Steps and Illustrations

Broadly, in the women’s empowerment framework, CARE defines women’s empowerment as the sum total of changes needed for a woman to realize her full human rights – the interplay of changes in agency, structures and relations.

The illustration depicts these three key domains of women’s empowerment in various settings. Looking at the illustration, teams can discuss what examples they see of agency, structures and relations.

For example, one scene depicts a woman with government officials (left center-bottom). In terms of agency, she looks confident. Given the context, she may be aware of her rights and free to travel in public spaces.

In terms of structures, cultural values and social norms may afford the woman equal opportunities for education that allow her to gain information about her rights and influence her community/family. Official policies may be in place that allow her equal voice within the law.

Beyond these structures, however, relationships also influence the woman’s life.  The dynamics of her relationship with the official, for example, will weigh heavily on what influence she may have in government and her ability to negotiate for her rights or interests. Supporting her, we see another figure behind the woman, perhaps as a colleague or supporter. The woman’s own voice may be leveraged by a strong social network or coalition of others whose interests she represents.

Each of these domains - agency, structures and relations - is deeply intertwined to form a picture of empowerment. Furthermore, aspects of agency, structures and relations cut across the spheres within which a woman navigates her life. Using this illustration, further discussion could be facilitated around:

• Looking at the various settings across the illustration (accessing healthcare, in village meetings, in a government context, in a market, with family, in a religious community, as part of a political movement or among women), what are the roles the woman holds? In each, from where might her power come?
• How powerful would you feel in each of these scenes? Why?
• In each scene, as the woman applies her power, how might it affect the power of others?
• How might dynamics of power change if these scenes took place in Kandahar, Afghanistan? Or Nairobi, Kenya? What about in your community?
• How might race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class or religion influence your sense of power in each of these situations?