ABSTRACT
Women’s empowerment as a term has been discussed broadly. Many approaches to empowerment have been expounded for assessing the national situation of women (Alsop, Bertelsen, & Holland, 2005; Charmes & Wieringa, 2003; Chung, Kantachote, Mallick, Polster, & Roets, 2013; Narayan, 2005; Pillarisetti & McGillivray, 1998) or for the purpose of assessing the work of organisations that intervene to assist empowerment (Eyben & Napier-Moree, 2009; Kabeer, 2011; Kilby, 2011; Sen, 1997). Since my research takes neither a national nor an organisational perspective but rather seeks to understand the situation of women at the grassroots level, I examine existing theories of empowerment very carefully to determine which are best suited to my study.
