First woman educator – Savitribai Phule

Year 1848 AD
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100 years later Indira gandhi accepted as first woman
nation leader
Sworn as first female prime minister of INDIA
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Kalpana Chawla – first Indian woman to travel space
Concept introduced at UN’s third world conference on
women in Nairobi in 1985
Defined as distribution of social and economic powers in
favour of women
THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND for WOMEN
includes all factors in its definition of women
empowerment
Convention on the Eliminations of all Forms of
discrimination against women 1993
The national commission for women was set up by act of
parliament in 1990
To safeguard rights and legal entitlements of women
THE CAIRO UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON POPULATION AND
DEVELOPMENT called attention to women
empowerment in 1995
Year 2001 declared as YEAR OF WOMEN’S
EMPOWERMENT
Also national policy of women empowerment was passed
Initiatives taken under this
Janani suraksha yojna
Prime minister ujjwala yojna
Swadhar
Sarva shiksha abhiyan
Prime minister matritva sahyog yojna
Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee
act
Indira awas yojana
“I measure the progress of a community by the degree of
progress which women have made” – this powerful
statement was made by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Chairman of
the Constitution Drafting Committee.
independence, India ranks 136th out of 187
countries on the Human Development Index. Gender
inequality and caste discrimination still remain major
issues which hinder women’s empowerment.
India will wait for the day when businesses in India will
run under the names of “D’Souza and Daughters”,
“Kapoor and Daughters”, “Kamble and Daughters”, etc.
Concept of Women Empowerment
“I measure the progress of a community by the degree of
progress which women have achieved.” – B.R.
Ambedkar

According to the United Nations– Women’s

empowerment has 5 components:
1. Women’s sense of self-worth;
2. Their right to have and to determine choices;
3. Their right to have the power to control their own
lives, both within and outside the home;
4. Their right to have access to opportunities and
resources;
5. Their ability to influence the direction of social change
to create more just social and economic order, nationally
and internationally.
Types/Forms of Women Empowerment
There are 5 types of Women Empowerment
Social
Educational
Economical
Political
Psychological
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Dimensions of Women Empowerment
1. Social and cultural empowerment

At Individual Level: Involvement in decisions about their

own health; in decisions about large household
purchases; in decisions about their mobility outside
domestic sphere like visits to family and relatives, at the
marketplace, visiting/staying their friend’s; decisions
about their own earnings, in decisions about
contraception,
menstrual hygiene, sanitation, health, surrogacy,
abortion.
At family and society level: Involvement in decisions
related to their career and education, children, marriage,
share in parental/ancestral property, involvement in
collective decisions like -family planning, management of
expenses, a decision involving their lifestyle-how they
should dress, choice, choice of friends,
mannerism/behavior, etc.
At the level of framing and implementation of
laws: Implementation deficit and misuse of social laws
like
Dowry Prohibition Act-1961, Non -recognition of marital
rape as a crime in the first place, The Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act-2005, No separate
definition or classification of honor killing as an
offense in India.
Fundamental Rights
Part III of the Constitution (Art. 12-35) is heart of the
Constitution. The framers of the Constitution were
conscious of the unequal treatment and discrimination
meted out to the women from time immemorial and
hence included various provisions for the upliftment of
the status of women.
Article 14- The state guarantees equality before law
and equal protection of law within the territory of
India.
Article 15- Prohibits any discrimination against any
citizen based on religion, race, cast, sex, or place of
birth or any of them. Art. 15(3) further authorises the
state to make positive discrimination in favour of
women and children in order to better their social
condition and provide political, economic and social
justice.
Article 16- Provides for equal opportunities to every
citizen in the matters of employment and
appointment in any office under the state prohibiting any
discrimination only on the grounds only of
religion, race, cast, sex, descent, place of birth, residence
or any of them.

Article 21- Gender equality emanates from the right to

life and liberty which is guaranteed under Art. 21.
The SC in Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan framed the
guidelines relating to sexual harassment of women at
workplace. The ratio was to ensure the right to work with
dignity under Art. 14, 15, 19(1}(g) and 21 of the
Constitution.
Article 23- Prohibits trafficking in human beings and
forced labour and indulging in any such act is made
a punishable offence. In India, prostitution and
purchasing & selling of human beings has been
prevalent
for a long time. The SC, in Gaurav Jain v. Union of India
highlighted the socio-economic plights of the
women in prostitution and issued guidelines to prevent
engaging of women in various forms of
prostitution.
 Article 39- Lays down certain principles to be followed
by the state. Art. 39(a) directs the state to
formulate policy to ensure right to adequate livelihood to
its citizens (both men and women). Art. 39(b)
directs the state to make equal pay for equal work for
both men and women. In pursuance to this the state
passed The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Art. 39(e)
makes specific directions to the state to not exploit
health and strength of its workers (both male and
female)
Article 42- Directs the state to ensure just and humane
conditions at work and for maternity relief. The
state has implemented this directive in various
legislations like Factories Act, Maternity Relief Act etc.
Article 44- Directs the state to implement Uniform Civil
Code (UCC) throughout India. It is particularly
aimed at rendering gender justice. Even though, no
efforts have been made to introduce Uniform Civil
Code in India, but the judiciary has recognised the
necessity of having uniform laws in the cases of
marriage, succession, adoption, divorce etc.
Article 51A was added to the constitution by the42nd
Amendment, 1976. This
Article specifies a code of eleven fundamental duties to
be performed by citizens. The Art. 51A(e) clearly lays
down that it’s a duty of every citizen of India to promote
harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood
amongst all the people of India transcending religion,
linguistic, regional or sectional diversities; to renounce
practices derogatory to the dignity of women”
5. Article 243D and 243T: Reservation of seats
The Article clearly lays down that not less than 1/3 rd of
the total seats shall be reserved for women belonging to
the SCs or STs. Further not less than 1/3 rd of the total
seats (including the ones for SCs and STs) would be
reserved for women in every Panchayat and Municipal
level election.
Article 243 D (3) and Article 243 T(3) provide for
reservation of not less than one third of total number of
seats
in Panchayats and Municipalities for women to be
allotted by rotation to different Constituencies.
Article 243 D(4) T(4) provides that not less than one third
of the total number of officers of chairperson in the
Panchayat and Municipalities at each level to be reserved
for women.
The Hindu Widow Re-Marriage Act of 1856: In the
traditions at Hindu society there was a ban on
widow remarriage it was one of the most important evils
from which women in the traditional Hindu
society suffered a lot. This act allowed widow to remarry
and section 5 of this Act ensured her to enjoy
all the rights, which a married woman did.
The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929: The practice
of child marriage was another social evil
from which women in traditional Hindu society suffered
a lot. Age at marriage for girls was 9 or 10
and after passing this act the minimum marriageable age
of women was fixed to 15 years. Later this
age was increased up to 18 years.
The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955: This Act has
recognized the equal rights of men and women in the
matters of marriage and divorce. Under the provision of
this Act either the man or woman[ii] can
present a petition in a court of law for divorce, wife has
got equal right to divorce husband.

