Long time ago, mankind struggled for the suppressed human rights, but when it was finally declared internationally and was acknowledged by many, seems like the women were left behind.
In the course to the history of fighting for equality, numerous movements existed. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) are some of the foundations of the International Women’s Human Rights. Women were given the right to suffrage, they were given the equal opportunity to education and other paradigm shifts that alleviates the status of women in the society today. In spite of real progress in women’s rights around the globe – better laws, political participation, education and income – the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain. Even in wealthy countries, there are pockets of private pain where women are unprotected and under attack. Some countries, often the poorest and most conflict-ridden, have a level of violence that makes life unbearable for women. Richer ones may burden them with repressive laws, or sweep the problems of the least advantaged under the carpet. In any country, refugee women are among the most vulnerable.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are different status of women in the society on different countries. In the Philippine status quo, women were not really discriminated unlike before, but organizations for the protection of women’s rights like Gabriela, were actively protecting women from violence and any kind of abuse.
But what we do not know are the status of women on other countries. According to the Feminist International, in Afghanistan, more than half of all brides are under 16, and one woman dies in childbirth every half hour. But more than one million widows are on the streets, often forced into prostitution. It is the only country in which the female suicide rate is higher than that of males.
Democratic Republic of Congo, rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them unprecedented. Also in Iraq as The U.S.-led invasion to “liberate” country from Saddam Hussein has imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women and girls. The literacy rate is high.
In Nepal, daughters who aren’t married off may be sold to traffickers before they reach their teens. In Sudan, abduction, rape or forced displacement have destroyed more than 1 million women’s lives since 2003. In Guatemala, the impoverished female underclass faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages.
There are more unbearable scenarios, like in Mali, few women escape the torture of genital mutilation, many are forced into early marriages, and one in 10 dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Such countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia, women are exposed daily to rape, dangerously poor health care for pregnancy, and attack by armed gangs. These are countries where women are trapped in the culture and tradition of their family that keeps them living on a suffocating and dark little box.
Ladies and gentlemen, are women really free? Are women of the 21st century the women we fought for a long time ago: confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty? It may be, but not for everybody. In celebration of the International Women’s Month, we should all know that there were still too many complex factors, often rooted in social and cultural norms, which continue to hinder the ability of women and girls to achieve their potential and benefit from social advances.
Let us all know, that women were not asking for a special treatment in the society, only respect. That simple word that seemed to be very hard to give.
thegirloncelost 