“EMPOWERING WOMEN IN INDEPENDENT INDIA THROUGH EDUCATION, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND LAW”
DAS, (2018) The article discusses about the efforts to empower women in India have evolved from colonial to post-colonial times, initially focusing on modernizing women’s roles within the constraints of retaining tradition. Despite the formation of women’s organizations during the colonial era aiming for empowerment, their aspirations were often overshadowed by the broader goal of national independence. Post-independence, the approach to women’s empowerment has sought to address these historical challenges through various interventions, aiming to uplift the marginalized by enhancing their capacities, skills, and access to resources. Access to education remains a significant challenge for 53% of rural Indian women, hindered by factors such as economic constraints, social customs, and gender biases. Despite government initiatives like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan providing resources to support education, disparities persist due to issues in resource distribution, parental biases, and additional costs not covered by the schemes. These barriers are compounded by societal practices and the undervaluation of girls’ education, further exacerbating educational inequalities for women. The liberalization, privatization, and globalization era, through structural adjustment programs, aimed to increase women’s employment in India but led to a decrease in labour force participation due to automation and technology. This shift has resulted in job creation in the Informal sector for a specific demographic of young, educated women, yet many face challenges like lack of worker rights, poor working conditions, and employment insecurity, as highlighted in the Shram Shakti report. Despite these challenges, some women are actively advocating for their rights, forming unions, and challenging discriminatory practices. Inspite of Constitutional Provisions, laws, and several schemes still after 76 years of Independence we are still struggling for a gender-equal society. The rise in registered cases of violence against women today can be attributed to increased awareness and efforts by activists, media, NGOs, the Women’s Movement, and police to bring these issues from the private to the public sphere. The Women’s Movement has been instrumental in framing these issues in terms of rights and entitlements, influencing legal reforms towards a more gender-equal society. However, the key to women’s empowerment lies not just in legislation but in the effective implementation of these laws.
“Challenges and Pathways to Women’s Empowerment in India”
DUBEY, et al. (2021) Examining the women’s empowerment in India involves addressing educational, economic, and political disparities to ensure women are confident and capable of shaping their lives and society. Despite improvements in female literacy rates, gender inequality persists, with limited representation in entrepreneurship and governance roles. Deep-rooted traditions like female infanticide, dowry, and child marriage exacerbate these challenges, particularly in Northern Indian caste Hindu society. Globalization has brought both opportunities and setbacks, widening perspectives but failing to significantly reduce gender disparities. India’s enduring cultural heritage, coupled with ongoing socio-economic changes, underscores the complexity of empowering women effectively. Efforts to advance women’s empowerment must address systemic barriers and challenge societal norms to create a more equitable and inclusive society.
“Empowerment Amid Transition: Donor-Funded Women’s Initiatives in Post-Soviet Tajikistan”
KLUCZEWSKA, (2022) In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse and the subsequent Tajik Civil War, Tajikistan received significant international aid aimed at women’s empowerment, with projects focusing on fostering gender equality and increasing women’s economic productivity amidst the transition to democracy and capitalism. These efforts, primarily by Western donors, were framed around addressing the challenges posed by a communal, patriarchal society and the perceived need to “save” Muslim women from both communism and religious oppression. Despite these intentions, the portrayal of Tajik women as passive victims highlights the complex dynamics of international aid and its impact on local gender relations in Tajikistan, now considered the poorest country of the former Soviet bloc.
“Social Marketing’s Role in Promoting Gender Equality in Indonesia”
MARTAM, (2016) Stated that social marketing emerges as a pivotal approach in Indonesia to address gender equality, focusing on altering societal mindsets beyond mere behaviour change to tackle the deeply ingrained social, cultural, and religious influences. The complexity of designing social marketing programs for gender equality lies in the multifaceted nature of the issue, involving intangible elements such as changing social practices and challenging traditional narratives, like the Javanese oral traditions directed towards women. Social marketing emerges as a pivotal approach in Indonesia to address gender equality, focusing on altering societal mindsets beyond mere behaviour change to tackle the deeply ingrained social, cultural, and religious influences. The complexity of designing social marketing programs for gender equality lies in the multifaceted nature of the issue, involving intangible elements such as changing social practices and challenging traditional narratives, like the Javanese oral traditions directed towards women.
“Bridging the Divide: Enhancing Women’s Entrepreneurship to Combat Gender Inequality”
MUKORERA, (2020) Investigating the gender inequality It poses a significant challenge to economic growth and citizen empowerment in many countries, limiting women’s participation in the global economy and hindering their full potential contribution to inclusive growth and poverty elimination. Despite policy efforts targeting female empowerment, persistent gender gaps, particularly in entrepreneurship, undermine these initiatives. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor observed a decline in entrepreneurial activity in 2016, while the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute highlighted an increasing gender gap in entrepreneurship, notably in South Africa, questioning the effectiveness of current empowerment policies. Economic growth fosters female empowerment by improving access to resources and reducing resource discrimination, thereby diminishing women’s vulnerability and gender inequality. Competitive market forces, encouraged by economic growth and global trade openness, can decrease labour market discrimination. Additionally, economic growth promotes the adoption of labour-saving technology, enhancing women’s bargaining power and allowing more time for wage employment, which empowers women economically and helps narrow the gender inequality gap. Entrepreneurial participation further enables women to access and control economic and financial resources, crucial for achieving equitable and sustainable economic growth and female empowerment.
