Today 25th November UN has officially commemorated as the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women.
This year it falls in the same week as two unfortunate incidents are looming large over India.
The #ShraddhaWalker case which brings to light how women get isolated and become victims to heinous crimes in the garb of love.
The other is the #JamaMasjid banning the entry of women into the mosque. The reason cited by the Imam is that the sanctity of the place is under threat as girls don’t come to pray but rather to meet boys or make TikTok videos.
I wonder if the girls come to meet boys, do the boys not come to meet girls? Then why the gender-bias towards girls?
Are women allegedly the sole perpetrators of bringing the sanctity of the place under threat.?
It’s bad enough that most mosques do not allow women entry into at least some portion of the mosque. That may be attributed to some religious practice though in the times of secular India chants,I don’t know how this rolls out with the intelligentsia?
Why is the woman held responsible if the man is also equally responsible? There is a lens with which women are seen by the Imams and the likes as defiling the purity of the place. This attitude reeks of misogyny and a general dislike of women. This mindset is exactly what needs to be eliminated if we must eliminate violence against women.
Jama Masjid is also a place of heritage and cultural interest to people. People from other various countries and faiths also like to visit it. They are not going there to pray necessarily but they still might be extremely respectful of the place.
The Imam saying that women who come to pray are welcome again restricts women who might be going there out of cultural interest.
This is truly sad since woman is the original bearer of man.
The other case which has shaken the whole nation brings to light how vulnerable even an educated girl is in today’s times.
Shraddha was isolated and didn’t reach out for help. Maybe as a society we can make efforts with watchful eyes that see the Shraddha ‘s living around us. Creating a safe space for women to be able to voice their situation and even reach out is the first step. It is the collective responsibility of communities in my view to eliminate violence against women.
The anti domestic violence campaign #BellBajao urges local residents to stand up for women. A simple act of ringing the doorbell by neighbours specially men on some pretext when any suspicious sound is heard that indicates violence needs to be made normal and its memory refreshed.
Violence against women is a stark reality historically and even now.
Here are some ways in which we as a society can help eliminate violence against women:
-Coming down on misogynistic ways of functioning that punish women but not men for doing the same thing.
-Creating a safe space at home, at work and in the community for women who might be in trouble. The #BellBajao campaign is one such awareness campaign that encourages everyone to partake in stopping domestic violence
-Creating local communities which women can reach out to freely.
-Awareness on child abuse
-Awareness about helplines and systems to protect women.
The list of ways can be quite exhaustive. All I can say is everyone is a stakeholder in ensuring women’s safety and in the elimination of violence against women.
Basic awareness and handy information and support can go a long way and the safety of women is everyone’s business.
Lets’s eliminate violent mindsets one thought at a time.
Let everyday be a day to eliminate violence against women.
