Empowered Women Build Great Societies

“When women moves forward, the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves” 

– Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru 

The word “empowerment” gives us an idea that it is related to the word “power”. Empowerment is the power or authority of a person to do something. It is the authority to have control over something. 

Throughout history women have been ostracized and made to suffer in the hands of a patriarchal society. Women were not considered in any development plan and their voices were unheard by the society. Most women themselves did not realize their own rights back then until the feminists started their revolution for women’s rights. Women also received support from few men who understood and gave emphasis on women empowerment. 

We cannot say that all is well throughout the world for women but the world has made progress with women empowerment. Through research, policy change and developmental programmes women have been advancing slowly and can now be seen in various respectable and higher positions in terms of power on resources and decision making. 

It is often said that empowered women build a healthier and better society. Women make up almost half of the population in this world. If women are not looked after properly it affects the development of their children and their family and it affects the society as a whole. A society cannot progress leaving behind half of its population behind. A society is whole only if it considers all who exist in it to be part of it. Half of a population can make a difference if they are given the opportunity to do so. Women need to be taught about their rights and should be given the power of decision making. They need to learn about their capacities of changing the world with each and every little or big effort. When they understand their rights and are given the power of decision making as much as men, only then we can imagine an advanced world with lesser inequalities. Some of the examples of empowered women are Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, Kalpana Chawla, Sudha Murthy, Wangari Maathai, Michelle Obama, J K Rowling, Malala Yousafzai, Jacindra Ardern, etc who have set examples for many women and men who didn’t ever imagine being in that position. Many such Wonder Women whose names have not been mentioned here had worked and are still working for women empowerment as well as advancement of communities as a whole. These were/are women who made/are making a difference the result of which we have seen already or are yet to see. 

In order to see advancement we need to include everyone in the development process. When women are included in decision making, they give their input of what is not done right and decide on what can be done to make things right. Hence, it is the first step to progress not only for women but for the society as a whole.