Roots, Nature and Extent of Gender Violence and Women Empowerment: Discourse and Reality in India

Abstract

Violence against women is a deep-rooted phenomenon that can be traced back to the history of civilization. The restrictive socio-religious norms in India limit women’s choices and access to opportunities. Economic globalization has enhanced job opportunities for both men and women that has increased the number of women in the job market in India defying social norms. Nevertheless, violence against women has become an alarming concern in India. On one hand women’s increased access to job market appears as an indicator of enhancing their financial empowerment, freedom of movement etc. but violence against women, a sheer violation of human rights, undermines that empowerment. Hence, the co-existence of these positive and negative forces twined together create a very complex socio-economic environment in India. Emphasis is given to women’s empowerment because women are not just a subset of socially disadvantaged groups, but they are a crosscutting category that overlaps with all other disadvantaged groups. This paper worked with secondary (NBCR, NFHS) and primary data reveals that women empowerment and violence against women is highly positively correlated.