Also: gender empowerment, women empowerment, gender equality
Definition
The process by which women gain the resources, agency and voice to make strategic choices about their own lives, and to take part as equals in the economy, politics and society.
Deep-dive lesson:Women, Urbanisation and Globalisation. This page is a quick reference that connects the term across subjects; read the lesson for the full treatment.
Thinking about women's empowerment in India draws on a long reform tradition. Nineteenth-century reformers such as Raja Rammohan Roy campaigned against sati, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar pushed for widow remarriage, and Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule opened schools for girls in Pune in 1848. Women took a visible part in the freedom movement, from Sarojini Naidu and Aruna Asaf Ali to thousands who joined salt satyagraha and picketing. That participation gave weight to the demand that independent India treat women as full citizens.
The Constitution guaranteed equality before law (Article 14), barred sex-based discrimination (Article 15) and, through Article 15(3), allowed the state to make special provisions for women. Directive Principles asked for equal pay for equal work (Article 39(d)) and maternity relief (Article 42). Article 51A(e) asks citizens to renounce practices derogatory to women's dignity. Early legislation included the Hindu Code Bills of the 1950s and the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961.
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