empowerment of women and gender issues
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Empowerment of Women and Gender Issues
B R SIWALNIPCCD
NEW DELHI
HUMAN RIGHTS – SEVEN FREEDOM
I. Freedom from discrimination- e.g. Gender, race, ethnicity, national origin and religion
II. Freedom from fear of threats to personal security, from torture, arbitrary arrest and other violent acts.
III. Freedom of thoughts and speech and to participate in decision making and forming associations.
IV. Freedom from wants – to enjoy decent standard of living
V. Freedom to realize one’s human potential
VI. Freedom from injustice and violation of the rule of laws
VII.Freedom for decent work – without exploitation
United Nations, Women and Human Rights
• 1945 UN charter • 1946 CSW established • 1948 UN declaration of human rights • 1975 International women’s year • 1975 First World Conference on Women,
Mexico city • 1976-1985 UN decade for women • 1976
--INSTRAW established --UNIFEM established
• 1979 CEDAW adopted
• 1980 2nd world conference, Copenhagen • 1985 3rd world conference, Nairobi• 1995 4th world conference, Beijing China• 2000 23rd special session of the GA on
women, equality, development and peace (Beijing+5)
• 2000 UN millennium development summit• October 2000 Security council resolution
1325 women, peace and security
THE UNITED NATIONS DECADEFOR WOMEN(1976-1985)
• Gender equality firmly placed on the global agenda
• Critical role of women in the development process acknowledged
• Adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979
• Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies adopted by 157 countries
• International women’s movement expanded its network
• Creation of two United Nations bodies devoted exclusively to women:
NAIROBI FORWARD-LOOKINGSTRATEGIES
• Enforcement of laws guaranteeing the• implementation of women’s equality• Increase in the life expectancy of
women to at• least 65 years in all countries• Reduction of maternal mortality• Elimination of women’s illiteracy• Expansion of employment opportunities
Beijing Platform for Action 12 critical Area of Concern
• Women and Poverty
• Education and training of women
• Women and Health
• Violence against women
• Women and Armed Conflict
• Women and the Economy
• Women in Power and Decision-Making
• Institutional mechanisms for the Advancement of Women
• Human Rights of Women
• Women and the Media
• Women and the Environment
• The Girl Child
The United Nations ConferenceOn Environment and Development,
Rio de Janeiro, 1995
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states that:
‘Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve
sustainable development.’
The World Summit for Social Development, Denmark, March 1995
This major United Nations event addressed gender dimensions in:
• the enhancement of social integration,• particularly for disadvantaged and
marginalized• groups• the alleviation and reduction of poverty• the expansion of productive employment
The Fourth World Conferenceon Women, Beijing, September 1995
• to draw up a Platform for Action to ensure the completion of the unfinished work in implementing the 1985 Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies
• to address the question of how women can be empowered by effective participation in decision making on all issues which affect society
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
• Equal rights for women in all fields including political, social, economic, cultural and civil, regardless of their marital status;
• National legislation to ban discrimination;
• Temporary special measures to enhance the participation of women in political and public life;
• Equal access to education and the same choice of curricula;
• Non-discrimination in employment and pay;
• The guarantee of job security in the event of marriage and maternity;
• Equal responsibilities of men and women in the context of family life;
• Special services to enable women to combine family obligations with work responsibilities and participation in public life.
THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger• Achieve universal primary education• Promote gender equality and empower
women• Reduce child mortality• Improve maternal health• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other
diseases• Ensure environmental sustainability• Develop a global partnership for
development
Empowerment
• The term „empowerment“ was first used in the context of political mobilisation in the1960s by activists of the Black Panther Movement in the US. Since then it has entered many fields of theory and practice
Feminist notions of Empowerment
• power over: controlling power over some one and something. Response to it can be compliance, resistance or manipulation
• power to: generative or productive power that creates new possibilities and actions without domination
• · power with: power generating a feeling that the whole is greater than the sum of individuals and action as a group is more effective
• · power from within: a sense that there is strength that is in each and every individual. The recognition of one's own self-acceptance and self-respect enables the acceptance of others as equals
Empowerment is a process whereby women become able to organize themselves to increase their own self- reliance, to assert their independent right to make choices and to control resources which will assist in challenging their own subordination.”
Similarly, “women’s empowerment,” “gender equality” and “gender equity” are separate but closely related concepts
. The expansion in people's ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them.“
Empowerment. Development must be by people, not only for them. People must participate fully in the decisions and processes that shape their lives. Investing in women's capabilities and empowering them to exercise their choices is not only valuable in itself but is also the surest way to contribute to economic growth and overall development
Empowerment involves challenging the forms of oppression which compel millions of people to play a part in their society on terms which are inequitable, or in ways which deny their human rights (Oxfam, 1995).
Feminist activists stress that women.s empowerment is not about replacing one form of empowerment with another Women's empowerment should lead to the liberation of men from false value systems and ideologies of oppression.
It should lead to a situation where each one can become a whole being regardless of gender, and use their fullest potential to construct a more humane society for all
EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN GOVERNMENT POLICY
I. Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential
II. Enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres – political, economic, social, cultural and civil
III. Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic life of the nation
Contd.
IV. Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security and public office etc.
V. Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women
VI. Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and involvement of both men and women
Contd.
VII. Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process
VIII.Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child; and
IX. Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly women’s organizations.
