Why we are Unable to Successfully Empower Women

India’s rich cultural heritage, since time immemorial, has placed the female personification of ‘God’ at a high pedestal. The ‘Goddess’ has been revered across the length and breadth of the country, and has come to be venerated for she symbolizes dignity, grit, knowledge, civilization, and prosperity. However, the same culture has failed to provide the same status to its own women, who face innumerable hurdles in their path of self-actualization – from outright violence to insidious practices and traditions, hampering their strides of empowerment.

The history of such hurdles hampering the empowerment process of women have been multifaceted, transgressing into various aspects and impacting all facets of life. These often overt, but all subtle challenges have come in the way of women being empowered successfully to be able to contribute effectively to society.

In ancient times, their contributions were hampered by practices like sati, lack of inheritance rights, and a general subjugation. Though there were exceptions like Prabhavati Gupta who ruled, women generally were not empowered. Medieval times also saw similar limitations to the empowerment process of women, with the introduction of purdah and greater isolation though some like Raziya stood out. Modern India too has not been able to break the shackles of women, and though remarkable leaders like Sarojini Naidu and Indira Gandhi embodied power and growth, women generally continue to be disadvantaged.

The primary factor hampering the empowerment of women is an attitude that women are inferior, less strong, and unfit for roles in the public sphere. This patriarchal perspective seeks to reproduce, generation after generation, a system that favours men as being the more capable gender, and as a natural corollary, the more deserving of all the advantages. This thought process’s ability to percolate across societies, time, and space, has hampered the successful empowerment of women in various spheres.

Women have faced hurdles to empowerment in the public sphere due to lack of political representation. Even today, only about 11% of legislators in the Lok Sabha are women. Concepts like Sarpanch Pati take away from true democratization and instill the idea that women cannot handle power, and thus there’s no point in empowering them.

The belief that it’s futile to empower women has led to women not being prioritized when it comes to questions of health and education. Despite gender budgeting, women are disproportionately disadvantaged. Parents in many parts view their daughters as a burden, who must be married off: And thus arises the norm of not empowering the “said burden”, by educating her and giving her the needed health facilities.

The idea that women are a burden has also found its place and reverberation in innumerable cultural practices, thus hampering empowerment. When a society condones acts like child marriage, deprivation of rights to widows, non-interference for daughters, and distasteful practices like female genital mutilation, they effectively set the ground for keeping the woman tied to her roots, never allowing her to realize her true potential.

The realization of women’s true potential also hits a glass ceiling in the sphere of economy and prosperity. It is ironic that while ‘Lakshmi’ goddess embodies prosperity, the world economic forum’s gender pay gap report points to how women earn less, for the same time and effort, than their male counterparts. A low female labor force participation rate, hesitation in recruiting women due to bias, harassment at the workplace are but a few causes preventing women from empowering not just themselves, but society at large.

The challenge to women’s successful empowerment also manifests itself when countries go to war. Women are often the worst sufferers of violence, and according to UN reports, 75% of refugees are women and children. Women face persecution, are raped and maimed for no fault of their own; and are subsequently forced to give up their true potential as struggling for mere survival becomes the objective.

This struggle for survival has a lot to do with the structural violence women face in their lives every day. Be it rising cases of domestic violence (during the COVID-19 pandemic) or cases of rape, women are seen as conquests or inferior beings not worthy of respect. Harassment, catcalling and more subtle forms of violence such as cybercrime have led to women feeling unsafe in the public sphere – a key element of being able to establish themselves and empower successfully is thus brutally snatched from women.

This constant inability to successfully empower women, however, has also seen a silver lining, with many women coming forward and proving their worth and potential, a change is taking place, albeit slowly. Women such as Kiran Bedi broke the glass ceiling by entering a profession traditionally seen as a “male preserve”. The 2020 Chemistry Nobel Prize has also been given to two female scientists. One of the best handlings of COVID-19 was seen in New Zealand, led by a woman PM. Many women have stood up in the face of stark brutalities, and led protests, such as in Belarus, thereby enhancing their footprint in the public sphere.

The process of empowerment by a greater footprint is also seen in the constant efforts of younger women like Malala and Greta Thunberg. This goes on to affect how women across all age groups have within them immense power and potential, and it is but a matter of time before that is successfully harnessed and women empowered.

This successful harnessing of women’s potential for their adequate empowerment will need a multifaceted representation in the public sphere via affirmative action – reservation in local panchayats can provide templates. If this is done, women will have a greater say in framing the laws impacting women, leading to long-term benefits.

Long-term benefits in the process of empowerment will also come from providing adequate economic opportunities to women. Providing greater capital, framing women-friendly laws for women at the workplace, providing for maternity benefits and enabling an unbiased recruitment process can aid the empowerment process.

To be successfully empowered, women also need to be healthy. Adequate health facilities, even at the remotest locations will provide women the basic necessities they need to realize their true potential. This realization will be further aided by a sound educational foundation. The need, however, is to educate not just women, but also men, about the positive impact of women walking beside men as equals, not as inferiors.

To quell the myth of women as inferior beings, and successfully empower them, a conscious effort must also be made to eradicate cultural practices which perpetuate such ideas. Effective legislative, judicial, and executive action is needed to ensure women are not discriminated against, creating a wholesome environment for growth and prosperity.

This thrust towards sustained growth for women must also find reverberation in international effort and dialogue. The Beijing + 20 conference shed light on the miles that need to be tread to enable empowerment, and international cooperation must be the way forward to achieve such goals.

The government on its part has undertaken various initiatives to enable successful empowerment of women. From progressive legislations like sexual harassment at workplace to schemes like maternity benefits, there has been a greater recognition of the role of the state in the successful empowerment of women. The launch of Poshan Mission, and Fundamental Right to Education have laid the foundation for healthy, educated women moving forward to successfully empower themselves, realizing their agency.

The successful empowerment of women has also been seen by the growth of women entrepreneurs and women-led MSMEs. Both state schemes like MUDRA and private sector efforts have led to a growth in women leading in the entrepreneurial sector.

However, more is needed to ensure women’s successful empowerment in the real sense. The need is to make a conscious effort, through policy, practice, and attitudes, to understand the unique needs and requirements of women. Only by empowering women with respect, love, empathy, and equal opportunities can the goal of a truly gender-just society be realized.

The aim should be to erase the need for women to prove their worthiness of respect and success. The idea must be to create a world where women are empowered, not just in the public sphere, but also in their homes. A society where a woman does not have to prove her worth by the number of children she bears or the sacrifices she makes, but is empowered because she is a human, deserving of respect, love, and opportunities. Only then can the process of empowering women be deemed truly successful.

The essay has effectively outlined the various historical, societal, and cultural factors that have hampered women’s empowerment in India, from ancient times to the present day. It has also mentioned the stereotypes and prejudices that women face, such as being considered inferior or unfit for roles in the public sphere. The essay further discusses the multifaceted nature of women’s empowerment, considering political representation, economic opportunities, and health and education aspects.

In the conclusion, the essay proposes a way forward, emphasizing the need for a multifaceted approach involving policy, practice, and attitude changes. It highlights the need for respect, love, empathy, and equal opportunities in ensuring women’s empowerment and mentions the government’s role and initiatives in this direction. There is also a call for international cooperation and dialogue in fostering women’s empowerment. In sum, the essay calls for a society where women do not have to prove their worth and are respected and empowered in every sphere of life.