“The connection between women's human rights, gender equality,

socioeconomic development and peace is increasingly apparent.”

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
 Gender discrimination
• Gender discrimination, may be
characterized as the unequal
treatment of a person based solely
on that person's sex.
• Females have historically laid
claim to the cry of unequal
treatment, modern civil rights
laws banning sex discrimination
have been construed to protect
males as well, especially in the
area of employment.
 Gender discrimination
• Women were not entitled to the
same rights and privileges as men.
Not allowed to vote
Required to surrender control of their
property to their husband upon
marriage
Educational and occupational
opportunities were severely limited
Believed that a woman's place was in
the home, raising children and
tending to domestic affairs
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
A Journey not a destination
 Definition
• The concept of empowerment is
defined as the process by which
women take control and
ownership of their choices.
• Women empowerment refers to
increasing the spiritual, political,
social or economic strength of
women. It often involves the
empowered developing
confidence in their own capacities.
• Empowerment can take place
at a hierarchy of different
levels:
– Individual
– Household
– Community
– Societal
• It is facilitated by providing:
encouraging factors (e.g.
exposure to new activities,
which can build capacities) and
removing inhibiting factors (e.g.
lack of resources and skills).
 Objective
• Women rights equal to that of man
• Women deserve to be treated well
• Right to vote
• Right to retain their property after marriage
• Right to choose their life partner
• Right to opt their own way of lives
• Control of their lives- enhancing their decision-
making capacity
• Right of education
• Right of equal opportunities- jobs
and hiring
• Equal participation at all levels of
the political process and public
life
• Getting the income same as male
counter-part
• Value of girl children- prevent
infanticide, prenatal sex selection,
trafficking in girl children
 Pathways of Women’s
Empowerment
• Education--- Educating a male
means educating an individual but
educating a female means
educating a family
• Awareness--- Government, NGOs
• Encouragement--- Self-
independence
• Unity--- Faith in other women
• Participation--- in different fields
• Legislative efforts
 “Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement
that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their
children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become
lesbians.” (MALE)

FEMINISM
 What it is?
• Feminism refers to an assortment of social
movements that try to define, establish and
defend political, economic, and social
equality for women, to ensure that women
have equal opportunities and rights within
society.

• Feminists and scholars have divided the

movement's history into three “waves”:
– First wave (J.S. Mill)
– Second wave (Simone de Beauvoir)
– Third wave (Sarah)
• Feminist theory emerged from these
feminist movements and includes
general theories and theories about the
origins of inequality, and, in some
cases, about the social construction of
sex and gender, in a variety of
disciplines.

• According to Simone de Beauvoir,

some common agencies are
responsible for gender socialization.
 Sources And Agencies

SOURCES AGENCIES

•Religion •Culture

•Philosophy •Education

•Language •Family

•History •Media
What it is means to be women??

DISTINCTION BETWEEN SEX

AND GENDER

“We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons…

but few have the courage to raise our sons more like
our daughters.”
Women's empowerment without
the power- A WORLD VIEW
• Of the 1.3 billion people who live in absolute poverty
around the globe, 70 percent are women. For these women,
poverty doesn’t just mean scarcity and want. It means
rights denied, opportunities curtailed and voices silenced.

– Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours

– Women earn only 10 percent of the world’s income.
– Women own less than 1 percent of the world’s property.
– Women make up two-thirds of the estimated 876 million
adults worldwide who cannot read or write
IMPACT ON US & EUROPE
When women are depressed, they eat or go
shopping. Men invade another country. It's a whole
different way of thinking.
 The Americans
• America always declaring that US has a leading role in the
areas of human rights, eliminating discriminations and has
done major work for the women empowerment… But the
truth is kind of twisted and manipulated when it comes to
America.. ;)
• Following are some statistics which spell out the reality:
 Women working 41 to 44 hours per week earn 84.6% of what men
working similar hours earn; women working more than 60 hours
per week earn only 78.3% of what men in the same time category
earn.
 Women may work longer to receive the promotions that provide
access to higher pay.
 Pay inequality figures are even worse for women of color. African
American women earn only 72 cents and Latinas 60 cents for
every dollar that men earn.
 Women typically face challenges breaking into male-dominated
fields.
 The median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage
and salary workers was $657, or 80 percent of men’s $819. When
comparing the median weekly earnings of persons aged 16 to 24,
young women earned 93 percent of what young men earned ($424
and $458, respectively).
 Women comprised 46.8 percent of the total U.S. labor force.
 Also, 33% of all women murdered are murdered by an intimate
partner. In fact the leading cause of death among pregnant women
is not complications from pregnancy, but murder.
 Up to 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their
appearance. Much of the marketing of the ideal woman is targeted
at women directly.
 In US, assault cases are common. Empowerment of women is use
my male dominating society to transfer the socio-economic burden
to female. Transfer of genuine power of decision-making is absent.
 Social values are almost demolished and women are exploited in
everyway… things like abandoning kids by their birth moms
happens!!
 The Europeans
• Here comes the people, form where all this started and they
also affirms that we are the most knowledgeable ones with
civilized living..
• Yes..!! It all started there. However, the women
empowerment is just apparently right but not factually
true…
 the average gross hourly earning of women as a percentage of
men’s in the EU Member States in 2006-7 is 15%
 Employment rates, women and men aged 15-64, in the EU
Members States (2006-7) is women 57.2%, men 71.6%
 The proportion of women in the single/lower houses of
national/federal parliaments is 23.6% of the Members States and in
the European Parliament is 31.2%.
 Between 20 and 35 % of female employees have experienced
some form of sexual harassment or unwanted sexual behaviour in
the workplace.
 4 million women and girls are trafficked annually and
approximately 500,000 women are trafficked into Western Europe.
 Life is not an easy for women in Europe either, they are being
utilize like product in the media, resource in the market and a trash
in the society…
 ”Man endures pain as an
undeserved punishment;
woman accepts it as a natural
heritage.”

