Our society comprises men and women. In earlier times, men were considered to be the leading members of a family. They were responsible for earning the livelihood and were the decision takers of the family. On the other hand, women were responsible for doing household work and upbringing of the children. So, the roles were mainly based on gender. Women Empowerment is made up of two words women and empowerment. Empowerment means to give power or authority to someone. So, Women Empowerment means power in the hands of women. It signifies that women should be given equal opportunity in every field, irrespective of any discrimination. Since the overall empowerment of women is crucially dependent on economic empowerment, women through these SHGs work on a range of issues such as health, nutrition, agriculture, forestry etc. This paper also highlights the socio economic empowerment of women through self-help group in thoothukudi area.

Key words: women empowerment, Self-help groups.