WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

NYAYA NAGAR,MITHAPUR,PATNA-800001

RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT COURSE

WOMAN EMPOWERMENTS AND WOMAN

RIGHTS

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “WOMAN EMPOWERMENT AND

WOMAN RIGHTS” submitted by me at CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW
UNIVERSITY is a record of bona fide project work carried out by me under the
guidance of our mentor I further declare that the work reported in this project has
not been submitted and will not be submitted, either in part or in full, for the award
of any other degree or diploma in this university or in any other university.

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a fact that any research work prepared, compiled or formulated in isolation is inexplicable to
an extent. This research work, although prepared by me, is a culmination of efforts of a lot of
people who remained in veil, who gave their intense support and helped me in the completion of
this project.

Firstly, I am very grateful to my subject teacher, without the kind support and help of whom the
completion of this project was a herculean task for me. He donated his valuable time from his
busy schedule to help me to complete this project. I would like to thank him for his valuable
suggestions towards the making of this project.

I am highly indebted to my parents and friends for their kind co-operation and encouragement
which helped me in completion of this project. I am also thankful to the library staff of my
college which assisted me in acquiring the sources necessary for the compilation of my project.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank the Almighty who kept me mentally strong and in
good health to concentrate on my project and to complete it in time.

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

I thank all of them !

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE NO.

1.INTRODUCTION ----------------------------------------------------------- 5-9

2.DIFFERENT TYPES OF EMPOWERMENT --------------------------- 10-13

3.DIFFERENT BARRIERS TO WOMAN EMPOWERMENT--------- 14-19

4.RIGHTS OF WOMAN------------------------------------------------------- 20-24

5.RIGHTS OF WOMAN IN HISTORY------------------------------------- 24-25

6.LANDMARK JUDGEMENTS RELATED TO WOMAN EMPOWERMENT------ 25-27

7.CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION------------------------------------- 28-30

8.BIBLIOGRAPHY-------------------------------------------------------------

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

INTRODUCTION

Women's empowerment is the process in which women elaborate and recreate what it is that
they can be, do, and accomplish in a circumstance that they previously were
denied. Alternatively, it is the process for women to redefine gender roles that allows for them to
acquire the ability to choose between known alternatives whom have otherwise been restricted
from such an ability. There are several principles defining women's empowerment such as, for
one to be empowered, they must come from a position of disempowerment. Furthermore, one
must acquire empowerment themselves rather than have it given to them by an external party.
Other studies have found that empowerment definitions entail people having the capability to
make important decisions in their lives while also being able to act on them. Lastly,
empowerment and disempowerment is relative to other at a previous time; therefore,
empowerment is a process, not a product.

Women empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion

in development and economics. It can also point to the approaches regarding other
trivialized genders in a particular political or social context.

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

Women's economic empowerment refers to the ability for women to enjoy their right to control
and benefit from the resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability
to manage risk and improve their economic status and well being.The strength of chain is the
strength of its weakest link. In a society, women are the weakest links, so that they may be
strengthened for strengthening the society as a whole and that is possible only by empowering
them. Nehru said, "Women should be uplifted for the upliftment of the nation, if a women is
uplifted, society and nation is uplifted."1 Women empowerment is critical to the process of
development of the community. Empowerment of women is essential to harness the women
labour in the mainstream of economic development. According to Swami Vivekanand, "there is
no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of the women is improved. It is not
possible for a bird to fly on one wing. Women have to play an important role in the building up
of every economy. Women who form almost one half of the world's population constitute the
visible majority of the poor. Women either solely or largely support an increasing number of
families. Women experience poverty more than man. When money is given to men, it may not
benefit the family but when women manage money, it is found to be better utilized. Projects
aiming to improve the living conditions of the poor cannot, therefore be effective unless women
participate in their formulation and implementation as contributors as well as beneficiaries.
"Increasing women's

capabilities and empowering them is the surest way to contribute to economic growth and overall
development In India, apart from the provision in the constitution and the ratification of different
international convections, several legislative acts have also been passed to ensure women
empowerment. Moreover, women empowerment has received attention of the government right
from the beginning of Indian planning. Bringing women into the mainstream of development has
thus been major concern of the government since independence. In order to empower and bring
them into the mainstream, an enabling environment with requisite policies and programmes,
institutional mechanisms at various levels and adequate financial resources has all along been
tried to be created. The Ministry of Rural Area and Employment has special components for
women in all its programmes and certain amount of funds is carmarked as women's component
to ensure a flow of adequate resource for women.." In simple words, empowerment is giving
power. Power is the keyword of the term empowerment. According to the International
Encyclopedia (1999), power means having the capacity and the means to direct one's life toward

