Women Empowerment
A lo largo de la historia de la humanidad, el papel que representa la mujer ante la sociedad ha sido menospreciado respecto a la presencia del hombre, en la mayoría de las áreas de desarrollo del ser humano. Durante muchos años esta situación impidió que las mujeres tuvieran acceso a un trato igualitario al que recibían los hombres; desde el rol que desempeñaban dentro del núcleo familiar hasta el grado de presencia en la sociedad.
Fue hasta la participación que tuvieron durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial cuando el papel de la mujer comenzó a trascender ganando lugar en diversos sectores que hasta ese momento habían sido encabezados por hombres, principalmente en el campo laboral. La concepción que la sociedad tenía acerca de la mujer poco a poco fue cambiando, ya no se creía que el fin único de ésta era el de tener hijos y mantener aseada la casa, sin embargo, al terminar la Segunda Guerra Mundial la sociedad conservadora, ideológica y social que surgió, dominó y reafirmó los estereotipos acerca de las mujeres como esposas, madres y amas de casa[10] estos estereotipos aún siguen vigentes, aunque en menor grado, sobre el papel que debería desempeñar la mujer contemporánea en la sociedad.[11].
Actualmente la mujer ha conseguido no ser símbolo de vulnerabilidad en la concepción que la sociedad contemporánea tiene sobre ella. Sin embargo, existen sectores de la población mundial que continúan bajo una serie de ideas arraigadas sobre el papel con el cual debe radicar la participación de las mujeres del mundo. La inequidad entre hombres y mujeres ha sido uno de los principales factores que para que ésta no pueda tener un papel de trascendencia en diversas áreas. Sin embargo cabe constatar que son muchas las mujeres que día a día se han esforzado con propósito de romper los paradigmas bajo los cuales han sido catalogadas durante los últimos siglos y han comenzado a exigir equidad en cuanto a la participación y oportunidades con las que deben contar y que les pertenecen por derecho; con el fin de demostrar que las mujeres tienen la capacidad para ser partícipes de las decisiones con las que se rige la vida actualmente.[12].
Empoderamiento se refiere a la capacidad que tienen las personas, en situaciones de vulnerabilidad, para lograr una transformación con la cual deje de ser objeto de otros y consiga ser la protagonista de su propia historia. Es por medio del cambio de mentalidades colectivas y de la capacidad que las personas pueden lograr al facultarse al ir en busca del cambio. Es así como el sujeto (véase sujeto (filosofía) "Sujeto (filosofía)"), sujeto histórico y también individuo) consigue sus aspiraciones de desarrollo, bienestar y cumplimiento de derechos y libertades, con las que cuenta como ser humano. Según el Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres[13] en el caso de la mujer, existen diferentes áreas en las que durante los últimos años se ha conseguido mayor participación e incremento del empoderamiento que éstas pueden llegar a tener, por ejemplo:.
Principles for the empowerment of women
These principles advocate that, if we want to create stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed development and sustainability goals and improve the quality of life of women, families and communities, it is essential to empower women to participate fully in economic life, in all its sectors.[14].
The private sector is a key partner in efforts to promote gender equality and women's empowerment. Recent research shows that gender diversity helps companies improve their results, and indicates that personal interest and common interest can go hand in hand. However, ensuring the inclusion of women's talent, skills and energy – from executive offices to factories and the supply chain – requires measures and policies specifically aimed at achieving that goal.[14]
The Women's Empowerment Principles provide businesses and the private sector with practical guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, markets and community. These principles, developed through a partnership between UN Women and the United Nations Global Compact, are designed to help companies review their policies and practices—or create new ones—in the area of women's empowerment.[14]
In summary, these principles consist of the following:
The Women's Empowerment Principles are the fruit of a collaboration between UN Women and the United Nations Global Compact. They are based on multi-stakeholder consultation and are adapted from the Calvert Women’s Principles®. The Calvert Women's Principles were originally developed in collaboration with UNIFEM (now part of UN Women) and launched in 2004 as the first global code of conduct focused exclusively on how to empower, promote and invest in women around the world.[14].
Empowerment and feminism
The use of the term empowerment by feminism has its roots in the importance acquired by the idea of power, both for social movements and for scientific theory in recent decades. This term by the women's social movement appears in the second wave of feminism, which began in the 1960s. In the discussion about the origins of the use of the term empowerment in the Women's Movement, the most cited text is that of Sen and Grown in 1998 that was prepared for the Third World Conference in Nairobi in 1985. The document was translated into Spanish by the Interdisciplinary Program of Women's Studies (PIEM) of El Colegio de México in 1988, with the title Development, crisis and alternative approaches: Perspectives of women in the third world. In this text, coming from academic and militant Third World feminism, the concept of empowerment appears as a strategy promoted by the Southern Women's Movement, in order to advance the change of their lives and generate a process of transformation of social structures, aspects that are indicated as the objective of the movement. In Latin America, discussions about women and gender and development were met with the rebirth of the feminist movement that came from the 1970s. (León M. 2001) [15].
