Violence Against Women

Violence in any gesture is pretty terrible. But sometimes it is necessary, and other times it is purely hateful. The attack on a 23 year old woman in Delhi is gaining so much attention that I wonder, what about all of the other girls who were attacked, and what really makes the final straw, the final straw? Not only is this woman's life over (she died recently after days of struggling to live with internal bleeding and many organ transplants) but many other women probably relive their nightmares that have either gone unreported or under-reported by media outlets. The woman of mention boarded a bus in Delhi with her friend and was then beaten and gang raped by 6 men (who used a metal rod at some point to rape her as well) while the bus was moving. All 6 of the men have been arrested, 5 are being officially tried soon, one is 17 and therefore classified as a minor. Prior to her death, many hoped she would survive the massive damage done to her body, including the government which feared riots and more protests if she died. Now that she has, protests have continued, including candle light vigils and violent outbreaks. However, many of these protests are attended mainly by men. This article points out that often, the men are not there to support the women, but rather to support a more paternalistic view of the world, and to claim the need for safety for women, if only by keeping them more hidden and more repressed. Many women shy away from protesting at these events because they will most likely be groped and abused while protesting for women's rights! Other women rush to gun shops to arm themselves, just in case. These attacks remind me of many articles about journalists being attacked in Egypt on camera. We, as a world, need to work toward making these types of attacks unacceptable, not only in the eyes of moral people, but in the eyes of everyone.

Earlier this year, a young girl was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan for being outspoken about education for women, and equal rights for women in Pakistan. This girl (she's only 15) was shot while on her way to school, and has since risen to international fame for her strength and her message. When people fight for their own rights, they are not given their rights, some of them must lose their lives and serve as martyrs to get the news out. This should not be the case, but it is. Hopefully all across the world, people are beginning to realize that these attacks are not acceptable, that the rest of the world will not stand for them.

There is not a day that goes by that I do not wonder what I would do in a situation that these women are exposed to every day. Would I fight back? Would I succumb to the abuse?

All I can say is I hope women continue to fight, I hope that women in India and in Pakistan, and in every place on the Earth stand up for themselves, and that everyone learns to respect us for what we are: fellow humans and equal peers.