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Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal, ISSN NO. 2456-1037 Available Online: www.ajeee.co.in/index.php/AJEEE

Vol. 6 Special Issue 06, (NC-ETLEB-2021) August 2021 IMPACT FACTOR: 7.98 (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL)

28 A STUDY OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND GENDER EQUALITY

Urvashi Sharma

Assistant Professor, (S & S Law College, Indore) Adtiya Narayan Mishra

Abstract- Gender equality is a human right which entitles all persons irrespective of their gender to live with dignity and with freedom. Due to biasness and gender discrimination the women are at a discrimination the women are at a disadvantage position. All our the women face violence and exploitation by the man. our society is traditionally and culturally ruled by man and women are socially economically physically and psychologically and sexually exploited from previous time till now some times in the name of custom or in the name religion some time on the pre text of writings in the scriptural and some time by the social sanction. Gender equality is also a precondition for all round development and reducing poverty. Empowered women make invaluable contribution to the improvement of health conditions and educational status and productivity of whole families and communities, which in turn improve prospects for the next generation. The Millennium Development Goal also puts emphasis on gender equality and empowerment of women. It is now widely accepted that gender equality and women's empowerment are fundamental cornerstones for achieving development results. Keeping the status of women empowerment and its determinants in India, in this paper an attempt is made to present some of the key determinants of inequalities that exist in our country so as to have an idea about to what extent the women are empowered.

Keywords: Gender, Equality, Empowerment, Women.

1 INTRODUCTION

Gender equality concerns an every member of the society and forms the very basis of a just society and hence, the issue of’ gender justice’ is one of the enormous magnitude and of mammoth ramification al-embracing and illimitable canvas. In the midnight of 15^th Aug.1947, when India awake to “life a and freedom” most of its 170 million women scarcely know what the Tryst with Destiny was about. Victims of property, ignorance and oppressive social institution, they hardly knew their destiny and who controlled it. However the stalwarts who led India to its independence were aware if the new India of their dreams was to become a reality and not remain only a figment of imagination, and oppressed section and above all, its women.

The crucial question that arises for deliberation is: Have the women been able to reap the benefits provided for them under the constitution of India. In spite of special constitutional guarantees and other legislation, crimes against women in the form of child marriages, rape, dowery, practice of sati, trafficking of the girl child prostitution ,domestic violence and sexual harassment are sexual harassment are on the increase .The review of the disabilities and constraints on women, which stem from social and cultural institution , indicates that the majority of women are still very far from enjoying the right and opportunities guaranteed to them by the constitution. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. There has been progress over the last decades: More girls are going to school, fewer girls are forced into early marriage, more women are serving in parliament and positions of leadership and laws are being reformed to advance gender equality. Despite these gains, many challenges remain: discriminatory laws and social norms remain pervasive, women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership, and 1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 report experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period.

Gender equality will be achieved only when women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life. This means sharing equally, power and inuence, and having equal opportunities in economic and social spheres. Equal claim on education and career prospects will enable women to realize their personal ambitions. Gender equality demands the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more autonomy to manage

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29 their own lives. When women are empowered, the whole family benet, thus beneting the society as a whole and these benets often have a ripple effect on future generations.

The process of women empowerment in India has had a long ad rich history. Women have faced a lot of challenge during the medieval era but this changed overtime by vigorous campaigns from reforms and activities, which lead to the promotion of equal right and reduction of violence against women in India. It is said that the position of women in a society index of cultural and spiritual attainment. Today woman struggle to pursue respectable careers and work to survive like their male counterparts. However women still have challenges that have led to the emergence of numerous women prosperity. There campaign mainly focus violence against women campaign aimed at educating women to know more about their rights.

The women organization in India today are not free agents or autonomous they inherited particular area or field and its accompanying social relation then preside over it and within it. Women in India have held some of the top jobs in the land including that of presidency. Even they still continue to face atrocities and violence cases such as like rape, forced prostitution, dowry killings and brutality .According to a report by thomas Reuters India is ranked fourth among the most dangerous countries for women among the most dangerous countries for women among G20 .This is the reason why violence against women in India is becoming one of the Government’s major goals.

1.1 Objectives of the Present Study

This research paper has the following objectives:

1. To know the need of Women Empowerment.

2. To assess the Awareness of Women Empowerment in India.

3. To understand the level of equality among girls and boys in primary, secondary and higher education.

4. To know the Gender Equality and Share of women in economic participation and opportunity.

5. To Identify the Gender Equality and Women accessibility to resources.

1.2 Women and Society

The place of women in Hindu society has been a matter of discussion and often derision in the western circles. The philosophical or historical place of women in our society and yet criticize us as if they are the only once who know how a civilized society should be in Hinduism a wife is considered to be sahadharma – char in someone who has an equal share of the husband s duties. She is also reffered to as ardhangini, the other half of the husband. She is also referred to as and certainly not someone whom you simply partner with in life. In Hindu ideology, a wife is an equal and is entrusted with the life and soul of her husband. He is not allowed to perform any religions activity without is wife . A man had to marry before he was considered to be central to maintaining the balance of family, community, state, univers and life itself well before there were any ideas of equality amongst sexes in the west vedic rish is of Hinduism decided that the ideal of GOD is one and has no gender, we as humans.

