Pain of Afghan suicide women
BBC News Website:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6196716.stm
Gulsoom's story is a heart wrenching one. Married to a 40 year old man at the age of 15, Gulsoom is one of many young ladies in Afghanistan who have been subjected to abuse by their spouses. So much so, it has driven them to suicide. Gulsoom had a husband who accused her of drug abuse, took her to a land faraway from her family and then beat her up when had no money for him to buy heroin. Sick and tired of her miserable life, she sought to end it all by setting herself alight using petrol.
Stories of spousal abuse are not uncommon. They are rampant in both third world countries as well as developed ones. More often than not, the victim is usually the wife. It is indeed sickening to see these innocent women live under constant fear and trepidation. In recent times, several NGOs have even come up with campaigns to raise awareness of spousal abuse. However I must say these campaigns have not succeeded in addressing the root cause of the matter.
Since Adam and Eve, women have always been viewed as the weaker sex. Let me say this is not a stereo-type but a mere fact. Husbands are always regarded as the head of the household, fairy-tales and novels often depict a forlorn lady waiting for her knight in shining armour to rescue her, even influential rulers of nations are mostly men. Need I say more about the power struggle between the two gender?
However not many men have lived up to the standards set for them when this God-bestowed responsibility of taking care of the fairer sex. One does not have to look far to see evidence of negligence and abuse. As a male, I must say it is shameful and appalling to see men who have taken vows before his family and his god break those promises in ways that even Saddam Hussein's torturers would have been proud of.
Going back to those campaigns I was talking about, well these campaigns merely tell people that abuse is bad, a certain group of people will be affected and that women must muster up the courage to report these abuses. Like I said, it does not address the root cause and will be most likely fail. I believe that men must come to realise that they ought to respect the fairer sex. Respect for women must be instilled from the day they are born. People like Gulsoom suffer in such ways because their husbands regard them as slaves, items for pleasure and punching bags when they get angry with anything in life. This ought to change. They certainly don't do things like that to the woman who bore them so why must it happen to their wives. Let's hope all these activists get it. Teach our children to respect the other sex. Not to "struggle against social injustices and fight for gender equality" although it might help in some ways, but after all it will be still "struggling" and "fighting" and how long do we want husbands and wives to be doing that?
Stories of spousal abuse are not uncommon. They are rampant in both third world countries as well as developed ones. More often than not, the victim is usually the wife. It is indeed sickening to see these innocent women live under constant fear and trepidation. In recent times, several NGOs have even come up with campaigns to raise awareness of spousal abuse. However I must say these campaigns have not succeeded in addressing the root cause of the matter.
Since Adam and Eve, women have always been viewed as the weaker sex. Let me say this is not a stereo-type but a mere fact. Husbands are always regarded as the head of the household, fairy-tales and novels often depict a forlorn lady waiting for her knight in shining armour to rescue her, even influential rulers of nations are mostly men. Need I say more about the power struggle between the two gender?
However not many men have lived up to the standards set for them when this God-bestowed responsibility of taking care of the fairer sex. One does not have to look far to see evidence of negligence and abuse. As a male, I must say it is shameful and appalling to see men who have taken vows before his family and his god break those promises in ways that even Saddam Hussein's torturers would have been proud of.
Going back to those campaigns I was talking about, well these campaigns merely tell people that abuse is bad, a certain group of people will be affected and that women must muster up the courage to report these abuses. Like I said, it does not address the root cause and will be most likely fail. I believe that men must come to realise that they ought to respect the fairer sex. Respect for women must be instilled from the day they are born. People like Gulsoom suffer in such ways because their husbands regard them as slaves, items for pleasure and punching bags when they get angry with anything in life. This ought to change. They certainly don't do things like that to the woman who bore them so why must it happen to their wives. Let's hope all these activists get it. Teach our children to respect the other sex. Not to "struggle against social injustices and fight for gender equality" although it might help in some ways, but after all it will be still "struggling" and "fighting" and how long do we want husbands and wives to be doing that?
posted by Clarence Tan @ 9:33 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home