One in three women experience violence in her lifetime – Don’t let it be someone you know
The last year saw some of the worst violence being perpetrated against women. In December 2014, a young girl, Tugce Albayrak was killed for defending two girls from being harassed in Germany. In Kolkata, India a teenage girl who defied a village court order was found raped and murdered for dishonouring the court diktat in September, 2014. This February in Turkey, Ozgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old student was stabbed, dismembered and burnt to death as she attempted to resist her rapist.
At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her. Violence against women is so widely perpetrated, it has become almost normal to hear of these stories and we have become desensitized to them. Every day we hear of cases of rape, assault, domestic violence and battery- they have become daily crimes, similar to theft and vandalism. We must question however, why, if half the world’s
AT LEAST ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD HAS BEEN BEATEN, COERCED INTO SEX, OR OTHERWISE ABUSED IN HER LIFETIME WITH THE ABUSER USUALLY SOMEONE KNOWN TO HER
population is being targeted and at risk every single day, violence against women still persists?
As people, we have progressed in leaps and bounds. We have inventions using the latest technology, we have in many societies, become more liberal and accepting of other races and religions and even seen women break through that infamous ‘glass ceiling’. However, one thing that has continued at a linear pace has been the attitude towards women. In most societies, developed or underdeveloped, rich or poor, black or white, women are still expected to be docile and subservient.
According to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, “violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women” and “violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men.”
We teach our boys to be ‘men’- strong, independent and full of pride, while we teach our girls to be kind, quiet, submissive and good. So what happens when one of these boys so full of pride, so full of his ego and determined not to be weak, to live up to what society expects of him, is rejected by a girl?
In 2012, the world was rocked by the Delhi rape case in 2015 one of the five accused rapists was quoted saying, “When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape.” If we live in a world where we turn a blind eye and without educating our boys, we allow them to exert their power over women under the guise of being the strong and dominant sex, then, how can we also expect to live in a world where we want our daughters to be safe? Violence against women is an issue of pandemic proportions. Half of the world’s population, irrespective of age, creed, colour or class, is at risk every single day - for the simple reason that they were born as females. While women are at risk, violence against women is not a women’s issue. It is not a problem that should be taken up by women’s activists, feminists and female leaders. Violence against women is a global issue. It is everyone’s problem and can only be overcome and put to an end when women and men work together.
Everyday someone’s mother, daughter or sister experiences violence just for being a woman – don’t let it be yours. The need of the hour is to work together to bring to an end this appalling situation and make the world safer for women. This should be our resolution, not just today, when we mark the International Women’s Day, but every day, till women can live without that fear.