Women are considered as a special class of population who always should be blessed with austerity and mitigation. Biased and honour-based patriarchy accelerates male dominancy over females in important domestic, social and religious affairs.Women’s role is always misinterpreted and underestimated to be effectively dealt as aiding to male. Let me unfurl with reference, several cases are recorded on media of women harassment and honour killing in our society. I, myself witnessed a woman being killed in the name of honour, while the man involved with her was set free to live. The woman left a child of only one day behind while the man revived his life again and married. In fact, the society observed the two with hypocrisy and cruelty-based patriarchy. Everywhere, female is considered a compromise-machine, repentant, worth of punishment and advertisement for beauty products. Why?
While marching on 8 March, International Women day, women from various walks of life, were clamouring against hypocrisy of society towards them. As usual, a diverse opinion came on front. The community, contradicted Aurat march, made grievances of writings on placards and banners, grasped by participants females and males. But dissenters of the protest did not debate on norms and standards violated by man. Let’s forget those placards and banners for a while and let the women address the issues. So, the core issues, are education, child marriage, forced marriage, lack of health facilities, harassments in public places and deprivation of property.
Economically and politically stable women can stand against any illegitimate customs imposed by the society
For the sake of portraying, a single opinion, I divided women rights into two schemes, namely respect rights and economic rights. Like men, women also expect respect. No sensible person can deny respect given to be other. Direct gazing and staring on women, simply means no respect for them.The people who got furious on the placards, should assure that the same way women get furious when they face violation of respect. Majority of participants stressed on the respect rights, while neglecting to much extent, the economic rights.
Economic rights related to women’s property share, dowry, entrepreneurship and job. In most of the rural areas of Pakistan, women are divested from property share, to be inherited from parents, mainly due to illiteracy. This problem can be eradicated by education. Concerning jobs, women are hereby working in different walks of life. To enhance jobs, first education, both in number and quality, must be improved.
Women’s involvement in entrepreneurship is significantly low. Business is closely related to leadership. Women, through leaderships and entrepreneurship, can hit patriarchy and society’s hypocrisy. It really matters how women politician, students, entrepreneurs and feminists can enhance their leadership in mainstream politics, education and business. Economically and politically stable women can stand against any illegitimate customs imposed by the society.
The writer is an activist
Published in Daily Times, March 20th 2019.