In the words of Kofi Annan “gender equality is critical to the development of every nation, there is no tool more effective than the empowerment of women”. I have a dream - a dream that woman should be treated as equals of men, a fundamental right that women have always been denied.
Women are prone to injustice at the hands of men. Men not only consider themselves superior to women but also their God given right to keep woman in their ‘supposed place’. In 2008 alone, the number of honor killings in Pakistan doubled from those in 2006. It’s all in the name of ‘family honor’. Honor must never be compromised! Justice? Ha!
The deplorable situation of women in rural areas is terrifying. Being abused by their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons is a part of everyday routine. And this domination of men also ends up translating into a form of obsessive desire to produce healthy, strong sons. Women, who are unable to give them that, not only face unfair criticism but are often beaten up and eventually killed. But that ending would be the one easier for them. Why? Because their husbands abuse them over and over again till the much awaited baby boy comes in to this world. That baby boy is born at the expense of his mother’s life and there is no mourning that day, only confetti and tears of joy - our baby boy is here!
Women here are subject to yet another horror that our liberalized and civilized world of today would never think of. They are commodities. They are battered in exchange for inanimate and lifeless objects. Their lives are thought if as sheer existences as they are married off to the Quran- for what? To keep the family wealth within the family? Is this what man has degenerated into? A heartless, soulless trader of lives? No, man has not become this, this is a Pakistani man who has stopped evolving. True, these practices were carried out all over the world but that was decades, even hundreds of years ago. The world and it's men changed, and ours stayed the same.
My dream is very simple. My dream is very preliminary. My dream is to see women respected, regardless of their race, color or creed. It isn’t an impossible task and is easily attainable; there is not a doubt in my mind about that - what I doubt is the world’s desire to see this change. What I doubt is the effort that is being put into cause. And this is my dream to awaken the world.
‘Women have the right to live in dignity, in freedom from want and freedom from fear’. Indeed, Mr. Annan has the same dream as I do, let’s give these women what they deserve - a life, if not for their sake, for the sake of those many, unborn girls who are yet to plunge into this world of hatred - unassuming - ignorant.
Brilliantly written article Arshia! Very proud! =D
ReplyDelete..but, since you've brought up this topic, I must comment.
a- Has the role of the female 'gender' a manifestation of the inherent desire in women themselves, or a product of the society. Simone de Beauvoir would argue that we are treated as the 'second sex' because we have allowed ourselves to be treated as such.
b- are we really so sure that theyre unhappy? Would the mapping of our own perception of what life should be like, this projection, really be as fundamental to them as we believe it should be?
c- Who decides whats right, and whats wrong? Where do you draw the line? Should we even be drawing a line, per se?
d- LETS MEET UPPP SOON. I MISS YOU. =D =D Love you!! =D