Empowering Women...
Women Empowerment! Such well known terminology in today's world. Each one of us may have been a part of discussion on this topic at one point or another. So, what do you think, are the women really empowered? What steps should we take for this empowerment? Is discussing the topic with peers over a cup of coffee enough? Is only government responsible for coming up with the schemes and policies to support this cause? Would that be enough? Can we as an individual do something that can support it?
Too many questions, isn't it? And each of the above question can have different set of answers depending on the person's point of view. Government is doing great work for the cause; but, I feel that the Government initiatives aren't enough. And it's not that I doubt the potential of the great minds working behind the scenes to come up with the initiative. They are doing great work. But, we live in a democratic country (fortunately or unfortunately is at times a debatable question.), and till the people (society) don't change, we won't be able to see the paradigm shift in the empowerment process.
Even after so many initiatives, we still have cases of rape. (And, please! it has nothing to do with the clothes the girl wears, or the skin color she has, neither does it depend on the age of the victim. If you have a different stand on this, refer the the cases of rape in our country). Furthermore, do we (as society) accept the victim? Do we allow her (forget about empowering) to go back to her normal life? If we listen to the interviews of some of the 'bravehearts' who dared to go against the so called society norms, we will get our answer for sure (the answer that we don't want to accept as truth since we are too scared to accept bitter reality of the society). So, where is the empowerment?
Thanks to various initiatives taken by various components of our society and government, now girl feticide has become difficult, but has not stopped. Education opportunities for girls have now opened up and society is (kind of) accepting it. But, what next? When she wishes to work, chances are that she first faces opposition from family in the name of marriage, family, and many more other excuses. And then if she starts working, chances of facing sexual harassment at workplace cannot be neglected. And then, we all talk about women empowerment. Amazing, isn't it?
Even if the woman is housewife, doesn't step out of the house, do you think she is safe? If the answer is yes, think again! Are we forgetting another burning issue of the hour... domestic violence!!! Essentially woman is not safe even in her own home. (And did we answer "yes" when I asked are the women really empowered? Think again.)
With these facts at hand, I fail to understand, why were girls always told and made to believe (since childhood) that they need fathers, brothers, husband to protect them. At times, woman needs to be protected from her so-called 'protectors'. I am not generalizing things here.
I agree that our father, brother, husband protect us many times. But, dear ladies, here we need to understand that however strong our protector is, they can't be with us 24x7 and we need to stand for ourselves. And our dear well-wishers and protectors, I request you to change your role a little, instead of protecting us, help us becoming strong - mentally, physically, emotionally, and economically. Stand by us and assure us that you are there to support us even when whole world would be against us, but let us fight our own battle! (Don't stop us by saying you are a girl, you can't do this).
Seeing at current conditions, learning self-defense techniques is must for all girls (independent of the age factor). Let your daughter, sister, wife learn to protect herself, you just be at her side! Let the girl child get highest education possible, Let the woman choose her career, let her set her vision. Free her from all the chains and let her dream. And then let her carve her path to success and let her fly. And this would be the real empowerment and this would be actual contribution to the cause.
Too many questions, isn't it? And each of the above question can have different set of answers depending on the person's point of view. Government is doing great work for the cause; but, I feel that the Government initiatives aren't enough. And it's not that I doubt the potential of the great minds working behind the scenes to come up with the initiative. They are doing great work. But, we live in a democratic country (fortunately or unfortunately is at times a debatable question.), and till the people (society) don't change, we won't be able to see the paradigm shift in the empowerment process.
Even after so many initiatives, we still have cases of rape. (And, please! it has nothing to do with the clothes the girl wears, or the skin color she has, neither does it depend on the age of the victim. If you have a different stand on this, refer the the cases of rape in our country). Furthermore, do we (as society) accept the victim? Do we allow her (forget about empowering) to go back to her normal life? If we listen to the interviews of some of the 'bravehearts' who dared to go against the so called society norms, we will get our answer for sure (the answer that we don't want to accept as truth since we are too scared to accept bitter reality of the society). So, where is the empowerment?
Thanks to various initiatives taken by various components of our society and government, now girl feticide has become difficult, but has not stopped. Education opportunities for girls have now opened up and society is (kind of) accepting it. But, what next? When she wishes to work, chances are that she first faces opposition from family in the name of marriage, family, and many more other excuses. And then if she starts working, chances of facing sexual harassment at workplace cannot be neglected. And then, we all talk about women empowerment. Amazing, isn't it?
Even if the woman is housewife, doesn't step out of the house, do you think she is safe? If the answer is yes, think again! Are we forgetting another burning issue of the hour... domestic violence!!! Essentially woman is not safe even in her own home. (And did we answer "yes" when I asked are the women really empowered? Think again.)
With these facts at hand, I fail to understand, why were girls always told and made to believe (since childhood) that they need fathers, brothers, husband to protect them. At times, woman needs to be protected from her so-called 'protectors'. I am not generalizing things here.
I agree that our father, brother, husband protect us many times. But, dear ladies, here we need to understand that however strong our protector is, they can't be with us 24x7 and we need to stand for ourselves. And our dear well-wishers and protectors, I request you to change your role a little, instead of protecting us, help us becoming strong - mentally, physically, emotionally, and economically. Stand by us and assure us that you are there to support us even when whole world would be against us, but let us fight our own battle! (Don't stop us by saying you are a girl, you can't do this).
Seeing at current conditions, learning self-defense techniques is must for all girls (independent of the age factor). Let your daughter, sister, wife learn to protect herself, you just be at her side! Let the girl child get highest education possible, Let the woman choose her career, let her set her vision. Free her from all the chains and let her dream. And then let her carve her path to success and let her fly. And this would be the real empowerment and this would be actual contribution to the cause.
तोड़ दो सारी जंजीरे मेरे पग की,
मिटा दो सब आशंकाए मन की,
जग बद्दल ने का सामर्थ्य दिखदूँगी,
बस दो कदम से कदम मिलाकर चलने की आज़ादी |
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