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desired social, political and economic goals or status. Power means control over material assets,
intellectual resource and ideology. In Webster's English Dictionary, the verb empower means to
give the means, ability and authority. Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social process that
helps people to gain control over their own lives and in their society, by acting on issues that
they consider as important. Empowerment occurs within sociological, psychological and
economic spheres and at various levels such as individual, group and community and challenges
our assumptions about the status-quo, asymmetrical power relationships and social dynamics.
Empowerment implies a state of mind and attitude of a person. It is a process through which
people or communities increase their control or mastery of their own lives and the decision that
affect their day-to-day life. Awareness is a necessary part of empowerment. Awareness of rights
is required for a person to develop his capacity of self-control, self-strength and self-reliance and
to build freedom of choice and action. Empowerment is about change, choice and power. It is a
process of change by which the individual and groups with little or no power gain the power and
ability to make choices that affect their lives1. Thus empowerment is multi-dimensional gaining
self-confidence and meaningful participation in decision making. As the foremost precursor to
development and empowerment of women comprehensively seeks to ensure an equitable
division of resources and carve a clear role for them in decision making. It helps them articulate
their as well as other rights and participate actively in democratic processes. Empowerment also
wards off retrogressive practices like female infanticide and gender based violence.
Empowerment means to make one powerful or to equip one with the power to face challenges of
life, to overcome the difficulties, handicaps and inequalities. Empowerment is an active multi-
dimensional process, which would enable women to realize their full identity and powers - in all
spheres of life. It would consisting in providing greater access to knowledge and resources,
greater autonomy in decision making, greater ability to plan their lives, greater control over the
circumstances that influences their lives and freedom from the shackles imposed on them by
custom, belief and practice. Empowerment of women means equal status to women. Here the
balance of power between men and women is equal and neither party has dominance over the
other. Empowering women socio-economically through increased awareness of their rights and
duties as well as access to resources is a decisive step towards greater security for them.
Empowerment includes higher literacy level and education for them, better healthcare for women

1
. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_empowerment

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

and children, equal ownership of productive resources, increase participation in economic and
commercial sections, awareness of their rights and responsibilities, improved standards of living
and acquiring self-reliance, self-esteem and self-confidence. Thus the framework of
empowerment encompasses the welfare of women, satisfaction of basic needs, access to
resources, conscientisation to attain gender equality participation in decision making alongside
men and control, which refers to the ultimate level of equality and empowerment. In short, the
philosophy of women's empowerment needs a total overhauling of Indian society. Women's
rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide, and formed the
basis for the women's rights movement in the nineteenth century and feminist movement during
the 20th century.2 In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local
custom, and behavior, whereas in others they are ignored and suppressed. They differ from
broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias
against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men and boys.Issues commonly
associated with notions of women's rights include the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to
be free from sexual violence; to vote; to hold public office; to enter into legal contracts; to have
equal rights in family law; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to have reproductive rights;
to own property; to education.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE

1.The researcher tends to throw some light on woman empowerments and its rights.

2.The researcher tends to highlight difference between rights of woman in history and rights of
woman in present.

3.The researcher tends to highlights different barriers to woman empowerment.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights

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4.The researcher tends to anylyze some judgements related to woman empowerments and its
rights.

HYPOTHESIS

The researcher presumes that woman empowerment is to motivate and develop woman by
promoting their participation in all areas and sectors,to give them equal amount of
opportunities.Woman rights is essential because it is to make them independent in all aspects
from thought,minds,decision,wealth and to bring equality in society

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research is based on only doctrinal research methodology.

SOURCES OF DATA

The researcher used both primary as well as secondary sources to complete this project.

LIMITATION OF STUDY

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

The researcher can not opt for non-doctrinal method of research due to nature of the project and
hence he has to dependant only upon doctrinal method of study where library reference is utmost
requisite and shall include primary as well as secondary sources.

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

DIFFERENT TYPES OF EMPOWERMENT

The level of women empowerment in the national order is calculated largely by the three factors
– her economic, social and political recognisition and their weight. 3 These factors are deeply
intertwined and interlinked with many cross-cutting connections which imply that if efforts in
even one dimension remain absent or weak, outcomes and momentum initiated by the other
components cannot be sustained as they will not be capable of weather any changes or
upheavals. It is only when all the three factors are simultaneously considered and made
compatible with each other can the woman being actually empowered. Therefore for holistic
women empowerment to occur – social, economic and political means impacting a woman’s life
must converge effectively. Empowering women means strong on the basis socially,
economically, educationally, politically and legally is going to be a Herculean task. Changing
perception that women are inferior, not dependent and dispensable, outcoming in a culture of
disrespect for women in Indian society. However we cant say that it is not possible. Time is
required to curb the perception. But with the accelerator towards the suited direction and a lot
of try directed, this problem might just be attainable. All we required is an systematised approach
from the Government and law enactement agencies of the country concentrated in the right
direction that would remain only with the liberation of women from all forms of ill-evil practises

Economic empowerment

Economic empowerment increases women's agency, access to formal government programs,

mobility outside the home, economic independence, and purchasing power. Policy makers are
suggested to support job training to aid in entrance in the formal markets. One recommendation
is to provide more formal education opportunities for women that would allow for higher

3
www.oecd.org › Social and welfare issues

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bargaining power in the home. They would have more access to higher wages outside the home;
and as a result, make it easier for women to get a job in the market. 4

