Women Empowerment Essay, Speech, GD, Importance, Schemes and Videos

If it is to be elucidated beyond the two self-explanatory words, ‘Women Empowerment’ refers to complete emancipation of women from socio-economic shackles of dependency and deprivations. Often made synonymous to gender equality, the term women empowerment encompasses a much larger set of principles that needs whole-hearted attention.

The concept of empowerment flows from the word power. Empowerment of women would mean encouraging women to be self-reliant, economically independent, have positive self-esteem, generate confidence to face any difficult situation and incite active participation in various socio-political development endeavors.

The growing conscience is to accept women as individuals capable of making rational and educated decisions about them as well as the society, increasing and improving the economic, political and legal strength of the women, to ensure equal-right as men, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for their families and communities.

The various facets of women empowerment that needs to be addressed for a rounded out development are listed as:-

Human Rights or Individual Rights: A woman has the right to express her thoughts and opinions freely, without any restriction. Individual empowerment may be achieved by imparting self-confidence to articulate and assert the power of independent decision making. Women should be aware of their rights and social positions that they are entitled to constitutionally.

Social Empowerment of Women: The most critical aspect of social empowerment of women is the promotion of gender equality. Gender equality implies that in society women and men enjoy the same opportunities, outcomes, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.

Educational Empowerment of Women: It means enabling women to grab the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. Giving preference to the girl child for educational opportunities is a start.

Economic and Occupational Freedom: It means reducing the financial dependence of women on their male counterparts by making them a significant part of the human resource. A better quality of material life, within the family as well as for the overall society, can be achieved through promotion of sustainable livelihoods like cottage industries, small entrepreneurial efforts owned and managed by women.

Empowerment Through Legal Knowledge: Not only does it suggest the provision of an effective legal structure which is supportive of women empowerment, there also is the need to spread awareness among women about their legal rights and laws preventing their exploitation. It means addressing the gaps between what the law prescribes and what actually occurs.

Political Empowerment of Women: The existence of a political system encouraging the participation of women in the political decision-making process and in governance. Indian constitution has provided the bulwarks for gender equality in the country in the following articles:-

Article 14 – Equality before law “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth”

Article 16 (2) – Equal Opportunities “No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State”.

Article 23 – Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.

Article 39(a) – The citizen, men & women equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood.

Article 40 (after the 73rd Amendment) – 1/3rdof seats in panchayats shall be reserved for women.

Article 42 – State shall make provisions for just and humane working conditions & maternity relief.

Article 51 A (e) – One of the duties of every citizen is to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of woman.

Government Laws and its subsequent amendments have seen larger inclusion of women with respect to their standing in the society.

The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 stating that women get equal share in the ancestral property or the Equal remuneration Act, 1976, has contributed towards a better footing in the society.

The Dowry prohibition Act, 1961, Child marriage (prohibition) Act, 1929, The indecent representation of women (prohibition) Act, 1986 and the Hindu marriage Act, 1955, preventing polygamy and bigamy, and their strict enforcements has to a large extent contributed towards lessening women exploitation.

Various government schemes like Rastriya Mahila Kosh and STEP (Support to training cum Employment for women) have managed to bring financial development of rural women through self-sustainable employment.

The recent Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao scheme as well as the SABLA scheme has been aimed at reducing female infanticide and promoting the importance of educating the girl child.

A number of councils and bodies have been established for the well-being of women such as the National Commission for Women, Department of Women and Child Development and the Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women which has reviewed various laws and recommended amendments.

The National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001) is aimed at addressing all forms of violence against women including physical, mental and that arising from customs and traditions.

100 Words Essay on Women Empowerment in India

At the outset of the essay, we need to know what women empowerment is or what the definition of women empowerment is. Simply we can say that women empowerment is nothing but empowering women to make them independent socially.

The empowerment of women is very necessary to make the bright future of the family, society, and country. Women need a fresh and more capable environment so that they can make their own right decisions in each area, whether for themselves, the family, society or the country. In order to make the country a fully-fledged country, empowerment of women or women empowerment is an essential tool for achieving the development goal.

150 Words Essay on Women Empowerment in India

As per the provisions of the Constitution of India, it is a legal point to grant equality to all citizens. The constitution gives equal right to women like men. The Department for the Development of Women and Children works well in this field for the adequate development of women and children in India.

