Reflecting on the Significance of Empowerment

Is women empowerment still a necessary topic? Absolutely! Women’s empowerment will always be an essential topic as long as inequality remains. Equality and empowerment form the foundation of a peaceful, healthy, and sustainable world. Maybe a better way of engaging with this topic is by reflecting on the significance of empowerment in today’s world.

There is an unfathomable amount of data we could look at when it comes to women’s equality and subsequent empowerment. Of course, data is essential and worthy of reflection. But, as we celebrate Women’s Month this August, I want to reflect on the power of storytelling. I want to dig deep into the power of our stories which become our ‘collective stories’.

More often than not, our stories are more impactful than just looking at statistics. Don’t get me wrong, data and statistics are very real and quite significant to this discussion. However, sometimes our individual stories become untold (or rather forgotten) when discussing women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is about equipping women to make life-determining decisions in the face of various social challenges. It’s about listening to these stories and recognising the profoundness of how we have overcome them.

For me, there is nothing more motivating than support, appreciation and recognition. We all crave it, seek it in different ways, and deserve it. For women to be recognised for their achievements, their stories need to be invited onto the stage and then reflected on to the point where it impacts opportunities for all women. To recognise people’s achievements, the first step is making sure there is a platform for them to share their stories.

The lack of empowerment of women should not be defined or measured by the level of empowerment that men have. That just fills a gap that shouldn’t be there in the first place. No, the empowerment of women means changing the whole playing field. It means asking questions about what women truly need to feel empowered. Only we have that answer. Only we have the stories to share that will help change the world.

Behind every achievement lies the story of a woman who faced adversity and triumphed. And it’s in the act of hearing those stories that true empowerment is fostered and defined by those who lack it. Furthermore, when women hear these achievement stories, a magical and powerful unlocking ceremony occurs within them. They are inspired, given an invitation and empowered to know they can do the same and so much more. And once they step into this empowerment, they add to the achievement story of the women before. And so on.

I am passionate about women’s career achievements. To hear their stories and let them inspire me so that I can continually add to our collective stories. If one woman is disempowered, forgotten and overridden, we all are. Our individual stories shouldn’t exist disconnected from the power of the collective. All of our stories need to be heard so that the collective can reflect and empower each of us again and again.

So, what are the next steps? We need to speak more about our achievements so that we can contribute to the empowerment of others. We need to create platforms that include all women, making them feel comfortable sharing their successes. Then we need to genuinely listen to those achievements, celebrate them and continue telling them to other women so that women’s empowerment becomes infinite.