The origin of a child is a mother, a woman. .she shows a man what sharing, caring, and loving is all about.

That is the essence of a woman."

Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe 1994

More violent forms, such as femicide, acid attacks, ritual rapes and murders, gang rapes, abductions, defilement and forced early marriages, Military sexual slavery, rape as a weapon of war, trafficking in women and girls and ill-treatment of widows have become more widespread.

Education Literacy

Gender gaps:

Differences across states (Kerala has highest female literacy; Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have the lowest) Differences between rural and urban areas Parental preference for boys going to school Higher dropout rate among girls

1971 1991 2003

Female 22% 39% 48%

Male 46% 64% 70%

WOMENS EMPOWERMENT is the sum total of changes needed for a woman to realize her full human rights. Women are main building blocks of our society but its hard to say that still people don't value them and their contribution to the society.

Women empowerment lead to gender equality and gender equity.

Gender Equality

Long-term goal Absence of discrimination based on sex Equality between men and women exists when both sexes are able to share equally in the distribution of power and influence

GENDER EQUITY

Gender Equity

Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, strategies and measures must often be available to compensate for womens historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field.

Limited freedom of movement Gender norms that promote mens control over women.

Wife beating A husbands right to have sex with his wife irrespective of his wifes wishes

It is the process, and the outcome of the process, by which women challenge gender-based discrimination against women in all the institutions and structures of society.

PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE
explore

and trust own thoughts, emotion, desires and experiences;

recognize

positive and negative characteristics;

set

goals and work toward them;

know

about positive value assertion, stubbornness and decisiveness;

knows

self through own creative work;

CREATIVITY

Adaptable to changes and have increased diversity in ones thinking. Uses anger, aggression, assertion, the balance of power conflict, competition, and success in new ways. Especially important is using anger creatively Struggles for authenticity through personal creativity by reshaping visions of themselves, their goals and taking risks.

PHYSICAL STRENGTH

Strength, vitality, health, stamina, and fearlessness are needed for women to accomplish their goals. Physical power and physical equality with men are also needed.

SELF DEFINING
Create

her own definition of herself rather than accept others definition of her.
Views

herself as a complete human person.

Struggles

to overcome conventional stereotypical picture of femininity (submissive, quiet, unintelligent)

Has

the courage to try non-traditional behaviors.

Occupational Distribution (%) Type of worker Professional Sales Service Women Men

7 4

7 14

7 22 59
2

5 37 33
4

Production Agricultural Other

Gender stereotypes: Research suggests that gender stereotypes may be the driving force behind occupational segregation because they influence men and womens educational and career decisions. There is a widely shared cultural belief that men are more socially valued and more competent than women at most things, as well as a specific assumption that men are better at some particular tasks (e.g., math, mechanical tasks) while women are better at others (e.g., nurturing tasks).

Anti-female bias and perceived role incongruency: Research on competence judgments has shown a pervasive tendency to devalue women's work and, in particular, prejudice against women in male-dominated roles which are presumably incongruent for women. Organizational research that investigates biases in perceptions of equivalent male and female competence has confirmed that women who enter high-status, male-dominated work settings often are evaluated more harshly and met with more hostility than equally qualified men.

Gender status beliefs shape men's and women's assertiveness, the attention and evaluation their performances receive, and the ability attributed to them on the basis of performance. They also evoke a genderdifferentiated double standard for attributing performance to ability, which differentially biases the way men and women assess their own competence at tasks that are career relevant, controlling for actual ability.

To ensure equality in terms of staffing and benefits, organizations could undertake the following: 1. Ensure that the policies and practices in place provide equal opportunities and are non- discriminatory; 2. Support from top management meritocracy' should be followed by the management while promoting employees. This sets an example for the managers also, and eventually gets ingrained in an organization's culture; Educate and train managers sensitize them to these issues. Make them aware of common pitfalls where managers may tend to discriminate;

3.

Implementation of Laws like

Equal remuneration Minimum Wages Factories Act

Infrastructure for women like

Water and sanitation at workplace Creches Working Women Hostels Transport services Security

Education

Gender gaps in higher education

About 1 percent of total women population has college

education Women account for a third of the students at college/university level In engineering and business, the proportion of female students is much smaller In education, nearly half of the students are women

Barriers to Female Education

Poverty: one-fourth of Indias population lives below the poverty line (2002) Social values and parental preferences Inadequate school facilities Shortage of female teachers: 29 percent at the primary level and 22 percent at the university level (1993) Gender bias in curriculum

Trainings are provided on following topics:

Women empowerment and Micro Entrepreneurship

Gender Group formation Ways to conduct meetings Bank linkages Book keeping and accounting Leadership Conflict resolution Networking Cluster & federation Micro Entrepreneurship & IGA Women related issues Legal rights

Environment:

Watershed management Rain water harvesting Sanitation Solid waste management Solar energy

Education

Curriculum development

TLM Child monitoring and evaluation Training of teachers

Rural Governance:

Haryana Panchayati Act Roles and responsibilities of gram sabha and gram panchayat Project planning and budgeting Social audit Leadership and motivation Conflict resolution Schemes of state and central government Linkages and networking with line departments Resource mobilization Right to information

It is more important to create a general awareness and understanding of the problems of womens employment in all the top policy and decision making and executive personnel. There is also the special problem facing women like the preference for male children for social and cultural reasons. This will require awareness, understanding and action. The best way to do so is to educate the children, orient the teachers, examine the text books and teaching-aids and ensure that the next generation grows up with new thinking. (6th Five Year Plan )