Democratic Institutions and Empowerment of Women : An Analytical Study

Abstract

Gender inequalities are still deep-rooted in every society. Women suffer from lack of access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. In many situations, they are denied access to basic education and health care and are victims of violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes. “Empowerment of Women” is considered as the way out for women development and gender equality world over. The involvement of women in the development process and political decision-making process has always been advocated by social and political thinkers. The present paper is an attempt to analyze factors responsible for success/failure related to political participation of the people specially women in democratic institutions, to examine the impact of democratic institutions on empowerment of women and To suggest measures for further strengthening democratic institutions and empowerment of women. It has been shown that that there is greater need to increase the participation of women in politics. It will be impossible to create any change to policies without increasing the representation of women in the various levels of the political power structure.