Gender equality is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals and it is a prerequisite for accomplishing the other seven goals. Discrimination against women, however, remains a very persistent type of inequality, including gender-based violence, economic abuse, inequities in reproductive health, and toxic cultural practices. Hence, the need of the hour is to facilitate women’s empowerment.
There has been widespread evidence of women being deemed inferior to men since the dawn of civilization. This has prompted the women of today to reconsider their place in society. Since then, women have been vocal about the importance of gender equality and have worked tirelessly to empower themselves in order to attain it. The following are some of the ways to facilitate women’s empowerment.
- Education: Education is a critical tool for equipping women with the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence they need to effectively participate in the development process. More than about 40 years ago, it was declared by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights “Everyone has the right to education,” Despite remarkable efforts by countries around the world to significantly extend access to basic education, there are around 960 million illiterate adults worldwide, with women accounting for two-thirds. More than a third of the world’s adults, the majority of whom are women, lack access to written knowledge, new skills, or technology that might improve their quality of life and enable them to shape and adapt to social and economic change. So, formal education along with the knowledge, skills, and coping mechanisms.
- Women Participation: Countries should take steps to ensure equal participation and representation of women at all levels of the political process and public life in each community and society, as well as the ability for women to express their concerns and demands. Governments and organizations should work to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, as well as aid women in establishing and realizing their rights, especially reproductive and sexual health rights. Adopting suitable measures to increase women’s ability to earn income outside of traditional vocations, achieve economic self-sufficiency, and have equal access to the labor market and social security institutions.
- Women Safety: Several organizations and institutions have advocated for women, pushing for legal and policy reforms, gender-sensitive data gathering, and sponsoring programs that improve women’s health and broaden their life options. Even governments of many countries work persistently to promote women’s education. These are strong signs that all the factors that makeup society have been working together to empower women. However, other obstacles stand in the way of achieving a fully gender-neutral society.
These are some major ways in which women can be empowered in our society. Empowerment is a process, not a product because empowerment and disempowerment are relative. There has been significant progress in financially, politically, and socially uplifting women, but it is still a work in progress. In the wake of numerous current events, a distinct vision emerges a vision of each deserving individual’s empowerment. Even if a new era woman is far more empowered, her growth comes to a standstill when there are incidents of violence or any other unparalleled regressive evil. So, determining whether women’s empowerment is fiction or reality is not straightforward, as women’s empowerment can appear to be an illusion that has been transformed into reality by some but remains unexplored territory for others. As a society, we must take action.