Women Empowerment

empowerment is not only about capacity building and conveying
knowledge and skills, but it inevitably entails integrally social, cultural and political
dimensions. Empowerment relates to a number of significant concepts such as
Democratization, Political Will, Consciousness-raising, Scope of social constructions,
Anti-oppressive practices, Reflexivity and criticality, etc.

To archive real equality, contribute to building stronger economies and improve the
quality of life for women, men, families and communities, women must be
empowered to participate fully in economic life across all sectors.

What can we do to ensure change?
Everyone can – and should! – work towards making positive changes in gender roles
and relations. We are all better off as a result. And there is room in every culture to
make these changes. All societies around the world have positive and negative
aspects. Families, communities and countries can work together to build on the
positive aspects of their cultures – the traditions and practices that bring females
and males closer to equality, and which respect human rights and promote the wellbeing of all members of the community.
At the individual level:
 Empower females as individuals to claim their rights.
 Engage everyone – especially men and boys – in the fight to end GBV.
At the family level:
 Empower families to protect females and build a culture of non-violence
 Use positive discrimination where needed to give females help to access
resources and opportunities.
At the community level:
 Work with communities to ensure safe, non-violent societies and prevent
violence against females from happening.
 Support organizations that support females – particularly survivors of GBV.
 Build societies that oppose violence and protect everyone.
 Challenge and change the social norms that allow GBV to continue.
 Empower females to take on active roles in communities, leadership, and
decision-making.
At the national level:
 Advocate for revision of laws, new laws, and enforcement of laws that
respect equality and protect females and girls.
 Help build and preserve services for survivors – health, psychosocial, legal,
security, and socio-economic services.
 Ensure the rights of females and girls to education at all levels.
 Work with security, police, medical personnel to make sure that they promote
non-violence and respect for human rights and that they support survivors of
GBV.