Rani Mughal
Every year 8th March is celebrated as international women’s day perhaps to commemorate women all over the world. We also do and that is ok but I request all to kindly give a thought to the main issue and explore as to how we can make women’s rights a realty in our lives, today and everyday instead of it being discussed at functions and then forgotten.
We live in a society where we are entitled to human rights for all but unfortunately when it comes to women, these rights though expounded in documents and policy statements of governments never see the light of the day when it comes to implementation and practice. Our constitution gives us rights but the constitutionalism is non existent. The result is that women continue to lead an existence as if they are children of a lesser God.
Women and the issues related to them had been a subject of debate since time immemorial.
On such occasions people across the globe talk about various issues pertaining to women like sexual harassment, harassment at work place, molestation , rapes, murders, forced and child marriages, acid throwing , abductions, perpetuation, bride burning , domestic abuse, dowry issues, female infanticide, illiteracy , lack of food, less medical attention , religious prostitution, sex trafficking etc ,etc.But I am very sorry to say that the desired progress on these issues is not there to see.
Now the question arises, are we the women ourselves responsible for our suffering or is it our male counterparts who at times act like stumbling blocks when it comes to the aspirations of women?
The answer in my opinion is, both.
We ourselves, because we don’t know our rights and do not make an effort to know our rights. And also on a more serious note, we as women, in our various roles in society and relationships do not hesitate to victimise women and crush their rights when their interests clash with ours or in other power games.
But ,be that as it may,men by far have been the major oppressors of women. In a patriarchal society like ours this is quite obvious. Men, by virtue of age old traditions are in a more powerful position to reform and also to be the cause of many injustices meted out towards women. In the professional field many of them feel threatened by women who challenge the status quo, out perform them in their professional fields or appear to be more impactful than them. They end up making efforts to thwart them and prevent them from attaining their full potential.The insecurity leads them to commit many crimes and acts of injustices.
And in spite of all this when it comes to law, we are equally privileged.
Our constitution enforces
Our right to live with dignity and decency
We have the right to equal pay
We have the right against work place harassment
Also against domestic violence and all the other types of crimes against the fairest sex
Even we have the right to get free legal aid
Despite the fact our constitution, our religious scriptures all guarantees women rights but in our country alas our perpetrators are more likely to be in a safe haven.
As I have said earlier, we have a beautiful constitution but the constitutionalism, which is all about implementation of the constitution, is not there. Our scriptures exhort us towards fairness and justice but we don’t understand and practice our religions the right way.
So what should we do or what should be done about it. In my humble opinion, first and foremost, we women must know and understand what our rights are. Once we know them we must take responsibility to stand up for them. And we women, who are the mothers of men and women, if we decide to bring in the change we can. We only have to convince our sons, our daughters , our brothers and sisters. It is not so difficult.
Also our brothers must work towards changing their paradigms towards women who are all around them in various relationships. If you can do this you will be helping in making the lives of your own mother, sister or daughter better.
With these words I leave the discussion open and hope that our discussions today will lead to a better understanding of problems faced by women and see some concrete steps in the amelioration of the same. |
