Empowerment and Women’s Empowerment – A Theoretical Basis

Empowerment refers to the level of freedom and self-determination of individuals and communities. Authority may include granting or accepting power, right, or authority to perform various actions or duties. It helps people get started, make decisions for themselves, and solve difficult problems. It can be used for many things such as education, health, politics, business, social and personal development. Empowerment can have positive effects on individuals and groups such as self-esteem, self-confidence, creativity, productivity, satisfaction and well-being. The term women’s empowerment refers to the process of increasing women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to make their own decisions, and their right to influence change for themselves and others. Women’s empowerment can be achieved in many ways, including education, knowledge, literacy, education, leadership, participation, decision-making, health, policy and business. Empowering women is important because it benefits not only women themselves, but also their families and communities. Empowering women can help reduce poverty, hunger, disease, conflict and environmental degradation. In addition, the empowerment of women strengthens democracy, governance, human rights, peace and security.

One definition of the term isa deliberate, ongoing process of focusing on the local community, with mutual respect, consideration, attention and community participation, through which individuals who do not have an equal share of resources have greater access and control over those resources.

Social Empowerment
Social empowerment often refers to members of groups who are excluded from decision-making processes through social discrimination processes. The basis of this discrimination might be the disability, race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Empowerment as a practice is also associated with femininity.
Social empowerment is a term that refers to the process of building the autonomy, power, confidence and other necessary means to enact change and pave the way for a better future. Social empowerment takes place at both the individual and the collective levels. Social empowerment is often directed toward advocacy for marginalized groups of people who lack access to basic needs, health care, education and more. Social empowerment also involves changing social relationships and the institutions and discourses that exclude poor people and leads to an increase in poverty. Social empowerment can be implemented at the individual, family, community and social policies levels.

Women's Empowerment
Women's empowerment (or female's empowerment) can be defined in a number of ways, including accepting women's views or making an effort to seek it out, elevating women's status through education, awareness, literacy, and training. Women's empowerment empowers and allows women to make life-changing decisions on various familial as well as social issues. They may have the opportunity to redefine gender roles or other similar roles, which may give them more freedom to pursue the goals they want.
The empowerment of women has been an important topic of development and economic discourse. Economic development allows women to control and benefit from services, goods, and income. It also contributes to the ability to manage risk and improve the well-being of women.
The development of women helps to enhance the status of women through literacy, education, training and creating awareness. In addition, women's empowerment refers to women's ability to make wise life decisions that they were previously denied.
Nations, businesses, communities and groups may benefit from the implementation of programmes and policies that hold the idea of women's empowerment. Women's empowerment enhances the quality and quantity of human resources available for development. Empowerment is one of the main concerns of the process when addressing human rights and development.

Theories of Women's Empowerment
There are many theories that address women's empowermentif anyone is to be empowered s/he must come from a disability or disadvantaged conditions. Again, they should come to power on their own rather than the power given by the outside agency. Other studies have found that definitions of empowerment not only enable individuals to make important decisions in their lives but also to act on them. Empowerment is a process rather than a product.

Economic Empowerment
Experts have identified two ways of empowermenteconomic empowerment and political empowerment. It puts a lot of emphasis on political participation and legitimate decision-making and, in the economic sphere, in the ability to earn a living that allows them to participate in economic decisionmaking process.

Women's Empowerment in Neo-liberal Society
Since the 1980s, the neo-liberalism campaign has prioritized competition and self-confidence as a measure of economic success. If individuals and their self identities do not meet the popular neoliberal social norms, they are looked down upon; and they are prone to low self-esteem. Other groups that do not agree with the popular neoliberal image are the lower class of workers and non-workers.
In particular, neo-liberalism has had a devastating effect on women's self-esteem through its social reform policies. Social reformers believe in relying on socialism as the cause of poverty. This leads social workers to extend their qualifications to social services, which limits the number of people who rely on social services. It prompts welfare reformers to broaden the criteria for qualifying as welfare beneficiaries, limiting the number of people who depend on welfare. These criteria includework requirements and deadlines, pushing women more into the labour market. The active impetus for women to enter the labour market reinforces the idea that single mothers and unpaid child care workers are not contributing to the country's economy. As a result, women are forced to work in low-paying and unstable jobs while having to manage their mother and home responsibilities. Experts believe that the primary purpose of social change is to humiliate women by undermining women's agency and economic independence.
In addition, policymakers are advised to support vocational training to help them enter the formal markets. Another recommendation is to provide formal education opportunities for women that would allow for greater communication power at home. They would be able to earn higher wages outside the home; and as a result, to make it easier for engaging themselves in various jobs.

Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality
Achieving women's empowerment and gender equality will help society to ensure the sustainable development of the country. Many world leaders and scholars have argued that sustainable development is impossible without women's empowerment and hence, gender equality. Sustainable development embraces social and economic development, including environmental protection and women's empowerment. In the context of women and development, empowerment means women should have more options of their own.

Property Inheritance and Land Rights for Women
Strengthening property inheritance and land rights for women is another method used to empower women financially. It allows them better ways to accumulate the wealth, capital and bargaining power needed to address their problems due to gender inequalities. Women in developing and underdeveloped countries are legally disqualified from their land on the basis of gender alone. Having rights to their own land gives women some kind of negotiation power that they would not normally have; they get more opportunities for economic independence and legitimate financial institutions.

