「增權」觀點之婦女學習

Empowerment of Women

增權指的是使個人或團體獲得權力、接近資源，以及控制他們自己生活的過程。婦女由於長期處於與自我疏離、家庭事業兩頭燒的困境以及來自公私領域的性別歧視導致無力感甚深。為使女性能面對其困境解決問題，本文提出工作者應(1)和婦女一起工作，以她們的經驗和感受為中心，尊重並發展她們的能力、信心與價值感；(2)協助婦女發展批判意識，理解社會結構如何支配她們的生活，減低自我責難；(3)傾聽讓來自不同地方的婦女發聲，鼓勵改變不合理的社會，而非一味適應社會價值。而增權婦女最重要的是學習過程，工作者其實不只扮演教師的角色教導知識和技能，也要扮演情感的支持者、倡導者、社會行動的夥伴、選擇的澄清者、具體權力經驗的促進者，甚至本身就應該是一個活生生增權的示範者。

Empowerment refers to the process by which individuals and groups gain power, access to resources, and control over their own lives. Four general conditions recognized by the article that women largely share and that together produce and enforce the powerlessness of women. To take the empowerment of women past vision to political reality, the author analyses, practitioners must ( 1 ) to work with women in a full relationship, recognizing their fully human and self-authenticating lives; (2 ) to reflect the power that still remains hidden in the lives of women; (3) to liberate the many and varied voices of women by listening. And the many roles the practitioner in empowerment practice include educator, supporter, advocate, activist, option clarifier, facilitator of concrete experiences of power and model of lived empowerment.