Dr Menaal Kaushal

JR III
Department of S P
M
S N Medical
College, Agra
 World Bank says:

“Empowerment is the process of increasing

the capacity of individuals or groups to make
choices and to transform those choices into
desired actions and outcomes.”
 Definition
• “Empowerment is the process of
increasing the authority and
responsibility of individuals or groups to
make choices and to tr ansf orm those
choices into desired actions and
outcomes”.
 Women's empowerment has five
components:
• Women's sense of self-worth;
• Their r i g h t t o have and to
determine choices;
• Their r ig h t t o have access to
opportunities and resources;
• Their r igh t t o have the power to
control their own lives, both
within and outside the home;
• A n d their ability t o influence the
direction of social change to
create a more just social and
economic order, nationally and
internationally.
 Women Empowerment
• Women Empowerment refers to
increasing the spiritual, political,
social, educational, gender, or
economic strength of individuals and
communities of women.
 Women in India
o Total population - 1 2 1 0 . 2 million ( 2 0 11 )
{Almost equal to t he combined populat i on of
Indonesia, B razil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan
U.S.A.,
put together}
o Women population - 5 8 6 . 5 million
(48.5%)
o Sex ratio: 9 4 3 / 1 0 0 0 men
o Child Sex ratio: 9 1 9 / 1 0 0 0
22- 07-
7
2014
 Shocking Facts
• According t o 2 0 1 3 , UNDP re po rt on
t f u m a n Development Indicators, all South
Asian Countries, except Afghanistan, were
ranked better for women than India
• I t predicts: an Indian girl child aged 1 - 5
yrs is 75% more likely t o die t ha n the boy
child
• A wo man is raped once in every 2 0 m i n and
10% of all crimes are reported t o be of
• Women f o r m 48% of India’s
population

• Only 29% of the national

workforce

• Only 26% of women have access

to formal credit
•NEW DELHI: Being equal to their
male counterparts is still a far cry
for Indian women. Not only are
they marginal as public figures, an
average Indian woman can hardly
call the shots at home or outside.

•In 2 0 1 2 , women occupied only

eight out of 7 4 ministerial positions
in the Union council of ministers.
There were only two women judges
out of 2 6 judges in the Supreme
Court, and there were only 5 4
women judges out of 6 3 4 judges in
various high courts.
• 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. Women
constitute almost half of the
population, perform nearly 2 / 3
rd of its work hours, receive 1 / 1 0
th of the world’s income & own
less than 1 / 1 0 0 th of the world
property.
• Among the world’s 9 0 0 million
illiterate people, women out
number men two to one. 70% of
people living in poverty are
Educational status of women
Literacy rate

22- 07-
12
De pa rt me n t of edu2c0a1t4ion, Ministry of t f u m a n
Census data 2 0 0 1 , 2 0 11 , RGI, GOI Resource & Development
Gender Disparity in Literacy

Age Sex Literacy Gender

rate Disparity
(%)
15-49 Male 78 29%
Female 55
20-24 Male 84 23%
Female 64
15-19 Male 89 17%
Female 74
NFtfS 3,India 2 0 0 5 -
2006
Gender Disparity in Media
Exposure
Not only are fewer women than men literate
but fewer are also regularly exposed to
media
• Percentage of men and women age 1 5 - 1 9
regularly exposed to print media, TV,
radio, or cinema
• Men 88%
• Women 71
%
• Gender Disparity
19%
 Employment: Another Area of
Gender Disparity
• A m ong the population age
Percent 4
195-
87 • Men are 2 times as likely to be
79 employed
• Men are 2 . 7 times as likely t o
be employed for cash
43
29 • Among the employed, 64% of
women vs. 91% of men earn cash

• Female share of population

Employed Employed for employed for cash in n o n -
cash agricultural occupations is 22%
Women NFtfS 3,India 2 0 0 5 -
Men 2006
Economic independence of women

Work participation of
w o m e n – 25.63%
Urban: rural ratio of w o r k
participation of women-
11 . 8 8 : 3 0 . 7 9
Women w o rkin g in
unorganized sectors – 80%
Women econ om ically
active a t 1 5 years ( 2 0 0 9 ) –
16
33% 22- 07-
2014
The majority of employed women
are engaged in agricultural work
Occupational Distribution (%)
Type of worker Women Men

Professional 7 7
Sales 4 14
Service 7 5
Production 22 37
Agricultural 59 33
Other 2 4
NFtfS 3,India 2 0 0 5 -
Do married women have access to
any other financial resources?
Percentage of women
P a r t i c i p a t e wn
i hdoe:cision o n 68
h o w husband's earnings are
used
45
Have m o n e y which they
can decide h o w to u s e
15
Have a bank or savings
account that they
themselve use 5

