An article published in IMAX – monthly journal of IMA Rajkot; 2016 and Dr. Neema has delivered guest lecture on same subject at various forums.

Swami Vivekananda, one of the greatest sons of India, quoted that, “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing. ”

Now a day the term Women Empowerment has become a stunt or a melodrama. Does it matter much whether women are allowed entry into Sabarimala Temple or are allowed to offer worship at the Shani Temple? Isn’t this fight for feminism a superficial one? Don’t women require equality of status in more sensitive issues? Are the flag bearers of the so called feminist movement themselves aware of the real meaning of women empowerment? Let us get a better insight into women empowerment.

Common misconcepts

Women empowerment is not the freedom of actions, not the boldness to do what men are doing, or rebellion against the biological role and responsibilities of a woman. It does not mean a carefree and arrogant lifestyle.
It is thriving for equal opportunities and parity on humanitarian, social, educational, economical, legal and political grounds and challenging the patriarchal bias.”

What is empowerment?

It means to give, to acquire or to increase strength. The term empowerment exists only because there is some discrepancy in the powers shared by man and women. Or we can say that there is Gender Discrimination in our society. To understand this we need to differentiate the terms ‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’

“Sex” v/s “Gender”

The sex we are assigned at birth is due to biological and physical characteristics. It is Universal. Neither you nor me were given a choice whether to be born as a man or a woman. It is purely a nature’s choice by default. The sex roles that a father impregnates and the mother gives birth cannot be changed or challenged.

Whereas the term Gender; is a social, cultural or religious phenomenon. Some tasks like cooking, cleaning of house, caring for family are considered Feminine whereas some professions like business, driving are considered masculine tasks. Though this distribution of tasks stands on a logical background, they can be changed and challenged from time to time and region to region.

Gender equality means equality in the Gender roles. If a women needs to go out to earn, the men in the house is obliged to give equal contribution in household chores.

Real concept of women empowerment

Why does the supreme divinity- the Adhyashakti need empowerment??
Every woman is born with equal rights; the need is to execute them assertively. Each woman is a born leader provided the power is channelized properly.

Real women empowerment is a journey from pity to pride and from disparity to parity. It is a question raised against the strong patriarchal system prevailing in our society;

• Preference for sons for reasons related to inheritance, identity, status & economic security
• Women move in with the husband and his family upon marriage and marriages include a bride price or dowry
• Religious practices which can only be performed by males for their parents’ afterlife
• Sons are expected to support their parents in old age and women have very limited ability to assist their own parents
• Honour killings
• Gender discrimination in bringing up, in opportunities for education and profession.

Status of women in Indian Society

• It is ironical that first Asian country to accomplish its Mars mission in the maiden attempt is positioned at the 29th rank among 146 countries across the globe on the basis of Gender Inequality Index.
• Women in India continue to face atrocities such as female feticide, infanticide, rape, dowry killings, acid attacks, human trafficking etc. According to a global poll conducted by Reuters, India is the “fourth-most dangerous country in the world for women”
• Literacy for females stands at 65.46%, compared to 82.14% for males (2011-12). Only the states of Kerala and Mizoram have approached universal female literacy rate.
• Indian women on an average earn 64% of what their male counterparts earn for the same occupation and level of qualification

Status of women in World

• UN commission statement –“ Women constitute 1/2 of the population in world just by chance of being born as girl; they perform 2/3rd of the work in world, but receive 1/10th of the income and owe less than 1/100th property in the world!!! This is enough to describe the plight of women across the world.

Dimensions of women empowerment

We need to work on multiple aspects to bring up the status of women in society.

1) Humanitarian women empowerment

People should realize that each woman is a being with senses, her own imaginations and thoughts. She should be able to express them as freely as her male counterpart and gain self-confidence to articulate and assert power to negotiate and decide.

2) Social Women Empowerment

Gender equality implies a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, outcomes, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.

3) Educational Women Empowerment

All girls should have equal opportunities to learn and qualify as the boys. They should be provided equal platform to participate fully in the developmental process of self, family, society or country. They should be made aware of their rights and develop a confidence to claim them.

4) Economical and Occupational empowerment

Women should get better quality of material life through sustainable livelihoods owned and managed by women. Efforts should be made to reduce their financial dependence on their male counterparts by making them a significant part of human resource.

5) Legal Women Empowerment

Provision of an effective legal structure which is supportive of women empowerment is not sufficient but there is a strong need to address the gaps between what the law prescribes and what actually occurs.

6) Political Women Empowerment

Existence of a political system favoring women participation is not only sufficient but there is also a need of women’s control on the political decision-making process and in governance.

Journey towards empowerment

1) Role of women in women empowerment

Woman need to hold hand of another woman to raise her. She should appreciate participation of man to whatever extent in the household help. Rising the new generation without bias is one big thing that can make a difference over years. Women should learn to care herself, take time for personal development and come out from self-pity.

2) Role of men

Every man should himself respect female and teach son to respect and help daughter from childhood. He should role model himself and be a life partner to women in all aspects.

3) Awareness to Adolescents

Family life education to adolescents so that they enter adulthood with good life skills and respect of both sexuality

4) Media Involvement

Actions need to be taken towards censoring the wrong image of women published in films and advertisements. A wide campaign on Medias publicizing a dignified image of women can bring about a revolution.

Real empowerment would exist the day when every woman feels that being women is a blessing. There is equal participation of women in all aspects without reservations and the column for gender is eradicated. True empowerment will come the day when people will stop asking- “Girl or Boy”

Dr. Neema Sitapara
MD (Ped), PG Dip. (Adolescent Pediatrics)