Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Self-Employed, Self-Empowered: Working Women In Benares, Madeline S. Oatman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“Economic independence is the password to women’s empowerment.”

Sathi Nair, a Senior Administrative Services official in Andhra Pradesh.

Twenty or so women sit peacefully on a cool cement floor at the Kutumb program center in Benares, India. The room floats like an oasis above the dusty heat of the street, and unobstructed light pours in through a large window. The women, heads bowed, black hair shining, are stitching and measuring, brows furrowed in concentration despite the lull of the lazy afternoon. They have come to learn a skill in order to make extra income, to be around women, exchange advice …