Strengthening women's access to property inheritance and land rights is another method used to
economically empower women. This would allow them better means of asset accumulation,
capital, and bargaining power needed to address gender inequalities. Often, women in
developing and underdeveloped nations are legally restricted from their land on the sole basis of
gender. Having a right to their land gives women a sort of bargaining power that they wouldn't

normally have; in turn, they gain more opportunities for economic independence and formal
financial institutions.Another popular methodology for women's economic empowerment also
includes microcredit. Microfinance institutions aim to empower women in their community by
giving them access to loans that have low interest rates without the requirement of
collateral. More specifically, they aim to give microcredit to women who want to be
entrepreneurs. The success and efficiency of microcredit and microloans is controversial and
constantly debated. Some critiques claim that microcredit alone doesn't guarantee women have
control over the way it is used. Microfinance institutions don't address cultural barriers that allow
men to still control household finances; as a result, microcredit may simply be transferred to the
husband. Microcredit doesn't relieve women of household obligations, and even if women have
credit, they don't have the time to be as active in the market as men. Women are key
contributors to economies as producers of food, managers of natural resources, caretakers
of children and the elderly, entrepreneurs and employees in businesses, and as significant
contributors to building resilience of communities to climate change and disaster.Despite
the contributions to family and society, women still do not have equal access to rights,
services and opportunities i.e. equal pay and decent work, property and inheritance rights,
access and control of land including financial services and credit. All this requires raising
awareness among policy makers about the relevant gender aspects of different policy
areas, such as— taxation, public budgets and employment.

Political empowerment5 supports creating policies that would best support gender equality and
agency for women in both the public and private spheres. Popular methods that have been

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suggested are to create affirmative action policies that have a quota for the number of women in
policy making and parliament positions. As of 2017, the global average of women whom hold
lower and single house parliament positions is 23.6 percent. Further recommendations have been
to increase women's rights to vote, voice opinions, and the ability to run for office with a fair
chance of being elected. Because women are typically associated with child care and domestic
responsibilities in the home, they have less time dedicated to entering the labour market and
running their business. Policies that increase their bargaining power in the household would
include policies that account for cases of divorce, policies for better welfare for women, and
policies that give women control over resources (such as property rights).However, participation
is not limited to the realm of politics. It can include participation in the household, in schools,
and the ability to make choices for oneself. Some theorists believe that bargaining power and
agency in the household must to be achieved before one can move onto broader political
participation. When women have the agency to do what they want, a higher equality between
men and women is established.

WOMAN PRESENCE IN LOK SHABHA

YEAR SEATS WOMAN’S MP %

1952 499 22 4.41
1957 500 27 5.40
1962 503 34 6.76
1967 523 31 5.93
1971 521 22 4.22
1977 544 19 3.29
1980 544 28 5.15
1984 517 44 8.9
1989 544 27 5.22
1991 543 39 7.17
1996 543 39 7.18
1998 543 43 7.92
1999 543 49 9.02
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makambaonline.com/index.php/2015/03/.../women-empowerment-types-and-ways-3/

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2004 543 45 8.03

2009 543 59 10.86
2014 543 61 11.83

Social empowerment is understood as the process of developing a sense of autonomy and self-
confidence, and acting individually and collectively to change social relationships and the
institutions and discourses that exclude poor people and keep them in poverty6. Social
empowerment is understood as the process of developing a sense of autonomy and self-
confidence, and acting individually and collectively to change social relationships and the
institutions and discourses. Woman’s empowerment, and their ability to hold others to account,
is strongly influenced by their individual assets (such as land, housing, livestock, savings) and
capabilities of all types: human (such as good health and education), social (such as social
belonging, a sense of identity, leadership relations) and psychological (self-esteem, self-
confidence, the ability to imagine and aspire to a better future). Also important are people’s
collective assets and capabilities, such as voice, organisation, representation and identity. Poor
people’s involvement in local associations and inter-community cooperation mechanisms can
contribute to social empowerment by improving their skills, knowledge and self-perception.
Local associations also act as self-help mechanisms through which woman organise their
economic activities, such as farming cooperatives, or microfinance groups. Vulnerable groups,
such as the very poor, women and marginalised communities can often lack the skills and
confidence to engage in community decision-making. It may therefore be important to support
mechanisms designed to specifically target marginalised groups in order to ensure that they can
participate. It is argued that participation in local associations can empower poor people to
engage in public politics and collective action. However, research shows that building individual
and collective capacities to engage is a long-term process. The social empowerment means that
the women should get an important place in her family and society and should have a right to
enable her to make use of available resources. The member of SHGs are mostly women. They
save money and invest in SHG. They can use it at the time of their needs. As they can have in
their hand, they get some status in her family. It has resulted in developing self-confidence,
selfesteem and self-respect.

