ABSTRACT
This chapter focusses on the economic empowerment of women in both the organised and unorganised economic sectors. The chapter assesses the extent to which women’s human rights principles have been or could be utilised to advance the economic empowerment of women in key economic sectors. Those sectors include women’s employment in the organised economic sector with a focus on equal pay, maternity, paternity and parental leave; sexual harassment and (discriminatory) protective legislation; women’s participation in formal business structures with a focus on the licensing and incorporation of businesses and access to finance and credit and, finally, women’s participation in the unorganised economic sector, overwhelmingly the most significant site of women’s economic participation. We examine the challenges faced by women in all three sectors as workers and entrepreneurs and identify ways for women to generate and maintain their own income streams. Utilising women’s human rights theories of public and private and principles of equality and non-discrimination, we conclude that the unorganised sector is the most fruitful location for the economic empowerment of women.
