TERM

PAPER
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

SUBMITTED BY:
FATIMA PERVEZ.
NOOR FATIMA.
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

INTRODUCTION
Since the creation of Pakistan in 1947 Pakistan inherited the menace of poverty.
The burden of this poverty was put heavily on the female population which is
50% of the total population of Pakistan. ON the top of it, women were
neglected and under-nourished. The concept of women empowerment emerged
in 1980’.The promotion of women’s empowerment as a development goal is
based on a dual argument, that social justice is an important aspect of human
welfare and is worth pursuing and that’s women empowerment is a means to
other ends.

The concept of empowerment can be explored through three closely interrelated

dimensions; agency, resources, and achievements. Agency represents the
process by which choices are made and put into effect. It is, hence, central to
the concept of empowerment. Resources are a medium through which agency is
exercised and achievements refer to the outcomes of agency.( Kabeer 2005)

Women’s empowerment is defined as

“Women’s ability to make strategic life choices where that ability had been
previously denied them” (Kabeer 1999).

As we articulate it, empowerment is midway in the change processes that benefit

women at individual, household, community and broader levels. At the most basic
level, innovations can benefit women simply by improving their well-being
interims of health, nutrition, income, life span, etc.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
 Empowerment means access to optimist, education, information and resources,
decision making power and authority and content over one’s own life. The
concept of women’s empowerment appears to be the outcome of several
important critiques and debates generated by the women’s movement
throughout the world and particularly to the third world countries. Its source can
be traced to the interaction between feminism and the concept of popular
education developed in Latin America in the 1970’s.

Women’s Empowerment Principles

Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is
essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for
development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men,
families and communities.
The private sector is a key partner in efforts to advance gender equality and
empower women. Current research demonstrating that gender diversity helps
businesses perform better signals that self-interest and common interest can come
together. Yet, ensuring the inclusion of women’s talents, skills and energies—from
executive offices to the factory floor and the supply chain—requires intentional
actions and deliberate policies.

In brief, the Principles are:

1. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality
2. Treat all women and men fairly at work—respect and support human rights and
nondiscrimination
3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers
4. Promote education, training and professional development for women
5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that
empower women
6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy
7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality
PROCESS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT:
 It is manifested in redistribution of power between nations, classes and
genders. Women empowerment also liberates and empowers men in material
 as well as psychological terms. Women empowerment provides new energy,
insights, leadership and knowledge benefiting men and children of their
families, thus improving their quality of life.

 This process means a new understanding of power that is democratizing and

sharing power-building new mechanisms for collective responsibility,
decision making and accountability. It also implies that women address
global concerns, for example violence, environments, poverty, illiteracy, and
rapid population growth.

STATUS OF WOMEN IN PAKISTAN:

• Primary school enrolment rates for girls are among the ten lowest in the
world.

• Only 29% of labor force is constituted by women, below the 33% average
for south Asian countries.

• Life expectancy at birth for women is lower than for men in Pakistan,
making it one of only four countries on the world where men live longer
than women.

EMPOWERING WOMEN:
The United Nations fact sheet on the “Feminization of poverty” highlights that;

“Empowering women is a critical factor in freeing the millions of people who

are caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger. By providing women
with access to economic and educational opportunities, as well as the autonomy
needed, will lead to overcome an obstacle to poverty eradication”

GENDER DISCRIMINATION:
Gender discrimination refers to the practice of granting or denying rights or
privileges to a person based on their gender. In some societies, this practice is
longstanding and acceptable to both genders. Certain religious groups embrace
gender discrimination as part of their dogma. However, in most industrialized
nations, it is either illegal or generally considered inappropriate.
Attitudes toward gender discrimination can normally be traced back to the roots of
certain segments of society. Much of the discrimination is attributed to stories such
as a woman being made from man’s rib and societal practices such as dowries paid
to fathers by prospective husbands to purchase their daughters to be wives.
Countless literary fiction references are made to females being the fairer, weaker
sex and males being the strong, invincible hunters of the world. The combined
power of these societal and religious beliefs left little room for equitable thinking
for centuries.

Although gender discrimination is traditionally viewed as a problem normally

encountered by females, it has significantly affected males as well. Jobs
customarily and historically held mainly by women were often denied to men
based on social stigmas. Some of the more common jobs that fell into this category
were nurses, childcare providers and flight attendants.

Education plays a vital role in human development and investment in education

has been increased in recent years. However, women education is still lagging
behind. Male education rate is 67% and female 44% (GOP, 2009). This gender
disparity leads towards economic losses in the form of less job opportunities.

Discrimination plays out with networking and in preferential treatment within the
economic market. Men typically occupy positions of power within the job
economy (Aslam, 2002). Gender inequality can further be understood through the
mechanisms of sexism. Discrimination takes place in this manner as men and
women are subject to prejudicial treatment on the basis of gender alone (Mutume,
2001)opportunities and limited occupations.

