Context

• Gender parity is not recovering, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2022. It will take another 132 years to close the global gender gap.
• As crises are compounding, women’s workforce outcomes are suffering and the risk of global gender parity backsliding further intensifies.

Why in news?

• India has one of the world’s lowest female labour force participation rates (LFPR).
• This means the productive potential of half of the population goes unutilized.

What is women’s empowerment all about?

• Women’s empowerment can be defined to promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others.

Why it is needed?

• Human resource: Empowerment of women is a necessity for the very development of a society, since it enhances both the quality and the quantity of human resources available for development.
• Sustainable development: Women’s empowerment and achieving gender equality is essential for our society to ensure the sustainable development of the country.

Constraints in women empowerment

• Illiteracy: Illiteracy has been found as major constraints for the attainment of women Empowerment in the nation. It is the rate of literacy which governs the reservation, takeover and competition among women for their right in country. Female child are less privileged for attaining schools.
• Discriminatory nature of male towards female: In India, since the olden days, the men have been in control of politics, social, economical as well as cultural and traditional spheres of life.
• Religious and cultural beliefs: This is another important constraint of women’s empowerment in India which tightens up the female population. It is because of unknowing believes and following superstitions.
• Less participation of women in political field: In particular, women them self involves less in the political filed. Their participation is very insignificant in political issues and right as compared to male population.

What happens if we don’t act?

• Economical losses: Evidence shows that economic disempowerment of women can result in losses of 10% of GDP in industrialized economies and over 30% in South Asia and in the Middle East and North Africa.
• Work opportunities: India’s GDP could grow by nearly ₹3 trillion if women were brought into the labour market and given access to formal, ‘decent’ work opportunities.

Case study

Mahila Sanatkar a craftswomen cooperative located in Hyderabad.

Economic and social  effects: It  is  noticeable  some  social  results  such  as  skill building, self-confidence  enhancement,  the  mobility acquired  by the  women.

What is needed to improve women’s welfare?

• Community sensitization: Persistent effort must be directed toward community sensitization to root out patriarchal social norms.
• Directional efforts: In addition to enforcing existing regulations like minimum wages, there must be supportive ancillary policies including childcare; secure transport; lighting; safety at work; and quotas in hiring, corporate boards, and politics to foster more  women  in  leadership.
• Universal social mobilization: Identification and inclusion of the poor remains a challenge. There is need to develop community resource persons for participatory identification of poor.
• Training, Capacity Building & Skill Upgradation: There is lack of appropriate training plans, quality training and availability of expert training institutions.
• Universal Financial Inclusion: Lack of uniform financial management systems at all tiers of SHGs has impacted the growth in bank accounts, improvement in financial literacy, and absorption capacity of community members.
• Multiple & Diversified Livelihoods: There is lack of progressive leadership for inclusiveness of small-sized enterprises at the federal level. Market/ forward linkages, is largely missing.

Conclusion

• If we improve women’s labour force participation, not only do we harness the massive productive potential of half of the population, but their earnings will yield enormous dividends for the future of the country and economy.

Mains question

Q. What do you consider as true women empowerment? Assess the constraints for the same and give directional efforts needed to overcome it.  

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