both enabling women to increase their incomes and come together to address wider gender issues.

Not only 'reaching women' but 'empowering' them is the second official goal of the Micro credit summit programme.

problems

Lack of education

Financial problem

Family responsibility

Low mobility

Low ability to bear risk

Absence of ambition for the achievement.

Social status

Education

Self employment

Training

Providing loans

Addressing minimum needs such as nutrition, health, sanitation, housing & education.

Providing saving habit among them.

Sarva shiksha abhiyan: the flagship programme of elementary education has special focus on girl child.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas

Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas

The rate of literacy has gone up from 39.29% in 1991 to 54.16% in 2001.

Reservations in parliament increased to 33% from 10%

Cabinet approves 50% reservations for women in panchayats.

Reservation for women in bus

Women entrepreneurs are gradually increasing..

Few role models

Mother Teresa

 Founded the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work.

Sarojini Naidu

 Famously known as known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India), was a child prodigy, freedom fighter, and poet.

Indira Gandhi

 Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (19 November 1917 - October 31, 1984) Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She was India's first and to date only female prime minister

Kiran Bedi

She broke new ground by joining the lite Indian Police Service in 1972, the first woman in India to do so.

Medha Patkar

 She did her M.A. in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). She left her position on the faculty of TISS as well as her unfinished Ph. D. when she became involved in the tribal and peasant agitations in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, which eventually led to the organization of the Narmada Bachao Andolan

Sudha Murty

 Sudha Murthy (born Sudha Kulkarni, in Karnataka, India in 1950) is an Indian social worker and accomplished author.

 Tina, in 2002, provided a platform for `Aseema', an NGO engaged in the rehabilitation and education of street children. 30 street children displayed their talent through innovative works of art and craft. The proceeds from the show went towards helping `Aseema'

 Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (born 23 March 1953 in Bangalore) is an Indian entrepreneur. She is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd. In 2004, she became Indias richest woman.

As Chairperson and Mission Leader of CII's National Task Force on Biotechnology she has led several delegations to USA, Canada, UK, etc. to propel India into the global super league of biotech trailblazers. She chairs Karnataka's Vision Group on Biotechnology and also served on the Board of Science Foundation, Ireland.

Alone we are strong

Together we are Unstoppable!!!

Lets join hands for the bigger cause

Female Education and Development in India

Jawaharlal Nehru had once saidEducate a man and you educate one

person. Educate a woman and you educate the whole family.

The development of women in India who according to the 1991 census represent 48.1 per cent of the countrys population - has occupied the centrestage in our development planning since independence.

ANCIENT PERIOD

Female Education is not new to us. In olden days women were allowed to enter gurukuls. They also composed Rigvedic hymns. They excelled in the sphere of education and hence the goddess of learning was conceived of as a female who was popularly known as Saraswati.

The pioneering work of womens education was done by such socioreligious reform bodies as Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna mission and also Danish, American, German and British missionary societies.

ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY-

EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT FOR WOMEN

Role of Mass Media in Women Empowerment Role of Employment in Women Empowerment

FACTORS FOR POOR LITERACY RATE

Gender based Inequality-this is highly prevalent in India. Occupation of Girls as Domestic Help Other Reasons-Exploitation, sexual abuse are few of the other reasons why parents are send their daughters to school.

NECESSITY FOR EDUCATION OF WOMEN

Empowerment of women Economic

BENEFITS

Increase in the Revenue of the Family Check on Social evils Part in Household Activities Other reasons- Studies have proved that lack of education affects the general health of the family. Besides general health inculcating good moral values in her children would be one of the top priorities of any educated mother. In the long run, well brought up children are an asset which any society would love to possess. This is how the civilization progresses and grows.

NATIONWIDE DEMOGRAPHICS

Sex Ratio-The number of females per 1000 males is known as sex ratio. It is usually adverse in India. It has declined over the years except in 1981, when it improved slightly. In India Kerala is perhaps the only state where the number of females surpass the number of males.1058 female for 1000 males.

India Population-1,147,995,904 male: 73.4% female: 47.8%

SOCIAL EVILS RELATED

Poverty Female Foeticide Overpopulation Maternal Mortality Low per Capita Income

GOVERNMENT STRATERGIES

RIGHTS AND PrivilegesArticle 14 confers on men and women equal rights and opportunities in the political, economic and social spheres. Article 15 prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex etc. Article 15(3) makes a special provision enabling the State to make affirmative discriminations in favor of women. Similarly, Article 16 provides for equality of opportunities in matter of public appointments for all citizens.

Article 39(a) further mentions that the State shall direct its policy towards securing all citizens, men and women, equally, the right to means of livelihood, while Article 39(c) ensures equal pay for equal work. Article 42 directs the State to make provision for ensuring just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. Above all, the Constitution imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen through Articles 15 (A) (e) to renounce the practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

WOMEN AND 5 YR PLAN The Centre Social Welfare Board (CSWB), set up in 1953 worked for the welfare of women voluntarily. In the Second Five Year Plan (1956-61) women were organized into Mahila Mandals to act as focal points at the grass-root levels for the development of women. The Third, Fourth and other Interim Plans (196174) accorded high priority to educate women. In the Fifth Plan(1974-78) there was a change in the approach of womens development from welfare to development

PLANS

The National Plan of Action for Women (NPA) adopted in 1976 became a guiding document for the development of women till 1988 when a National Perspective Plan for Women was formulated. The National Plan of Action for the Girl Child (NPA) 1991-2000 is an integrated multi-sectoral decadal Plan of Action. for ensuring survival, protection and development of children with a special gender sensitivity built for the girl child and adolescent girls.

National Policy on Education (NPE) 1966, National Health Policy (NHP) 1983, National Commission for Womens Act (NCW) 1990, which have been influencing the welfare and development of women and children in the country.

CONCLUSION

Female education and empowerment is necessary for the development of a country. The female population in India is almost 50%. Female empowerment and development can be propagated through help of education, mass media, employment opportunities and increasing the selfconfidence. Women empowerment includes 3 basic aspects- education, health and self-reliance. Women can be empowered only if they are financially independent.

Female education is one of the most vital needs in todays world since it will help the country progress. The role of women in the world is significant and hence we must give them what they deserve. Thus we can say that empowering women is empowering the country. The first step towards education of women is education. Self-learning is also important.