ISSUE OF GENDER INEQUALITY:

The issue of gender inequality is one which has been publicly reverberating
through society for decades. The problem is inequality in employment being one of
the most pressing issues today. In order to examine this situation one must try to
get to the root of the problem and must understand the sociological factors that
cause women to have a much more difficult time getting the same benefits, wages,
and job opportunities as their male counterparts. Throughout history women have
been brought up to be mothers and have been forced to practice staying home
taking care of their children. According to history, women have only begun their
battle with sexism. About one hundred years ago women were still claimed as a
man's property. They had no right to vote; they could not be part of a jury and had
no rights to property. Not too long ago in the nineteen fifties women could not
even own a credit card in their name.

SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS OF MALE AND FEMALE:

The social expectations of male and female and the difference between woman and
men within the same household and within and between cultures that are socially
and culturally constructed are changed over time. These differences are reflected in
roles, responsibilities, access to resources, constraints, opportunities, needs,
perceptions, views, etc, held by both woman and men and their interdependent
relationship. (Chaudhry, 2001)

GENDER INEQUALITY:

 Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment and disparity between

individuals due to gender.
  Gender inequality is the difference between women and men in regard to
social, political, economic or other attainments or attitudes or the
problem perceived to exist because of such difference.

 Gender inequalities exist because of discrimination in the family and

social institutions which include cultural and religious norms that
perpetuate stereotypes, practices and beliefs that are detrimental to
women

 In poor countries of South Asia, there is a huge gender gap in the

existing facilities of health, nutrition, education and employment.
Female literacy rates are almost half of male literacy rates in most of the
developing South Asian countries including Pakistan (Qureshi 2003).

 Labour force Participation Rates of women in South Asia as well as in

Pakistan are very low as compared to men.

 Life expectancy differentials exist between men and women. Given the
fact that maximum potential life expectancy for women is greater than
men under uniform treatment in nutrition, health, care and other
conditions of living, this biological advantage is negated when we
observe that in developing countries, e.g. Pakistan, Bangladesh and
India, female life expectancy is lower than the males. This proves a
major evidence of anti female bias in these countries.

CAUSES OF GENDER INQUALITY

• Low literacy Rate. 56 % (Economic survey of Pakistan 2013)

• Ancient Conservative society

• Inaccurate interpretation of religion

• male dominated society

• Absence of rule of law and fundamental rights

 • Historical and culture factors

EFFECTS OF GENDER INEQUALITY

 Social progress can be measured by the social position of the female in a
society. (Karl Marx)

 High Illiteracy rate

 Poor economic growth

 Conservative society

 Increase in unemployment

Gender Inequality Index

The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a new index for measurement of gender
disparity that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report 20th
anniversary edition by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
According to the UNDP, this index is a composite measure which captures the loss
of achievement, within a country, due to gender, and uses three dimensions to do
so: reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation.

ARTICLE FROM DAWN NEWS:

Pakistan ranks as the world’s second-worst country in terms of gender
equality and equitable division of resources and opportunities among men
and women, says a report.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2013, published by the World Economic Forum
in collaboration with faculty at Harvard University and the University of
California, Berkeley, assesses 136 countries, representing more than 93 per cent
of the world’s population, on how well resources and opportunities are divided
among male and female populations.
According to the index, Iceland tops the list with the most equitable sharing of
resources among the sexes, followed closely by north European countries such
as Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Pakistan comes down at 135, followed only by Yemen, and its score has fallen
three spots since the study was conducted last year.
The comprehensive annual report measures the size of the gender inequality gap
in four areas, including economic participation and opportunity (salaries,
participation and highly skilled employment), educational attainment (access to
basic and higher levels of education), political empowerment (representation in
decision-making structures), health and survival (life expectancy and sex ratio).
According to the index, Pakistan ranks second-worst in economic participation
and opportunity, eighth-worst in terms of equal access to education, 13th from
the bottom in terms of health and survival.
Surprisingly, the magnitude of disparities is much smaller in Pakistan when it
comes to political empowerment and representation in decision-making
structures among the two sexes, with a rank of 64 among 136 countries.
Among neighboring countries, China ranked at 69, Bangladesh at 75, India at
101 and Iran at 130. Afghanistan was not included in the study.
Global gender gap narrows slightly in 2013
According to the report, gender disparity narrowed slightly in the current year
on the back of definite if not universal improvements in economic equality and
political participation between the sexes.
Overall, the report found Iceland the most advanced country in the world in
terms of gender equality for the fifth year running. It, along with, Finland (2nd),
Norway (3rd) and Sweden (4th), has now closed over 80 per cent of its gender
gap. These countries were joined in the top 10 by the Philippines, which enter
the top five for the first time, Ireland (6th), New Zealand (7th), Denmark (8th),
Switzerland (9th) and Nicaragua (10th).
At the global level, the report found that in 2013, 96 per cent of the health and
survival gender gap has now been closed. “It is the only one of the four pillars
that has widened since the report was first compiled in 2006.”
The global gender gap stands at 93 per cent in terms of education, with 25
countries having closed their gaps completely.
The report says gender gaps for economic equality and political participation are
only 60 per cent and 21 per cent closed respectively, although progress is being
made in these areas, with political participation narrowing by almost 2 per cent
over the last year.
In both developing and developed countries alike, relative to the numbers of
women in tertiary education and in the workforce overall, women’s presence in
economic leadership positions is limited, it adds.