H ave taken loan from

microcredit program
Do mar ried women participate in
other household decision making?
Make decision
alone or
Decisions jointly with
husband
Own health care 62
Making major household purchases 53
Making purchases for daily household
needs 60
Visits to her family or relatives 61
All four 37
None of above 21
Women at decision making level
• Participation of
58.2
48.0 women in elect i ons
in creased over the
years

• Proportion of women
t u r n o u t for voting –
Source: Election Commission of India
58.2%
22- 07-
20
2014
 Women at decision making
leve
l
• Proportion of women in

national parliament
Proportion of women in national

dipped till year 2 0 0 7

• “Women Reservation
parliament

Bill” is still pending in

21
the parliament
22- 07-
2014
WHY NEED OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT?

• The main problems that were faced by women in

past days(and still today up to some extent):
• Gender discrimination
• Woman education
• Female infanticide
• Dowry
• Marriage in same caste and child marriage(still
existing)
• Atrocities on Women: Raped, kicked, killed,
subdued & humiliated almost daily.
NEED FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMNENT :

WOMEN ARE DEPRIVED OF:

• Decision Making Power
• Freedom of Movement
• Access to Education
• Access to Employment
• Exposure to Media
• Domestic Violence
Holistic approach to Empowerment

Health Water & San. Political

& Nut. Participation

Education
Asset base

Skill
s
Marketing

Technology Credit
 WAYS TO EMPOWER WOMEN :
• Changes in women's
mobility an d social
in teraction ;
• Changes in women's labor
patterns;
• Changes in women's
access t o and control over
resources; and
• Changes in women's
control over decision -
 WAYS TO EMPOWER WOMEN :
• Providing education
• Self employment and Self help groups
• Providin g m in im um needs like n u tr i t ion,
healt h, sanitation, housing
• O ther th an this, society should change
the m en t alit y towards the w o r d “ w o m e n ” .
• Encouraging women t o develop in t heir
fields
they are good a t and make a career.
Non-governmental organizations are playing a
significant role in the empowerment of
disadvantages women.
Just a few years after Independence, the Government
set up the Central Social Welfare Board, an apex body
of the voluntary sector that aids more than 10,000
NGOs across the country, helping women stand on
their own through such programme as socio-
economic programme, vocational training and other
similar programmes.
ROLE OF GOVERNM
ENTThe Department of Women and Child Development has been
implementing special programmes for the holistic development
and empowerment of women with major focus to improve their
socio-economic status. There has been policy shifts from time to
time based on the shifts in emphasis.

to bring greater focus on the programmes for women.

A programme of Support to Training-cum-Employment for
Women (STEP) was launched in 1987 to strengthen and improve
the skills for employment opportunities for women below the
poverty line, in traditional sectors of agriculture, small animal
husbandry etc where women are employed on a large scale..
Swayamsidha launched in March 2001 and the Swa-Shakti

Empowerment Project), launched in October 1998.

Free Powerpoint Templates
 Women Empowerment
Programmes
• Swayamsidha

• Swa-Shakti Project

• Support to Training and employment programme for

Women (STEP)

• Swalamban

• Creches/ Day care Centers for the Children of working and

Ailing Mothers

• tfostels for working women

• Swadhar

• Rashtriya Mahila kosh (RMK)

Swayamsidha: ( Indira Mahila yojna)
• I t is an integrated project for the development and
empowerment of women through Self tfelp Groups
(StfGs) w i t h emphasis on covering service, developing
access t o micro-enterprises.
• About 1 0 lakh women have taken membership.

Swam-Shakti Project:
• Earlier known as the Rural Women’s Development
and Empowerment Project, was sanctioned in
October 1 9 9 8 as centrally sponsored scheme t o be
implemented in the states of Bihar, Chattisgarh,
Gujarat, tfaryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Uttaranchal and U t t a r Pradesh.
Swayamsidha:
 Programmes contd…
Support to Training and employment
Programme for Women (STEP):

• The pr ogram seeks t o provide updated skills and

new knowledge t o poor asset less women in eight
traditional sectors of employment, agriculture,
animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries, handlooms,
handcrafts, Khadi and Village industry and
sericulture.
Swadhar:
This scheme was launched in 2 0 0 1 - 2 0 0 2 as a
central sector scheme for providing holistic
and integrated services t o women in difficult
circumstances.