“Modern Challenges and the Evolving Role of Women in Global Society and Tourism”
POPOVA, (2019) In his research studies shows the modern era has blurred traditional gender roles, highlighting women’s emancipation and their fight for equality, which extends into areas like management and solo travel. However, this shift presents challenges, including potential violence and paradoxes within the tourism industry, which affects women as both participants and consumers. This paper explores the impact of tourism on the evolving social roles of women and the need for the global tourism sector to protect and empower female individuality. Despite advances, gender inequality persists globally, with women often seen as an unpaid workforce and facing vulnerabilities like disaster impacts, cultural restrictions, and violence. These challenges hinder women’s development and equality, affecting their opportunities for education, employment, and personal growth, amidst some closing gender gaps in the labour market. The transformation in women’s societal roles reflects a significant shift from historical constraints to modern empowerment, marked by advancements in education, economic participation, and political involvement. This evolution, driven by global changes like declining fertility rates and delayed marriages, signifies progress towards gender equality, despite ongoing challenges in gender role adaptation and maintaining femininity in changing social landscapes.
“Gender Dynamics in Entrepreneurial Engagement”
RIETVELD, et al. (2017) Highlighting the gender gap in entrepreneurship, marked by lower engagement and success rates of female entrepreneurs compared to males, is a significant concern globally, despite the positive impact of female-led startups on economic growth and family well-being. Female entrepreneurs face systemic barriers that limit their representation and success in the business world, with women being less likely to own established businesses and more often engaging in entrepreneurship out of necessity rather than opportunity. Addressing gender inequality and supporting female entrepreneurship not only enhances household outcomes and social standing but also contributes to diversifying the entrepreneurial process and promoting economic development. Despite similar business start-up intentions between genders, females engage in early-stage entrepreneurial activities at roughly three-quarters the rate of males. This discrepancy is explored through three research lenses: personality and traits, gender beliefs and ascriptions, and contextual factors. Findings suggest minimal impact from personality differences but significant influence from gender beliefs and ascriptions, which affect various entrepreneurial stages from opportunity recognition to funding. Entrepreneurs are motivated by both economic and non-economic reasons, leading to two main types of entrepreneurship opportunity-driven, where entrepreneurs are attracted by the potential to exploit opportunities, and necessity-driven, where individuals turn to entrepreneurship due to a lack of alternative employment options. This distinction highlights the varied motivations behind male and female entrepreneurial endeavours.
“Empowering Development: Tackling the Gender Data Gap in SDGs”
SENGUPTA, et al. (2018) In this research the 2030 Agenda emphasizes the sustainable development’s dependency on gender equality, yet a significant gender data gap hinders the assessment of women’s status across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data calls for enhanced statistical efforts to bridge this gap, highlighting the need for innovative data collection and analysis methods that consider social norms. The paper further explores global initiatives to improve data quality and inclusivity, including a case study from Chhattisgarh, India, where an innovative index aims to integrate single women into government schemes. It underscores the impact of societal and patriarchal norms on gender disparities in access to resources, public participation, and decision-making, advocating for a data-driven approach to achieving gender equality in development. Gender statistics are crucial for highlighting inequalities between men and women, going beyond simple sex-disaggregated data to examine underlying gender relations. Since 1975, international efforts, notably by the United Nations and International Women’s Conferences, have emphasized the collection and analysis of gender-specific data to inform gender-sensitive policies. The UN’s focus on strengthening countries’ capacities to manage gender statistics aims to support the development of policies promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, highlighting the importance of disaggregated data for effective policymaking.
“Understanding the Complexity of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment”
SHARMA, (2015) Highlighting the gender-based inequality as a pervasive issue worldwide, with modern efforts increasingly focused on achieving gender equality as a cornerstone of human rights. The United Nations emphasizes that gender equality entails engaging both genders to modify attitudes, behaviours, and societal roles across various contexts. True equality extends beyond numerical parity or legal provisions, aiming to enhance freedoms and life quality for both sexes without compromising the benefits for either. Empowerment is defined as the ability to make effective choices and actualize those choices into desired outcomes, highlighting the importance of autonomy in achieving gender equality. Gender equality does not guarantee empowerment, as it is possible for women to achieve equality in some areas without being truly empowered, or to be empowered without being equal in others. Empowerment, a complex and subjective experience, involves control over various aspects of life and is harder to quantify than equality, encompassing a wide range of personal and societal dimensions.
“Empowering Women: Bridging Traditions and Modernity through Cinema”
THANGAM, et al. (2022) The significant transformation in women’s roles across various sectors such as business, politics, science, and more has been facilitated by factors like labour-saving technology, societal recognition of women’s empowerment, and women’s unique abilities in multitasking and leadership. The modern world’s interconnectivity and changing societal attitudes have further supported women’s integration into previously male-dominated roles. The evolution of women’s portrayal in Indian cinema reflects this shift, highlighting their growing empowerment and changing societal roles towards gender equality and independence.
CONCLUSION:
Women’s empowerment in India is critical for addressing disparities in education, economics, and politics, ensuring women can actively shape their lives and contribute to society. Despite progress in female literacy, persistent gender inequality and deep-rooted traditions such as female infanticide and child marriage pose significant challenges, particularly in northern India. Globalization offers opportunities yet fails to substantially diminish gender disparities, underscoring the need for targeted efforts to overcome systemic barriers and societal norms to foster a more equitable and inclusive society. The 2030 Agenda’s success hinges on gender equality, yet a gender data gap impedes progress monitoring across SDGs, necessitating innovative data collection and analysis methods sensitive to social norms. Global initiatives, including a case study from Chhattisgarh, India, aim to integrate women into development schemes, highlighting the need to address societal and patriarchal norms affecting gender disparities. Furthermore, gender statistics since 1975 have been pivotal in forming gender-sensitive policies, with a UN focus on bolstering countries’ capacity to gather and utilize gender-specific data effectively. Despite the global importance of female entrepreneurship for economic growth and household well-being, women face systemic barriers that limit their participation and success, underscoring the necessity of overcoming gender inequality to foster a more inclusive economic environment.
References:
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