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BARRIERS TO WOMAN EMPOWERMENT

Many of the barriers to women's empowerment and equity lie ingrained in cultural norms. Many
women feel these pressures, while others have become accustomed to being treated inferior to
men. Even if men, legislators, NGOs, etc. are aware of the benefits women's empowerment and
participation can have, many are scared of disrupting the status of the women and continue to
let societal norms get in the way of development.7

Research shows that the increasing access to the internet can also result in an increased
exploitation of women. Releasing personal information on websites has put some women's
personal safety at risk. In 2010, Working to Halt Online Abuse stated that 73% of women were
victimized through such sites. Types of victimization include cyber stalking, harassment, online
pornography, and flaming. Sexual harassment in particular is a large barrier for women in the
workplace. It appears in almost all industries, but is most notable in the following: business,
trade, banking and finance, sales and marketing, hospitality, civil service, and education,
lecturing and teaching. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), sexual
harassment is a clear form of gender discrimination based on sex, a manifestation of unequal
power relations between men and women. Furthermore, the UN Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is urging for increased measures of
protection for women against sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. 54% (272) had
experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment. 79% of the victims are women; 21%
were men.

Recent studies also show that women face more barriers in the workplace than do men. Gender-
related barriers involve sexual harassment, unfair hiring practices, career progression, and
unequal pay where women are paid less than men are for performing the same job. When taking
the median earnings of men and women who worked full-time, year-round, government data

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from 2014 showed that women made $0.79 for every dollar a man earned. The average earnings
for working mothers came out to even less—$0.71 for every dollar a father made, according to a
2014 study conducted by the National Partnership for Women and Children. While much of the
public discussion of the "wage gap" has focused around women getting equal pay for the same
work as their male peers, many women struggle with what is called the "pregnancy penalty". The
main problem is that it is difficult to measure, but some experts say that the possibility of having
a baby can be enough for employers to push women back from their line. Therefore, women are
put in a position where they need to make the decision of whether to maintain in the workforce
or have children. This problem has sparked the debate over maternity leave in the United States.

However, despite the struggle for equal pay in the United States, the tech industry has made
progress in helping to encourage equal pay across gender. In March 2016, tech career website
Dice released a study of more than 16,000 tech professionals that found that when you compare
equivalent education, experience and position, there is no pay gap—and hasn't been for the last
six years. This new industry is paving a way for other companies to do the same. However, this
industry also struggles to employ women in executive positions. This is partially due to the
barrier of sexual harassment and pregnancy that was aforementioned.

Such barriers make it difficult for women to advance in their workplace or receive fair
compensation for the work they provide. It is undoubtedly established in different studies that
one major hurdle is the lack of a strong desire in women themselves to change. Despite
considerable progress made in the spheres of health, economy and education, still a sizable
section of women for various reasons is not aspiring to don the mettle of decision and policy
makers, be it at home or outside. A vast majority of women is still left out of the awareness
generated in the intellectual domain with regard to equality of opportunity in education and other
social services provided by government and other agencies. The traditional male dominated
patriarchal Indian society is yet to fully recognize the hard boiling truth that development of the
society depends on the all-round progress of its woman members. The awareness regarding
gender equality is far from being realized. :

EDUCATIONAL BARRIERS

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Education is a key instrument responsible for development . Education liberates women from
ignorance and enhances their self-esteem . It enables them to choose their own way and look
after their families in a better way . Improvement of women is directly linked with education . It
is unfortunate that even after five decades of Independence the country has not be enable to
combat illiteracy . The girl child is still treated in many quarters as a helping hand to mother
rather than being sent to school. Lack of training and low level of literacy not only merely
exclude women from social , economic and political power but knowledge power as well .
Therefore while contributing half of the humanity and contributing l/3rd of world’s working
house she earns only l/3rd of the total income and owns less than 1/10th of world resource . The
literacy among women is particularly very low among tribal and minority communities. The
challenges of the widening illiteracy gap will have to be borne in determining priorities in
educational development of tribal areas. Women can gain the tools and knowledge necessary to
overcome these and other obstacles in improving their own health with secondary or higher
levels of education. For instance, in countries with a strong societal preference for a son, where
girls face substantial discrimination and higher mortality risks than boys, post-primary education
enables women to reject gender-biased norms or find alternative opportunities, roles, and support
structures.8

POLITICAL BARRIERS

The constitution of India it self provides for women significant position in the socio-economic
life of the Nation by ensuring universal adult franchise, representation in political bodies, right to
property, equal pay for equal work and right to equality. However, in practice women do not
enjoy all these rights and are still struggling for them. The Beijing Conference (1995) drew
special attention to the neglect of women in political structures all over the world and the
importance of bringing women into the political arena. Although political consciousness was
found to be considerably high during the pre-Independence period, it did not transform into
political expression after that. Women are yet to be involved in a large way in decision making
process. This requires greater participation of women in policies. The parties must ensure large

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proportion of seats at least 30% to women. The process of election in India is often fraught with
money and muscle power. Electoral reforms must be expedited to free politics from these
maladies. The political parties have to realize that the issues pertaining to women are not the
issues to be dealt with by men only. They are to be discussed and decided at the national level.
Women still face considerable handicaps to their involvement in politics due to inadequate
education, the burden of reproductive and productive roles, lack of confidence and the opposition
of entrenched cultural and religious views. Some of the constraints affecting women’s
participation in Panehayati Raj institutions are stated to be 9

(1) Inadequate awareness

(2)Aversion to public activities

(3) Burden of household work and wage work outside

(4) Custom and tradition

(5) Discouragement from men and family and

(6) Lack of adequate preparation.

