This document provides an overview of women empowerment in India. It discusses the meaning of empowerment and the status of women in Indian society throughout history. It outlines the need for empowerment, principles, stages, dimensions, and ways to achieve empowerment. It also examines constraints, measurements like GDI, GEM, GII, and GPI. Finally, it discusses relevant acts and government programs to promote women empowerment in India.

1. W O M E N
E M P O W E R M E N T

2. CONTENT
• Introduction
• Meaning
• Status of women in Indian society
• Dimensions of women empowerment
• Need for women empowerment
• Principles of women empowerment
• Stages of women empowerment
• Six ‘S’ for women empowerment
• Ways to achieve women empowerment
• Constraints of women empowerment
• Changes of empowered women
• Measurement of women empowerment
• Projects for women empowerment
• Acts for women empowerment

3. INTRODUCTION
• Empowerment refers to the increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of
individuals and communities.
• As a general definition, Empowerment is a multidimensional process that helps people gain
control over their own lives.
• Women Empowerment is the process and the outcome of the process by which women
challenge gender based discrimination in every institution and structures of the society.

4. MEANING
• Women empowerment means freedom of women from the vicious grips of social,
economical, political, caste and gender-based discrimination.
• It means granting women the freedom to make life choices.
• Women Empowerment itself elaborates that Social Rights, Political Rights, Economic
stability, judicial strength and all other rights should be also equal to women.
• Swami Vivekananda, quoted that, “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless
the condition of women is improved.”
• Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, said “when women move forward the family moves, the
villages move, and the nation move.”

5. STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIAN SOCIETY
• “In order to awaken people, it is the people who have to be awakened, once she moves,
the country moves and thus we build the Indian of tomorrow.” Said by Pt. Jawaharlal
Nehru.
• India is now in transition age – present century is the “Knowledge Century Era”.
• A knowledge driven generation will be an asset for the progress and development of the
nation.
• To achieve and sustain the high growth rates, access in education should be open for entire
population without any discrimination.
• As women are the dynamic promoters of social transformation. Their empowerment and
education is must.

6. STATUS IN ANCIENT INDIA
• During this period, women had high social and religious status.
• There is sufficient evidence in Vedic literature that in Vedic period women were
imparted Vedic education and used to take part in religious rites.
• They were also authors of certain Vedic hymns.
• Women of that age were capable of learning and understanding philosophical
doctrines.
• In Vedic age women remain unmarried for higher studies.
• The women education has been highly appreciated in Atharva Veda.
• Manu emphasized that it was the duty of parents to give her daughters integral
education.
• However, there was a gradual decline in female education during later Vedic age.

7. STATUS IN BUDDHIST AGE
• With the rise of Buddhism, there came a relief to women.
• Buddhism thought describe illiteracy as a crime.
• They allowed women to recite, hear and learn by heart religious discourses.
• But women had lower status to men.

8. STATUS IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD
• The condition of women in India came to be worst during Muslim rule.
• The custom of Pardah extended to the whole of higher classes.
• Women of lower strata could not afford to confine themselves within the four walls of
home as they had to work outside beside home duties.
• During the medieval period only system of ‘Pardah’ and ‘Jauhar’ were being introduced
by Muslim and Rajput community against women.

9. STATUS IN BRITISH PERIOD
• In that time women were considered a completely inferior, means inferior to male having no
significance, no personality. They were almost uneducated.
• Due to efforts of social reformers the status of women was improved, which recognized
them in their own rights.
• Hindu Dharma Shastras and customs had already paved the way for their complete
subordination to male through deprivation of property rights, worship of husband as Gods,
dowry and sati system.
• Social reformers tried to give equal importance to women with men therefore in this period
only many legislative enactment has been enforced by legislators for protection of women
life.
• Act of Sati (abolish) 1829, The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act 1856, The Child Restriction
Act 1929

10. STATUS IN MODERN INDIA
• Position and starts of today’s woman in India is considerably changed in modern Indian
society.
• A country or a community cannot be considered civilized where woman is not honored.
• Indian laws are being need without any discrimination against woman.
• As a result Indian woman enjoying high position in our society.
• Modern Indian woman today occupy high ranking pests live I.A.S., I.P.S., Defense
services, participate in various sports.
• Woman of recent times like Mother Teressa, Vijay Laxmi Pandit, M.S. Subhalaxmi, Lata
Mangeskar our ex-president Smt. Prathibha Patil etc. have achieved international fame.
• Women have also achieved high fame in the areas of literature, music and acting. More
over woman are joining the field of science and technology also.

