GENDER JUSTICE AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: Legal Measures in India

Educating the girl child, creating job opportunities, Putting:women in decision making roles, and making pro-women laws protecting them from oppression were some of the. many steps that were designed for women's empowerment. But many years down the line the quest for a just society that values women and accords them the necessary dignity and respect is still on. A paternalistic approach with the assumption that women were victims of the social divide was adopted to rid women of their troubles. Being vulnerable they required protection; and so a number of-measures were required and adopted to empower her. The authors argue that the flaw in the law is in its paternalistic approach, which does not accord autonomy of self-governance or self-direction. The autonomy needs to be redefined as a-relative idea where a just and compassionate society nurtures its members and creates social conditions that strengthens autonomous decisions, instead of impeding them, for the realization of their full potential. It can neither be a masculine versus feminine argument nor be attained in isolation.