1. Dr. RAHUL MATHEW NIMMAGADDA
M.B.,B.S., PGC.H.F.W.M., A.F.I.H., M.P.H.,

2.  A woman is like a tea bag: you cannot tell
how strong she is until you put her in hot
water. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
 MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower
women
 MDG 4: Eliminate gender disparity in education

3. WHAT IS EMPOWERMENT?
 Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual,
political, social, or economic strength of individuals
and communities.
 It often involves the empowered developing
confidence in their own capacities.
 Empowerment of women, also called gender
empowerment, has become a significant topic of
discussion in regards to development and
economics.
 Entire nations, businesses, communities, and groups
can benefit from the implementation of programs
and policies that adopt the notion of women
empowerment

4. NEED FOR EMPOWERMENT
 The empowerment and autonomy of women, and
improvements in their political, social, economic
and health status, are recognized by the
International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD)as highly important ends in
themselves.
 In addition, they are seen as essential for the
achievement of sustainable development.
 Discrimination on the basis of Gender starts at an
early age

5. THE PROBLEMS
 EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS
 SOCIETAL PROBLEMS
 GENDER PREJUDICE
 LOW CONFIDENCE
 LACK OF UNITY
 HEALTH PROBLEMS
 POVERTY
 IGNORANCE
 TRADITIONAL AND CULTURAL PROBLEMS

6. EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS
 MDG 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary
and secondary education preferably by 2005,
and at all levels by 2015

7. GENDER DISPARITY IN LITERACY
Age Sex Literacy rate Gender
(%) Disparity
15-49 Male 78 23%
Female 55
20-24 Male 84 20%
Female 64
15-19 Male 89 15%
Female 74
NFHS III 2005 - 06

8. GENDER DISPARITY IN HIGHER SECONDARY
SCHOOL COMPLETION
% with 12+
years of Gender
Age Sex schooling Disparity
15-49 Male 20 39%
Female 12
25-29 Male 23 36%
Female 15
20-24 Male 27 29%
Female 19
NFHS III 2005 - 06

9. State/Sex-wise Enrolment of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes
(SC/ST) Students in Higher Education in India
(2003-2004)
Number of Students Belonging to
States/UTs Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes
Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
Andhra Pradesh 76217 36232 112449 18792 7617 26409
Arunachal Pradesh 0 0 0 3233 2063 5296
Assam 13280 6847 20127 18732 9780 28512
Bihar 56408 6725 63133 14664 4509 19173
Chattisgarh 12649 5738 18387 9280 4650 13930
Goa 133 122 255 142 69 211
Gujarat 46234 20004 66238 26854 17560 44414
Haryana 14173 8791 22964 0 0 0
Himachal Pradesh 8081 4605 12686 2413 1734 4147
Jammu & Kashmir 220 315 535 316 452 768
Jharkhand 3302 1743 5045 8877 8610 17487
Karnataka 32183 19495 51678 11398 6267 17664
Kerala 13342 21667 35009 1385 2116 3501
Madhya Pradesh 48147 15537 63684 30986 8504 39490
Maharashtra 75092 44464 119556 24902 10780 35682
Manipur 539 541 1080 6096 5417 11513
Meghalaya 253 190 443 13391 11801 25192
Mizoram 1 0 1 6067 5180 11247
Nagaland 13 62 75 7691 5165 12856
Orissa 32092 11972 44064 18637 7132 25769
Punjab 20205 17900 38105 0 0 0
Rajasthan 36935 18037 54972 19616 9372 28988
Sikkim 153 139 292 708 567 1275
Tamil Nadu 59851 43923 103774 2969 1477 4447
Tripura 2174 1430 3604 1578 953 2531
Uttar Pradesh 167360 53087 220447 8051 2110 10161
Uttaranchal 13154 5055 18209 1594 337 1931
West Bengal 59053 28835 87888 8045 3872 19918
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 0 0 0 75 70 146
Chandigarh 1856 1718 3574 143 142 285
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 0 0 0 0 0 0
Daman & Diu 11 15 26 70 23 93
Delhi 13021 9027 22048 2171 1506 3677
Lakshadweep 0 0 0 137 77 214
Pondicherry 1473 1207 2680 22 19 41
India 807607 385423 1193030 269034 139932 408966

