Women as Engineers of Change

Our bus rumbled along a dirt road into the village. The earth was brown and parched because rain had not yet come, but the women who were clad in saris came out to greet us, smiling.

The women in this rural village in the Indian state of Gujarat were members of the Self-Employed Women’s Association and are living proof that economic development and women’s empowerment go hand in hand. We were a group of Harvard affiliates in a group called the Alba Collective that hopes to sell products made by SEWA members in western markets. As we sat on the floor of a two-room house, the women told us their stories.

One woman, named Joomiben, told us that she was born into the untouchable caste and spent the first 20 years of her working life as a migrating day laborer, transporting bricks and mud on her head for about 10 cents a day. When she joined SEWA 10 years ago, she was given the opportunity to do embroidery work for a salary. With her income, she was able to finance the construction of her own house for herself and her family. Because of her ability to make money, her life and the lives of her family members have been completely transformed.

SEWA and similarly focused organizations throughout the developing world are working toward widespread social change through women’s empowerment. Improving the plight of half the world’s population, especially through education and vocational training, is increasingly seen as one of the most effective ways of fighting poverty, disease, and even religious fundamentalism. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a point of visiting women’s organizations and talking with women about their lives during her summer trips to India and Africa. When she addressed members of SEWA in Mumbai in July, she noted, “We simply will not make progress in our world if we leave women behind.” As both Clinton and noted New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof emphasize, the world must pay attention to the well-being of half of the world’s population for society to effectively fight against its fundamental problems.

In many parts of the world, women are inhibited in all aspects of their lives because of their gender. Sex-selective abortions continue to be a problem in many parts of India and China, and female literacy rates throughout the developing world are markedly lower than those of men. In traditionally patriarchal communities—not only in the Middle East but also in Africa and Asia—women are not permitted to leave their homes or show their faces in public. The United Nations International Labor Organization estimates that over 12 million women are working as sex slaves at any given time. Rather than letting these problems go unacknowledged, increasing focus on liberating women from restrictive environments and educating them even in simple ways, such as basic first aid, will allow a huge percentage of the world’s population to contribute to forming solutions for the world’s greatest challenges. Otherwise, they will continue to be victims of problems such as chronic poverty without being able to effectively take care of themselves.

Raising the status of women in many communities requires a multifaceted approach because gender discrimination is ingrained in so many parts of everyday life. SEWA, for example, provides vocational training in a huge number of different trades so women can earn their own incomes. Reading and writing are essential for even basic things, like reading the numbers on buses and the prices in stores; therefore SEWA started literacy programs and its own university for younger members. It schools women in basic first aid and provides counseling and child support for widows. It has established its own bank because no other banks will cater to poor women and provides them with loans so that they are able to get small entrepreneurial endeavors off the ground.

There is also much room for outside support in new and innovative ways. SEWA’s commercial branch, the Trade Facilitation Center, employs women to do fine embroidery work on clothing and upholstery products, which are then sold to high-paying markets and the profits are channeled back to the women. The Alba Collective teamed up with this fair-trade endeavor and is now trying to attract high-end, western designers to buy SEWA products. The profits would go directly back to the women artisans.

Ultimately, the best approach is simply to allow women throughout the world to the freedom and ability to help themselves. As Clinton said, “The most reliable forum of economic and social progress is the self.” The more women are able to fight discrimination and think critically, the more they can contribute to solving the world’s problems. All that needs to be done is to tap into the world’s largest population of unused talent.


Alexandra L. Perkins ’10, a Crimson editorial editor, is a history and literature concentrator in Kirkland House.