Issues and Challenges in Women Empowerment

There are various issues and problems which women
generally face in the society in India. Some of the
problems are mentioned and described below:
1. Selective abortion and female infanticide
It is the most common practice for years in India in which
abortion of female fetus is performed in the
womb of mother after the fetal sex determination and
sex selective abortion by the medical professionals.
2. Sexual harassment
It is the form of sexual exploitation of a girl child at
home, streets, public places, transports, offices, etc
by the family members, neighbors, friends or relatives.
3. Dowry and Bride burning
It is another problem generally faced by women of low or
middle class family during or after the
marriage. Parents of boys demand a lot of money from
the bride’s family to be rich in one time. Groom’s
family perform bride burning in case of lack of fulfilled
dowry demand. In 2005, around 6787 dowry
death cases were registered in India according to the
Indian National Crime Bureau reports.
4. Disparity in education
The level of women education is less than men still in the
modern age. Female illiteracy id higher in the
rural areas. Where over 63% or more women remain
unlettered.
5. Domestic violence
It is like endemic and widespread disease affects almost
70% of Indian women according to the women
and child development official. It is performed by the
husband, relative or other family member.
6. Child Marriages
Early marriage of the girls by their parents in order to be
escaped from dowry. It is highly practiced in the
rural India.
7. Inadequate Nutrition
Inadequate nutrition in the childhood affects women in
their later life especially women belonging to the
lower middle class and poor families.
8. Low status in the family
It is the abuse or violence against women.
9. Women are considered as inferior to men

So they are not allowed to join military services.

10. Status of widows
Widows are considered as worthless in the Indian
society. They are treated poorly and forced to wear
white clothes.

1. Violence against women

2. Gender discrimination

• Problems of female education

Women education percentage is low in India especially
in the rural areas because they are
discouraged for higher education like professional and
technical education.
• Problems related to unemployment
Women are getting more problems in searching their
suitable work. They become more prone to the
exploitation and harassment in the work areas.

• Boss Intentionally
They are given more work and hard tasks by their boss
intentionally. They have to prove their
devotion, seriousness and sincerity towards work time
to time.
• Unbearable Conditions
Women who are uneducated are more prone to
divorce and desertion by their husbands. They have to
live whole life with fear of divorce. In some cases they
have to finish their life because of unbearable
conditions.
• Increasing Dowry system
It is another huge women problem in the society which
is increasing day by day. Women are ill-
treated, man-handled, disrespected, tortured and
suffer other cruelties (violence, murder and suicide)
because of the lack of dowry at the time of marriage.

Human Rights or Individual Rights: A woman is a being

with senses, imagination and thoughts;
she should be able to express them freely. Individual
empowerment means to have the self-confidence
to articulate and assert the power to negotiate and
decide.
Social Women Empowerment A critical aspect of social
empowerment of women is the promotion
of gender equality. Gender equality implies a society in
which women and men enjoy the same
opportunities, outcomes, rights and obligations in all
spheres of life.
Educational Women Empowerment It means
empowering women with the knowledge, skills, and
self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the
development process. It means making women
aware of their rights and developing a confidence to
claim them.
Economic and occupational empowerment It implies a
better quality of material life through
sustainable livelihoods owned and managed by
women. It means reducing their financial dependence
on their male counterparts by making them a
significant part of the human resource.
Legal Women Empowerment It suggests the provision
of an effective legal structure which is
supportive of women empowerment. It means
addressing the gaps between what the law prescribes
and what actually occurs.
Political Women Empowerment It means the existence
of a political system favoring the
participation in and control by the women of the
political decision-making process and in governance
Supporting Agencies : NGOs, Self Help Groups and
Panchayati Raj Institutions
There have been in the past decade, two interventions
in India that have contributed towards
generating processes of empowerment for women.
One is the 73rd and 74th amendments that make it
mandatory for a one third reservation of seats in local
self governing bodies, and the other the
formation of self help groups of women around micro
finance.