Emerging Issues: Economic Development and Women Empowerment

'Women Empowerment'; a term referring to the power of women to build stronger economies and participate fully in the process of economic development. It has been a significant topic of discussion in corporate boardrooms, international economic forums and everywhere else where 'women and girls'  are still considered a trivialised gender. Gender inequality, referring to the unequal treatment and perception based on ones gender is now a universal issue. Inequality is far greater among the poor, within and across countries. In a globalised economy, the impact of economic development on poverty and inequality is controversial.

The arguments of neoliberal say that the distribution of income between the world populations has become more equal while the rate of poverty has condensed, stating the reason for it as the rising economic-integration among countries to gain a competitive advantage. While the anti-neoliberal idea claims asserts that world poverty and inequality is rising instead due to the forces unleashed by globalisation.

Taking globalised economies including China and India into consideration, it could be observed that economic openness has lead to a decreasing share of consumption by poorer quintiles and an increasing share of the richer resulting in increasing inequality. However, relatively there has been a decrease in the poverty-driven population that would live under $1.90 a day. It could thus be perceived that, invisible poverty and inequality is an inevitable outcome of a globalised economy.

The above explanation was for the readers interest. 

The provoked thoughts and questions that have emerged over the last decade concerned the following; would economic openness stimulate women empowerment naturally? Or should the government set up specified policies to foster women empowerment in the local context? Recent studies suggest that economic development; the reduction in poverty levels while improving economic opportunities will indeed have a positive impact on gender inequality. 

Stimulating Women Empowerment; in Sri Lanka 

Tight economic conditions have placed many in a position to make life or death choices. In fact in 2014, WHO rated Sri Lanka to be the 4th highest out of 172 countries in terms of suicidal rates. Many of the suicidal deaths were linked to issues concerning high unemployment rates, economic burdens and other social problems which have been rampant throughout the country since the three-decade communal war against the Tamil minority. With the monetary issues prevailing in the country and increasing inflation rates, it is understandable that an average household income of RS.40,000/= will be insufficient to educate two from an average 4 member family. Adding to the matter, many developing nations may perceive boys to be of move value than girls. India has many issues concerning discrepancies in gender-specific mortality rates. With issues regarding child marriage, sexual abuse and domestic violence splurging, girls systematically receive less care and attention that in boys. Discrimination between girls and boys spike when family members faced with extreme circumstance like terrors wars and natural disasters. 

Going by the neoliberal view of economic openness reducing poverty; thereby increasing the ability of households to withstand crisis - If governments are able to insure their citizens against sickness and hunger there will be an indirect impact on the wellbeing of women.  For the above reasons the government should relax the constraints poor houses may face. Along with economic development, increasing the resources available to the family will reduce the excess vulnerability of women. 

The fact that women have fewer opportunities and exposure in the labor markets will indeed result in unequal treatment between girls and boys. This issue could be made less severe if businesses are encouraged to increase the participation of female labor in corporates; perhaps by providing businesses and start-ups recognition and other incentives for a gender-equal organisational environment. 

A flabbergasting proportionate of parents in Sri Lanka would want their girls to be housewives or whatever their in-laws wanted them to be. Many parents still believe that girls are not needed to be educated as much as boys are supposed to, and their ideal role as a woman is to stay home and look in to household matters. This exact perspective of parents are slowing down the process of women empowerment and gender equality. If employment opportunities available are made attractive to the women, that would certainly act as a motivator for higher education. Communities need to be set up to make the public aware about the good in empowering women and reducing the gender gap. Since of late, many garment industry corporates have made their working environments much more suitable for women. Consequently providing employment for a large number of female citizens in Sri Lanka. Likewise, it is vital other industries make changes in the nature of work more conducive to women. 

Often women are expected to drop out of school, halfway through their education and take the role of a stay-at-home mother due to unexpected pregnancies. Having married older men sometimes out of obligation, they are less likely to work. This subsequently reduces a womans' working capacity and autonomy. The negative effect of the above mentioned issue could be significantly diminished if  contraceptives pills are made available freely and at a lower price. Many in rural Sri Lanka might be ignorant or unaware of the negative consequences of unwanted pregnancies. Campaigns to increase awareness will be good practice to encourage women to improve their sense of self-efficacy.

Hence, it could be understood that educating and empowering women certainly has its' benefits. Educating girls and boys equally will lower child and maternity mortality rates. Although it may be necessary for local authorities to invest more on women at the expense of men in the short-term, in the long-run allowing women to lead in all levels of society will allow for a less biased decision making process, resulting in further developments. There by encouraging women to participate in the labor market, increasing productivity to the business. Consequently adding digits to the Gross National Production (GNP) of the country. This could mean faster economic growth and sustainability of growing markets. Understanding that economic development and women empowerment are correlated and go hand-in-hand, will temper policymakers of both sides in the emerging 'empowerment' debates.