The Issue of Women Empowerment in India

Women empowerment is one of the highly debated subjects of all times. In all aspects of livelihood, there is segregation of women and men. This may be due to some genuine reasons, but there are still countries and people with outdated beliefs that women are below men. This is a simple example of where women are being suppressed. The reasons that suggest the empowerment of women are numerous, starting right from every home to the greatest economies of the world.

The Challenge of Empowering Women in India

In India, the second most populated country in the world, gender equality is often judged based on caste discrimination in many cases. Even though change is happening, the inner sectors of the country are still facing challenges. Promotion of women activities by the government through various policies and programs is being encouraged and taken over by various communities. Women commissions and women protection cells are focusing their efforts on increasing the involvement of women in these programs.

India, as of this date, is experiencing rapid growth and development. However, gender equity is not yet a part of this growth. This is disgraceful considering the important role played by women in the socio-economic growth of the country. The Indian development model has yet to completely incorporate the significant role played by women in driving the socio-economic growth of the country. Current governments must understand that no nation can progress unless its women are given equal access to opportunities and adequate safety and security (World Bank, 1991).

Barriers Faced by Women in India

As a member of the BRICS countries, India is noted for its rapidly expanding economy. Though India has certainly grown more prosperous in recent decades, some groups have benefited from this boom more than others. In particular, women have faced a range of structural and social barriers in fully participating in the Indian economy, which not only hinders their individual agency but also limits India’s ability to continue to modernize.

Gender discrimination begins at a young age. Girls face a range of structural barriers that contribute to unequal educational and economic performance; for example, only 53% of schools have sanitary facilities for girls. Furthermore, the threat of gender-based violence discourages girls and women from leaving their homes and is used by some parents to justify marrying off daughters before the legal age of 18. However, marriage provides girls little protection from violence—over 50% of both male and female adolescents justify wife beating, and 6 in 10 men admit to physically abusing their wives (UNICEF, 2014).

There are numerous instances of rapes and sexual assaults on girls and young women across the country, most notably the gang rape and subsequent death of a physiotherapy student in Delhi in 2012, which spawned nationwide protests and the BBC documentary "India’s Daughter" (BBC, 2015).

Economic Contributions of Women

Women play a crucial role in the economy of a nation, including as homemakers. Homemakers are the largest workforce in the world, the most underpaid, and receive undue scoff. A woman purchases household goods not limited to food items, but clothing, accessories, and many daily use items as simple as a scrub to wash dishes. She is the major dictator of large companies producing goods in manifold; she purchases the chips and cold drinks her child consumes and treats guests with, she decides which commodities will be used and in what quantity. Most shopping outlets are directed towards women. Women are ultimately the largest consumers in the market, especially in the Indian market where culture is upheld by women, where it’s the wifely duty to ensure all goods are stocked in the house and family members are able to work without a hiccup. Yet women are the most overlooked consumers of the market, and the corporates which target female consumers lack the female workforce within their company.

As women are the largest consumers in the market, any product targeted towards them will surely become a success. The movie “Joy”, a biographical film about Joy Mangano, represents the miracle of a mop to the world. She is a self-made millionaire who has earned her worth by selling miracle mops and hangers, items that are purchased by women who are tired of the tedious nature of daily chores. India has the widely acclaimed Shahnaz Hussain, who produces beauty essentials directed towards women who are again the largest consumers of self-care products. Advertisements for Nirma, Vim, and even Bournvita are directed towards women from the perspective of motherhood and being a good, dutiful wife and caregiver.

Cultural and Economic Impact

Yet India’s largest economic benefit from women is achieved through the cultural values bestowed. India achieved a savings rate of 33 percent of the GDP, of which 70 percent comes from household savings, 20 percent from the private corporate sector, and 10 percent from the public sector. The staggering 70% of household savings is the fuel of the economy, with a tendency to have extra cash stacked away hidden from the family but no spending at all. The Indian culture seems to drive the Indian economy positively (RBI, 2018).

International Women’s Day in March 2017 saw large-scale strikes by women, with the theme being “A Day Without a Woman.” If women in India were to take a day off, then the economy would face a serious setback. Teachers in schools are mostly women, and children would face a difficult time learning; household chores would not be done, which would bring down the productivity and ease with which this patriarchal regime thrives. Even though the private sector sees only a small percentage of women in the workforce, that is still enough to create a loss. More women may be involved in undocumented or “disguised” wage work than in the formal labor force. It is estimated that over 90 percent of women workers are involved in the informal sector and not included in official statistics (The World Bank, 1991). The informal sector includes jobs such as domestic servants, small traders, artisans, or laborers on a family farm. The female labor force, which is unaccounted for in the census, would naturally find a seeming halt to the system.

Conclusion: The Essence of Women Empowerment

Women empowerment is much more than realizing that the work a woman does is equivalent to the work of a man. It’s much more than obtaining the right to a certain occupation. Women empowerment is the global realization that tasks done by women, that the feminine touch to domesticity and professionalism, is not desired but needed. It’s the realization of the balance of nature, that we are all equal and no work is big or small. The empowerment of women is essential for the holistic development of any society, contributing not only to the economy but also to the cultural and social fabric of a nation.