Public opinion on women empowerment in Chennai

Abstract

Women play a very significant role from their birth till the end of their life in the Society. It is greatly stated that “To awaken the society, it is women who have to be awakened”. Empowerment of women is considered as empowering the whole society. Though there are many measures women are still subjected to various societal violence and are not given proper education and freedom. The Government has taken great initiative in empowering women through schemes like Women Helpline Scheme, Ujjawala Scheme, STEP, Manila Sakthi Kendras. The objective of this study is to analyze the association between Government schemes for women and educational qualifications, and to examine the level of agreement towards factors for women empowerment among the age groups. Descriptive Research is used for the purpose of study. Convenient sampling method is used to collect the samples. Sample size is 1540. Educational qualification, marital status and age are the independent variables used for the purpose of the study. Government schemes, awareness on government schemes, skill enhancement and job opportunities are the dependent variables. Chi square, Independent sample t-test, ANOVA are used for the statistical analysis. It is observed that the opinion on Government schemes for women depends on the educational status of the respondents, and the agreeability towards the factors for women empowerment differs based on the age of the respondents. The society should become open minded to change the mindset against women together with the constitutional and other legal provisions.