Economic empowerment
I. Poverty eradicationII. Micro-credit-easy access to creditIII. Women’s perspective in macro-
economic policiesIV. Empower women to meet
negative impact of lpgV. Enhance productivity and skills in
agriculture-VI. Women & industry-
entrepreneurship development, labour legislations support
• Social Empowerment - to create an
enabling environment through various
affirmative developmental policies and
programmes for development of women
besides providing them easy and equal
access to all the basic minimum services so
as to enable them to realize their full
potentials.
I. Education- equal access, universalisation of education, reduce gender gaps, gender sensitive educational system
II. Health- holistic approach to women’s health reduction in IMR & MMR
III. Nutrition – meeting nutritional needs of women at all stages of life cycle
IV. Housing and shelter – adequate and safe housing
V. Science and technology – appropriate technology to reduce drudgery
VI. Women in difficult circumstances – capacity building of women in difficult circumstances
VII.Violence against women- eliminate all forms of violence against women
VIII.Right of the girl child – elimination of gender discrimination
IX. Mass media – remove gender stereotypes and promote positive image of women
APPROACH TO THE TENTH PLAN
• the measurable goals to be achieved along with the time targets, preferably in consonance with the time-frames set by the other women-related national policies;
• commitment of resources; • earmarking of the benefits under WCP; • fixing of responsibilities for implementation of
the Action Points; and • identification of structures and mechanisms to
ensure effective review, monitoring, and impact assessment of all the related policies
• Economic Empowerment - to ensure
provision of training, employment and
income-generation activities with both
‘forward’ and ‘backward’ linkages with the
ultimate objective of making all potential
women economically independent and self-
reliant;
• Gender Justice - to eliminate all forms of
gender discrimination and thus, allow women
to enjoy not only the de-jure but also the de-
facto rights and fundamental freedom on par
with men in all spheres, viz. political,
economic, social, civil, cultural etc
• Complete eradication of female foeticide and female infanticide through effective enforcement of both the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique
• Adopting measures that take into account the reproductive rights of women to enable them to exercise their reproductive choices
• Initiating/accelerating the process of societal
reorientation towards creating a Gender-Just
Society children 0-6 years from 945 in 1991
to 927 in 2001 illustrate the most disturbing
survival scene of women and the girl child in
India.
• Working out strategies, in close collaboration
with the Ministry of Labour, to ensure
extension of employment opportunities and
thus, remove inequalities in employment –
both in work and accessibility
• Initiating interventions at the macro-
economic level to amend existing
legislations to improve women’s access to
productive assets and resources
• Ensuring that the value added by women in the
Informal Sector as workers and producers is
recognised through redefinition/ re-
interpretation of conventional concepts of work
and preparation of National Accounts
• Defining the Women’s Component Plan
(WCP) clearly and identifying the
schemes/programmes/projects under each
Ministry/Department which should be
covered under WCP and ensuring the
adoption of women-related mechanisms
through which funds/benefits flow to women
from these sectors
• Initiating action for enacting new women-
specific legislations; amending the existing
women-related legislation, if necessary,
based on the review made and
recommendations already available to
ensure gender justice, besides, reviewing all
the subordinate legislations to eliminate all
gender discriminatory references
• Expediting action to legislate reservation of
not less than 1/3 seats for women in the
Parliament and in the State Legislative
Assemblies and thus ensure women in
proportion to their numbers reach decision-
making bodies so that their voices are heard
• Arresting the ever-increasing violence
against women and the Girl Child including
the Adolescent girls on top priority with the
strength and support of a well-planned
Programme of Action prepared in
consultation with all the concerned,
especially the enforcement authorities
• Expediting standardisation of a Gender
Development Index based on which the
gender segregated data will be collected at
national, state and district levels;
compiled/collated and analysed to assess
the progress made in improving the status of
women at regular intervals with an ultimate
objective of achieving equality on par with
men
PROGRAMMES AND SCHEMES
I. Employment and Income – generation:
- Support for Training cum Employment Programmes (STEP)- Setting up of Training cum Production Centres
for Women (NORAD)- Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)- Swarnajanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)- Swa – shakti - Swayamsidha- Swadhar- Swalamban
• Short- stay homes for women and girls
• Working women hostel
• Awareness generation and gender sensitisation
• Socio economic programmes
ADMINISTRATITIVE MACHNERY
National Commission for Women
National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development
Department of Women and Child Development
Rashtriya Mahila Kosh
Central Social Welfare Board
Women Development Corporations
National Vocational Training Institute
Crimes Against Women Cell/ Women police station
CRITICAL AREA OF CONCERNS AND CHALLENGES
• Declining sex-ratio• Education and
training of women • Women and Health • Violence against
women • Women headed
households• Women in
unorganised sector
• Women in Power and Decision-Making
• Women in difficult circumstances
• Human Rights of Women
• Women and the Media
• Women and the Environment
• The Girl Child
WOMEN IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES
- WOMEN IN EXTREME POVERTY
- WIDOW/DESERTED/SEPARATED
- FORCED PROSTITUTION & TRAFFICKING
- VICTIM OF RAPE & SEXUAL HARASSMENT
- VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
- VICTIM OF MARITAL DISPUTES/ CONFLICTS
- WOMEN OF ALCOHOLIC/DRUG ADDICTS HUSBAND
- WOMENWITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES UNWED MOTHERS
- WOMEN IN CONFLICT WITH LAW AND WOMEN PRISONERS
- WOMEN WORKER IN BONDAGE
- WOMEN USED AS DRUG PEDDLERS, PRONO
- VICTIM OF SOCIALLY SANTIONED PRACTICES
- VICTIM OF CASTE, CLASS & GENDER
THANK YOU
THANK YOU