SOCIAL BARRIERS

Women have faced suppression and oppression in different forms since time immemorial. Many
a time these take the form of violence. In modem times, before Independence of the nation, no
real governmental efforts were made for women education. Only a few upper class women
received education. Social reformers like

Raja Ram Mohan Roy etc. fought relentlessly for causes like women education, widow
remarriage, against sati and so on. In the process, several important legislations were made such

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as one banning sati, legalizing widow remarriage etc. But very few re-marriages were 240
solemnised as the orthodox section of people found it difficult to accept it mentally.Violance
against woman is an another barriers in empowerment of woman.Violance like rape, sometimes
called sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or sexual
penetration of another person without that person's consent. Rape is generally considered a
serious sex crime as well as a civil assault. When part of a widespread and systematic practice,
rape and sexual slavery are now recognised as a crime against humanity as well as a war crime.
The 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and
Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery defines "institutions and practices similar to slavery"
to include:

c) Any institution or practice whereby:

 (i) A woman, without the right to refuse, is promised or given in marriage on payment of a
consideration in money or in kind to her parents, guardian, family or any other person or
group; or
 (ii) The husband of a woman, his family, or his clan, has the right to transfer her to another
person for value received or otherwise; or
 (iii) A woman on the death of her husband is liable to be inherited by another person;

The Istanbul Convention requires countries which ratify it to prohibit forced marriage (Article
37)10 and to ensure that forced marriages can be easily voided without further victimization
(Article 32)11. Violence against women is, collectively, violent acts that are primarily or
exclusively committed against women. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
Against Womenstates, "violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power
relations between men and women" and "violence against women is one of the crucial social
mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with
men." The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women
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https://indiankanoon.org/doc/76375/
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https://indiankanoon.org/doc/981147/

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and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, provides the following definition
of violence against women: "violence against women"12 is understood as a violation of human
rights and a form of discrimination against women and shall mean all acts of gender-based
violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm
or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,
whether occurring in public or in private life".Violence against women may be perpetrated by
individuals, by groups, or by the State. It may occur in private or in public. Violence against
women may be sexual violence, physical violence, psychological violence, socioeconomic
violence. Some forms of violence against women have long cultural traditions: honor
killings, dowry violence, female genital mutilation. Violence against women is considered by the
World Health Organization "a major public health problem and a violation of women's human
rights. Domestic violence in India is endemic. Around 70% of women in India are victims of
domestic violence.The National Crime Records Bureau reveal that a crime against a woman is
committed every three minutes, a woman is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every
77 minutes, and one case of cruelty committed by either the husband or relative of the husband
occurs every nine minutes. This occurs despite the fact that women in India are legally protected
from domestic abuse under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.In India,
domestic violence toward women is considered as any type of abuse that can be considered a
threat; it can also be physical, psychological, or sexual abuse to any current or former
partner. Domestic violence is not handled as a crime or complaint, it is seen more as a private or
family matter. In determining the category of a complaint, it is based on caste, class, religious
bias and race which also determines whether action is to be taken or not. Many studies have
reported about the prevalence of the violence and have taken a criminal-justice approach, but
most woman refuse to report it. These women are guaranteed constitutional justice, dignity and
equality but continue to refuse based on their sociocultural contexts. As the women refuse to
speak of the violence and find help, they are also not receiving the proper treatment

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RIGHTS OF WOMAN

Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide, and
formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the nineteenth century and feminist
movement during the 20th century. In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or
supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others they are ignored and suppressed.
They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and
traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men and
boys.Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include the right: to bodily
integrity and autonomy; to be free from sexual violence; to vote; to hold public office; to enter
into legal contracts; to have equal rights in family law; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to
have reproductive rights; to own property; to education13.

Employment rights for women include non-discriminatory access of women to jobs and equal
pay. The rights of women and men to have equal pay and equal benefits for equal work were
openly denied by the Government up to the early 1970s.Contributed to the establishment of
equal pay for men and women, including the right for married women to be permanent
employees. Before this, the job status of a woman changed from permanent employee to
temporary employee once she was married, thus losing the pension benefit. Some of them even
lost their jobs. Since nurses were mostly women, this improvement of the rights of married
women meant much to the nursing profession.In some European countries, married women could
not work without the consent of their husbands until a few decades ago, for example
in France until 1965 and in Spain until 1975. In addition, marriage bars, a practice adopted from
the late 19th century to the 1970s across many countries, including Austria, Australia, Ireland,
Canada, and Switzerland, restricted married women from employment in many professions.A
key issue towards insuring gender equality in the workplace is the respecting of maternity
13
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights

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rights and reproductive rights of women.Maternity leave (and paternity leave in some countries)
and parental leave are temporary periods of absence from employment granted immediately
before and after childbirth in order to support the mother's full recovery and grant time to care
for the baby. Different countries have different rules regarding maternity leave, paternity leave
and parental leave. In the European Union (EU) the policies vary significantly by country, but
the EU members must abide by the minimum standards of the Pregnant Workers
Directive and Parental Leave Directive.

