Speak for women

The last quarter of 2012 witnessed the most barbaric and disgraceful human acts. The series of inhuman attack on women, violence against women in the form of sexual harassment, mental torture and physical assault as learnt in and out of the country in the recent past has greatly shaken the entire world. Though these kinds of violence against women are not new in any part of the world, it’s high time to strongly condemn such reprehensible deeds which are tarnishing the glory of human civilization.



Prenatal sex selection, girl trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic labor, husbands beating wives, in-laws torturing for dowry, women burnt alive, eve-teasing, suicide and many more news related to women have become everyday items in the media.[break]



Our social upbringing and our so called decent values and norms blame women instead of all the violence that has been committed against them, and still we keep quiet. The perpetrators on the other hand often escape or are sheltered by the family, community and sometimes, even the authority themselves who should be providing justice to the innocent.



It’s easy to talk about the problem, make it a topic of discussion or add a long preface to it. However, the strong need today arises to uproot the problem right from the grassroots level. The need to talk about its causes and the possible consequences thereby taking precautionary courses of actions must be highlighted.



In many cases, women are also involved in bringing ill to other women and it becomes more important to change the individual’s perception of women. This change that we talk of can only be achieved through awareness and education.



We talk about women’s empowerment, equity and their accessibility in every socio-economic activity. But until and unless we truly embrace women as indispensable associate in human development, all our adorning words simply make no sense. It’s also important that we remember that a woman gives birth to men and we men can’t express the pain that a woman has to suffer when giving life to a newborn.

Due to lack of proper implementation of the existing policies, laws and orders, the severity and outcome of violence perpetrated by men as well as women against other women are taking terrible forms as we all are aware of. The numbness of the society on top is encouraging the ‘doers’ to violently execute their horrendous acts. The deep-rooted problem of violence against women can’t be fully understood unless there’s transformation in understanding, thinking, social norms and values, government protection and prevention laws, to name a few.



As always, for any kind of social transformation, the power of youth has remained undoubtedly instrumental. And now it’s on our shoulder to vow for a respectable life for the coming generation.



The writer is manager at GEMS Events located in Thapathali,

Kathmandu.

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