11. DIMENSIONS OF WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT
• Women empowerment has multiple interrelated and independent dimensions
focus the main areas as follows-
Women’s political and legal empowerment.
Women’s economic and social empowerment.

12. NEED OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
“Women are worshiped as goddess in India, but not given her true position.”
• Women are deprived of:
– Decision making Power
– Freedom of Movement
– Access to Education
– Access to Employment
– Exposure to Media
– Domestic Violence

13. PRINCIPLES OF WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT
• Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality
• Treat all women and men fairly at work - respect and support human rights and
nondiscrimination
• Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers
• Promote education, training and professional development for women
practices that• Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing
empower women
• Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy
• Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality

14. STAGES OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Powerless
Initiation
Participation
Adoption
Leadership

15. SIX ‘S’ FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
1. Shiksha
2. Swasthya
3. Swavlamban
4. Samajik Nyay
5. Samvedan
6. Samta
= Education
= Health
= Self Reliance
= Justice
= Sensitivity
= Equality

16. WAY TO ACHIEVE WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT
• Self Help Group
• Angan Badis
• Government Schemes
• Micro Finance
• Self Employment

17. CONSTRAINTS IN WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT
• Lack of education
• Traditional view limit participation
• Financial constraints
• Family responsibilities
• Low mobility
• Low ability to bear risk
• Low Social status
• Conflicts among women’s groups

18. CHANGES OF AN EMPOWERED WOMEN
• Improves personal knowledge
• Self- defining power
• Authenticity
• Creativity
• Physical strength
• Equality
• Mutuality in relationships
• Economic independence
• Freedom from oppression
• Having political power in society

19. MEASUREMENT OF WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT
Gender-Related Development Index
(GDI)
Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)
Introduced in 1995 in human development report to
measure gender equality
Introduced in 1995 in human development report to
measure gender equality
Same measure as HDI, but centered on gender Measure the ability of women to participate in the process
of improvement
ECONOMIC ECONOMIC
 Per Capita Income Male Vs. Female  Per Capita Income Male Vs. Female
EDUCATION  %age of women professional/technical jobs
 Females in school Vs. Males in school POLITICAL
 %age literate Females Vs. %age literate Males  %age of administration jobs held by women
HEALTH  %age of women in National Parliament
 Life expectancy of Female Vs. Males

20. GENDER INEQUALITY INDEX
• The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is an index for measurement of gender disparity
that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report 20th anniversary edition
by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• According to the UNDP, this index is a composite measure to quantify the loss of
achievement within a country due to gender inequality.
• It uses three dimensions to measure the loss of achievement due to gender inequality:
Reproductive Health, Empowerment, and Labor Market Participation.
• GII does not include income level as a component level.
• This index was introduced as an experimental measure to remedy the shortcomings of
the previous indicators, the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender
Empowerment Measure (GEM), both of which were introduced in the 1995 Human
Development Report.

21. GENDER PARITY INDEX
• The Gender Parity Index (GPI) is a socioeconomic index usually designed to
measure the relative access to education of males and females.
• This index is released by UNESCO.
• In its simplest form, it is calculated as the quotient of the number of females by the
number of males enrolled in a given stage of education (primary, secondary, etc.).
• It is used by international organizations, particularly in measuring the progress of
developing countries.
• The Institute for Statistics of UNESCO also uses a more general definition of GPI: for
any development indicator one can define the GPI relative to this indicator by dividing
its value for females by its value for males.
• For example, some UNESCO documents consider gender parity in literacy.

22. PROJECTS FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
• The UN came out with a set of goals called the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs,
to help make the world a better place.
• Of the 17, the fourth goal works to allow access to education for all people alike. A large
effort has been made to include women in schools to better their education.
• The fifth goal focuses on empowering women and girls to achieve gender equality through
equal access to various types of opportunities (health care, education, work, etc.).
• There are also some prominent non-profits that help empower women:
– She Should Run
– Girls Not Brides
– The Malala Fund
- Women in Defense
- Women for Women International
- Every Mother Counts

23. • Founded in 2011, She Should Run is a non-partisan 501(c)3
with the mission to expand the talent pool of women running
for office in the United States.
• This programs provide an approachable starting place and
network for women leaders considering a future run by
providing community, resources, and growth opportunities.
• This programme believe that women of all political leanings,
ethnicities, and backgrounds should have an equal opportunity
to lead in elected office and that our democracy will benefit
from the varied perspectives and experiences that women
bring to leadership.
• Once women are ready to take their first step towards public
office, our first-of-its-kind She Should Run Incubator offers
resources and a community that meets them where they are in
their paths to elected leadership.