Women have been given a higher place in India since ancient times; however, they were not given the empowerment to participate in all areas. They need to be strong, aware and alert every moment for their growth and development. Empowering women is the main motto of the development department because a mother with power can bring up a powerful baby that makes the bright future of any nation.

There are many formulation strategies and initiation processes initiated by the Government of India for women empowerment in India.

Women constitute half the population of the entire population of the country and need to be independent in all areas for the integral development of women and children. So, empowering women or women empowerment in India is much needed for the all-round development of the country.

250 Words Essay on Women Empowerment in India

In a democratic country like India, it is very necessary to empower women so that they can take an active part in the democracy like men. Many programs have been implemented and directed by the government, such as International Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc., in order to sensitize society about the true rights and the value of women in the development of the nation.

Women need to progress in the number of spheres. There is a high level of gender inequality in India where women are mistreated by their relatives and strangers.

The percentage of the illiterate population in India is mostly covered by women. The true meaning of women empowerment in India is to make them well educated and leave them free so they can be able to make their own decisions in any field. Women in India are always subjected to honor killings and never gave their basic rights to proper education and freedom.

They are the victims who face violence and abuse in the country dominated by men. According to the National Mission for the Empowerment of Women launched by the Government of India, this step has seen some improvement in empowering women in the 2011 census.

The relationship between women and female literacy has increased. According to the Global Gender Gap Index, India needs to take some advanced steps to empower the position of women in society through appropriate health, higher education and economic participation.

Women empowerment in India needs to take maximum speed in the right direction instead of being at the nascent stage. Women empowerment in India or empowering women in India can be possible if the citizen of the country take it as a serious issue and take an oath to make the women of our country as powerful as men.

Why Women Empowerment is Important

A strong patriarchal society with deep- rooted socio-cultural values continues to affect the progress of women’s empowerment in the country.

The need of the hour is an egalitarian society, where there should be no place for gender superiority. Aim of Government policies should be to identify and eliminate forces that are directed towards keeping the tradition of male dominance over its female counterpart alive.

Women constitute roughly 50% of the nation’s population and a majority of them remain economically dependent, without employment. Many of them are even unaware of the fact that they are eligible for positions that men enjoy. The result is that the economy of the country is skewed due to underutilization of available human resources.

Women are generally considered less competent, both intellectually as well as physically as compared with men. As a result the opportunities extended towards them become biased and obtrusive without actual evaluation of their competencies.

While scientific data proclaims women to be more adept at multi-tasking than men, they still remain the second choice for employers in the country.

In major parts of India as well as the world, women are still denied basic education and are never allowed to pursue higher education despite possessing the acumen needed. This colossal waste of talent is definitely holding economies backward.

Women empowerment in its actuality is synonymous with complete development of the society. An educated woman, with knowledge about health, hygiene, cleanliness is capable of creating a better disease-free environment for her family.

A self-employed woman is capable of contributing not only to her family’s finances, but also contributes towards increment of the country’s overall GDP. A shared source of income is much more likely to uplift the quality of life than a single income household and more often than not helps the family come out of poverty trap.

Women aware of their legal rights are less likely to be victims of domestic violence or other forms of exploitations. Their inherent aptitude towards organization and well-rounded maintenance of home makes them uniquely suited for political and civil leadership roles. The 73rd & 74th Amendments (1993) to the constitution of India have provided some special powers to women – reservation of seats(33%) and the ‘New Panchayati Raj’ – to empower women at least at the village level, is a prime example of the point in discussion.

Participation of women in political and social positions of power has seen marked reduction in corruption in those specific areas which adds another advantageous point in favor of women empowerment.

Women empowerment is currently a burning issue on the minds of nation’s policymakers as it commands a lot of media attention and international focus lately.

It is a fact that women are built different than men by nature yet this difference cannot be translated to mean inferiority. In the few last decades, India has witnessed some changes in the status and role of women in our society. There has been shift in policy approaches – what was focused on ‘welfare’ in the seventies, ‘development’ in the eighties and ‘growth’ in the nineties, has now been tagged with the contemporary term of ’empowerment’.

Empowering women socially, economically, educationally, politically and legally is going to be a Herculean task. It will not be easy changing the deep-rooted perception that women are inferior, dependent and dispensable, resulting in a culture of disregard for women in Indian society. But it does not mean that change is implausible.