10. State-wise Dropout Rates of Scheduled Tribes (ST) Students in Classes I-V, I-VIII and I-X in India (2008-2009)
Classes I-V Classes I-VIII Classes I-X
States/UTs
Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
Andhra Pradesh 37.22 42.45 39.78 66.47 70.24 68.30 80.86 82.77 81.77
Arunachal Pradesh 43.32 39.36 41.51 48.91 47.59 48.30 66.32 65.90 66.13
Assam -25.04 -14.40 -19.78 - - - 84.47 82.46 83.63
Bihar 9.90 -5.65 4.06 66.55 58.63 63.81 98.55 98.68 98.60
Chhattisgarh* 37.68 37.87 37.77 52.66 54.03 53.30 - - -
Goa -108.20 -142.00 -122.60 - - - - - -
Gujarat 53.22 51.80 52.58 64.33 66.42 65.28 73.30 74.82 73.99
Haryana - - - - - - - - -
Himachal Pradesh 2.31 4.83 3.52 -22.07 -14.43 -18.28 5.44 31.05 18.05
Jammu and Kashmir 6.15 2.74 4.65 - - - 69.86 57.82 65.36
Jharkhand* 33.02 26.09 29.89 71.38 70.37 70.93 - - -
Karnataka 4.77 6.03 5.38 28.61 32.47 30.47 45.26 51.14 48.13
Kerala -14.96 -12.05 -13.56 8.54 11.72 10.12 38.64 31.67 35.24
Madhya Pradesh 22.07 12.79 17.75 37.84 40.48 39.03 80.62 85.82 82.86
Maharashtra 32.10 34.31 33.15 46.51 51.66 48.95 65.74 75.07 70.15
Manipur 51.24 53.13 52.15 - - - 70.80 72.58 71.66
Meghalaya 55.41 50.50 52.96 81.86 77.52 79.74 78.90 76.01 77.47
Mizoram 40.00 40.16 40.08 65.39 66.06 65.72 70.71 66.89 68.91
Nagaland 13.35 5.91 9.82 20.61 13.36 17.23 69.20 65.08 67.28
Orissa 35.08 35.35 35.21 83.37 83.92 83.61 86.19 85.19 85.78
Punjab - - - - - - - - -
Rajasthan 38.28 40.98 39.54 62.91 70.63 66.30 68.00 74.84 70.76
Sikkim 43.11 31.27 37.36 28.47 -0.31 14.53 66.41 60.77 63.70
Tamil Nadu -42.57 -77.10 -57.12 -63.10 -61.30 -62.25 48.89 51.88 50.37
Tripura 33.02 31.88 32.48 62.32 63.29 62.78 77.60 79.92 78.69
Uttar Pradesh -121.58 -212.87 -158.77 38.69 8.12 26.58 48.07 61.69 53.93
Uttarakhand* 21.21 10.16 15.99 22.86 35.36 29.33 - - -
West Bengal 50.54 49.21 49.91 77.25 73.54 75.69 88.87 83.55 87.12
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 18.06 27.35 22.65 21.81 29.51 25.82 28.78 28.27 28.53
Chandigarh - - - - - - - - -
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 24.16 24.96 24.55 35.65 52.17 43.33 65.42 72.32 68.62
Daman and Diu -72.68 -63.22 -68.21 - - - 57.75 55.22 56.56
Delhi -19.29 -14.29 -17.28 - - - 9.13 -11.40 0.11
Lakshadweep 9.30 2.83 6.13 17.15 6.84 12.24 26.26 34.07 29.94
Puducherry - - - - - - - - -
India 32.17 30.23 31.26 57.66 58.99 58.26 75.63 76.90 76.18

11. LINK BETWEEN FEMALE LITERACY AND CHILD NUTRITION

12. SOCIETAL PROBLEMS
DOWRY SYSTEM PURDAH
FAMILY

13. GENDER PREJUDICE
 Gender prejudice had long been woven into the fabric of
most societies.
 It was driven by a universal belief that women were the
weaker of the sexes emotionally as well as physically and
must be protected from the world outside the home.
 Normally, males were expected to be the provider and
dominated in family matters, particularly those relating to
the outside world in commerce and politics.
 Females were expected to assume domestic chores, cook
and bake, spin yarn and sew.
 At the same time, it was their responsibility to bear
children and raise them according to the values and
morals of the society in which they lived.

