How empowerment of women must be legally enforced

Empowerment refers to enhancement of capabilities of a group or individual in social, economical, political and spiritual spheres so as to develop their decision making ability (in individual or collective context), ability to form a positive self image by overcoming stigma and the ability to have a discreet thinking about what is wrong or right. Women in our society have been marginalized for a long time due to many reasons as cultural dogmas, religious construct, male dominancy and discrimination. The primary reason is the entrenchment of negative learning over a long period of time. Also such behavior is reinforced when no administrative body disapproves of it.

The solution lies in the creation of an environment through positive economic and social policies for full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential. This can be done by first framing laws through our democratic structure; second, by outlining an action plan and third the establishment for a strong feedback mechanism which ensures if empowerment measures in India are comparable to global standards and measure the discrepancy.

At the initiative of and with the full participation of all stakeholders including community and religious leaders, laws can be made with the aim to encourage changes in personal laws such as those related to marriage, divorce, maintenance and guardianship so as to eliminate discrimination against women. The evolution of property rights in a patriarchal system has contributed to the subordinate status of women. Women’s equality in power sharing and active participation in decision making, including decision making in political process at all levels will be ensured for the achievement of the goals of empowerment. Laws can be made to introduce positive discrimination to ensure participation of women at every level, including the legislative, executive, judicial, corporate, statutory bodies, as also the advisory Commissions, Committees, Boards, and Trusts etc. Women–friendly personnel policies will also be drawn up to encourage women to participate effectively in the developmental process. This includes more safety for night shift workers in textile mills and strict laws to counter women harassment at work places.
In order to enhance women’s access to credit for consumption and production, the establishment of new and strengthening of existing micro-credit mechanisms and micro-finance institution can be undertaken so that the outreach of credit is enhanced. In view of the critical role of women in the agriculture and allied sectors, as producers, concentrated efforts can be made to ensure that benefits of training, extension and various programmes will reach them in proportion to their numbers. Special measures can be taken to eliminate discrimination, universalize education, eradicate illiteracy, create a gender-sensitive educational system, increase enrolment and retention rates of girls and improve the quality of education to facilitate life-long learning as well as development of occupation/vocation/technical skills by women. Reducing the gender gap in secondary and higher education should be a focus area. Gender sensitive curricula should be developed at all levels of educational system in order to address sex stereotyping as one of the causes of gender discrimination.
Media can be used to portray images consistent with human dignity of girls and women. Efforts should be made to regulate media, specifically to remove demeaning, degrading and negative conventional stereotypical images of women and violence against women. The media would be encouraged to develop codes of conduct, professional guidelines and other self regulatory mechanisms to remove gender stereotypes and promote balanced portrayal.
While institutions at the district level can be strengthened, at the grass-roots, women will be helped by Government through its programmes to organize and strengthen into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) at the Anganwadi/Village/Town level. These societies will bring about synergistic implementation of all the social and economic development programmes by drawing resources made available through Government and Non-Government channels, including banks and financial institutions and by establishing a close Interface with the Panchayats/ Municipalities.
Implementation of international obligations/commitments in all sectors on empowerment of women such as the Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and other such instruments will help to make reforms more accountable. International, regional and sub-regional cooperation towards the empowerment of women should be encouraged through sharing of experiences, exchange of ideas and technology, networking with institutions and organizations and through bilateral and multi-lateral partnerships.