• Women constitute almost half of the country’s population, therefore improving their condition in the country can immensely contribute to poverty alleviation.
• Women’s empowerment plays a catalytic role towards the achievement of transformational economic, political and social changes required for sustainable development.
• Empowerment of women and eradication of poverty is very critical for the development of the country since it will enhance both the quality and the quantity of human resources available for development. Failing in these efforts will deprive both men and women in getting the fruits of development.
• Many reports and studies suggest that women typically spend their income on food and healthcare for children, which is in sharp contrast to men, who spend a higher proportion of their income for personal needs.
• Increasing gender equality and women’s empowerment, as a means of accelerating growth and development, is an end in itself. It allows individual women and girls to enjoy their full human rights, and it leads to more stable economies and stronger societies.
• Access to family planning and maternal health services, as well as education for girls, typically results in improved economic opportunity for women and lower fertility.
• Healthy, educated girls with equal access to opportunities can grow into strong, smart women who can take on leadership roles in their countries. This will help in having a better view of women perspective in the government policies which will in turn help in poverty alleviation.
• Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that if women farmers had the same access to tools and credit as men, agricultural output in 34 developing countries would rise by an estimated average of up to 4%, translating to up to 150 million fewer hungry people.

Challenges in women empowerment:

Women empowerment is a movement that strives to eliminate the social, economic, and political divide between men and women. The term ‘women empowerment’ only came into existence in the 19th century. Empowerment itself means ‘giving power out.’ Women have been considered a weaker gender worldwide for thousands of years. Although India gained independence, women were still not given equal socio-economic status. Therefore, the Government of India and other non-government bodies work toward the overall development of women in our society.

The following challenges are faced by women in India:

• Education: The literacy gap between women and men is severe. While 82.14% of adult men are educated, only 65.46% of adult women are known to be literate in India. The gender bias is in higher education, specialized professional training which hit women very hard in employment and attaining top leadership in any field.
• Health and Safety: The health and safety concerns of women are paramount for the wellbeing of a country and are an important factor in gauging the empowerment of women in a country. However there are alarming concerns where maternal healthcare is concerned.
• Professional Inequality: This inequality is practiced in employment and promotions. Women face countless handicaps in male customized and dominated environs in Government Offices and Private enterprises.
• Morality and Inequality: Due to gender bias in health and nutrition there is unusually high mortality rate in women reducing their population further especially in Asia and Africa.
• Household Inequality: Household relations show gender bias in infinitesimally small but significant manners all across the globe, more so, in India e.g. sharing burden of housework, childcare and menial works by so called division of work.

Steps to be taken for women empowerment:

Social Factors:

• Health: Improvement in the health indicators of women can significantly contribute to overall health of family and the new borns. Since the significant amount of earnings of underprivileged are spent on medical treatment, improved women’s health and their newborns can drastically reduce household expenditure.
• Education is the major tool for eliminating poverty. Educated women are more sensitive toward their children’s education and contribute more to their development.

Economic factors:

• Equal Wages: Wage disparity between men and women has serious implications on poverty. Equal wages for females would ensure increased household income and productive expenditure on health and nutrition of the whole family.
• Skill Development: Women are significantly involved in collecting minor forest produce and household based industries. Enhancing their skills can directly reduce their economic dependence on their husbands, which in-turn will increase their decision making power in productive expenditure and family matters.

Political factors:

• A society where the female voice is sought and heard, where the principles of equity (fairness) and equality (opportunity) co-exist, is a more powerful and effective society.
• Increasing due representation of women in decision making at grassroot level can effectively help better targeting government poverty alleviation programs.

Empowering women is an important tool to limit population growth:

• Empowerment should be viewed as a process in which all voices are encouraged to be heard for ultimate goal of securing mutually beneficial solutions. Women empowerment is not only a solution to check population growth but is also important for overall progress of the society.

• Spouses, partners and mother-in-laws are central to make decisions for women on contraceptive choice and use.India needs to empower women so that they can decide on the size of the family and thus help the country curb the growth of its population. Improved women status would help in making better decisions towards small family choice.
• Women are needed to be financially empowered to pay for needed family planning and health services. An economically empowered women is free to take decisions better for herself and her family.
• The forces that have helped Kerala achieve population stabilisation with a crude birth rate of 15.9 per 1000 are two-child norm, universal primary education, emphasis on girl child, economic equality and better health care. Thus it is clearly evident that women empowerment would help in limiting population growth.
• It is evident that when women are empowered to improve their own lives, they tend to have smaller families, and population growth slows. When population growth slows, governments and families can more easily invest in opportunities for women and girls, and women can more easily invest in opportunities for themselves and their families.
• Education empowers women and girls to plan their lives. Not only are educated women better equipped to understand their reproductive health options, but they also have greater social and economic opportunities that may lead them to have smaller families. Studies have shown that literacy, especially reading comprehension, profoundly impacts family size.
• When the status of women advances, population growth slows, and the quality of life improves for everyone. The lower social status of women in many places bars them from having control over their own lives and bodies.
• If society limits a woman’s opportunities, parents with inadequate resources will not invest in a daughter’s future, and she will have no options beyond marriage and childbirth at a young age. In addition, women’s relative powerlessness to refuse sex or negotiate safe sex, especially in the context of marriage, leaves women vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
• Women empowerment allow them to exercise their fundamental right to choose the number of children they will have, when, and with whom.
• Capacity-building efforts should pay particular attention to the needs of women in order to ensure that their skills and experience are fully used in decision-making at all levels. The core themes of education for sustainability include lifelong learning, interdisciplinary education, partnerships, multicultural education and empowerment. Priority should be given to ensuring women’s and girls’ full and equal access to all levels of education and training.