The right to property or inheritance was a matter of confusion in ancient India. The religious
scriptures of the time do not give any clear reference to the rights of daughter, sister, wife and
widow over the property of her father or husband. Women were provided with equal rights of
property in their association with husband and were also provided with the right to share in
property of her father with their brothers.

RIGHT TO VOTE

During the 19th century some women began to ask for, demand, and then agitate and
demonstrate for the right to vote – the right to participate in their government and its law making.
During the 19th century the right to vote was gradually extended in many countries, and women
started to campaign for their right to vote. In 1893 New Zealand became the first country to give
women the right to vote on a national level. Australia gave women the right to vote in 1902.
In India, under colonial rule, universal suffrage was granted in 1935. Other Asian countries gave
women the right to vote in the mid 20th century – Japan (1945), China (1947)
and Indonesia (1955).

All states shall implement the principle of equality of rights between men and women in
accordance with the U. N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 14: Its
main object is to bring equality between men and women by eliminating all forms of
discrimination against women. The rights recognized under this Convention are as follows:

1. Right to vote, elect, to be elected and hold offices at all levels of Government along with the
right to participate in formulation of Government policy.

14
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/

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2. The opportunity to represent their country at international level and to participate in

international organizations.

3. Equal right to acquire, change and retain nationality.

4. Equal access to educational opportunity and elimination of stereotyping in education and

textbooks.

5. Equal right to employment, choice of profession, remuneration, and social security.. Guarantee
of same legal capacity as men to contract, administer property, and appear in court or before
tribunals.

7. Freedom of movement and right to choose residence and domicile should be granted to
women.

8. Contractual and other private restriction on legal capacity of women shall be declared null
and void.

9. Equal rights and responsibilities with men in marriage and family relationship. 10. Equality
during marriage and its dissolution.

11. Equal rights to choose to family name, profession or occupation.

12. Equal rights to guardianship and adoption of children.

13. Equal rights and responsibilities regarding ownership, management and disposal of property.

The woman claimed to be more proactive in public the family’s economy and in turn the
country’s economic roles both as perpetrators of the economic, social, cultural sectors or
political15. The role of the women in the country’s public sector social transformation is getting
more with minimal gender inequalities.Woman now started to look for work outside their homes
besides carrying responsibilities in taking care of their homes and supporting the family’s well
being .Men and women should complement each other and benefit from each other,not only in
the family but also in the society.The increase role of public sector woman is a social
phenomenon that shows the dynamics of woman to empower potential,but on the other hand

15
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4408327

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takes the outpouring of time,energy and attention to the roles in their families.the study was
confined to the study of the impact of the role woman who works in the public sector as civil
servants,traders and private employees against the welfare of the family.Public role of the
woman that often dominate domestic roles(roles the family) is sometimes looked upon as having
conflicting role.Thus,it is intresting to study the impact of the role of woman working in the
public sector (economic and social) affects the welfare of the family.It is important to note too if
working women in the public sector have a significant relationship to the welfare of the family.
Contrary to common perception, a large percentage of women in India work. National data
collection agencies accept that statistics seriously understate women's contribution as
workers.However, there are far fewer women than men in the paid workforce. In urban India,
women participate in the workforce in impressive numbers. For example, in the software
industry 30% of the workforce is female.

In rural India in the agriculture and allied industrial sectors, females account for as much as
89.5% of the labour force. In overall farm production, women's average contribution is estimated
at 55% to 66% of the total labour. According to a 1991 World Bank report, women accounted for
94% of total employment in dairy production in India. Women constitute 51% of the total
employed in forest-based small-scale enterprises.16

One of the most famous female business success stories is the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat
Papad. In 2006, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who founded Biocon, one of India's first biotech
companies, was rated India's richest woman. Lalita D. Gupte and Kalpana Morparia were the
only businesswomen in India who made the list of the Forbes World's Most Powerful Women in
2006. Gupte ran ICICI Bank, India's second-largest bank, until October 2006 and Morparia is
CEO of JP Morgan India.

The Indian Armed Forces began recruiting women to non-medical positions in 1992. The Indian
Army began inducting women officers in 1992. The Border Security Force (BSF) began
recruiting female officers in 201317. On 25 March 2017, Tanushree Pareek became the first
female combat officer commissioned by the BSF.On 24 October 2015, the Indian government
announced that women could serve as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF), having

16
https://www.worldbank.org/
17
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Security_Force

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previously only been permitted to fly transport aircraft and helicopters. The decision means that
women are now eligible for induction in any role in the IAF. In 2016, India announced a decision
to allow women to take up combat roles in all sections of its army and navy.As of 2014, women
made up 3% of Indian Army personnel, 2.8% of Navy personnel, and 8.5% of Air Force
personnel. As of 2016, women accounted for 5% of all active and reserve Indian Armed forces
personnel.In March 2018, Delhi Police announced that it would begin to induct women into its
SWAT team.

