WOMEN EMPOWERMENT:

key to population

stabilization in India

GROUP NAME:

“GOONJ”

-voice of youth

Universal declaration of

human rights

“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”

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Article 2. Universal declaration of human rights. (Available at

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#atop)

The Constitution of India:

Preamble (1950)

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to

constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity

and integrity of the Nation

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?.........

Women's empowerment has five

components:

Sense of self-worth

Right to have and to determine

choices

Right to have access to

opportunities and resources

Right to have the power to control

their own lives, both within and

outside the home

Ability to influence the direction of

social change to create a more

just social and economic order,

nationally and internationally

What is Women

Empowerment?

What’s worse- wider perception

Factors influencing women empowerment

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Women Empowerment

Strength

Economi

cally

independ

ent

women

Industry

Wisdom Women

literacy

Women

participati

on in

election

Proportion of women in

parliament,

local bodies

Empathy

28 countries: women make up over

30% of parliamentarians

European countries: Increase in the

number of women police officers

helps to overcome reluctance in

reporting sexual assault

Sweden: Improved paternity leave

has reduced the gender pay gap

Nepal: Tax exemptions have

incentives families to transfer land to

daughters, sisters and wives

Significant initiatives towards

women empowerment

GENDER INEQUALITY

India’s score is 0.59-0.68 on the scale and it paints a sorry picture for us in the world

History of status of women

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•Freedom to choose

partners for marriage

•Daughters were not considered as liability

or unwelcomed guest

in the family

•Widow marriages

were permissible

Sta

tus

of

wo

me

n

Vedic period (1500-1000 BC)

•Women had

Subjugated status • But gave the

message that

respectable wife is

one who humbles

herself vis-à-vis her husband

Period of epics

(1000-500 BC)

•Did not deserve the

freedom at any point

of time in her life

•Not marring a girl

before the age of 14

years was a sin

Age of Manushatra

(500 – 200 BC)

Maitreyi, Gargi Philosophers &

women seers

Woman empowerment in post-independence era

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• Hindu Marriage Act 1955 • The Dowry Prohibition Act

• The maternity Benefit Act 1961

• The Equal Remuneration Act 1976 • The Indecent Representation of Women

[Prohibition] Act 1986

• Formation of National Commission of Women 1990 • Constitutional amendments for reservation of

seats in the local bodies of Panchayat and Municipalities

1993

• The National Policy for the Empowerment of Women 2001

• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005

Women in the population o Total population - 1210.2 million (2011)

{Almost equal to the combined population of U.S.A., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh

and Japan put together}

o Women population - 586.5 million (48.5%)

o Sex ratio (0 – 6 years) – 914 (women/1000 men)

Educational status of women

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{Lowest since independence}

QUOTES

1.“You can tell condition of nation by looking at the status of its women”

-Nehruji

2. “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved”

-BR Ambedkar

3. “To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?”

-Gandhi ji