According to the Guide to the empowerment of women"), published by Femeval"), the search to eliminate the oppressive conditions to which women have been subjected for many years, has brought with it the conception of a feminist ideology, which has impacted millions of women around the world. The culture that has been formed during the last centuries, emphasizing the century, is one based on feminist social and political movements, in which women have managed to be the initiator of a strong wave of democratization without which contemporary history would not be the one we know today. Thanks to the beginning of this ideology, women around the world have achieved a connection that has led them to a more participatory life in which they seek to forge relationships of equity in participation between men and women.
The line in which feminism moves tends to generate diverse perspectives from which the movement can be analyzed; some visions will represent positions in favor, while others will represent positions against. Rebellion has been a key element for women to achieve their objective, achieving the execution of their rights of both gender equality and free expression within modern society. The presence that women have today, in various areas, has benefited from scientific thinking and all the women immersed in this movement have thought about new problems that help the development of science and the humanities, seen from a new point of view.
Once women saw that they could gain ground in the daily activities of contemporary life, they decided to go for more and it is enough to see that they are the ones who follow technological advances, since they see no limitations when it comes to transcending the new needs that the contemporary world demands. Current feminism tries to promote security, the ability to obtain suitable development conditions and a life in which the heritage of each woman is benefited, according to gender equality, in a creative and pleasant environment.[16].
Empowerment and Sustainable Development
"Women, especially those in poverty, appear to be more vulnerable to natural disasters. A recent study of 141 countries found that more women than men die from natural hazards. When women's socioeconomic status is high, the number of deaths of women and men is virtually equal during and after natural disasters, while more women than men die (or die younger) when women's socioeconomic status is low. bottom. Women, girls and boys are more likely to die during disasters than men.[17].
Women and children suffer the main negative effects of collecting and transporting fuel and water, while women in many developing countries spend between 1 and 4 hours per day collecting biomass for fuel.[18] A study on time and water poverty in 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa estimated that women spend at least 16 million hours per day collecting drinking water; men spend 6 million hours; and girls and boys, 4 million hours.[19] Gender gaps in domestic and family work, including the time spent obtaining water and fuel and processing food, intensify in contexts of economic crisis, environmental degradation, natural disasters and inadequate infrastructure and services."[20].
Empowerment in Agriculture
"Women represent on average 43 percent of the agricultural workforce in developing countries. This varies considerably by region, from 20 percent or less in Latin America to 50 percent or more in some parts of Asia and Africa.[21] Despite regional and subregional variations, women make a critical contribution to agriculture throughout the developing world.
Women farmers control less land than men and also have limited access to inputs, seeds, credit and extension services. Less than 20 percent of landowners are women.[22] Gender differences in access to land and credit affect the relative ability of women and men farmers and businessmen to invest, operate at adequate scale, and benefit from new economic opportunities.[23].
Women are in charge of preparing household food in 85-90 percent of the cases studied in a wide variety of countries."[24].
Women and social networks
The arrival of the Internet into the life of contemporary societies was a great step in the Digital Age, however during the 90s, female participation in the Internet was scarce (only 20% had active participation). Currently the scenario has changed completely, since it is increasingly common to see women in areas in which men previously had complete dominance, such as everything related to technology. By giving women the place they deserve in this sector, they managed to enrich their knowledge about these issues and in this way achieve even easier access to the management of technologies and therefore social networks.[25].
The role of women has benefited in multiple areas, one of these is technology, which is why the gender gap in the digital area disappears more every day. It is in social networks where it is most evident that women's participation has begun to gain a very important place, since even in some of the main social networks such as: Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, the percentage of female users is greater than male users, for example:[25].
For women, the web has become a basic tool for the middle class and upper class, with which they achieve even more advanced development in the development of their projects. The empowerment that women have achieved in this sector has transcended to the point of positioning them as a fundamental piece for modern society. The field that they have come to cover is one in which they have achieved respect, which they rightfully deserve, together with freedom of expression, a right that every human being has. The topics that most interest the female sector are: the establishment of labor relations "Work (economy)"), technology, fashion, literature, travel.[26].
Women and the use of the blog
The free expression with which one can work on the Internet and the small amount of censorship that a user can encounter when publishing something is what has made women use this tool as a weapon of political action in favor of the female role and the impact that they have generated on the current level. Social problems are those that have mainly led women to take on an activist role, trying to cause an impact as social actors and ensuring that gender equality and their voice as women are noticed.[32].
Currently, the use of the blog has given the opportunity to many women, worldwide, to make a call regarding the problems that today's society lives with every day. Women have managed to play such an important role within the main social networks that they no longer only address issues related to women but also problems in general that endanger the tranquility of human beings. The blog is a page that allows you to express yourself freely, like Heba Afify")[33] and Afrah Nasser"),[34] two women bloggers, activists in charge of making the world aware of the situation in which their countries (Egypt and Yemen) currently find themselves. They are just two of the millions of examples on the network of networks; Finally, they are women with the ability to report the serious situation in which humanity finds itself.
It is evident that the empowerment that women are having on social networks increases day by day and that there is still a long way to go but society has begun to take into account the role and work that these women are achieving. During the 6th International Human Rights Film Festival of Mexico, the 1st Meeting of women bloggers was held where women who write on the Internet with a single purpose were invited, to make contemporary society concrete about the problems we live with every day. The importance with which these events are experienced is thanks to the hard work that women have undergone in order to be taken into account, within the standards of gender equality.[32].