Showkat Jan
World Woman’s Day is not any other day. The day evokes various reactions when we celebrate it. Most people clamor for the change in the mindset of the people when it comes to gender issues. There are others who denigrate women on the day itself. To them, 8 March equals the rest of 364 days of the year. The day will see rapes, abuse, murders and all sorts of violence against women. The day will simply turn out to be 8, a digit that keeps getting multiplied when it comes to violence against women.
It has been estimated that 65 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical violence or sexual violence by intimate partners or by non-partners in their lives. And there are others who haven’t faced it.
Oh, does it really mean they have not faced it? It has been recorded that globally half among the victims were killed by intimate partners or family members.
Today is the day when about 750 million girls below the age of 18 will be married off. This figure looks huge but this is what United Nations has recorded. As per UN records around 250 million women and girls undergo genital mutilation in 30 countries every year. According to an estimate of UN, 200 million girls face violence in schools. One out of every four girls says that she never feels comfortable when she uses school washrooms.
All these figures like 200, 250, one out of four are part of our consciousness all around 365 days. Are you even aware about the consequences? How does it affect the reproductive health condition of women? How does it impact their mental health? People are usually and generally concerned with their honor and dignity rather than their reproductive and mental health.
On woman’s day we honor the women who speak up and give courage to those whose voices go unheard and their tears unseen. Who is responsible for these tears and shattered voices? Did we ever try to take notice of their sufferings? Of course we men are responsible for all this grief and have not put any step forward against these brutal crimes.
On 8 March women across the globe receive gifts, greeting cards and blessings. Many people think it is the only way to express love and gratitude for women. But the true essence of the women’s day is to raise our voice against crimes against women. In present times, there are millions of women around the world who are deprived of their rights, either they are speechless or struggling for basic rights. The sole aim of the woman’s day celebration should be to recognize distress of women in our societies. We should treat them equal to men in all spheres of life; otherwise there is no need to celebrate “World Woman’s Day”.
On this woman’s day let us come forward and fight against gender inequality and discrimination against women. That would be our most precious gift to them.
However, to end this violence cycle against women is to prevent them from grass root level by addressing to problems. Now the question here is that how to prevent it? By educating young girls and boys, promoting respectful relationships and gender equality will help us to address these problems.
