From a business perspective, female empowerment focuses on increasing the number of women in management positions and implementing training and development programs to encourage career growth. It also involves establishing transparency policies and promoting gender equality.
The concept of female empowerment is gaining prominence in the world. It appears in political movements like the one led by Nikki Haley and in businesses like Bechtel.
Social
Women play a critical role in the social fabric of their families, communities, and societies. Targeted initiatives that empower women can lead to economic growth, sustainable development, and a safer world. Women’s diverse perspectives contribute to innovation and problem-solving, resulting in better products, services, and overall societal progress.
Women empowerment initiatives prioritize the five key pillars: skill development, financial independence, leadership training, advocacy and awareness, and self-care and well-being. These efforts are rooted in the fundamental rights of all women, and they seek to foster an environment where these rights are fully realized.
Empowering women is essential to achieving the global goals for sustainable development and economic growth. This includes gender equality and the empowerment of women in all aspects of business, from employment to entrepreneurship. To support these efforts, many businesses have adopted the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which provide guidance for companies on how to advance gender equality and empower women. These principles are informed by international labour and human rights standards, and recognize that business has a responsibility to realize women’s empowerment.
Economic
Women’s economic empowerment is a key element of stronger economies and global development. But empowering women requires more than just increasing incomes and jobs; it also involves improving access to financial services and markets, reducing barriers to education and business ownership, and changing discriminatory social norms.
In the workplace, female empowerment is about giving women the opportunity to lead on an equal footing, and about supporting their professional development so they can take advantage of opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them. It is also about ensuring that women’s salaries are in line with their male counterparts and promoting transparency around pay gaps and fair growth policies.
Businesses that make women’s economic empowerment a strategic priority can sign the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). This framework provides guidance for action in the marketplace, workplace and community, including through gender-responsive financial literacy training and leveraging sex-disaggregated data. See how BancoSol, a microfinance institution in Bolivia, leveraged the WEPs to create a culture of inclusion and empower its staff and clients.
Psychological
While women’s empowerment has gained popularity as a feel-good term, the concept can be difficult to define. A lack of clarity makes it easy for people with different goals to use the word to advance their own agendas. In addition, it is possible for a woman’s personal empowerment to be compromised by her family or community’s social structure.
Psychologist Kimberle Crenshaw has suggested that the concept of empowerment needs to be reframed in order to address the intersectional nature of oppression. For example, poverty and racial discrimination often occur together in ways that diminish a person’s ability to make healthy choices. This type of disempowerment can lead to a woman feeling frustrated and powerless.
Several psychological methods can help women overcome feelings of powerlessness and improve their mental wellness. For instance, journaling or mindfulness meditation can help women reflect on their life choices and identify areas where societal pressures are influencing them unconsciously. This can allow them to choose paths more aligned with their true values consciously.
Legal
Empowering women through legal protection benefits individuals and enhances the development and prosperity of societies. This is achieved through comprehensive legal empowerment initiatives that provide access to education, advocacy and support services.
Women’s legal empowerment is a crucial aspect of achieving gender equality and social justice. Women may face a variety of barriers when seeking justice, including economic constraints, limited access to legal aid and biased judicial processes. In addition, many women lack awareness of their rights and do not know how to advocate for themselves.
From an economic perspective, woman empowerment focuses on ensuring that women receive equal pay for equal work and have equal access to growth and promotion opportunities within organizations. This includes implementing transparent pay policies and fair compensation practices that recognize the value of female talent. It also involves supporting civil society organisations and advocacy groups that promote gender equality and women’s rights. These groups play a critical role in raising awareness and ensuring that laws are implemented and enforced effectively.