Today Women empowerment is a very strong term. It refers to the ability of women to enjoy their rights, freedom and get control over the benefits they deserve. Women should be able to manage their work at their own risk. Women empowerment also states that they should be financially sovereign and have the aptitude to raise their economic status.
The aim of women empowerment is to give similar rights to females as given to the men. This does not mean just financially, but women should have equal rights in every affair of the society. For that matter, women empowerment gives them an equitable power of participation in everything including politics. While long time women were not given political priority in the community, today women are witnessed holding higher positions in politics, being financially independent. Today women have the right to vote, to speak in public, decide to have a child or not, give opinions about different views. Being empowered give women the liberty to make their own choices. In developed countries women can participate in meaningful decisions at work, at schools, home, and anywhere that stands as part of their life.
Even though women are leading best financial institutions, other countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance is conquering the space making women feel less human than men, there are women who have been deprived of just basic human rights. Helping Hand for Survivors is empowering women to learn how to make their own decisions that can lead them to self-dependency? Empowering women in South Kivu means to make them independent in all aspects of life; from mind, thought, rights, decisions; leaving all the social and family limitations. Also, it means bringing equality in their society for all (women and men together) in all areas of life. It is to bring equality in the society for both male and female in all areas. Women empowerment is very necessary to make the bright future of the family, society and country. Unfortunately, sexual assault, gender bias and psychological trauma because of war, as well as luck of education have been some of issues women live with on daily basis.
Now it is the right time to act and educate people about empowerment because women empowerment can only be achieved by making every woman feel empowered. We have now laws and organizations that are helping women in the Congo stand strong, but these last will remain in cities where there is power and water and where they feel safe with a comfortable life. At the end of the day, women in villages are the ones left behind. Empowering women can benefit the entire society and take it to the next level of free open thought path.
Women empowerment has benefited some of us and our society in many ways. It lets and encourages us to speak up on shameful acts like domestic violence, depriving women from education, unemployment, disrespect, harassment on streets, at schools or at workplaces, which are some of the privileges that we enjoy in some countries and that is what Helping Hand for Survivors is aiming to do by educating women and children who are dealing with the trauma after the conflict in the Congo. It is a long road that we are taking to make women equal competent to men in all aspects of life because when women contribute along with men, it all benefit the society.
Empowerment is vital because it allows women and girls to live a totally competitive life to men. The significance of empowering women is that it helps all women to maintain a harmony in society allowing every woman the right to live a peaceful, respectful and ambitious life. It has been always said that to teach a woman is to teach the whole nation; this can enforce the idea of when empowering women, the society will also be empowered and therefore when the society is empowered the entire nation also is empowered.
How are women empowered?
Women can be empowered by changing the society’s mentality. It is imperative to change the thinking of the society these women are living in especially by giving the women the rights that they deserve and by considering them as equal human being. In Democratic Republic of Congo, we still have families that prevent their daughters from attending schools. We have been celebrating the world international day of women every March 8th and lots of women attend, but one still wonders if they men and society understand its meaning. This day is celebrated yearly because it brings awareness to the society and is to show the importance of women empowerment. It is believed that one celebration day can bring about awareness and make a big impact in society. In Democratic Republic of Congo, Helping Hand for Survivors’ wish is that one day schools and other organizations will bring qualified individual to come and deliver speeches on women empowerment to educate the society.
Women self-help groups at Helping Hand for Survivors play an important role in educating and empowering women by making them aware of many ways of livelihood. Self-help groups educate the uneducated women, bring an earning mode for those who are not knowledgeable, but have some skills and teach self-defense. We hoping to extend fighting sport, Karate and other men dominated sports to young women so that women will be able to defend themselves. The idea here is that without anyone intervening, women in future, will be strong enough to defend and protect themselves. Within changes in the government, the hope is that women will be able to report any assault to the police their fear and the government should in turn punish the aggressors. This will make women strong enough and will work towards a safe society.
Empowering women in their society plays also a key role. Everyone (men) as citizens of the nation, should make the environments safer for girls, permit them to achieve their dreams by letting them experience a life of less restrictions. They should be able to feel comfortable in their schools, on streets, workplaces etc. because it is vital to instruct a moral vision in our mind beginning this from our own homes and families. The society should start teaching their children to respect girls and boys not showing them the difference between them in any means. For instance, girls are not as strong as men, women should stay in their homes etc. Society in Democratic Republic of Congo should be able to say no to child marriage or forced marriage at the early age, child trafficking, and child labor. We should be able to raise our voices in such cases because it will make the society healthier and stronger.
History has set inspiring examples about how women/girls have achieved their dreams. Society can develop faster by accepting women and girl’s contribution towards a common goal and therefore bring about change in society because this last comes from within people.
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