2. Salient Features
Women Empowerment
Important Issue in NFHS-3 2006-07
Millennium Development Goal 4
Four specific indicators
“It is a process through which women gain power over men or as a process
that enables women to gain access to decision-making processes and
instances of power”
- Oxaal & Baden - 1997
3. Focus of Presentation
• Selected indicators of gender disparity
• Access and control over resources
• Women’s decision making role
• Freedom of movement
• Acceptance of gender unequal norms
5. Gender Disparity - Media Exposure
• Not only are fewer women than men literate
but fewer are also regularly exposed to media
• Media exposure leads increases awareness
and generates curiosity
Percentage of men and women age 15-19 regularly exposed to print
media, TV, radio, or cinema
Men 88%
Women 71%
Gender Disparity 19%
6. Employment
43
29
87
79
Employed Employed for
cash
Women Men
Among the population age 15-49
Men are 2 times as likely to be employed
Men are 2.7 times as likely to be
employed for cash
Among the employed,
64% of women vs. 91% of men earn cash
Female share of population employed for
cash in non-agricultural occupations is
22%
8. Financial Empowerment
• NFHS-3 asked married employed women and
men who controlled their own earnings and
who controlled the spouse’s earnings
Does employment empower
women financially?
20% of employed married women said they
earned at least as much as their husband
24% of men with an employed wife said that
their wife earned at least as much as them
9. Control over Women’s Earnings
24 20
57 63
15 16
Women’s report about
their own earnings
Men’s report about
their wife’s earnings
24 20
57 63
15 16
Mainly wife
Husband &
wife jointly
Mainly husband
10. Access to any other financial resources
68
45
15
5
Participate in decision on how
husband's earnings are used
Have money which they can
decide how to use
Have a bank or savings account
that they themselve use
Have taken loan from
microcredit program
11. Household Decision Making
Decisions
Make
decision
alone or
jointly with
husband
Own health care 62
Making major household
purchases 53
Making purchases for daily
household needs 60
Visits to her family or relatives 61
All four 37
None of above 21
12. Household Decision Making
•63% of the women are not
empowered to run their own
households.
46 45 41 39
45
Age 40-49 Urban 12+ yrs of
education
Employed Wealthiest
13. Other hurdles to Gender Equality
• Limited Freedom of Movement
• Gender norms that promote men’s control
over women
• Survey results
•Wife beating
•A husband’s right to have sex with his wife
irrespective of his wife’s wishes
14. Other hurdles to Gender Equality
• The majority of women have little freedom of
movement. Only one-third go alone to all three
destinations: the market, health facility and outside the
village or community.
51
48
38
33
4
Market
Health facility
Places outside the village/community
All three places
None of the three places
15. “I feel wife beating is justified”
54
29
35
30
14
20
25
41
51
23
29
26
8
13
24
37
At least one reason
Goes out without telling him
Neglects the house or children
Argues with him
Refuses to have sex
Doesn’t cook properly
He suspects she is unfaithful
Shows disrespect for in-laws
Men Women
16. “I feel wife beating is justified”
• 54% of the women feel that wife
beating is justified!
20% of the men feel that they have
the right to reprimand their wives.
17. Measure for Women Empowerment
• Stopping Female Foeticide – Rampant in Metros
• Stop by penalizing the Medical clinics and Couples -
Under Indian Penal code equivalent to Murder
• Regulatory bodies to ensure private and government
clinics adhere to the rules and restrictions
18. Improving Female Literacy
• Increase Literacy among women
Will increase the awareness towards their benefits &
rights
• Increase Literacy through special campaign for
promoting Girl child and women education
A scheme in Uttar Pradesh gives a prize amount to parents for
every girl who complete higher secondary education
19. Effective Political Participation
• Effective political participation –
increasing political awareness and
participation in active politics
• Constitutional amendments to ensure
participation in municipalities and panchayats
• Political parties should promote women
20. Self Help Groups & Microfinance
• Self Help Groups - A vital organ
• Banks and NGO can give also loans at very
nominal interest rate
• It will empower women at macro level
• Microfinance and Microcredit's will lead to a
healthier, happier and prosperous India
Promoting about 20-25 women to form Self Help
Group and start a business.
21. Free Industrial & Vocational Training
• Free Industrial and Vocational Training to
make women employable.
• Exclusive ITIs for women.
• Short term training sessions should be
organized by the government to develop work
related skills.
22. Tax Benefits
• As Government is already giving tax
benefits to women employees.
• Government should give tax benefits to
service sector which employ large amount of
women employees
Sector Specific Tax benefits
23. Regulation of film and fashion industry
• Regulation of film and fashion industry which
are promoting women as products
• Cosmetic and beauty industry to be kept
under check
• Consumerism – Detrimental to women at
times
24. Decriminalizing Prostitution and stopping
sexual abuse
• Curb exploitation of sex workers by
police & media
• Incorporate living rights and subsistence for
sex workers and legalize the business to
ensure non-exploitation
25. Additional Role of Government
• Government should formulate the policy
which should motivate women entrepreneurs,
women self help groups, women bureaucrats
• Increase the number of women officers in
armed forces and in police. It will help in
breaking the social taboo.
26. More Steps To Be Taken
There can not be any dramatic movement in
the system just by including women members
in Gram Panchayat. At the same time, it is
also essential to shed certain stereotyped
prevailing notions about role and importance
of women in socio-economic development.
Women should been encouraged to play a
more active part. In the process of
development and decision-making women
have to operate along with men.
27. More Steps To Be Taken
Women must become literate, as
education is beneficial for them as
well as their families. The family
web is woven around the women.
She has to be up to the mark and
educated so that she could fend
for herself and her family during
the hour of crisis.
28. More Steps To Be Taken
• The discussion brings a major
conclusion to light-the status of
women could be improved by
women themselves and nobody
else. It is the modern era of
satellites, achievements and
technology-based gadget. Why
should women be left behind ?
29. More Steps To Be Taken
There should be a better and full
understanding of the problems peculiar to
woman, to make a solution of those problems
possible. As these problems centre round the
basic problem of inequality, steps should be
taken to promote equality of treatment and
full integration of woman in the total
development effort of the country.
30. More Steps To Be Taken
• The main stress should be on
equal work and elimination of
discrimination in employment.
One of the basic policy objectives
should be universal education of
woman, the lack of which tends
to perpetuate the unequal status
quo.
31. Finally…
• Change the attitude that men are
superior to women
• Respect women as you would respect your
parents
• Compete with women, don’t exploit!
