What is women's empowerment?
Women's empowerment has five components: women's sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and resources; their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally. more....
Lisa Whatley Says---
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.
Empowerment is probably the totality of the following or similar capabilities:
* Having decision-making power of their own
* Having access to information and resources for taking proper decision
* Having a range of options from which you can make choices (not just yes/no, either/or.)
* Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making
* Having positive thinking on the ability to make change
* Ability to learn skills for improving one's personal or group power.
* Ability to change others’ perceptions by democratic means.
* Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending and self-initiated
* Increasing one's positive self-image and overcoming stigma . more.....
The areas of Women' Empowerment:
Returning to the definition, we can find out the following areas of women'empowerment:
#Having decision-making power:
Clients of mental health programs are often assumed by professionals to lack the ability to make decisions, or to make "correct" decisions. Therefore, many programs assume the paternalistic stance of limiting the number or quality of decisions their clients may make. Clients may be able to decide on the dinner menu, for example, but not on the overall course of their treatment. Yet, without practice in making decisions, clients are maintained in long-term dependency relationships. No one can become independent unless he or she is given the opportunity to make important decisions about his or her life.
#Having access to information and resources:
Decision making shouldn't happen in a vacuum. Decisions are best made when the individual has sufficient information to weigh the possible consequences of various choices. Again, out of paternalism, many mental health professionals restrict such information, believing restriction to be in the client's "best interest." This can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, since, lacking adequate information, clients may make impulsive choices that confirm professionals' beliefs in their inadequacy.
#Having a range of options from which to make choices:
Meaningful choice is not merely a matter of "hamburgers of hot dogs" or "bowling or swimming." If you prefer salad, or the library, you're out of luck!
#Assertiveness:
Non-diagnosed people are rewarded for this quality; in mental health clients, on the other hand, it is often labeled "manipulativeness." This is an example of how a psychiatric label results in positive qualities being redefined negatively. Assertiveness-being able to clearly state one's wishes and to stand up for oneself-helps an individual to get what he or she wants.
#A feeling that the individual can make a difference:
Hope is an essential element in our definition. A person who is hopeful believes in the possibility of future change and improvement; without hope, it can seem pointless to make an effort. Yet mental health professionals who label their clients "incurable" or "chronic" seem at the same time to expect them to be motivated to take action and make changes in their lives, despite the overall hopelessness such labels convey.
#Learning to think critically; unlearning the conditioning; seeing things differently:
This part of the definition created the most discussion within our group, and we were unable to come up with a single phrase that encapsulated it. We believed that as part of the process of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, clients have had their lives, their personal stories, transformed into "case histories." Therefore, part of the empowerment process is a reclaiming process for these life stories. Similarly, the empowerment process includes a reclaiming of one's sense of competence, and a recognition of the often-hidden power relationships inherent in the treatment situation. In the early stages of participation in self-help groups, for example, it is very common for members to tell one another their stories; both the act of telling and that of being listened to are important events for group members.
#Learning about and expressing anger:
Clients who express anger are often considered by professionals to be "decompensating" or "out of control." This is true even when the anger is legitimate and would be considered so when expressed by a "normal" person, and is yet another example of the way in which a positive quality becomes a negative once a person is diagnosed. Because the expression of anger has often been so restricted, it is common for clients to fear their own anger and overestimate its destructive power. Clients need opportunities to learn about anger, to express it safely, and to recognize its limits.
#Not feeling alone; feeling part of a group:
An important element in our definition is its group dimension. We believe that it is necessary to recognized that empowerment does not occur to the individual alone, but has to do with experiencing a sense of connectedness with other people. As was brought up numerous times during our discussion, we did not want to leave the impression that we considered the image of "John Wayne coming into town, fixing everything, and riding off into the sunset" to be synonymous with our definition!
#Understanding that people have rights:
The self-help movement among psychiatric survivors is part of a broader movement to establish basic legal rights. We see powerful parallels between our movement and other movements of oppressed and disadvantaged people, including racial and ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities. Part of all of these liberation movements has been the struggle for equal rights. Through understanding our rights, we increase our sense of strength and self-confidence.
#Effecting change in one's life and one's community:
Empowerment is about more than a "feeling" or a "sense," we see such feelings as precursors to action. When a person brings about actual change, he or she increases feelings of mastery and control. This, in turn, leads to further and more effective change. Again, we emphasized that this is not merely personal change, but has a group dimension.
#Learning skills that the individual defines as important:
Mental health professionals often complain that their clients have poor skills and cannot seem to learn new ones. At the same time, the skills that professionals define as important are often not the ones that clients themselves find interesting or important (e.g., daily bed making). When clients are given the opportunity to learn things that they want to learn, they often surprise professionals (and sometimes themselves) by being able to learn them well.
#Changing others' perceptions of one's competency and capacity to act:
If anything defines the public (and professional) perception of "mental patients," it is incompetency. People with psychiatric diagnoses are widely assumed to be unable to know their own needs or to act on them. As one becomes better able to take control of one's life, demonstrating one's essential similarity to so called "normal" people, this perception should begin to change. And the client who recognizes that he or she is earning the respect of others increases in self-confidence, thus further changing outsiders' perceptions.
#Coming out of the closet:
This is a term we have taken from the gay/lesbian movement. People with devalued social statuses who can hide that fact often (quite wisely) choose to do so. However, this decision takes its toll in the form of decreased self-esteem and fear of discovery. Individuals who reach the point where they can reveal their identity are displaying self-confidence.
#Growth and change that is never ending and self-initiated:
We wanted to emphasize in this element that empowerment is not a destination, but a journey; that no one reached a final stage in which further growth and change is unnecessary.
#Increasing one's positive self-image and overcoming stigma:
As a person becomes more empowered, he or she begins to feel more confident and capable. This, in turn, leads to increased ability to manage one's life, resulting in a still more improved self-image. The negative identity of "mental patient" that has been internalized also begins to change; the individual may discard the label entirely, or may redefine it to convey positive qualities.
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