14. GENDER PREJUDICE STARTS EVEN BEFORE
THE GIRL CHILD COMES INTO THE WORLD.
Sex ratio (females per thousand
males)
India 933
Rural 946
Urban 900
State with Highest Female Sex Ratio Kerala 1,058
State with Lowest Female Sex Ratio Haryana 861
UT with Highest Female Sex Ratio Pondicherry 1,001
UT with Lowest Female Sex Ratio Daman & Diu 710
District with Highest Female Sex
Mahe (Pondicherry) 1,147
Ratio
District with Lowest Female Sex Ratio Daman (Daman & Diu) 591
CENSUS OF INDIA, 2001

15. EMPLOYMENT – AN IMPORTANT AREA OF
GENDER DISPARITY
Among the population age PERCENT 87
15-49 79
 Men are 2 times as likely
to be employed
 Men are 2.7 times as
likely to be employed for
cash 43
 Among the employed, 64% 29
of women vs. 91% of men
earn cash
 Female share of population
employed for cash in non-
agricultural occupations is
22% Employed Employed for
cash
Women Men
NFHS III 2005-06

16. OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
Occupational Distribution (%)
Type of worker Women Men
Professional 7 7
Sales 4 14
Service 7 5
Production 22 37
Agricultural 59 33
Other 2 4
NFHS III 2005-06

17. DOES EMPLOYMENT EMPOWER WOMEN
FINANCIALLY?
 NFHS-3 asked married employed women and
men who controlled their own earnings and
who controlled the spouse’s earnings (if
relevant)
 20% of employed married women said they
earned at least as much as their husband
 24% of men with an employed wife said that
their wife earned at least as much as them

18. PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO DO NOT
PARTICIPATE IN THE USE OF THEIR EARNINGS
39
21 21 21
13 10
6 8
15-19 40-49 Urban Rural None 12+ Lowest Highest
Age Residence Education Wealth Index

19. Belong to the highest
56
wealth quintile
Are employed for cash 55
Have 12+ years education 60
 Percentage of women age 15-49 who have
money which they can decide how to use
 Education, employment, or wealth do not ensure that
women have money that they control

20. DO MARRIED WOMEN HAVE ACCESS TO
ANY OTHER FINANCIAL RESOURCES?
PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO:
Participate in decision on how
68
husband's earnings are used
Have money which they can
45
decide how to use
Have a bank or savings account
15
that they themselve use
Have taken loan from
5
microcredit program

21. DO MARRIED WOMEN PARTICIPATE IN
HOUSEHOLD DECISION MAKING
Make decision
alone or jointly
Decisions with husband
Own health care 62
Making major household purchases 53
Making purchases for daily household needs 60
Visits to her family or relatives 61
All four 37
None of above 21

22. • Older women are much more likely than
younger women to participate in household
decisions
• Differentials by other characteristics are small
• However, less than half of even the oldest,
urban, more educated, employed or wealthier
women participate in all four decisions
46 45 41 39 45
Age 40-49 Urban 12+ yrs of Employed Wealthiest
education

23. LACK OF UNITY
 THE MAIN REASON FOR THE LACK OF UNITY EVEN
AMONG THE WOMEN IS BECAUSE WE LOOK AT THE
WORLD FROM THE PRISM OF CASTE
 CASTE IS AN ENCLOSED CLASS
 MANU CREATED THE DIFFERENT CASTES IN HIS
MANUSMIRITI WHICH IS PREVALANT EVEN TODAY
 WOMEN ARE THE LOWEST ACCORDING TO THESE
PRINCIPLES IN EACH CASTE, INSPITE OF WHICH WE
ARE SO PREJUDICED WITH OUR CASTE BARRIERS
 ACCORDING TO A SANSKRIT SCHOLAR THE BIRTH OF
WOMAN IS DUE TO YOUR PAST SINS (if only if you
believe in reincarnation)

24. HEALTH PROBLEMS
 THE MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEMS WOMEN FACE
ARE:
 REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROBLEMS
 BREAST CANCER
 PCOD – POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN DISEASE
 POOR NUTIRITION – ANAMEIA – INFECTIONS
 HEART DISEASE AND STROKE
 DIABETES
 ARTHRITIS