NATIONAL POLICY FOR THE

EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN ( 2 0 0 1 )
The goal - of this Policy is to bring about the
advancemen t , developmen t and
empowerment of women.
 Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK):
• Also known as the National Credit Fund for
Women was set up as a registered society
under the Societies Registration Act, 1 8 6 0
on March 3 0 , 1 9 9 3 .
• Credit support or micro-finance to poor
women to st a rt income generating activities
such as in - Dairy , Agriculture ,Shop-
keeping ,Vending and tfandicrafts.

In 2 0 0 3 - 0 4 , an amount of Rs.25 crore was

sanctioned through RMK benefiting about
 MDG GOAL 3
• Prom ote Gender Equality
and Empower Women.
TARGET
1. Eliminate gender dispar i t y in
p r i m a r y and secondary education,
preferably by 2 0 0 5 , and in all levels
of education, no later t han 2 0 1 5
• UNIFEM is the women’s fund a t the
United Nations.
It provides financial and technical
assistance to innovative programs and
strategies to foster women’s
empowerment and gender equality
 Four strategic areas

• UNIFEM has identified four strategic areas

t h a t are of critical concern for the
achievement of gender equality and women's
empowerment :
• Reducing feminized poverty
• Ending violence against women
• Reversing the spread of tfIV / A IDS am ong
women
and girls
• Achieving gender equality in
democratic governance in times of peace as well as
• GRBI is a collaborative effort between the -
United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM), The Commonwealth
Secretariat and Canada's International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), To -
• Support government and civil society in
analyzing national a n d / o r local budgets f r o m
a gender perspective and applying this
analysis to the formulation of gender
responsive budgets.
• 2 0 1 4 Theme: Inspiring Change

• Each year around the world, International Women's

Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8.

• Thousands of events occur not just on this day but

throughout March to mark the economic, political
and social achievements of women.
 CONCLUSION
• Women represent half the world’s population, and
gender inequality exists in every nation on the
planet.

• Until women are given the same opportunities that

men are, entire societies will be destined to
perform below their true potentials .

• The greatest need of the hour is change of social

attitude to women.
Positive Stories…
 The Lijjat Papad
story
• Seven illiterate and poor women borrowed Rs 8 0 t o
st art a papad business in 1 9 5 9
• Its turnover f r o m Rs 6 , 1 9 6 in the first year w e n t upto
Rs 3 0 0 crore in the next four decades
• 4 2 , 0 0 0 women on its revolutionary march
• Jaywantiben Popat, one of the women involved w i t h
this phenomenal spirit, was honoured a t the ET
Awards for her outstanding achievements
 Mann Deshi Mahila
Sahakari Bank
• Chetna’s foundation established in 1 9 9 4 a
co-operative bank t h a t is completely
operated by women and serves women
customers.
• The bank was established w i t h help of a
group of illiterate women and has now
grown into a $ 5 6 2 , 0 0 0 f i r m by the end of
2 0 11 .
• In collaboration w i t h tfSBC, Mann Deshi
Bank established the Udyogini Business
 SEWA (Self-Employed Women's
Association)
• Started as a trade union, registered in 1 9 7 2 ,
founded by Ela Bhat,
• Organisation of self-employed women workers
who earn a living through their own labour or
small businesses.
• SEWA's membership, which is a nominal Rs. 5 a
year, includes women f r o m a cross-section of
society — f r o m vegetable and f r u i t hawkers t o
home- based weavers, potters and manual
labourers.
• Year Number of Members
 EMPOWERMENT
INDICATORS
I - Legal Empowerment
 Enforcement of legislation related to the protection

of human rights.

 Num ber of cases related to wom en ’ s rig hts

hear d in local
courts, and their results.

 Number of cases r elated to th e legal rig hts of

d ivorc ed and
widowed women heard in local courts,and the
results.
 Rate at which t he num ber of local
 justices/prosecutors/lawyers w ho women.
Increase/decrease in violence against are wom en / m en is
increasing/decreasing.
I I - Political Empowerment
 % of seats held by women in local councils/decision-
making bodies.

 % of women in decision-making positions in local

government.

 % of women in the local civil service.

 % of w o m e n / m e n registered as voters/ % of
eligible w o m e n / m e n who vote.

 % of women in senior/junior decision making positions

w i t h i n unions.

 % of union members who are women/ men.

III-Economic Empowerment
 Changes in employmen t / u nemploym ent rates
of women and men.

 Salary/wage differentials between women and men.

 Average household expen d i ture of fem ale/

m ale headed households on education/health.

 Ability to m a ke small or large

purchases independently.

IV-Social Empowerment
 Cont r o l of women over decisions (e.g
fert i l i t y number of children) .

 Mobilit y of women w i thin outside their