When we talk about “economic empowerment of women” we must understand that the biggest problem that women face today is that their work is not recognized at all. Women have always contributed to the society and the economy in the form of a helping hand in agriculture and food production in the developing countries and in the form of part time and temporary workers in developed countries. This is apart from their role as a homemaker which is not even valued economically. In fact the recent statistics of the UN tell us that 53% of work in developing countries is carried out by women and out of $ 16 trillion global output which is invisible, $ 11 trillion is contributed by women. Even after so much contribution there is a lack of acknowledgement regarding the role of women in every sphere of life. The problem is actually much larger than what we perceive and therefore the issue is not just about economic empowerment of women. It is in fact about the deep rooted bias and discrimination against women that is prevalent in the society.
Economic empowerment of women: Discrimination against women
It is ironical and sad to note that that there is a wide scale discrimination against women in virtually all aspects of life. She is in a disadvantageous and deprived position even as regards to basic rights like the right to education and health. Further she does not have access to capital or other resources to make an informed choice in her life. Women are kept out of the decision making power structure in every sphere of life including the political, economic, social and religious structures of the society. Coming back to the question of active contribution made by women in economic terms or otherwise we find that the society happily laps up the labour efforts of women in every part of the world but when it comes to sharing the spoils of that labour she is kept out. This is not only happening in the developing countries but it is also true for the developed countries where majority of women who are working in the informal economies as part time workers have less access to basic health care services, education, financial resources, employee rights and land ownerships. If we look at the “decision making structure” in any field whether it be economic, social, political or religious arena then we will find that it becomes virtually impossible for women to climb up the ladder and reach the positions that matter because of open discrimination and bias. But we cannot sit with all these problems and loathe about it. Somewhere we have to make a beginning and making a beginning at the economic front is the best step forward.
Economic empowerment of women: Income generation and increased flow of capital in the hands of women
A major initiative that is needed for changing the situation for women is to increase the flow of capital in the hands of women. More the women get financially empowered and generate income the more is the chance of her overall development and progress. This is because of the fact that women use a major chunk of their income for providing themselves and their family better healthcare, education and nutrition. Moreover steady income in hand makes women more confident to take economic and other decisions related to her family. It has been seen that when women start earning they also adopt more of environmental friendly lifestyle as well as they tend to have lower fertility rates leading to fewer children. Overall we can see that more the women are economically and financially sound more they become capable of taking informed choices about their life. Stable income and financial independence leads to improvement and progress of women through various efforts like contraception, age of marriage, fertility, child mortality and modern sector employment. Economic empowerment of women leading to steady income generation and financial independence will therefore definitely help women take decisions and select the best among choices in their personal and professional life.
Economic empowerment of women: Resistance to economic empowerment of women
We must acknowledge the fact that when we talk about economic empowerment of women and enhancing the financial independence of women we face great resistance from the current structures of the society at every level. The resistance comes in various forms and it is entrenched in the society as gender bias and gender discrimination. There are many ugly facets of it around the world and many of them are in the form of open physical and psychological abuse. One of the most common forms of abuse is violence against women. Violence against women is virtually seen in every part of the world. Major types of violence against women are in the form of domestic violence and rape. Apart from violence there is great gender discrimination and bias in the form of substandard and pathetic living conditions that is forced upon women. There are millions of women around the world who don’t have even their basic needs met in terms of food and nutrition, healthcare and education.
Further in many countries there are horrendous practices that are taking place and which can be equated to genocide amounting to crime against humanity. Female feticide falls in this category. Other evils like trafficking of young women and girl child, early marriage and dowry system play a major role in pulling down women to a life of infinite misery and suffering. In these conditions how can we think about economic empowerment of women? To top it all we can find a clear bias against women in the decision making power structures of the society which is insensitive to the cause of 50% of human population and which is in fact poorly represented by women in the first place. Fighting all these odds, even if women think about generating income on their own with the help of a economic enterprise then they face the hurdle of capital and other resources. In total women are in a highly disadvantageous and marginalized position. The tragedy is that this situation prevails even when studies show that once women are economically empowered they become the biggest assets of their family, the society, the nation and the world in terms of their savings and their efforts towards the overall development of the family, the society as well as the nation. This is true because when women starts earning, she channels back a major chunk of her earning into the family for better health, education and nutrition. This has a tremendous impact on the growth and development of the next generation who are the future seed of human evolution.
