Women Empowerment

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women. Various schemes for women empowerment have been implemented in India by both the central and local governments. In this article I have attempted a year wise and statewise comparison of some parameters of women empowerment defined in the National Health and Family Survey 5 (NHFS 5). The article also references the Women Peace and Security Index (2021) by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security for global comparison.

Data Sources - The data for the visualizations presented below has been taken from NHFS(the National Health and Family Survey)-5,NHFS-4,NHFS-3 and Women Peace and Security Index (2021). References for this have been added below the article.

The list of parameters taken from NFHS data for the visualizations-

Health and education

Women age 15-49 who are literate (%)
Women age 15-49 with 10 or more years of schooling (%)
Women age 15-24 who use hygienic methods of protection during their menstrual period (%)

Violence and underage marriage

Women age 20-24 years married before age 18 years (%)
Ever-married women age 18-49 years who have ever experienced spousal violence (%)
Young women age 18-29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18 (%)

Economic and social factors

Currently married women age 15-49 who usually participate in three household decisions (%)
Women age 15-49 owning a house and/or land (alone or jointly with others) (%)
Women age 15-49 who worked in the last 12 months and were paid in cash (%)
Women age 15-49 having a bank or savings account that they themselves use (%)

Additional details/clarification on these parameters can be seen in the NHFS-5.

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Comparing the NHFS-5 (2021) data with NHFS-4 (2016) and NHFS-3 (2006)

The Rural-Urban Divide

Statewise Comparison of the Parameters

The states below the national average are shown in red, and the states above the national average are shown in green.

Women Peace and Security Index (2021) and Global Comparison

The third edition of the global Women, Peace and Security Index (WPS Index) draws on recognized data sources to measure women's inclusion, justice, and security in 170 countries. The WPS Index is published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security, with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Recap and our opinon

Health and education:

The share of women having more than 10 years of schooling has increased and the gender gap between the share of men with 10 plus years of schooling and the share of women with 10 plus years of schooling has decreased to 8% (from 11.5% in 2016).
The parameters on menstrual hygiene also show a very significant improvement.
A considerable rural-urban divide is also clearly evident.

Violence against women and underage marriage:

The share of women getting married below 18 years of age has gone down slightly, but still continues to be quite high in the rural regions.
Trends around spousal violence are also stagnating, with almost one in three women having experienced some sort of physical or sexual violence from their husbands. The survey was conducted before the lockdown, and the fact that domestic violence surged during the pandemic is likely to have worsened these trends.

Economic and social factors:

Bank account ownership among women has jumped by staggering 28 percentage points when compared to 2016. Mobile ownership has also risen significantly.
However the share of married women employed and getting paid still stands at a mere 28 percent; an improvement of only two percent since 2016 and a decline of two percent as compared to 2006.

While several schemes of the central government have resulted in the improvement of some parameters of women empowerment, India still ranks dismally at the global stage. The share of spending of the central government on women-related schemes has been stagnant at approximately 5.5% since the last decade. A more focus grassroots level engagement of the government schemes for women is needed, especially in the rural regions. Participation of women in the paid workforce also needs to be increased significantly with more focus and assistance to the self help groups. To get a more precise assessment of the trends around women empowerment, the basket of indicators should also be expanded.

References -

Women Empowerment in India