Women empowerment is a global movement for gender equality. It encompasses a broad range of problems that impede women’s ability to realize their potential.
From the halls of politics to the music industry, activists like DJ Switch are using their platforms to champion female empowerment. But what does it really mean?
Reproductive Justice
Reproductive justice is a larger framework than reproductive rights and focuses on the influences beyond choice that affect women’s ability to control their body. This can include everything from sex and reproductive healthcare to economic and housing inequities. It also looks at the fraught history of oppression in family planning and how that impacts current health inequities.
A key aspect of the framework is intersectionality, first coined by legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw. This concept explains that different forms of oppression often overlap, and that experiences aren’t as linear as they might seem. For example, sexism and racism can interact to create harmful experiences for women.
An intersectional lens is important to ensure that any program that addresses reproductive justice is culturally and racially/ethnically sensitive. In addition, it is vital to build coalitions and partnerships with other community organizations and stakeholders to amplify voices and leverage resources. This approach also promotes a holistic view of optimal health, which is rooted in community-based initiatives such as those led by SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective.
Education
One of the most impactful ways to empower women is through education. Women with more education are able to earn more money, which can help them provide for their families. Additionally, educated women are more likely to live in healthier and safer environments.
However, many women are still denied access to quality education. This can be due to financial constraints, lack of access to schools, and discriminatory laws. In addition, armed conflict and other protracted crises can cause school-age children to miss out on education.
Moreover, girls without education are more vulnerable to child marriage, human trafficking, slavery, and forced and unpaid labour, which can limit their economic potential. Educated women are also more likely to have healthier families and make informed decisions about family planning. These impacts can be further amplified by increasing the number of girls who complete secondary and tertiary education. This will benefit both individual women, as well as society as a whole.
Health
Women’s physical health is a key aspect of empowerment. A healthy diet and regular health screenings are essential for ensuring that any potential issues are caught early, when they are easier to treat.
But a woman’s mental well-being is just as important. Providing support systems for women who experience violence or other forms of oppression can help them to feel less alone and more capable of surviving.
Education is an important part of women’s empowerment. By demystifying medical terminology and complex procedures, health educators can equip women with the knowledge they need to make informed healthcare decisions.
In addition to education, economic empowerment is vital for advancing gender equality. This can take many forms, including providing access to capital, training and development opportunities, or even simple tools like cash transfer programs. Providing these types of tools to women around the world can help them to care for themselves and their families, as well as build communities that are healthy and prosperous.
Poverty
In the global fight against poverty, women are key players. Empowering women to participate in and benefit from economic growth helps them lift themselves and their families out of poverty. Women also provide important inputs to the decision-making process, which allows them to advocate for policies that help poor and marginalized people.
Research shows that gender-focused approaches to poverty reduction can significantly boost the effectiveness of conventional anti-poverty strategies. In contrast to conventional poverty reduction efforts that target men, women-focused approaches focus on reducing gender gaps and promoting equity.
Using women’s empowerment proxies such as female business owners and sole proprietorship along with other variables such as monetary poverty and gross domestic product growth, this study explores the correlation between these variables at a global scale. Findings indicate that a higher percentage of female business owners has a positive impact on poverty. The results are robust to several different control and estimation techniques. This article sheds light on how a global perspective of measuring women’s empowerment and poverty alleviation can be utilized for policy-making.