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The IUP Journal of Management Research

Empowering Women Through CSR Initiatives

Article Details

Pub. Date	: October, 2022
Product Name	: The IUP Journal of Management Research
Product Type	: Article
Product Code	: IJMR021022
Author Name	: Madhubanti Das
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Arts & Humanities
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 12

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Abstract

Helping women break the asymmetric shackles of the society, giving them the power to make the strategic life choices that will affect them, is empowering women. A company's responsibility towards the society must embrace this initiative towards this segment that has been deprived for long. West Bengal, though called a land of societal values and customs, still sees gender inequality, bias and discrimination towards women, especially in rural areas. This paper examines the relationship between a company's social responsibility initiatives and women empowerment. It studies the importance of such Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and also focuses on how companies can help strengthen the scope of women empowerment. The paper found that though gender bias still exists, it is through a company's reformatory guidelines that such disparity can be minimized, especially in terms of payment and wages.

Introduction

The concept of women empowerment was first introduced in the United Nation's Third World Conference on Women in 1985 in Nairobi, which defined it as the distribution of social and economic powers and control of resources in favor of women. Empowering women necessarily means equipping her with the right arms and ammunition to face the society; equipping her with knowledge that would help her have her own perspective and gain perception, and providing her with financial independence that would initiate the process of making her independent. Respective woman's right to choose and acknowledging her voice, her opinion is contributing to the true essence of women empowerment. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in its true sense, lies in the company's efforts towards the benefit of the society and its subjects. Aligning the tasks of CSR with women empowerment is a progressive step towards empowering the nation for a brighter future.

Provisions such as promoting gender equality, empowering women, setting up homes and hostels for women as included in the CSR Policy Rules Schedule VII of the 2013 Act, subrule (iii), clearly indicate the deprived state of women in India