OneWomen have suffered a lot due to power in the hands of men. For better development of women is to empower them. It is very much difficult to wrap this discussion in a small women empowerment essay.The political, social, economic,health status from history to present time need to be focused. Strengthening men and women is very important for this society , sustainability.
Situation of women is different in various parts of the world and in India their situation is not upto the mark. Women education, elimination of discrimination, crimes against women, gender equality, self reliance, equal participation in various important fields, cultural role, reproductive life all are important issues need to be discussed.
Women Empowerment Essay
Women empowerment meaning is giving power and authority in the hands of women. It is important to have essential participation of women in political, social, economic, education, administration and health sectors so that they can uplift the girls in every sector and ensure proper development of every woman.
Women empowerment is considered as a productive life of a woman for her health, get respect for her work, her work should not be neglected. She should be considered equally important as men and live an equally safe life, having freedom of achieving her ambitions, and get equal importance in the family and community.
Men and Women and History
Men and women both are very important parts of the society and human civilization. But in history men have always been dominating women. Women were granted by men as their property. They were always responsible for raising children, preparing food and considered for satisfying the lust of men. They were never right to vote.
In older bible women were mentioned as a nonliving thing with no soul. Women were impeded from getting education.Women had no role in the decision making process of the household , only men thought them as superior. Women were always neglected for their role in the household work and other activities. They were dependent on their father, brother and husband for financial situations and for livelihood.
During earlier years of 20th century there were various revolutions occur and the feminist voices for the rights of women were raises. In many developed parts of the world like Europe and the US they get the right to vote in the mid 20th century.
Now the situation has improved a lot. Women are participating in different fields working equally as men. But in most of the places they still paid less for the same work compared to men. Now women have achieved higher posts in the political, economic and administration sectors of various countries whether developing or developed countries are there. Women are also marked for their presence in security forces of different states. But this situation is not the same in every part of the world.
If we consider the heinous crime against women like rapes, acid attacks, dowry, home violence are the major ones. This situation is better in US and European states where at least complaints are filed against these crimes and strict actions are also taken. But when we come to the Asian and African countries crime rate is at its peak against women and complaints are not filed, as women get suppressed by their families just to prevent insults and if the complaint filed adequate action is not taken or so much time is wasted in the judicial process for getting punishment to the accused’s.
Women empowerment in India
If we go through history of women empowerment in India, the most important part of history is elimination of Sati pratha. In India women or girls are prayed as devi or goddess Durga, Lakshmi but it doesn’t appear in reality. Let know about the situation of women in india through this women empowerment essay.
In India still the situation of women is the same as it was in history in other developed countries. Girls’ education is not important in families. They are just a burden for a father till her marriage. In India preference for male child is given more than female child that’s why the sex ratio of India is very low which is about 930 per thousands of male. While it should be 1000 females per thousands of males. It’s due to female foeticide performed illegally in various parts of the country.
In our country there are so many heinous crimes prevalent against women , in every hour 5-6 girls are raped, acid attacks are reported, women are killed for dowry, house violence after marriage. These are so prevalent in our society females scare before stepping foot outside the house. Even the main reason for female foeticide is dowry that if anybody has to marry their girl to any boy they are forced to give a huge amount of money or dowry in other forms. This situation has changed a lot due to strict legislation and actions and various awareness programs but still prevalent in many parts of the country.
If we come to the girl education in India, out of total school dropouts 70 percent are females. This is due to the reason for crimes against women. Parents are scared to send their girls to far away schools and colleges out of town. Also it happens because of the early marriage of girls before completing their education. After marriage they get involved in household work . In India it is called ‘Chula Chowka’. Their housewife work is neglected and ignored and impeded in decision making. This situation has improved in the last twenty years.
Even after improving the situation the literacy rate of women is still 74%. The people are not understanding the thing that educating a boy is just educating an individual. But when educating a female it’s equal to educating a family and society. ‘It’s women empowerment slogan- ek purush ko sikshit krna ek vyakti ko sikshit krna hai jabki ek nari ko sikshit krna pure samaj ko sikshit krna hai’. When we compare the board results of 10th and 12th class every year the passing percentage of girls are mostly higher than those of boys-‘ ladkiya har baar ladko se baji mar jati hai’.
