Economic Empowerment Is Key to Reducing Violence against Women

When women are economically empowered their children are educated, families are healthier and improved livelihood. Women are the useful resources of the nation and have the potential to bring a change in the development of the country. It’s true, more often their contribution towards the welfare of the society go unrecognized. The gender bias, inequality between women and men, are creating a barrier for the upliftment of the women in the society.

Through education, we can reduce poverty and women can be economically empowered. According to the survey done in the year 2001, about 82.14% of the adult men are literate in India while only 65.46% of adult women are in the educated list. About 29.9% of women are working in the rural sector whereas employed females are only 13.9% in the urban area. Not only this, there are very few women, say 9%, who occupies seats in the parliament, 4% in the High Court and 3% in Supreme Court. We need to empower women so that they can get the education, earn and improve their livelihood. Many women in our society are depended on the men, even for their individual decision. Economically empowered women are self-dependent, they can earn money, educate their children, and can take their decision.

Educated women participate less in domestic violence. In our society, violence against women is bursting. Many women suffer from the domestic violence, beaten, tortured and killed. It is common in rural areas, but it is also happening in cities, towns, and metropolitans. According to United Nations Population Fund Report, about two third of the married women are the victim of the domestic violence. More than 70% of females between the age of 15 to 49 are the victim of the rape, dowry death, domestic violence, etc. In India, about 55% of females are the victims of domestic violence. The victims of the domestic violence are mainly from the states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.

The violence against women is not a new issue it is coming since the century, but now it is necessary to put an end to the violence, for a better tomorrow. The super cops of Uttar Pradesh have started Women Power Line service to provide help to those women who are being harassed by the abusive callers, stalkers, and other criminals. Distress women can call on the number 1090 from any part of the state. To lodge a complaint, police do not call the victim to the police station; they can just call the Women Power Line 1090 number and seek immediate help from the police. Women Power Line also contributes towards the economic empowerment of women. They recruit a batch of female-fresher from the college for their women constables. WPL managing authority trained them to counsel the victims and criminals. They are also taught to speak English and learned to operate the computer before joining in the WPL. The Women Power Line service is not only providing security to the women but also empowering them economically for their better future.