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
IN PAKISTAN
16% of Pakistani women were "economically active"
 Impact on Economy
• Pakistan was a fruit-basket for back in
1900s for Indo-Pak subcontinent… So is
now but Pakistan never work to its full
potential. And that also can be said for
WOMEN in Pakistan.
• Women are over 50% of Pakistani
population but are neglected as a
resource, and our economy is working
with its half of its potential capacity.
• Here women can make an impact on
economy if they given a chance.
• NO or little excess to education
– Adult literacy rate: females as a % of
males, 2005-2008.60%
– Girls education avoided
– Education seems a threat to girls up
bringing
• Professional choice and practical life
– Limited professions
– Not allowed to do a job
• Labor force
– women make up 76 percent of all part-
time workers and only 25 percent of
those acknowledged as full-time
workers.
 – The refined LFPR for the female
population is 12 percent. Independent
assessments put the FLFPR at closer to
20-30 percent of full time workers and
a greater number of part-time workers.
The vast majority, 72.2 percent of
women are agricultural workers.
Manufacturing represents 13 percent
of the female labor force and
community, personal and social
services comprising a further 11
percent.
• Self-employment
– Poverty
– Exploited here as well
 COMMODIFICATION OF
WOMEN

• It is well recognized that media can play a

pivotal role in women empowerment.

• Negative portrayals of women in media and

their discrimination on basis of gender
discrimination in employment and
advancement in the work place.

• Both Print and Electronic Media continue to

portray stereotype images of women.
• They focus on sex appeal or physical
beauty of a women to sell a product.
• In Media Organizations more men than
women are there in decision-making
positions.
• Women are presented in roles of a
domestic help, a wife, a mother etc..
They are portrayed as submissive and
suffering type .
• As against this, men are depicted as
employed, competitive and those who
are seen calling the shot in the society.
 What needs to be done

• Education: Secondary education

is especially important for girls
because it enables them to access
jobs, lowers their chance of
getting HIV and gives them
more of a say in decisions within
the household.
• Land and jobs for women
ensuring the right to decent
livelihood, through access to
economic assets
• Increasing women’s voice in decision-
making
– Women’s lack of voice in the public
sphere starts in the home. Early
marriages have the biggest impact,
leading to disempowerment of girls
throughout their lives

• Ending violence against women

• Although the enrolment ratio
between female and male at the
primary education level is 59%
(females) to 77% (males) only 2% of
the females reach the position of
senior officials, legislators and
managers, as compared to 98% of the
males in similar conditions.
• The unfortunate fact is that women are
still not paid equally to that of their male
counterparts, women still are not present
in equal numbers in business or politics,
and globally women's education, health
and the violence against them is worse
than that of men.
• On the Labor Force Participation of
Women, Pakistan ranked at 121 among
128 countries.
 CONCLUTION

“The truth will set you free. But first, it will

piss you off.”
• Women in Pakistan are not working
for empowerment, they are still
trying hard to get themselves
differentiated as a human being form
animal.
• What this so called empowerment
has done to US and EU… in our
opinion it will not do well for women
here as well.
• We are protected by VALUES here
not laws.
• Women from Asia value
marriage. They do not believe
in divorce. They marry for life.
They believe in finding the
right man and sticking by him,
in good times and bad….
Women from Asia value
family. Family is all important.
Husband, children never take
second place to her career.