Empowerment and autonomy in rural women: case study of the municipality of Chivatá, Boyacá, Colombia

There is a disparity between men and women, which is conditioned by the accepted gender roles within the culture. It carries a disadvantage for women in political, economic and social terms in general. Due to the fact that the Colombian rural population does not have equal access to infrastructure and technology, rural women have an even greater disadvantage. In this sense, the main aim of this research is to assess the level of empowerment of the rural female population and the factors that determine it. To achieve this purpose, an exploratory study of a transversal type is designed in a rural population of Colombia. The results show a low level of empowerment, related to a population with less access to education, more children and diminished psychological power, which is limited by economic power and culture, where the reproductive role of women is normalised. This collective stereotype feeds back the disempowerment of women, tending to perpetuate this socio-cultural phenomenon. It is remarked that the most appropriate tool to reverse this situation is education, through the implementation of public policies that help to generate psychological changes not only in women, men and children. It emphasises the relevance of women genuinely expressing their expectations, gaining access to jobs, occupying leadership positions and no longer being seen as the sole caregivers of children and the home.