RIGHTS OF WOMAN IN HISTORY

For the majority of history, Indians used their Hindu legal code as a basis for their rights and
customs. Hindu legal code is based on the religious texts known as the dharmasatras.The most
orthodox form of the dharmasatras was the Manu Smriti which was used prevalently during the
colonial period. Manu Smriti protected women's property rights as well as rights to
inheritance.But it is also insisted that women is placed under a male guardianship at all times
such as father from birth, husband in marriage and sons as a widow. Aside from property rights,
Hindu legal code did not grant women too many rights but fortunately interpretation of the code
was very fluid depending on the local customs. Judgement and interpretation of the code was
executed by local councils called the panchayats which composed of mostly male village elders
but women were not always excluded. This local system fared women better than the normative
Hindu code but this was reversed during colonial Anglo-Indian judiciary.The colonial takeover
by the British during the 17th and 18th century had more negative than positive affects on
women's rights in the Indian subcontinent. Although they managed to outlaw widow burning,
female infanticide and improve age of consent, scholars agree that overall women's legal rights
and freedoms were restricted during this period. The British abolished local custom laws in favor
of separate religious codes for Hindus and Muslims which had harsher treatment of

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women. These religious codes lead to women having poorer rights when it came to landholding,
inheritance, divorce, marriage and maintenance.18

SOME LANDMARK JUDGEMENTS RELATED TO WOMAN

EMPOWERMENT

-Vishaka Vs State of Rajasthan-: Vishakha and others v State of Rajasthan was a 1997 Indian
Supreme Court case where Vishakha and other women groups filed Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) against State of Rajasthan and Union of India to enforce the fundamental rights
of working women under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The petition was
filed after Bhanwari Devi, a social worker in Rajasthan was brutally gang raped for stopping
a child marriage.The court decided that the consideration of "International Conventions and
norms are significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender equality, right
to work with human dignity in Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution and the

18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_rights_of_women_in_history

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safeguards against sexual harassment implicit therein." The petition, resulted in what are
popularly known as the Vishaka Guidelines. The judgment of August 1997 given by a bench
of J. S. Verma (then C.J.I)., Sujata Manohar and B. N. Kirpal, provided the basic definitions
of sexual harassment at the workplace and provided guidelines to deal with it. It is seen as a
significant legal victory for women's groups in India19.

-Mary roy Vs State of Kerala:- The women of Syrian Christian community could not inherit
property because of Travancore Succession Act of 1916. Contending this, Mary Roy filed the
case against George Isaac, her brother after the demise of her father P.V. Roy. She sued her
brother to gain equal access to the inheritance left to them. The lower court at first rejected her
plea. The property was divided into two parts - the Kottayam property which was spread over
two locales and another at Nattakom grama panchayat. The case was considered a landmark case
for the reason it fought for equal property rights for Syrian Christian women.Mary Roy
approached the Kerala High Court in 1994 to get the judgement overruled. She was successful.20

-Lata Singh vs State Of U.P. & Another was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court
provided unwavering support of a woman’s right to choice. The petitioner, Lata Singh, was a
major when she left her family’s home to marry a man outside of her caste. This set off a chain
of abuses, as her three brothers were against the relationship. Singh’s brothers went to the
paternal home of Singh’s husband and harassed and beat up his family members, destroyed their
crops, and took forcible possession of their shop. The brothers proceeded to lodge a false police
report alleging Singh had been abducted, for which three of Singh’s in-laws were arrested. Singh
filed this successful petition to have their charges dropped. The judge further directed that
criminal proceedings should commence against Singh’s brothers.

-Laxmi v. Union of India- This is a landmark case, in this case, the petition filed by the Laxmi
(Acid Victim). In this case, Apex Court issued the direction for the regulation of acid to the State
and UT. The court also addressed the problem of compensation. The Apex Court held that
Section 357A this section provides for the preparation of a scheme for providing funds for the

19
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishakha_and_others_v_State_of_Rajasthan
20
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Roy

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purpose of compensation to the victim or his dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a
result of crime and who require rehabilitation.21

-Suhas Katti v. Tamil Nadu was the first case in India where a conviction was handed down in
connection with the posting of obscene messages on the internet under the controversial section
67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. In the case, a woman complained to the police
about a man who was sending her obscene, defamatory and annoying messages in a Yahoo
message group. The accused also forwarded emails received in a fake account opened by him in
the victim's name. The victim also received phone calls by people who believed she was
soliciting for sex work. The impact of the case was far reaching and set a benchmark for the
courts and inspired people to lodge cases related to harassment on the internet. Section 67
subsequently ran into controversy after the government used the section to enforce a partial ban
on pornography in India with activists questioning the vague definition of "obscene" in the
provision that could be used to curtail any sexually explicit material.

The Case also brought out the responsibilities of an intermediary like a Cyber Cafe in
maintaining a visitor's register and its importance as evidence.