When we consider their position economically, it’s also not good. Now, many women are involved in earning money and achieving their ambitions but this is not happening at a faster rate. Even now they are resisted and prevented by the Indian Societies from becoming self reliant and independent financially.
The mentality of the society is still not changing , they’re not digesting the moving out of women in the outside world and their role in making the nation. Now women are strengthening in every field of workforce whether labour to finance minister in India. They are marking their presence in the education sector as school teachers, professors, in the health sector as doctors , nurses, in politics as so many political leaders like Nirmala Sitaraman, Shushma Swaraj, Menka Gandhi, in administration like Tina Dabi, Anu Kumari etc.
Importance of women empowerment
Women empowerment is very important for any nation. Consider a family in which only men earn for the family and another family in which both male and female earns money; the latter one lives more happily. If a woman in the family makes decisions for it then those decisions are taken better and she knows better than males in these issues. When women become self-reliant, confident then she also raises her children and takes decisions for her family in more efficient ways.
Women empowerment is also necessary for elimination of poverty of any country. If a woman is educated , financially independent and has skills then she can be involved in various earning activities and also help their poor families poverty elimination.They must be educated and skilled so in case if their husband after the marriage cheated them or left them then they may be able to earn for their livelihood.
How Can Women Empowerment Be Achieved?
It’s answer is not simple. But both the government and public of any country need to be aware about it then only it can be achieved. Government should make strict legislation for crimes against women. Different programs should be launched like ‘Beti padhao beti bachao’ for educating girls. It should be done at the rural level even. Along with education, soft skills programs for girls should be launched so they can learn skills which are useful in getting employed or may start their own start up. Various schemes like ‘ Sukanya samridhi yojna ‘ should be implemented for preventing female foeticide.
Most important is to make legislation for more participation of women in making legislations and administration for better policies for women. Awareness programs regarding menstrual education and hygiene should be organised for eliminating myths from the society regarding it. Marriages before marriage age should be prevented and also age should be increased for giving time to girls so that they can complete their higher education. Also the government should be accountable for ensuring the rights of women. Education should be multidisciplinary , interdisciplinary with full and equal access to resources provided to the girls.
Mentality of men and women both should be changed is the utmost important for women empowerment. Like in India it’s basically considered as the enemy of other women. In most of the cases women prevent their girls from moving outside. Also boys are provided with more choices and girls not. This should not happen. Girls also should be given equality and equity to the resources for their better growth.
It’s still accustomed in India that women feel inferior to men. It’s necessary to develop self-confidence and awareness regarding their rights and their importance in social and economic growth and development of the nation. Girls should be taught self defence so they can protect themselves from the criminals and rapists and can teach them lessons. It would be a great step towards women empowerment.
Various slogans, quotes should be written on the walls of the houses and public buildings in both urban and rural areas for upliftment of women.
‘Bhrun hatya band karo’.
‘Nari hi is jagat ki janani hai’.
‘Nari nahi toh manav jati nahi’.
Also women empowerment can be achieved by teaching the same rules and regulations to the boys and shaping their minds for respecting females. It’s not work for a short time, it will take time but it’s necessary.
Pseudo Feminism and Women Empowerment
Nowadays pseudo feminism is increasing day by day which is not ensuring women development but these people make themselves to dominate others. They change women empowerment in terms of its definition. Women empowerment is not in using cigarettes , drinking alcohol and other bad activities as well. Whether these activities are not good for health are bad for both men and women. It should not be forced on any women for leaving their household work and forced to do work outside. As both household work and earning work are necessary for both men and women.
If any family which is living happily, males care for females and respect their decisions and also vice versa . Women empowerment is not in forcing girls to earn money but in making them capable so that they can earn money and it depends on their choice what they want to do. Nothing should be forced, whether it’s household work or earning money. Women empowerment is in respecting women for their work, their role in making society, respecting them for their sacrifice in reproducing a child, giving them choice for living a way of their life.
Conclusion
Importance of women empowerment is required for building any nation, for its sustainable development. For a family being happy and for its prosperity , for its better growth and development it’s very much essential for the empowerment of both men and women. In India we consider girls as a form of goddess Lakshmi , we should also respect them in the same way. We should respect every person’s rights and they need to get it and live with it for the better growth of community and life. In this women empowerment essay we discussed how can we achieve women empowerment.