19 APRIL2023WOMEN EMPOWERMENTFactors that ImpactIt is in this context that women empowerment assumes great significance in India which is the most populous democracy in the world. In my view, empowerment is broadly impacted by three sets of factors, or pillars, ie; Social, Educational and Economic. And the lines tend to blur across the three pillars.SocialFrom a societal perspective, families ought to be educated about the biased approach they may be taking, especially in those families where they strongly believe that a woman's place is inside the home and homemaking alone is her primary and sole responsibility. In some ways such families think women are subservient to the men in the family, and any form of progress on the educational or employment front is treated with scorn, disapproval, and retribution.Further, the worst kind of challenges is faced by women mostly in the lower income groups where their poorly educated and regressive minded spouses and kin take it as their willful right. To unleash violence on the, and in many cases, quite shockingly take pride in talking about how they terrorize these women, to keep them under their `control'.Such a discriminatory mindset nurtured carefully over generations also drives them to exclude girls from education and learning opportunities, thereby depriving them of self-confidence, and leading to lower self-esteem.Another unflattering revelation is women are more represented in the `unorganized sector' where the skills required are less nuanced and the laws of labor less fair and equitable.There is also the issue of women empowerment being less visible in rural India than in urban settings. Women in urban areas have relatively better access to education, employment, healthcare, and decision-making, though they remain under-represented in the workforce.EducationalEducation and literacy form the foundation on which other aspects of socio-economic inclusion and empowerment take shape.Educating men about this need is the key so they can become true allies and supporters of women in their families to help them become employable in the organized sector.When access to education is ensured, and equal opportunities are made available to women for
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