Constitutional Provisions:

• Article 14
• Article 15
• Article 15(3)
• Article 16(2)
• Article 23
• Article 39(d)
• Article 39(e)
• Section 42
• Article 46
• Article 51A (e)
• Article 243 D
• Article 243 T
• Article 325

Legal protection for women:

• Married Women’s Property Act – 1874
• Labor Contribution Act – 1923
• Indian Succession Act – 1925
• Dowry Prevention Act – 1961
• Misrepresentation of Women (Prohibition) Act – 1986
• Suppression of Conspiracy Act – 1987
• National Commission for Women Act – 1990
• Hindu Succession Act 1956, Amendment – 2005
• Prevention of Violence against Women Act – 1986
• Prevention of Immorality Act – 1956
• Family Marriage Prevention Act – 2005
• Child Marriage Prohibition Act – 2006

Women’s rights:

• Fundamental Human Rights formulated by the United Nations
• Women’s rights include the right to live free from violence, slavery and discrimination
• Right to education
• Right to hold property
• Right to vote
• Right to equal pay
• Right to life
• Living with independent self-respect
• Choose your own options and decide for yourself
• Right to Equal Opportunity
• Equality in social, religious and public practice
• Right to Employment
• Right to express one’s views
• Right to safe working environment
• Social, economic and political equality

Empowerment of women:

Empowerment of women (creating an environment in which they can make their own decisions in terms of their self-interest and social welfare).

Importance of women empowerment:

1. Underemployment and unemployment
2. Women make up 50% of the world’s population
3. But most of the women worldwide are unemployed which affects the global economy.
4. Competitiveness
5. Men and women are equally intelligent
6. In the current context women are involved in moderate socio-economic activities than men.
7. Talented people

Women are equally talented as men, so in today’s society, they are developing in higher education, medicine and scientific fields.

4. Overall social development

The advancement of women not only improves their family situation but also contributes to the welfare of the society.

5. Economic interest

It makes them independent and self-reliant and increases social and economic welfare.

6. Recovery from domestic violence

Empowering women puts them in a position to recover from domestic violence. Educated women are victims of domestic violence.

7. Corruption free administration

When women get educated, their awareness of corruption, exploitation etc. is reduced.

8. Poverty free society

When the income of the man in the family situation is insufficient, the income of the woman helps to alleviate poverty.

National development

1. The role of women entrepreneurs in national development is immense
2. Women achieve in all fields like medicine, social service, and engineering through their unique skills and improve national development.

Status of women in society:

• Gender Diversity Index Value : 0.563 (2014)
• Gender Diversity Index Score : 127 (2014)
• Maternal Mortality Rate : 174 / 1 Lakh (2015)
• Women in Parliament : 12.2% (2014)
• Secondary education above 25 years : 27% (2014)
• Women in the Workplace: 29% (2013)
• Global Gender Inequality Index Value : 0.664 (2015)
• Global Gender Inequality Index Score : 108 (2015)

Empowerment of women:

1. Almost 50% of the country’s population is female
2. Women need political, social and economic empowerment.

Women empowerment and poverty alleviation:

1. Poverty alleviation

Improving their status in the country will help alleviate poverty

2. Cost of food and health

They use their income for food and health expenses. Men spend most of their income on personal needs.

3. Improvement of physical health

Improving the health of women significantly contributes to the overall health of the family and the newborns. This will reduce household expenses.

4. Educated women

They contribute more to their children’s education.

5. Economic development

1. Agricultural production would increase by 4% if women engaged in agriculture were given the same credit support as men.
2. Wage inequality between men and women has a serious impact on poverty.
3. Capacity building
4. A large number of women participate in child production and home-based industries.
5. Improving their skills will reduce their economic dependence on their husbands.
6. Political development

Increasing women’s proper representation in grassroots decision-making can make a big difference in government poverty alleviation programs.

Unparalleled importance of women’s education:

1. Increased literacy:
2. Almost 63% of the world’s illiterate youth are women.
3. Therefore education should be provided to all children. Only then backward countries will progress.

2. Human Trafficking:
3. Most victims of human trafficking are illiterate women and those from poor families
4. The UN’s intervention program explains that providing young girls with the basic skills and opportunities they need can significantly reduce human trafficking.
5. Political representation:
6. Women are voters all over the world. Their political involvement is restricted.
7. The UN Women’s Leadership and Participation Study recommends that civic education and civic training break down barriers to all forms of development and progress.
8. Growing children:
9. Children of literate mothers are compared with children of illiterate mothers.
10. The United Nations Educational Initiative for Women has suggested that children of educated people are more likely to live more than 5 years.
11. Delayed marriage:
12. One in three girls in underdeveloped countries are married before the age of 18.
13. In countries where girls have 7 or more years of schooling, marriage is delayed by 4 years.

• It is recommended by the UN Population Fund.

6. Income potential:
7. According to UNESCO, education increases a woman’s earning potential.
8. Even a girl’s primary education can increase her earnings by 20%.
9. Enhancement of GDP:
10. When girls and boys are given educational opportunities, GDP rises.
11. A 10% increase in female education increases GDP by an average of 3%.
12. Poverty Reduction:
13. If women are given rights and equal opportunities in education they will also participate in economic activities.
14. This will increase their earning capacity and lead to reduction in poverty level.