PERSONAL AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN RURAL INDIAN WOMEN: A SELF-HELP GROUP APPROACH*

The present study examined the empowerment of women by addressing two dimensions: economic empowerment and personal empowerment. One hundred women, aged between 16 and 65 years, participating in self-help groups from two rural Indian villages in North-West India took part in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through self-report surveys and interviews, with the analysis yielding contradictory findings. The quantitative data found that working women reported moderate to high levels on collective efficacy, proactive attitude, self-esteem and self-efficacy with no significant reporting of psychological distress. In contrast, examination of the qualitative data revealed positive appraisals of self-worth, purpose and independence and negative appraisals of pressure, challenge and stress. The implications of these findings and the importance of this study are discussed. The United Nations and many government organizations are working together to facilitate the empowerment of women in developing countries, with govern-ment initiatives focused on activity promotion to reduce the poverty inflicted on rural women. In India, the government and non-government organiza-tions (NGOs) are playing an active role to improve the opportunities available to women, by focusing on empowerment strategies to move women from a state of dependency to a state of independence (Dollard et al. 2004). Self-help groups were introduced as a way to reduce poverty and to promote capacity building to assist rural communities in their efforts to utilize resources