- CEHAT Vs U.O.I-It is a 2003 landmark judgement that criminalizes the practice of sex-
determination at a prenatal stage itself in order to eradicate female infanticide. It is an important
judgment that focuses on how the mere enactment of law is not the solution, and the judgment
highlights how implementation and execution are equally important.22

21
courtnic.nic.in/supremecourt/temp/wr%2012906p.txt
22
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1925060/

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CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

Women empowerment is giving power to women; it is making women better off. It enables a
greater degree of self-confidence and sense of independence among women. Women
empowerment is a process of acquiring power for women in order to understand her rights and to
perform her responsibilities towards oneself and others in a most effective way.It gives the
capacity or power to resist discrimination imposed by the male dominated society.It also enables
women to organize themselves to increase their self-reliance.It provides greater economy to
women. Women empowerment means women's control over material assets, intellectual
resources and ideology. It challenges traditional power equations and relations.Women
empowerment abolishes all gender based discrimination in all institutions and structure of
society.It means participation of women in policy and decision making process at domestic and
public levels.Women empowerment means exposing the oppressive power of existing gender
and social relations. Empowerment of women makes them more powerful to face the challenges
of life, to overcome the disabilities, handicaps and inequalities.It enables women to realize their
full identity and power in all spheres of life. Empowerment also means equal status to women.It
also means providing greater access to knowledge and resources, greater autonomy in decision
making, greater ability to plan their lives and freedom from the shackles imposed on them by
custom belief and practice. Women empowerment occurs within sociological, psychological,
political, cultural, familiar and economic spheres and various levels such as individual, group
and community.Empowerment of women is an on going dynamic process which enhances
women's abilities to change the structures and ideologies that keep them subordinate.It is a
process of creating awareness and capacity building.23

STEPS SHOULD BE TAKEN FOR ACHIEVING WOMAN EMPOWERMENT

23
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The first step begins at a personal level. An individual women develops feelings of personal
power, command and self-sufficiency over material and inherent choices she has to make.

In the second step, empowerment takes place on an interpersonal level. Here a woman
influences the decision making power of another women through their contact and working
together.

In the third step, they emphasize the goals for social action and social change. A community
development programmes develops through a group effort. But there can be possibility of
backward linkages also. A community development programmes can lead to individual
empowerment and interpersonal empowerment.

Empowerment of women can be achieved through education, women's organization, information

technology, science and technology, entrepreneurship, microfiance institutions, law and
agriculture.24

Education plays the most crucial role in empowering women. It is not only generates
momentum but also sustain empowerment process in the long run. Empowerment consists of five
dimensions, each equally important bur none sufficient by itself to enable women to act on their
own behalf. Educational settings have the potential to foster all the five dimensions but require
the educational programmes to be designed explicitly to achieve each of those ends. It is relevant
to point out that one of the important recommendations of the National Policy on education is to
promote empowerment of women through the agency of education. To achieve empowerment
through education, several concepts must be introduced at appropriate levels.

Science and Technology :- Science and technology can be effectively used to ease women's
work load inside and outside the house involving them as equal partners, recognizing their
knowledge, experiences and the significant role they can play in sustainable development with
organized orientation and training, there is a great potential for empowering women with
appropriate and sustainable technologies.

24
https://www.worldvision.org/gender-equality.../seven-ways-empower-women-girls

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Women's Organization :- Women's organization have come to be recognized as the main

source of power, position and strength for women in modern India. A women fight injustices
perpetrayed by men single handed or also. But, she can do the same collectively through
organizations. Women SHGs in rural area, under Stree Shakti Scheme, are doing yeomen service
in organizing women power. Women from different sections are being brought together and
organized into an association to wage a war on liquor shops and gambling dens, mataka centres
etc. and fight for abolishing age old practices like wife beating, polygamy, dowry-connected
harassment, devadasi system, child marriages, etc. Besides, the SHG are providing employment
opportunities to large masses of illiterate, ignorant and suppressed women folk. A proper
leadership among women will go to a long way in empowering them25.

Information Technology :- The single most resource that liberates people from poverty and
empower them is knowledge. A society by using knowledge through all its constitutions,
endeavours to empower and enrich its people and thus will become a knowledge society. Such
knowledge society will need empowerment at all levels and among all the key actions of the
society. At this juncture, it is essential to see the possibilities of women's empowerment through
information technology. Access to information is the key for economic, social and political
empowerment of women.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SITES REFFERED

25
https://www.womankind.org.uk/policy-and.../women's.../women's-rights-organisations

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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_empowerment
 https://www.quora.com/What-is-real-women-empowerment
 https://thehimalayantimes.com/opinion/women-empowerment-many-
barriers/
 https://www.researchgate.net/.../288582724_Cultural_Barriers_in_Women_
Empowerment
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights
 www.historynet.com/womens-rights
 makambaonline.com/index.php/2015/03/.../women-empowerment-types-
and-ways-3/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_rights_of_women_in_history
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishakha_and_others_v_State_of_Rajasthan
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Roy
 https://indiankanoon.org/

BOOKS

WOMAN POWER AND DEVELOPMENT By P KUMAR

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WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IT’S RIGHTS

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