Women Empowerment

"Educate a man and you educate an individual. Educate a woman and you educate a family". (-A. Cripps)

"Women Empowerment". What is women's empowerment? Before writing this blog, I asked a few of my female colleagues and also a few male colleagues about their perception on women empowerment. First of all, I would love to share their views and then I will be sharing my personal level of thoughts on this powerful topic.

• Women Empowerment is not just about being independent or having knowledge; its something needed for the whole of mankind. One of my female colleagues gave me an example that if both husband and wife are working and when they are back home at night, why should only wife go to the kitchen and cook? As per her, until and unless this culture doesn't change, there is no women empowerment.

• Many people think women's empowerment is a war that we are fighting against men in order to prove to them that we are superiors to them. But she(the other female colleague) believes women's empowerment is not a gender war as it is assumed to be. Empowerment is basically realizing that both men and women have their own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes and inborn propensities. Women empowerment is the process by which women empower each other. We start to stand up for each other and help each other. It is a way of saying to the world that women are equal to men and women are standing up for themselves.

• According to one of my male friends, he thinks women should be trained and groomed then allowed to fight in open competition. The quota system is kind of unfair to the best for the job. Encouraging women with free coaching facilities might help them to participate. But there should not be any discrimination in any kind of competition or work, the best candidate should be selected. And in case of any physical competitions, it should be divided into criteria i.e. criteria for men and different criteria for women.

• Women's empowerment is basically about promoting equality through equity. It is a known fact that patriarchy has been prominent throughout history. Due to the evolution of the concept of women empowerment women have received what is known as basic human rights and are stepping forth into the mainstream.

I would firstly like to thank these friends who shared their views on women's empowerment. I do agree with each one of them. Now I would love to add a few more personal views about women empowerment.

Women empowerment is the process of giving women equal rights. When I say giving them equal rights, I mean right to education, right to awareness, right to make their own choice, right to proper healthcare, sanitation, right to work, right to make a decision, right to equality and right to live freely. You might be shocked knowing that in some parts of the world, women don't have access to even basic things like water, healthcare, sanitation, and education. Education with awareness is the most important means of empowering women because most of the educated people are involved in violence without being aware of the real value of a woman.

We also have a proud history of women leaders from all works of life Anuradha Koirala to Pasang Lhamu Sherpa to Mother Teresa and Madam Curie. Their work makes us believe that the world is full of possibilities. A world where women have equal opportunities and the world that is better not just for women but for everyone. I guess every individual reading this, will definitely agree with me when I say that women don't need any kind of favor or help from male counterparts or reservation from the government. They are strong, intelligent and capable enough to achieve from life whatever they want, the way they want. What they actually need is genuine love and support from male counterparts. If empowerment is done in the right way, it will not only help Women, it will help the whole of mankind.