CHALLENGES IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Women have been suppressed since centuries. India particularly has a patriarchal set up where women are seen second to men. While there is a section of our society that encourages women empowerment, people largely continue to suppress and oppress them. There are numerous barriers to the empowerment of women in India because of the mindset of some of the narrow-minded people living here. In India, women are expected to act and behave in a certain manner. Even as our nation has progressed over the time, women in our country are not truly liberated. They are still expected to stay in limits and act as per the rules defined by our patriarchal society. All this acts as a barrier to the empowerment of women in India. Day in and day out, our conscience is shocked by news of the violation of human rights of women. Such an approach provides the women with a constitutional platform to stand up to men, to raise their voice on issues concerning women oppression, subjugation and related
issues and thus in effect, providing them with an identity in an orthodox male dominated socio-political set up. The decision-makers and the hierarchy below them are also male- dominated and hence women are not considered a part of society, and the rules made only favour the men. Not just India, the world is patriarchal, but unfortunately India today is now becoming a more and more unequal society and an unsafe and unharmonious place for women. The process of empowerment is multi-dimensional and it enables women to realise their full destiny and powers in all spheres of life. A woman’s empowerment begins with consciousness—perceptions about herself and her rights, her capabilities and her potentials,