Equality for women and girls

Indar Jit, Navua All human beings are born with equal rights. Equality between men and women means healthier, safer and just societies. While men and women are born equal, gender inequality still persists in our society. The deep-rooted belief that women and girls do not deserve equal treatment underpins violence against women and used to deny girls and women fair access to education, health, employment, property and influence.

The failure to root out the prejudice against women and girls is one of the major barriers of progress and prosperity. Gender discrimination also breaches International Human Rights Agreement and Domestic Laws in most countries. We can see signs of progress. Women and girls are breaking out of the barriers which has held them for so long. Gender equality is increasingly understood to be major policy priority of the Government and its realisation is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. In our country, we can see now that many of the women and girls have broken the barriers. They are working from leadership jobs to cashier job in shops and supermarkets. A number of women are working as Ministers, Speaker of Parliament House, in the medical profession, in teaching profession etc. Women and girls are proving that they are no longer dependent and behind the men. It is we mankind to understand that God has created this world. Every human being born is born with equal rights. Discriminating and bringing inequality against our women and girls will harm healthier and safer relationships. Day after day we go along reading that women and girls are becoming the targets of domestic violence, sexual assaults and rape. This sort of news neither reads good nor is it fair for our women and girls. Women and girls should be loved, cared and protected from all wrong doings and evil. We must care for them and treat them equally.