24. • Girls Not Brides, The Global Partner to End
Child Marriage is an international non-
governmental organization with the mission to
end child marriage throughout the world.
• The organization was created by The Elders to
enable small groups from around the world to
address the common issue of early marriage.
• More than 700 organizations from over 85
countries are partnership member of girls not
brides.
• Girls Not Bride worked to include ending child
marriage in the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals for 2030.

25. THE MALALA FUND
• Malala fund is an international, non-profit
organization that fights for girls’education.
• It was founded by Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani
activist for female education in 2013.
• GOAL:- To ensure 12 years of free, safe and
quality education for every girl.
• MOTTO:- Working for a world where every girl
can learn and lead.
• Recently Apple Inc. partnered with Malala Fund to
fund expansion to India and Latin America and
provide technology, curriculum assistance and
policy research with a goal of educating more than
100,000 girls.

26. • Incorporated in 1985, this empowerment organization provides women a business
environment for professional growth through strategic networking, education, and career
development.
• In 2004, Women In Defense became a proud affiliate of the National Defense Industrial
Association (NDIA).
• Women In Defense provides a dynamic, forward-thinking community for developing
leadership skills, cultivating relationships, as well as mentoring, and education through a
variety of national and regional events addressing some of the most pressing national
defense issues.

27. WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL
• WfWI is a nonprofit organization that provides practical and moral support to women
survivors of war.
• WfWI helps such women rebuild their lives after war’s devastation through a year long
tiered programme that begins with direct financial aid and emotional counseling and
includes if necessary rights awareness, education, health education, job skills training and
small business development.
• WfWI have distributed $103M to some 317,000 women participants; (2011).
• The programme is paid through a mix of individual “sister to sister” direct sponsorship and
grants from governmental, multilateral, foundation, corporate and individual donors.

28. EVERY MOTHER COUNTS
• Every mother counts’ mission is to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother,
everywhere.
• It was founded by Christy Turlington Burns in 2010.
• They have invested $5.6M into community based programmes working to improveaccess
to quality, respect and equitable maternity care.

29. ACTS FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
• Hindu Widows Remarriage Act, 1856
• Indian Penal Code,1860
• Indian Evidence Act, 1872
• Hindu marriage act 1955
• Hindu wives and children under Hindu
adoption and maintenance act 1956
• Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956.
• Dowry ProhibitionAct
• Maternity benefit act 1961
• Medical Termination of PregnancyAct
• Hindu Adoption and MaintenanceAct,1952 • National Commission for woman Act,1990
• Hindu SuccessionAct, 1956 • Pre-conception, Prenatal diagnostic
techniques Act, 1994 and Rule 1996
• Domestic Violence Act, (2005)

30. PROGRAMMES/SCHEMES FOR
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme (22 Jan, 2015)
• One Stop Centre Scheme (1 April, 2015)
• Women Helpline Scheme (1 April, 2015)
• UJJAWALA (Dec, 2007)
• Working Women Hostel (Introduced in 1972-73 and after amendment re-launched on 6
April 2017)
• Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche scheme for the children of Working Mothers (2010-11)
• SWADHAR Scheme (A scheme for women in difficult circumstances), (2001-02)
• Support to Training & Employment Programme for women (STEP), (Launched in
2003-04 and revised in Dec 2014)

31. CONT.
Mid-Gangatic plains-
• Nari Shakti Puruskar (1999)
• Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (1993)
• Central Social Welfare Board (1953)
• Development of Women and children in rural areas (1982-83)
• Mahila E-Haat (7 March 2016)
• Women Empowerment & Livelihood programme in
Priyadarshani

32. CONCLUSION
• Women represent half of the world’s population and gender inequality exists in every
nation on the planet.
• Until women are given the same opportunities that men are, entire societies will be
destined to perform below their true potentials.
• The greatest need of the hour is change of social attitude to women.
• The dream of women empowerment shall not be fulfill unless they are empowered to
play equal decisive and appropriate role in the family, which is the basic unit of
empowerment.

33. REFERENCE
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_empowerment
• ESSENCE - International Journal for Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Volume
VIII: No. 1 2017 [160 – 167] [ISSN 0975 - 6272] Women Empowerment in India: Rationale
and Present Status
• http://weprinciples.unglobalcompact.org/Site/Principle5/
• www.slideshare.net
• https://www.google.co.in/search?q=difference+between+gender+empowerment+measure+and+
gender+development+index&biw=1350&bih=635&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahU
KEwi5x5_0v5reAhVTfCsKHe6AB8EQ_AUICygC#imgrc=_
• https://www.google.co.in/search?q=she+should+run&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=Inyv6
dnVZEIxAM%253A%252C3khMbPbRRHAhhM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRRSZlJa1KhNN6-
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QDA