BY SHRUTI SINGH
Women empowerment can be defined in very simple words - it is making women powerful so that they can take their own decisions regarding their lives and well being in the family and society. It is empowering women to make them able to get their real rights in the society.
Women empowerment can be defined in very simple words - it is making women powerful so that they can take their own decisions regarding their lives and well being in the family and society. It is empowering women to make them able to get their real rights in the society.
Why Do We Need Women Empowerment in India
As we all know that India is a male dominated country where males are dominated in every area and females are forced to be responsible for only family care and live in the home including many other restrictions. Almost 50% of the population in India is covered by the female only so the full development of the country depends on the half population means women, who are not empowered and still restricted by many social taboos. In such condition, we cannot say that our country would be developed in the future without empowering half of its population - women. If we want to make our country a developed country, first it is very necessary to empower women by the efforts of men, government, laws and women too.
The need of women empowerment arose because of gender discrimination and male domination in Indian society since ancient time. Women have been targeted for many types of violence and discriminatory practices by the male members in the family in India and other countries as well. Wrong and old practices for women in society from ancient time have taken the form of well developed customs and traditions. There is a tradition of worshipping many female goddesses in India including giving honor to the women forms in the society like mother, sister, daughter, wife and other female relatives or friends. But, it does not mean that only respecting or honoring women can fulfill the need of development in the country. It needs the empowerment of the other half of the population of the country in every walk of life.
In the ancient Indian society, there was a custom of sati pratha, nagar vadhu system, dowry system, sexual violence, domestic violence, female infanticide, parda pratha, wife burning, sexual harassment at work place, child marriage, child labour, devadashi pratha, etc including other discriminatory practices. All such type of ill practices is because of male superiority complex and patriarchal system of the society.
Socio-political rights (right to work, right to education, right to decide for themselves, etc) for the women were completely restricted by the male members of family. Some of the ill practices against women have been eliminated by the open minded and great Indian people who raise their voices for the discriminatory practices against women. Through the continuous efforts of the Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Britishers were forced to eliminate the ill practice of Sati paratha. Later, other famous social reformers of the India (Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Swami Vivekananda, etc) also had raised their voices and worked hard for the upliftment of women in Indian society. In India, the Widow Remarriage Act, 1856 was initiated by the continuous efforts of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in order to improve the conditions of widows in the country.
In the recent years, various Constitutional and legal rights have been implemented by the government of India in order to eliminate ill practices and gender discrimination against women. However, in order to solve such a big issue, the continuous effort of everyone including women is required. Modern society is being more aware about the women rights which results in the increasing number of several self-help groups, NGOs, etc working in this direction. Women are being more open minded and breaking the societal barriers in order to achieve their rights in all dimensions even after crimes are going side by side.
(Shruti is a lawyer who specializes in aiding women and organizations in tackling sexual harassment at the workplace. She is based out of Delhi, India and her office is affiliated with Chug LLP, based in Cerritos, CA.)
As we all know that India is a male dominated country where males are dominated in every area and females are forced to be responsible for only family care and live in the home including many other restrictions. Almost 50% of the population in India is covered by the female only so the full development of the country depends on the half population means women, who are not empowered and still restricted by many social taboos. In such condition, we cannot say that our country would be developed in the future without empowering half of its population - women. If we want to make our country a developed country, first it is very necessary to empower women by the efforts of men, government, laws and women too.
The need of women empowerment arose because of gender discrimination and male domination in Indian society since ancient time. Women have been targeted for many types of violence and discriminatory practices by the male members in the family in India and other countries as well. Wrong and old practices for women in society from ancient time have taken the form of well developed customs and traditions. There is a tradition of worshipping many female goddesses in India including giving honor to the women forms in the society like mother, sister, daughter, wife and other female relatives or friends. But, it does not mean that only respecting or honoring women can fulfill the need of development in the country. It needs the empowerment of the other half of the population of the country in every walk of life.
In the ancient Indian society, there was a custom of sati pratha, nagar vadhu system, dowry system, sexual violence, domestic violence, female infanticide, parda pratha, wife burning, sexual harassment at work place, child marriage, child labour, devadashi pratha, etc including other discriminatory practices. All such type of ill practices is because of male superiority complex and patriarchal system of the society.
Socio-political rights (right to work, right to education, right to decide for themselves, etc) for the women were completely restricted by the male members of family. Some of the ill practices against women have been eliminated by the open minded and great Indian people who raise their voices for the discriminatory practices against women. Through the continuous efforts of the Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Britishers were forced to eliminate the ill practice of Sati paratha. Later, other famous social reformers of the India (Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Swami Vivekananda, etc) also had raised their voices and worked hard for the upliftment of women in Indian society. In India, the Widow Remarriage Act, 1856 was initiated by the continuous efforts of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in order to improve the conditions of widows in the country.
In the recent years, various Constitutional and legal rights have been implemented by the government of India in order to eliminate ill practices and gender discrimination against women. However, in order to solve such a big issue, the continuous effort of everyone including women is required. Modern society is being more aware about the women rights which results in the increasing number of several self-help groups, NGOs, etc working in this direction. Women are being more open minded and breaking the societal barriers in order to achieve their rights in all dimensions even after crimes are going side by side.
(Shruti is a lawyer who specializes in aiding women and organizations in tackling sexual harassment at the workplace. She is based out of Delhi, India and her office is affiliated with Chug LLP, based in Cerritos, CA.)
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