PLIGHT OF WOMEN CONTINUES UNABATED

Sir,

The largest rights violations that still seem to elude the most change for the good is the equality of rights for women and children. We read of how women and children are beaten, burned alive as a form of ‘love’, sometimes by their loved ones. Girls are raped by family members and strangers; they suffer female infanticide, forced to abort and are killed in every possible form because they were born female. We believe a man should love and respect his wife, children and other women as he would himself. Initiatives must be made to put forth a greater effort to change how women in general have been treated in our unforgettable recent past of pain and suffering.

Damage

However, the most damage is being done by the unethical values based on different elements such as cultural norms and other beliefs which are overriding the laws put down to protect human rights. Even though the SODV Act attempts to protect all genders, including women and girls from gender violations, the violations continue to be practiced. Even after the conflicts there are also the continuing forms of abuse against women and children’s rights with the killing of women and children, as we have witnessed in the recent past.

Evil actions and the numerous violations of women and children’s rights can only be countered and balanced by initiatives for the good of women. When they reach the bottom and worst of their oppression, their false punishments, unjustified persecutions and their violated rights, there will be nowhere to go but up into the light.

Faiths

As followers of our faiths, we have, as men and women, been born to know and live in harmony to fulfil our godly duty to the best of our ability. This duty is to take initiatives when others cannot, to take hold of our ploughs and our seeds, and direct them at the rich earth from which they will grow the minds of tomorrow’s harvest.

As men, we should believe that by building a community for women to be seen, heard and belong, they are given something bigger than themselves to stand for and create a healthier and more powerful society. Men should be in the forefront in helping the emotional, mental and physical well-being of women both individually and as a gender. Are women becoming empowered in ‘safe spaces’; if so, what are they becoming empowered to do?
Women and children’s rights empowerment are often credited as an important aim of international development policies, and many donor agencies include women’s empowerment in their development strategies; although empowerment is often conceptualised as a process. And most quantitative studies have been cross-sectional, comparing individual women with others in their communities.

We must practice the ethical values of our faiths by helping others in need with good deeds, small or large. When we take on the task of helping those less fortunate than us in poor poverty stricken societies, we must help them in a way that they can help themselves. They must learn their rights, how to defend themselves, teach to properly deliver their children into the world and raise them to respect others. As people, born and raised into freedom and equality, it is our sacred duty to see to it that the gift of freedom and rights are given to those who have been denied such liberties by their fellow countrymen.

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