tubahshah07@gmail.com
DR MANZOOR SHAH
manshah7@rediffmail.com
Woman – a unique and complex blend of positive thoughts,strength, determination, selfless love, care and affection – is blessed with the power to nurture,transform and create a balance. Being highly committed and productive, womenare playing key roles in varied sectors of an economy. Hence, giving them equalstatus with men, making them educated and empowered becomes essential for theadvancement of a society. The focus of modern societies, therefore, has shiftedfrom equipping women for their traditional roles (of homemakers, mothers,daughters, sisters and wives) to knowing their worth as mompreneurs, producers,partners, partakers, planners and others, thus making a major contribution tothe family income and welfare, in particular and human progress, in general.But, since ages, womankind across the globe has been fighting for their rightto speech, to equality, to education and most importantly for their right tofreedom.
This being so, every year 8th March is celebrated as theInternational Women’s Day. The occasion marks numerous events that areorganized worldwide showing respect, love and care towards women and girls. Onthis day, their achievements and contributions in diverse fields are assessed,acknowledged and appreciated. At the same time, this day is a reminder of thediscrimination and inequality that is still prominent and continues to plaguesocieties. The occasion which is not country, group or organization specific,but belongs to all groups collectively everywhere, gives voice to the muzzledvoices and the unnoticed tears.
To embrace this day, the current trend of sending happywomen’s day messages, gifting presents or greeting cards, exchanging flowers orbouquets and giving chocolates or rosettes is believed to be the ideal way toexpress love and gratitude for women. But, what if we identify the rights andpower of the womenfolk, celebrate their achievements, give them a stature thatthey deserve and act in the ongoing fight for gender equality?
It is a proven truth that the efforts which a woman puts infor her progress together with the progress of people associated with her areimmeasurable. Indubitably, numerous women around the world hold some keypositions at different levels-be it social, economic, political or educational-who have played or are playing an extraordinary role in the history of theirrespective countries and communities. They are becoming the role models andinspiration for all of us. But instead of recognizing and appreciating theirincredible contributions in our lives, it is distressing that women continue tobe undermined; they work more but earn less and have fewer choices. They arethe victims of many injuries, experience multiple forms of violence in privateand public spheres and parity is far from obtained. While a lot of noise isgenerated, there is very little light thrown on the women’s sufferings, theirconcerns and the social/economic costs of discrimination. As such, the mostimportant thing which needs to be done is to bridge this gender gap. Towardsthis end, much has been done and much more remains to be done.
Pertinently, all religions preach gender equity andemphasize the fact that no one is superior to the other as a gender. Ourreligion, Islam, has given women special status in society and regards them asprecious creation worthy of reverence, respect and honour. Therefore, givingwomen equal opportunities with men and empowering them is necessary forbringing gender equality. Women too should understand their status andincredibility of their power. They must know that there is no stance in whichwomen are less in comparison to men as both contribute equally to thebetterment of a society. In order to appreciate the gender equity, the firststep in this direction, therefore, should be that people must change theirmindset, attitude and their indifference towards the subject. But, as ill luckwould have it, those who speak about gender equality are modern by way of theirlifestyle only and not by way of their thoughts and ideas.
With a view to reinstate the status to women, understand andeliminate discrimination against them, the United Nations General Assemblydeclared 1975 as the International Year of Women, thus bringing about a renewalof interest in their status and development. Also the four InternationalWomen’s Conferences organized–at Mexico in 1975, at Copenhagen in 1980, atNairobi in 1985 and at Beijing in 1995 followed by a series of five-yearreviews– stressed the need for active women participation in all spheres oflife and improvement of their issues. In his message Antonio Guterres–thepresent UN Secretary General–on International Women’s Day last year rightlysaid, “Let’s make sure that women and girls can shape the policies, servicesand infrastructure that impact all our lives. And let’s support women and girlswho are breaking down barriers to create a better world for everyone”.
Despite such laudable efforts, it is a sorry state ofaffairs that a good majority of women, especially in the developing societies,are not aware of the benefits conferred on them. However, it is gratifying thatmany communities have taken significant steps to advance women’s rights andempowerment. New laws, initiatives and campaigns are helping to curbdiscrimination and violence against women and girls. Consequently, momentum hasbeen gathering that demands gender equality and push for equal representationof women in all domains of life as equal partners with men and also inachieving educational progress and access to knowledge. Removing barriers thathave traditionally inhibited women empowerment is expected to go a long way inbringing transparency, accountability, efficiency, effective governance andimproved performance in all human activities to a larger extent.
In this part of the world, people have started recognizingthe role of women in different walks of life. Today, there seems muchacceptance of their energies, capacities, intelligence, talents, creativity,skills and potentials which were otherwise privileges of men only. There is nodenying the fact that our present female generation is blessed with ampleknowledge, more exposure, higher confidence and analytical bent of mind. Theyaim to use their talent to the fullest. However, a recent survey about genderequality paints a grim picture. A sizeable number of women and girls have beenaffected more by poverty, lack of opportunities and facilities owing to theinnate discrimination prevalent in our society. It revealed disparity, shrewdnessand violence against the female gender. Harassment at workplaces and belittlingby male colleagues has also been reported. Some respondents were in a state ofanger and talked about taking action at societal level which would somehow helpin alleviating this menace. This is something we, as a society, need to getvery serious about. Notably, the survey predicts that if our women areempowered and given an equal status with their male counterparts, their activeparticipation in several socio-economic activities would certainly lead toprosperity and stability in community. Hence, a gender-balanced society isnecessary where every single individual has a part to play, with collectiveefforts of all who care about human rights. Though it is the foremost duty ofall those working in the name of women empowerment, gender equality andfeminism to safeguard the rights and interests of women and grant them dueliberty in pursuing their daily affairs, women too on their part must strictlyadhere to ethical standards, follow moral code of conduct and protect theirhonour/chastity at any cost while performing their routine duties inside oraway from their homes. Instead of entering into a needless debate, what isrequired is to educate and sensitize the members of our community and takenecessary steps towards creating awareness about gender issues. Keeping in viewthe sensitivity of the matter, this exercise is necessary to assuage the doubtsand anxieties leading to utter confusion and dismay among people.
Gender equality is essential for societies and communitiesto blossom. Collectively but ethically, we ought to show understanding towardsmatters related to gender issues. We must put our heads together, scale theproblem successfully and thwart any attempt to present an alarmist situation inthe name of women issues or gender equality. Once we comprehend the costs andconsequences of discrimination against women and girls, only then we would beable to lessen their woes. This rational approach would certainly help us inachieving the theme for the Year 2020: “An Equal World is an Enabled World”,which is drawn from a notion of ‘Collective Individualism’. Most importantly,we all are parts of the whole. Individually, we are all responsible for our ownthoughts and actions. But collectively, our activities, conversations,behaviours and mindsets can have an impact on the larger society. As such,together we all can play a part and make change happen. The race is on for aGender Equal Workplace, Gender Equal Government……Gender Equal World. Surely,each one of us can help to create a Gender Equal World. So let us join handsand make it happen. We all can choose to be #EachforEqual.
Tubah Shah is Masters in English Literature and Dr ManzoorShah a Former Commerce Teacher.