Women’s Empowerment

Women have been labeled as the fairer-sex, homemakers, wives, mothers, even goddesses in certain cultures. But behind all these euphemisms the rights and aspirations of the woman as an individual are conveniently undermined. Our constitution guarantees equal rights to all its citizens- male or female. Yet deep rooted patriarchal psyche has conditioned our socio political makeup to such an extent that we no longer feel shock or horror when discrimination is meted out to women, sometimes subtly and sometimes in overt ways.
Over 32,000 homicides, 19,000 rapes, 7,500 dowry deaths and 36,500 molestation cases are the violent crimes reported in India in 2006 against women. These figures are only a tip of the iceberg since a huge majority of crimes against women go unreported due to social taboos. Female foeticide and female infanticide are still a reality in many parts of the country. The right of the girl child to acquire proper education are often ignored despite many plans and schemes launched by the government. While Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are the worst off among the states according to the figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau, it is observed that the North Eastern states like Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland have a very low rate of crime against women. A great deal of this may be attributed to the fact that many of these states have a traditionally matriarchal social setup. But another important factor that should not be disregarded is that women in the North East have long been economically independent. This has gradually translated to their increasing involvement in all spheres of social decision-making and has changed the way in which they are perceived.
So there is a silver lining that emerges from these appalling statistics. While legislation and Acts are indispensible to protect the rights of women, a deeper more effective transformation can be triggered by changing the perception of society towards women. To bring about this change it is imperative that women have equal access to education, health, housing, career and vocational guidance, social security and income generating resources.
Non-profits like New Life play a pivotal role in working at the grassroots level and ensuring that women have access to Self-Help Groups, Micro-finance, Micro-insurance, and basic health care. Skill training started by the NGO has enabled poorer women to combine roles and generate income by taking up activities like Poly-Bag sugarcane nursery, fabric painting, tailoring, glass painting, soap powder making, phenyl making, cleaning powder making, candle making, etc. . These are not full time jobs and women perceive them as a boon rather than an additional burden. Skilled vocation training is also imparted by the NGO and women in the age group of 18-35 have been trained for activities like making readymade garments. These activities not only provide income resources but also foster confidence and awareness, increase participation of women in local level planning and inculcate the saving habit in rural women.
While a number of projects have reached fruition, a lot remains to be done to ensure that pigeon-holing women into age old roles, responsibilities and privileges gives way to socio-economic empowerment and gender mainstreaming

Amrita Goswami