We the Women

Have you ever witnessed a “human zoo”, a place where humans, more specifically women are exhibited in lieu of just £4? I know it sounds absurd but it ain’t. Women of the Kayan tribal community in Northern Thailand come under the paraphernalia of such an exhibition, why? well because of their “Long Necks” and hence they are also termed as “Giraffe Women”.

The age old tradition - of winding coil around the neck of a girl till the adulthood is still carried out by the people which happen to become a tourist attraction - has actually sealed the fate of women which compels them not to think about education, housing, full citizenship and, above all, peace.

Darfur women have suffered agony and humiliation for being from the land of the Janjaweed. They have been raped and physically assaulted several times to threaten them and their clan. What a pity the government is siding away from such allegations?

Women, young girls and children are high risk targets in any conflicts and war. Their vulnerability makes them easy targets. They are scarred for life. Their suffering doesn’t end with the end of war, their lives stands totally devastated and mutilated. They are shunned by their community for being victims of rape, and often they have to fend for themselves and their young children. Plan, an international child aid agency has drafted a report, Because I am a Girl , to document atrocities and the affect war and continuing conflicts have on the girls and children.

What is the place of women in the military world especially when it is of the US? A country that boasts of providing equal status to women and men but its sheer shame on the part of the administration that instead of treating women as human beings, they treat them as mere commodities, and are sexually harassed just for the sake of being a part of the regiment and when they try to raise a voice against the rough treatment....they are ostracized, tagged as traitor which further leads to humiliation, and of course battering.

Suzanne Swift, the then twenty one year old Army Specialist, was arrested for showing her reluctance in going back to fight in Iraq. She served in Iraq for a year but decided she won’t return and went AWOL. Not only did she feel the war lacked purpose, Swift said her superiors repeatedly sexually harassed her while serving in Iraq.

With centuries the women has been rated as less important than men in almost all parts of the world. In fact, in some ways women’s responsibilities are to look after household and children. Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits because women who engage in such pursuits might neglect their primary duties as wives and mothers.

Recently, six main religions of the world have been discussed at the World Religion panel. Six panelists have discussed about different religions: Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Paganism and Hinduism. The motive of this conference was to analyze the women’s role in different religious practice. Each panelist gave her view of women’s place in the religion.
While telling about women’s role in Buddhism, Osho tells that ancient Buddhism was dominated by men but many big-time nuns and teachers in Buddhist history were women.

Deborah Core, an English professor and a Roman Catholic tells that women play very prominent role in Christian society. In Hindu religion, all the religious practices used to perform by men. Women role is to support the men. Women should proper care of household and their husbands. But a Hindu mother holds very high place in the religious hierarchy.

Rebecca Adams, former Eastern student and Paganism representative said that in Paganism, some sects of Wicca view women are more important than men. In fact, some Wicca groups are mostly composed of women.

In Jewish society the condition of women is not good. In the religious ceremony, the Jewish women have to sit behind a curtain during services because men could not look at women while they prayed. When women menstruated, they were encouraged to wear a veil and men could not touch them. And if you were raped or spoiled before marriage you will be treated as damaged goods by your family members.

The power of women varies from culture to culture and religion to religion. It is certainly true that in some of these culture women wielded more dignity, respect, and power. So many initiatives have been taken and still more efforts are needed to empower the women.

Via

She hijacked a plane to escape her tumultuous life of kidnappings, abductions, killings and massacres. The guerrilla woman belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said ‘no’ to her life as a rebel. Is it the beginning of the end of the rebellious activities of the FARC operating in the South American nation for the last 40 years?

FARC has been active in Columbia as the oldest guerilla movement, negotiating and deserting the expectations of the opposite side every time they sit on the other side of the table. The activity of this guerilla woman can be seen as a growing disenchantment in the rank and file of the FARC about its way of struggle. The violent activity unleashed by it for the last 40 years failed to bring about any substantial change in the political landscape of Columbia only because of its alleged involvement with narcotic dealers and a rigid hardcore stand on peace efforts.

Often FARC has been accused by the international human rights bodies of compulsory recruitment of people into its guerilla wings. Its alleged involvement in torturing and beheading many cadres disenchanted with its hardcore stand. Three years back, FARC executive leadership ordered for killing of more than 20 of its activists for expressing open disenchantment with its activities. The incident is an exposition that far-Left movements in Latin America are crumbling on the face of coming to power of Left inclined governments with indigenous tags.

As more women, both young and old, were victimized in recent violence worldwide, UN experts are alarmed by the growing number of incidents of battered children and brutally inflicted women that seem to be unresolved.

Recent U.S. report highlighted the barbaric behavior of the most notorious Congolese rebels mutilating the innocent bodies of women and raping some of the minors.

UN crisis expert Kathleen Cravero said, it is about time to be more vigilant in protecting women in all nations against the abusive acts of violence and free them from the bondage of helplessness.

In the so called developed world, the position of women in public sphere remains static and insipid with any issue relating to them considered innocuous. Time and again women are looked upon as mandated individuals ordained only with duties pertaining to the defined territories of their houses and are predominantly seen as stupefied objects of pleasure, use and abuse.

Sexual violence, vulnerability, fear and parochial outlook is what women all over the world are experiencing, whether in their households or at workplace. The situation worsens when a woman leaves her nationality for serving in an insurgency and war afflicted area like Iraq. This situation seems reminiscent of the US women who serve in the Iraq war either as contractors or soldiers in the army. Abuses relating to women are either shoved away, negated and are usually jettisoned. And women raising voice especially against sexual abuse find themselves helpless in face of the obdurate administration of men of the higher authorities.

On 8 March 1908 female garments workers in USA took to the Manhattan streets protesting against gender discrimination demanding equal pay, better working conditions, childcare centers and right to vote. Since then, this day has been looked upon as one of the first mass protests by women right groups and after a hundred years, we need to do some soul searching as to whether the women in today’s world have succeeded in attaining their legal and social rights.

Women have always been given the status of being the secondary gender or referred to as being the weaker or the fairer sex, subjecting them to exploitations in almost all aspects of life. The woman who has been the progenitor of life on earth since its very inception has always been looked down upon by the men. Even in the developed societies where the experts claim exists complete gender equality many cases of gender based bias either in the personal or the professional front has been reported, which absolutely justifies the bias against women in the underdeveloped and developing countries where injustice is predominantly prevalent. These facts are reconfirmed with the study conducted by the UN, the reports of which clearly state that ‘women are discriminated against in almost every country around the world’.