Racism and Discrimination
Racism has a major impact on women's empowerment in some areas such as employment. Employment contributes to the empowerment process of the women. Many experts suggest that when we discuss the empowerment of women, addressing the various barriers that poor women face, making it difficult for them to achieve social empowerment, is important when assessing the racial impact on employment.
Significantly exploring how opportunities are organized by gender, race, and class can make a difference in society. Job opportunities and a work environment can build women's empowerment. Empowerment in the workplace can have a positive impact on job satisfaction and performance; employment equity can greatly enhance the sense of empowerment. In the event that women have the opportunity to resolve stable employment, women of colour experience a lack of equal access and rights in the workplace. They face more losses in the workplace.

Feminist Policies
With regard to power, feminist policies see empowerment as a resistance in systems of unequal power relations. In the social context of racial, gender, and class politics, the empowerment of African American women in the work environment can be seen as "resistance to attempts to resolve the meanings of appropriate identities and behaviours, such meanings being controlled, exploitation and others -the oppression of intelligent African American women." When talking about women's empowerment, many scholars suggest examining the social injustices faced by women in everyday organizational life affected by race, class and gender.

Microcredit and Microfinance Institutions
Another method for women's financial empowerment is microcredit. Microfinance institutions aim to empower women in their community by obtaining low interest rate loans without any collateral. More specifically, these microfinance institutions aim to give microcredit to women who want to become entrepreneurs. The success and efficiency of micro loans and micro loans are controversial and constantly the subject of debate. Some critics claim that microcredit alone does not guarantee that women will have control over how credit is used. Microfinance institutions still do not remove the cultural barriers that allow men to control household finances; As a result, the microcredit is transferred only to the spouse. Microcredit does not exempt women from household responsibilities and even though women have credit, they do not have the time to be as active in the market as men.

Political Empowerment
Political empowerment supports gender equality for women in the public and private sectors and the design of policies that best support the agency. Policies that increase their bargaining power at home include policies for divorce cases, policies for the betterment of women, and policies that give women control over resources (such as property rights). However, participation is not limited to the political arena.

Digital Skills Increase Political Empowerment
Digital skills facilitate women's engagement with local government and increase decision-making in their communities. For example, the Women-Governance Project ICT in India helped women improve their understanding and communication with local government. In India, the project has worked with the Women's Collective to establish Internet-connected community information centres run by women to facilitate applications for government assistance (including welfare and qualifications), improving relationships between the collective, local authorities and government agencies. Women with digital skills are able to raise their voice on local issues and influence the outcome of decisions that affect themselves and their communities. Digital skills also empower women to participate in political movements.
The secrecy of the ICT may allow some women to escape the limits of freedom of speech in oppressed societies, while the massive mobilization through online networks allows women to campaign on gender-based issues. Studies show that a group of Iraqi women used a multimedia campaign, including an online component, to successfully lobby the Kurdish regional government to abolish the practice of genital mutilation. Images taken on mobile phones and distributed through social media have drawn attention to domestic violence in China and influenced media coverage of court cases on forced abortions.

Cultural Empowerment
As a developing society, representing the rights and empowerment of women, we must stop looking at culture as a barrier and a barrier to women's rights. Culture is an important part of the diversity and approach that seeks to ensure equal opportunities for women. It recognizes their freedom to be proud of their values, whether cultural or modern. Undoubtedly, cultures covered by the idea of empowerment should be challenged on the basis of femininity. There is a need for equal cultural rights for women to be recognized and exercised that can help rebuild gender in ways that will elevate women's lower levels of submission.

Women's Approaches to Women's Empowerment
Feminism is defined by the organization's goal of creating women's empowerment. Awareness rising to create women's empowerment, women often use it to raise awareness. As they grow in awareness, women not only become more aware of their struggles but also aware about how they relate to political and economic issues. Increasing awareness allows under-represented people to see where they are placed in a larger social structure and identify the source of their oppression. Awareness of their problems will initiate the integration that creates empowerment.

Building Relationships
When it comes to building and maintaining relationships, there needs to be a balance of both cooperation and conflict between the two sides. Conflict often arises in situations where members of the public try to build relationships with outsiders as representatives of government. Strengthening the space for cooperation as well as the discussion of conflicting ideas is important because resolving disagreements allows for the building of trust between the parties. In addition, each conflict benefits female participants because it develops problem-solving skills and opens up a whole new set of information and ideas to the community. Experts see that building relationships has a tendency to take away politics as work does not directly challenge the oppressive structures that affect women. When building relationships, women encouraged female participants to share their personal information that included sexual oppression, rather than deliberately devising strategies to approach the oppressive system.

Obstacles
Gender inequality is a complex and pervasive issue that affects every aspect of society. According to UNICEF, gender inequality means that girls and boys do not have equal rights and opportunities to fulfil their potential. It can manifest in different forms, such as unequal access to education, health, economic security, justice, and leadership. It can also lead to gender-based violence, which harms millions of women and girls around the world. Gender inequality is not only a human rights violation, but also a barrier to development, peace, and prosperity.
Reducing gender inequality requires addressing the root causes of discrimination and bias that are embedded in social norms, institutions, and policies. It also requires empowering women and girls to participate fully and equally in all spheres of life. While most women are aware of the issues raised by gender inequality, some have become accustomed to it. Many powerful men are reluctant to disrupt the social order of women.

Role of Education
People engage in public consultation and make demands on the government regarding health care, social security and other benefits. In particular, education empowers women to make decisions that improve their children's health, well-being, and opportunities for survival skills. Education informs others about the prevention and content of the disease. Education can raise awareness of women's rights, increase their self-esteem, and give them an opportunity to assert their rights.
Education is not available worldwide and gender equality is still widespread. There are efforts to address the reduction of participation and the success of girls' learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Conclusion
This discussion will run and clamour for abolition of women exploitations and establishment of women's empowerment by providing equity of various types.