WHAT IS WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT AND HOW IS IT GENERATED? - ECONOMÍA - 2024

The empowerment of women is defined as the process by which women acquire greater dominance and control over their own life, the circumstances that surround it and the elements that are part of it.

That is, they have power over their body (they decide how to dress, how to walk, get pregnant or not, get a tattoo or not) and their environment (such as the way they participate in their family nucleus, in the communities or in the context labor).

For this, it is necessary for each of the women to exercise their roles from autonomy, to have influence in the decision-making process, to be able to express their opinion, vote and carry out actions without being vetoed or made invisible.

Furthermore, it is important that they have the opportunity to access and manage their own material and economic resources, and to be free from violence in all its expressions: verbal, physical, ideological or psychological. Also have information of all kinds and that justice affects them in the same way as men.

The term of women's empowerment was formally granted for the first time in a meeting held in the city of Beijing in 1995, called the World Conference of Women. The main objective was to increase the visibility of women in decision-making and their participation in power.

What is necessary for the empowerment of women?

In order for the empowerment process to take place in women, it is necessary to develop four aspects that comprise it:

1- having

Having refers to the capacity of economic resources that women possess, translated into material goods. Examples of material goods are: money, possessions, technological tools.

However, it is not limited to this, it also includes quality of life, access to education services, health services, security, guarantee of food, water, footwear, clothing and work safety.

2- Knowledge and know-how

The aspect of knowledge is the quantitative and qualitative form of knowledge, skills, abilities, capacities and aptitudes, displayed verbally and behaviorally by women. They allow them to enjoy in an efficient and effective way the options that bring them benefits individually and / or collectively.

Is distinguished by:

• The direction of people carried out by women for their personal and community benefit.
• Management in terms of the use of techniques and handling of procedures to achieve its objectives.
• The management of training for the training of other women.
• The ability to promote critical thinking and reflection.

Know-how is characterized by the application of knowledge in a congruent and optimal way in reality.

3- Wanting

Wanting is the intrinsic motivations, internal strength, psychological desire, what drives women, their self-esteem, convictions, and beliefs about their lifestyle, the confidence they have in themselves. It is the volitional character (conscious will) to do, to decide on their present and the consequences of their choices in the future.

Wanting has to do with emotional intelligence, the recognition of the emotional state, the way it impacts others, and the way women use that with others. It is to project from femininity the life they want to achieve and the mark they want to leave.

4- Power

Power is the center of empowerment itself, it is conceptualized and can be seen when:

• Women have the choice to decide and have responsibilities in their charge.
• They have the opportunity to participate in any decision-making process.
• They have the option to impact on others
• They have the power to control or manage the actions that other people perform on their behalf.
• Be autonomous in your actions and use your own resources.
• Break the hegemony of power given to some minority groups.

Levels of women's empowerment

There are two main levels of empowerment for women:

1- Individual Level

At this level, actions are aimed at developing the power of each of the women individually. In other words, the approach is that each woman can shape and execute her life project and that they can achieve well-being and a good quality of life.

Empowerment occurs in this case, depending on the way in which women individually can decide, create and have more opportunities for their development.

2- Collective level

The action plan at this level is aimed at promoting the empowerment of women's social groups, in reference to the desired gender equality that women want to achieve, thus reinforcing social justice.

At this level, it is considered important to encourage them to recognize themselves as a collective, to cooperate with each other, to organize themselves based on their struggles and to defend their rights, rights that have historically not been respected.

From this level or dimension women feel with more strength and determination to act and defend their rights and those of other groups in situations of oppression, which will promote change more quickly and effectively.

Feminism and the vision of women's empowerment

From the feminist perspective, the empowerment of women involves transformations at the individual level and innovations in social and structural processes that reproduce the circumstances of female subordination and invisibility.

These feminist groups assume that empowerment in this population is a strategy that is not only positive for them but also for other oppressed groups. What it will entail: increasing power, accessing the use and management of material resources, gaining influence over other groups, and participating in social change.

All this will bring as a positive consequence: collective and individual awareness, the defense of their own rights, the empowerment of capacities and finally the destruction of the structure of oppression of the majority.

The vision of the empowerment of women from the feminist field implies the awakening of awareness regarding the subordination of women and the improvement of self-confidence.

Also, the development of personal autonomy and actions to determine what are their objectives and interests in life and thus modify the relationships established with existing institutions and power structures.

In this sense, the view that the empowerment of women does not consider the domination-oppression binomial of other groups is clarified. Rather, it is committed to the healthy coexistence of human beings without discrimination, equal rights for all and the acquisition of resources in an equitable way.

