Women Empowerment and Legal Provisions in India

Abstract

In the history of human development, woman has been as important as man.Without the participation of women in national activities, the social, economic or political progress of a country will be stagnant. women constitute nearly 50 per cent of the world’s population.But they are in  disadvantaged position on account of several barriers and impediments.Gender disabilities and discrimination are found in India even today.To eliminate these ill practices and discrimination against women, various constitutional and legal arrangements are there but in reality there are a lot to be done.Several NGOs are working in this direction; also women themselves are breaking the societal barriers and achieving great heights in all dimensions like political, social and economic.But the fact is that society as a whole has still not accepted women as being equal to men and crimes or abuses against women are still on the rise.Therefore the need for the concept of women empowerment arose to challenge the existing disabilities, inequalities and gender discrimination and promote their well being.Moreover various legal provisions for the safety and women empowerment have been incorporated in the constitution.But the irony is half of the population is unaware of their legal rights.In this paper we will discuss the constitutional and legal provisions for women empowerment in India.