34. State-wise Infant Mortality Rate by Sex and Residence in India
(2004)
Total Rural Urban
States/UTs
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
India 58 58 58 64 64 63 40 39 40
Andhra Pradesh 59 59 58 65 64 66 39 42 35
Assam 66 76 55 69 80 57 38 37 40
Bihar 61 60 63 63 61 65 47 44 50
Chhattisgarh 60 78 42 61 82 41 52 51 53
Delhi 32 32 32 48 47 49 30 30 29
Gujarat 53 50 57 62 62 62 38 30 48
Haryana 61 55 68 66 63 69 47 30 67
Jammu & Kashmir 49 41 59 51 41 64 37 40 34
Jharkhand 49 42 57 51 47 57 34 17 53
Karnataka 49 49 49 54 52 57 38 44 31
Kerala 12 14 11 13 15 11 9 9 9
Madhya Pradesh 79 82 75 84 88 80 56 58 53
Maharashtra 36 31 42 42 34 53 27 28 26
Orissa 77 76 79 80 78 81 58 54 63
Punjab 45 37 55 50 42 60 36 28 46
Rajasthan 67 66 69 74 70 79 42 49 33
Tamil Nadu 41 43 38 45 46 44 35 39 30
Uttar Pradesh 72 71 72 75 75 75 53 51 55
West Bengal 40 45 34 42 48 35 32 33 32

41. WOMEN – POVERTY & IGNORANCE

42. TRADITIONAL AND CULTURAL PROBLEMS
 Limited freedom of movement
 Gender norms that promote men’s control over
women.
 NFHS-3 asked women and men questions
about norms regarding
 Wife beating
 A husband’s right to have sex with his wife
irrespective of his wife’s wishes

43. PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO ARE ALLOWED TO
GO ALONE TO -
Market 51
Health facility 48
Places outside the
38
village/community
All three places 33
None of the three
4
places
The majority of women have little freedom of movement.
Only one-third go alone to all three destinations: the market,
health facility and outside the village or community.

44. PERCENTAGE WHO AGREE THAT A HUSBAND
IS JUSTIFIED IN HITTING OR BEATING HIS
WIFE IF SHE:
Shows disrespect for in-laws 37
41
24
He suspects she is unfaithful 25
Doesn’t cook properly 13
20
Women Men
Refuses to have sex 8
14
26
Argues with him 30
29
Neglects the house or children 35
23
Goes out without telling him 29
51
At least one reason 54

45. Percentage who agree with at least one reason for wife
beating
Women Men
Age 15-19 53 57
Urban 44 43
12+ years education 31 34
Employed for cash 59 62
Wealthiest 37 35
Delhi: A highly urbanized
32 28
state
ALTHOUGH URBAN, EDUCATED, EMPLOYED AND WEALTHIER
PERSONS ARE LESS LIKELY TO AGREE WITH WIFE BEATING, THESE
CHARACTERISTICS ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO SUPPLANT BELIEFS IN
GENDER IN EGALITARIAN NORMS

46.  Women are disadvantaged absolutely and
relative to men in terms of access to education,
media exposure, and employment for cash.
 The majority of married women do not have the
final say on the use of their own earnings or all
other household decisions asked about.
 Traditional gender norms, particularly those
concerning wife beating, remain strongly
entrenched.

47. THE PROCESS OF EMPOWERMENT
 The ability to make decisions about personal/collective
circumstances
 The ability to access information and resources for decision-making
 Ability to consider a range of options from which to choose (not just
yes/no, either/or.)
 Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making
 Having positive-thinking about the ability to make change
 Ability to learn and access skills for improving personal/collective
circumstance.
 Ability to inform others’ perceptions though exchange, education and
engagement.
 Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending
and self-initiated
 Increasing one's positive self-image and overcoming stigma
 Increasing one's ability in discreet thinking to sort out right and
wrong

48. THE SOLUTION
 The right to have the power to control their own
lives, both within and outside the home – pursue
employment and have own income
 The right to have access to opportunities and
resources - increase financial and non financial
assets and resources.
 The right to have and to determine choices –
within household and marriage.
 A sense of self-worth – against domestic violence
and societal barriers.

50. HOLISTIC APPROACH TO EMPOWERMENT
Health Water & San. Political
& Nut. Participation
Education
Asset base
Skills
Marketing
Technology Credit

51. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
 Be of service. Whether you make yourself
available to a friend or co-worker, or you make
time every month to do volunteer work, there is
nothing that harvests more of a feeling of
empowerment than being of service to
someone in need. - Gillian Anderson

52. THANK YOU