1.3 Can Economic Development Cause Women’s Empowerment?

Gender inequality is often greater among the poor, both within and across countries. For example, while the gender gap in primary and secondary gross enrolment has rapidly gone down between 1991 and 2009 worldwide, it is still wider in poor countries (7 percentage points for primary enrolment, 13 percentage points for secondary enrolment) than in middle income countries (3 percentage points for primary enrolment, 2 percentage points for secondary enrolment) and rich countries (0 percentage points for primary, 1 percentage point for secondary). And within countries, gaps between boys and girls persist in poorer and more isolated communities (World Bank, 2011). The participation of women in the labour market has grown by 15 percent in East Asia and Latin America between 1971 and 1995, a rate faster than that for men, and the gender gap in wages has narrowed as well.

The life expectancy of women has increased by 20-25 years in developing countries over the past fifty years (World Bank, 2011), while male life expectancy did not improve as much. Is it the case that as countries develop, women’s empowerment will follow naturally, and there

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30 is therefore no need for specific policies targeted at improving the condition of women? Is it sufficient to fight poverty and to create the conditions for economic growth in poor countries? Recent research suggests that economic growth, by reducing poverty and increasing opportunity, can indeed have an important positive impact on gender equality.

Women’s empowerment and economic development are closely interrelated. While development itself will bring about women’s empowerment, empowering women will bring about changes in decision-making, which will have a direct impact on development.

Contrary to what is claimed by some of the more optimistic policy makers, it is, however, not clear that a one-time impulsion of women’s rights will spark a virtuous circle, with women’s empowerment and development mutually reinforcing each other and women eventually being equal partners in richer societies. On the one hand, economic development alone is insufficient to ensure significant progress in important dimensions of women’s empowerment, in particular, significant progress in decision making ability in the face of pervasive stereotypes against women’s ability. On the other hand, women’s empowerment leads to improvement in some aspects of children’s welfare (health and nutrition, in particular), but at the expense of some others (education)

1.4 Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Social and Political

Fields Greater participation of women in social and political sphere is essential to make the social and political institutions more representative. It serves as a tool for empowerment of women and contributes to gender sensitive decision making. As far as political participation is concerned, women have a poor representation in Indies Lok Sabha (Lower House), Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and also in State Assemblies. A total of 62 females have been elected in the General Election 2014 constituting only 11.4% share in the Lok Sabha, while in the Rajya Sabha only 11.9% representatives are women at present. Similarly, women representation in the state assemblies and state councils is also very poor. On an average, in the states, women share is only 8% in assemblies and only 4% in state councils as on 1st August 2014. However, due to the reservation of one-third seats for women in all tiers of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), representation of women in the PRIs has increased to 46.7% as on 1st March 2013. As far as womens participation in the judiciary is concerned, there were only 2 women judges out of 30 judges in the Supreme Court and only 58 women judges out of 609 judges in different High Courts with maximum 25% in Delhi High Court and no women judge in 6 High Courts as on 1st April 2014 (Women and Men in India, 2014 Empowerment of Women Under Indian Constitution:- The Indian patriarchal society that dominates the social political and economic life of people in the country has never encouraged its women in any field, except kitchen Indian women are relatively disempowered and they enjoy lower status than that of men from times immemorial.

Gender gap exists regarding access to education and employment. It is found that acceptance of unequal gender norms by women are still prevailing in the society. The women’s movement in India has been addressing various social issues and has gained the momentum through years. Several mechanisms have been created in the country to work for enhancement of women and the capacity building has become the main goal to help to remove discrimination. while several legal and policy level initiatives have been taken. Even we have the protection a provision in the constitution of India provides for:-

1. Equality before law for all persons.

2. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex of place of birth.

However special provision may be made by the state in favour of women and children.

3. Equality of opportunity for all citizens relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state.

4. State policy to be directed to be directed to securing for men and women equally the right to an adequate means of livelihood.

5. Equal pay for equal work for both men and women.

6. Provisions to be made by the state for securing just and humane condition of work and maternity relief.

7. Promotion of harmony by every citizen of India and renouncement of such practices which are derogatory to the dignity of women Article 51.

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31 8. Reservation of not less than one third of total seats for women in direct election to

local bodies viz; panchayats and municipalities Art.343.

While discussing varios measures adopted by the government for empowerment of women the role of the national commission for women (NCW) cannot be lost sight of.

The commission safeguards the interests of women with a mandate covering all aspects of women’s rights. The commission also holds open public hearings for resolving.

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology For the purpose of the present study data has been collected from secondary sources. It is collected from Journals, Magazines, including the reports and documents, Books, web sites etc. and various other publications.

3 CONCLUSION

As women constitute almost one-half of India's population, without their engagement and empowerment, rapid economic progress is out of the question. For economic growth to be really inclusive, women empowerment is of utmost value. It is crucial for achieving sustainable economic development of our country and even beyond. Still a large part of women do not have sufficient autonomy regarding the value choices for their own life. The data also revealed that there is a necessity to look beyond economic resources or material prosperity and into cultural and social incenses, which are playing a signicant role in shaping the women's autonomy and empowerment. Women’s empowerment and economic development are closely interrelated. While development itself will bring about women’s empowerment, empowering women will bring about changes in decision-making, which will have a direct impact on development. Contrary to what is claimed by some of the more optimistic policy makers, it is, however, not clear that a one-time impulsion of women’s rights will spark a virtuous circle, with women’s empowerment and development mutually reinforcing each other and women eventually being equal partners in richer societies.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w17702/w17702.pdf

2. http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol17-issue4/Version-1/B017411319.pdf 3. https://www.worldwidejournals.com/global-journal-for-research-analysis-

GJRA/special_issues_pdf/September_2017_1507115725__62.pdf

4. https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1320-women-empowerment-and-constitutional- provisions.html

5. Text Books Gender Justice and Indian constitution of India.