In general, women, like any other citizen are perennially affected by the changing economic and social boundaries more so in comparison of men! What makes it particularly harder for them is the age old prevalent stereotypical thinking and social norms. This misplaced approach not only burdens them with unending expectations with absolutely no reward in return, but also puts them in vulnerable situations to seek protection and support of male members thus creating a never ending struggle for them to break these shackles!
With every little step taken to challenge the society and its fragile norms, many women have sowed the seeds of revolution on every path they have crossed! However even after so much hustle, the true essence of women empowerment is still missing in many parts of the country.
The women we sometimes see as striving and challenging the exploitative practices of a toxic system today, hardly constitute a good proportion of the total population. In general, the struggle of a woman is never ending because of the many hurdles they have to pass. From gender based discrimination starting at home to struggling for equal pay and a safe work environment, women spend most of their lives fighting for the basics that their male counterparts are generally entitled to.
In recent times, the COVID-19 pandemic has further added to the women’s misery. Making scores of women from economically backward backgrounds prone to exploitation and burdening the middle class women with taxing duties and restrictions, the pandemic has become a catalyst for their significantly increasing their hardships!
The loss of jobs of millions of low wages migrant workers due to the pandemic has caused an unexpected and unwanted economic vicissitude in the country with many people being deprived of even the basic necessities thus creating nationwide unrest! A careful analysis of the economic impact on different strata of the society indicates that women have suffered the most. Be it physical restriction or financial distress, women had to pay the highest price everywhere.
These unprecedented times call for extraordinary solutions. With this objective and to enable women to become self-sufficient, imwoman has launched a new project focussing particularly on those women who wish to improve their conditions by becoming an entrepreneur and a bread earner for their family.
Our new initiative is all about empowering women to become small - scale women entrepreneurs by assisting them to set up suitable businesses/start-ups, provide necessary training, enabling them to expand and accentuate their ventures in every step of their way including representing them on various Governmental and Industry forums.
As part of its new initiatives, IMW Care Foundation (imwoman), a NGO (structured as a section 8 company) is enrolling interested women members and will provide its members extensive support in their entrepreneurial journey on no profit no loss basis. We also will focus on catalysing significant financial and operational support from Government, Corporates, like minded NGOs, woman members and woman focused organisations and other high net-worth individuals in this noble and mammoth task.
Our support to our woman members will include support in initial set-up, training, listing of members and the products/services offered by them on our website, access to an e-commerce platform for online marketing of their products/services across India and representation for resolving the problems faced by the members in general from time to time. We are confident that these efforts will help promote the cause of “Vocal for Local” and “Make in India” in a big way and help in building a vision for new-India!!
imwoman has been active in the cause of women upliftment on a PAN India level since 2018, when it first broached the topic of women mobility. Instead of stressing on the problems faced by women in their day to day mobility issues, we tried to trace down its root causes and worked towards the problem.
Amongst a number of issues faced by women, the topic of women mobility seemed has so far been the least attended, despite of it being one of the most prevalent problems in their day to day lives. As per available statistics, a large number of women in our country don't know how to drive, and solely because of this reason, they are often dependent on their family members (especially men) to pick and drop them from point A to B.
To solve this issue, we have hosted a number of treasure hunt events across India promoting awareness and importance of women mobility in collaboration with local police and marque corporate houses.
imwoman not only created the CSR awareness campaign for women mobility but also created experiential learning and equally cherishing module where we get to meet ladies on a day to day basis and help enhancing their driving skills along with asserting the importance of traffic rules in a treasure hunt format “Women On Wheels – BE BOLD FOR CHANGE”.
This initiative has enabled scores of women to feel independent and confident to own and manage their own vehicles ensuring one's safety and care in a time when crimes against women are increasing in large numbers!
So far, we have spread awareness and advocated our cause through interactive learning sessions and now, we plan to take it to bigger stage with the help of our team and associates. Our vision is to expand the issue and help women unfold the wings they need to fly. However, this cause is not just limited to driving the vehicle but also taking control of it! From teaching how to change tiers to basic mechanical knowledge about the vehicle, we provide all, so that every woman knows her vehicle in and out. This not only makes her confident enough to drive without hesitation, but also saves her from a vulnerable situation in-case she has flat tyre or vehicle stops!
The concept is wide enough to spread its wings across India! As a next step, we are extending this concept to also encourage women entrepreneurs to set up “WOW” vehicle garage entirely managed and operated by women, thus providing employment and livelihood to a score of women members.
Coz it is not just about encouraging her to reach her destination, but also preparing her to face all road blocks!!