Empowerment of women
Empowerment of women is a process through which women in general and poor women in particular get the opportunity to join the workforce, contribute to family income, and have a place in family as well as social affairs. In the past women were segregated from out-of-home productive work. They were kept within the four walls. The hearth became the place for them. So cooking, cleaning, washing, giving birth and rearing children became their jobs. Men became the wage earners and all other activities became their responsibilities.
In our country, the position of women is precarious. Majority of the women have no economic freedom. From their birth till death they depend on men. Though many of the women, especially the rural women, perform the job of rearing ducks and hens, post harvest activities etcetera, nobody gives any credit to them. They are regarded as a liability of the family. Until and unless they attain economic freedom, women's empowerment will not be possible.
Besides, social prejudices and customs tend to degrade women's position. When a girl is born in a poor family, it is not regarded as a happy event. They think that she has come as if to add to the sufferings of her parents. They seldom think of sending her to school. The parents try to find a husband for their daughter even before she attains physical and mental maturity. Then she enters her husband's family, that is often hostile to her. Most of the times if the dowry falls short of the expectation of her husband and his parents, they will insult and mistreat her. She may be threatened with divorce. She may also be assaulted and in extreme cases she may even be tortured to death.
Women are nowadays as important as men in society. They constitute nearly half our total population. So there can be no denying that they too possess equal rights and duties as men. They have noble missions to fulfill as men. If they get opportunity, their genius and capacities will bloom fully. No nation can make real progress keeping a full half of its population in the dark. So women's empowerment is essential. Some practical measures can be taken for the empowerment of women:
- Women should be made conscious of the fact that they have got all the potential to participate in the socio-economic development of the country.
- They should be made self-sufficient through proper education and employment.
- It should also be ensured that at workplace women get their desirable and just wages against their contributions.
- The social prejudices that exist regarding the girls must be changed.
Our Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, '' The paradise (of the offspring) is under the feet of the Mothers.''
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