Time is needed to eradicate the perception. But with the push towards the right direction and a lot of effort directed, this task might just be achievable. All we need is an organized approach from the Government and law enforcement agencies of the country focused in the right direction that would rest only with the liberation of women from all forms of evil.


Women Empowerment Speech | Speech on Women Empowerment in English for Students

Women Empowerment Speech: In very simple words, empowerment for women can be described as making women empowered so that they can make their own decisions about their lives and well-being in family and society. It empowers women to allow them to obtain their true rights in society.

As we all know, India is a male-dominated nation where males are dominant in all areas and females are required to be solely responsible for family care and live at home, including many other constraints.

About 50% of India’s population is protected by the woman only so the country’s full development depends on the half-population that means women who are not empowered and still restricted by many social abuses.

In this situation, we can not assume that in the future our nation would be established without empowering its half-population means women.

If we want to make our country a developed country, first of all, by the actions of men, state, laws and people, it is very important to empower women.


Need for Women Empowerment in India

Women’s need for equality emerged from ancient times due to gender inequality and male domination in Indian society. For many reasons, women are being oppressed by members of their families and society.

They were also abused by the male members in the family and society in India and other countries for many types of violence and discriminatory practices.

Wrong and outdated habits have taken the form of well-developed customs and traditions for women in society from ancient times.

In India, there is a tradition of worshiping many female goddesses, including honoring woman roles in society such as mother, aunt, son, wife, and other female relatives or friends. But it doesn’t mean that the country’s need for growth can only be fulfilled by respecting or honoring women. It needs equality in every way of life for the rest of the country’s half population.

India is a renowned nation that confirms the famous proverb ‘unity is a plurality’ where citizens of many religious beliefs are in Indian society.

Women have been given a special place in every religion which acts as a wide veil covering people’s eyes and helping to perpetuate many evil practices against women (including physical and mental) as a norm for ages.

There was a tradition in ancient Indian culture of sati pratha, Nagar vadhu system, dowry system, sexual violence, domestic violence, female infanticide, parda pratha, wife burning, workplace sexual harassment, child marriage, child labor, devadasi paratha, etc.

All these kinds of evil practices are attributable to society’s dynamic male superiority and patriarchal structure.

Women Empowerment Rights

The male family members fully limited socio-political rights (right to work, right to education, the right to choose for themselves, etc.) for women.

The open-minded and good Indian people who raise their voices for the discriminatory practices against women have removed some of the ill practices against women.

Through the Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s continuing efforts, British people were forced to eradicate Sati paratha’s ill custom. Subsequently, other well-known Indian social reformers (Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Swami Vivekananda, etc.) have raised their voices and worked hard to uplift Indian society girls. In India, the 1856 Widow Remarriage Act was introduced by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s continuing efforts to improve the country’s widows’ conditions.

Over the past few years, the Indian government has introduced numerous constitutional and legal protections to eradicate unethical practices and sexual discrimination against women. Nevertheless, the ongoing effort of everyone including women is needed to solve such a big issue.

Modern society is more conscious of women’s rights, contributing to the increasing number of self-help groups, NGOs, etc. working in this direction. Women are more open-minded and break the barriers to society to achieve their rights in all dimensions even after crimes go side by side.

Some of the acts adopted by Parliament are the Equal Remuneration Act-1976, Dowry Prohibition Act-1961, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act-1956, Medical Cancelation of Pregnancy Act-1971, Maternity Benefit Act-1961, Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act-1987, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act-2006, Pre-Conception& Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act-1994, to order to empower women with legal rights, sexual harassment of women at work (Prevention, Security and) Act-2013, etc

In order to provide women with protection and minimize female crime in India, the government passed another Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Child Protection) Bill, 2015 (especially after the release of an accused juvenile in Nirbhaya case).

This act is the expansion of earlier Indian juvenile delinquency legislation 2000 (Juvenile Justice, Care, and Protection of Children) Act, 2000) to decrease juvenile age for criminal crimes from 18 to 16 years.

 


Women Empowerment Schemes

  1. Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS)
  2. Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana
  3. Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls – Sabla
  4. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh
  5. Priyadarshini
  6. National Action Plan for Children
  7. Digital Laado (DigitalLaado) – Giving Digital Wings To Daughters

Women Empowerment – Conclusion

In order to really give women empowerment to Indian society, the main cause of evil practices against women that are the hierarchical and male-dominated societal structure needs to be understood and abolished. It must be open-minded to reform the old mind of women along with democratic and other legal provisions.

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