Key Issues with Women's Empowerment

The empowering women is essential for the improvement of political, social and economic condition of the country. The active and full participation of women and men enhance the productivity of the nation. In India, women are facing threats to their lives and health. Even though a woman works whole day to raise her children and to take proper care of her family, but she never gets recognition by her family members. We need women empowerment because women are also a human being and also have rights to live in the same way as men. India is a male dominant society, and they have kept the women under their control and always feel that they are weak and helpless. Women, therefore, face so many challenges in achieving goals as compared to the men.

For the women empowerment, gender equality is necessary so that women get the equal rights in the education and employment. In India, discrimination between a boy and a girl is common in the rural areas. In a family, the food given to the girl child is comparatively less than the boy child. The girl child is allowed to go school for not more than five to six standards. The rural people consider the girls as a liability, so they think there is no need of educating the girls. Women don't send their daughter to the school so that she will help them at work inside the home as well as outside the home in agriculture lands and fields. At the age of 15-16, the girls get married and become a mother after one year. The early marriage results in the premature delivery or a weak baby. We cannot eliminate the gender equality from the society by any government law unless there should be a change in the patriarchal system.

In India, the literacy rate of women (65.46%) is lower than that of the men literacy rate (82.14%). According to the report of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the main obstacle to the female education is the inadequate facilities of the school (such as sanitation facilities). Lack of proper sanitation facilities also leads to the crime against women.

Women have contributed a lot in every field and made our nation feel proud many times, but still they are lagging behind with respect to the men. The gender inequality creates a wide gap between men and women, which leads to less participation of women in the workplace. According to the Census 2011, 25.51% of women are at the workplace out of the 39.79% workers of the total population. In the rural sector, many women are working in the home-based industries, like agarbatti making, weaving, stitching clothes, making handicrafts, etc. About one-third of the women are working in the agriculture field, but they get 30% lesser wages as compared to the men. In cities, women are highly willing for the job opportunities, want to live an independent life, and they can work outside the house. Women of the urban sector do not wish to depend on the men for any problem.

In the late 20th century, the internet is the best tool for empowering women. Many women have begun to use the social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. and take active participation for the upliftment of female in the society. Through the online system, women are voicing their opinions on the equality rights. Learning new things through the World Wide Web attracting women, as internet is easily affordable and can be accessible from anywhere anytime.

Exploitation of women is also rising because of the increasing access to the internet. The cyber crime is increasing day by day like harassment, stalking, online pornography, etc. Women and girls are ignoring the offence and tolerating silently. Women Power Line 1090 operated by the Uttar Pradesh police to ensure the safety of harassed women by the vulgar callers, stalkers, eve-teasers, etc. The girls and women can take an action against internet based harassment like making a fake profile in their name and posting their pictures without their consent. Women Power Line is a 24*7 helpline where women can register their complaint. WPL always encourage those women who show courage and take the bold step to fight against the crime that they have faced. Women can only be empowered when they seek power and fight the evil that they face in the society and not by ignoring them.