Female economic empowerment and its relationship with gender violence

Various scientific studies concluded that the empowerment of women from their economic background protects women from gender violence.

Research indicates that intimate partner violence is more likely when women are in an economically dependent relationship and have no options.

Statistics indicate that the greater control over financial resources that women have, the lower the possibility of sexual violence.

The previous lines describe how economic empowerment protects women from different types of violence. However, the fact that they manage their resources can function as a potentiating factor in the appearance of violence, due to the fact that they challenge the prevailing power (the male) in some way.

The United Nations and the empowerment of women

The United Nations Organization in its recognition that gender equality is a fundamental human right, proposed as one of the Millennium Goals "to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls."

This means that it is necessary to facilitate access to health services, decent work, education, and participation in political and economic decisions for women and girls through various mechanisms.

Female empowerment and its importance in global economic development

The United Nations Organization states that if it is expected to form solid economies and achieve the proposed development goals, it is vitally important to empower women and the opportunity to participate in all areas and countries of the world.

In considering this argument, the organization declared itself necessary:

• First, the promotion of gender equality in business contexts at senior management levels.
• Second, the equitable treatment of women and men in work contexts; respecting their rights, promoting non-discrimination.
• As a third point; safeguard the safety, health and quality of life of all employees, regardless of their gender.
• In fourth position, encourage the training, formation and education of professional women within their work.
• Fifth, implement organizational development, "supply chain" and marketing activities based on the empowerment of women.
• As a sixth requirement, promote equality through socio-community strategies.
• And as a last point, the implementation of the technique of evaluation and dissemination of the progress made in terms of and in favor of gender equality.

The most important thing about female empowerment

The most remarkable thing about the empowerment of women is not having absolute control and control over the circumstances that surround them and not controlling the material and / or financial resources they possess.

The most important thing, without a doubt, is to have the knowledge of how to access them, how to use them and to be able to have the competence to influence or influence them and people, in order to control the dynamics of the processes in which the companies are involved. women.

The group of women can manage various resources, however this does not guarantee that they will make appropriate use of these and can benefit individually and collectively from them, preventing unpleasant situations and influencing their development.

Participation

As is evident, the main thing is not to have power in your hands; the essential thing is to learn to participate in the process that leads to its gain. In other words, the important thing will be the relationships that were established and the actions that were carried out to achieve it.

These actions will bring with them: women with a sense of personal control, with critical thinking and reflective capacity about their socio-political context in which they find themselves, other ideas regarding the participation and organization of social structures, the recognition of the importance the search for social, community and institutional support.

Thus becoming women of actions, mobilizers of consciences, with the ability to control their resources, these characteristics being their main strengths.

Empowerment of women in Mexico

Mexico is currently promoting new policies and laws that contribute to the empowerment of women. However, still only 47% of Mexican women are part of the labor force.

These measures chosen by the country have allowed women to have a direct relationship with national productivity.

The Undersecretary of Planning, Evaluation and Regional Development and the Secretariat of Social Development have taken seriously the importance of generating within society the tools that empower the women of the country regardless of their social status.

Empowerment of women in Spain

For the Spanish government, parity between men and women is the future. The country is one of the most egalitarian, where 65% of executive positions are made up of women.

They are an example in many policies that allow women to have the conditions of empowerment. Spain is committed to carrying out awareness campaigns and generating equal opportunities within the country.

Empowerment of women in Argentina

Argentina has been one of the countries with the most media impact in relation to feminism and the empowerment of women. For reasons of inequality, there have been a large number of strikes around the country.

The country is highly committed to equality in society and female political and socioeconomic empowerment.

All these policies and measures have as one of their objectives to reduce the gap of 27% that exists between the salary of men and women.

Empowerment of women in Peru

Participation by women in the productive sector in Peru has been increasing gradually. There are several laws and projects under development that promote female empowerment.

However, in the political field the difference is considerable, where only 30% of parliamentarians are women.

Empowerment of women in Colombia

The country has built institutions, projects, and legislation that support the empowerment of women. Although important changes have been observed, they have been slow and sometimes insufficient.

Closing or eliminating the gender gap that exists in the country is one of the main objectives, which in addition to benefiting women, helps the nation by increasing its productivity.

References

1. Musitu Ochoa G., Herrero Olaizola J., Cantera Espinosa L. & Montenegro Martínez M.

   Introduction to Community Psychology. Ed. UCO. 2004. Barcelona. Spain 1st Edition.