Equal Rights to Women - a long way to go
I am shocked and disturbed. A UN report published last week says more than half of working women lack even basic legal protection on the job. It is sad to notice that even today, millions of women still have no access to justice. Women all over the world have come a long way but they still have a long way to go. Ms. Michelle Bachelet, executive director of U.N. Women, the first global agency for gender equality and women empowerment, said that even when the laws to provide equal justice exist, the implementation and enforcement of those laws can be poor, even in the most progressive countries. For example, in India and several countries in Asia, there are many progressive laws that protect women. However the implementation of these laws and the policies is in the hands of men.
In many countries around the world, women have been paid routinely less than men despite the minimum wage law or despite working in the exact same job. For example in Thailand, many social benefits provided by the government are made clear that only household heads need to apply. By the way household means men - and they a clearly spelled out in practice. When women apply for the benefits, they are made to go through huge amount of paperwork, and are often rejected.
In some Middle Eastern countries, women are still inadequately protected and do not enjoy the same status as men. Divorce laws and other opportunities in business still favors the men. Especially in Saudi Arabia, women still live in a terror-stricken system. With all the economic advancement and high-tech skyscrapers, Saudi Women are still not allowed to drive cars or not permitted to to ride with men in the elevators. Nor they are allowed to leave the country or walk on the streets without the permission of a male guardian.
But the Saudi King recently made one concession for women. Finally after many decades, he recently issued a decree limiting work in lingerie shops to Saudi women only. Saudi women have long complained they feel uncomfortable having to buy lingerie from men.
Speaking of violence against women, the UN report says that the rate at which rape and sexual violence cases are reported remains low across the world. In 57 countries, 1 in 10 women say they have been victims of sexual aggression, but only 11 percent of those women go to the police. Even in Europe, only 14 percent of reported rapes ended in a conviction. Laura Turquet, who wrote the report says that women are three times more likely to report a robbery than sexual assault.
The authorities are making it difficult for the victims to come forward and report any sexual violence against women. In Cambodia, for example, bringing a rape charge to the courts involve medical test that costs equivalent of two week’s wages.
Domestic violence against women is also one of the ugliest legacies of Asian history and is a growing concern to many Asian women leaders. The statistics on domestic violence is frightening. It crosses all boundaries of race, color and class. According to New Internationalist, it is the major cause of ill health for women between 16 and 44 in Europe – more common than cancer or traffic accidents. In the U.S, a woman is beaten every 18 minutes. In Peru, 70 percent of all crimes reported to the police involve women beaten by their husbands. In Russia, one woman in five is regularly beaten by her partner. In South Africa, which has the highest incidence of reported rape in any country, it is estimated that a woman is raped every 26 seconds and a child every 15 minutes. Rape in South Africa has reached epidemic proportions, with poor women in areas such as Soweto bearing the brunt of the violence.
Violence against motherhood is a continuing sign of gender inequality. Some women activists predict that this problem will escalate in the early part of this century as men lose their traditional role as heads of the family. The problem of domestic violence cuts across all cultures and nationalities in the world and there is no sign that it will come to an end in the near future. However, activist groups and non-governmental organizations believe that a key factor in changing society’s attitude will be to educate the new generation of leaders. Men in power - including all men - have an inescapable duty to promote the equality of women. They must work hard to create a better environment and a just society to make this happen. Scriptures of the Baha’i Faith emphatically state that women will be the greatest force in establishing universal peace and international arbitration.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i Faith of the United States in one of their statements said, “The elimination of discrimination against women is a spiritual and moral imperative that must ultimately reshape existing legal, economic, and social arrangements. Promoting the entry of greater numbers of women into positions of prominence and authority is a necessary, but not sufficient, step in creating a just social order. Without fundamental changes in the attitudes and values of individuals and in the underlying ethos of social institutions, full equality between women and men cannot be achieved. A community based on partnership, a community in which aggression and the use of force are supplanted by cooperation and consultation, requires the transformation of the human heart. The presumption of superiority by men thwarts the ambition of women and inhibits the creation of an environment in which equality may reign. The destructive effects of inequality prevent men from maturing and developing the qualities necessary to meet the challenges of the new millennium.”
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