It is the story of those women who witness their children die while fleeing wars, or are kidnapped to sell their organs, or recruited as child soldiers.
It is the story of those women who fall prey to human traffickers and are sold as sexual slaves. (The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that women and girls comprise 71 per cent of human trafficking victims.)
And it is the story of those women and girls who become victims of abhorrent violence by their male relatives; whose rights as workers are routinely abused by their employers, and are even killed by their partners. (In some countries, up to 7 in 10 women will be beaten, raped, abused or mutilated in their lifetimes, according to UN Women).
It is the story of millions of young girls who are forced into inhumane early marriage and pregnancy; of those who are subjected to female genital mutilation. (The UN recognises this practice as a human rights violation, torture and an extreme form of violence–Female genital mutilation denies women and girls their dignity and causes needless pain and suffering, with consequences that endure for a lifetime and can even be fatal, reminds the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.)
“We envisage a world where all women and girls have equal opportunities and rights by 2030. Step It Up asks governments to make national commitments that will close the gender equality gap – from laws and policies to national action plans and adequate investment. NOW is the time to Step It Up!” Credit: UN Women.
Africa and the Arab region are among those areas where FGM is commonly practised. (The African Union concludes that it is an excruciatingly painful practice that violates basic human rights).
Its impact on young girls and women is multi-faceted and touches various aspects of their lives, including their physical, psychological and social well-being, with scars lingering on for the rest of their lives.
It is the story of millions of girls who have no access to education, and when they have it, most of them flee school because of the lack of sanitary services. (A study by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) covering the years spanning 2009 to 2014 reports thousands of attacks against schools in at least 70 different countries, many of which were targeted for advocating girls’ education.)
It is the story of nearly two-thirds of world’s inhabitants who suffer from lack of proper access to reproductive and maternity health care services. (The UN Population Fund stresses that universal access to reproductive health affects and is affected by many aspects of life. It involves individuals’ most intimate relationships, including negotiation and decision-making within these relationships, and interactions with health providers regarding contraceptive methods and options.)
It is also the story of very young girls who are abducted by terror groups to brutally satiate their sexual appetites and blackmailing, such as has been the case of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
And it is the story of those indigenous women who care for whatever remains of their lands, which guard 80 per cent of world’s biodiversity, but whose rights and ancestral knowledge are ignored and even disdained.
It is the story of those women farmers who produce up to 80 per cent of food but have no right to own their land, to agricultural inputs, resources or small credits.
And of those millions of domestic workers whose rights were lately acknowledged – though not sufficiently applied.
And it is the story of a flagrant growing inequality. (OXFAM estimates that, at current trend, it will take women 170 years to be paid the same as men are…Let alone the fact that half of world’s health is in the pockets of just eight individuals—all of them men).
This year’s International Women’s Day will be marked on March 8 under the theme “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50by 2030”.
The United Nations says that it will be “a time to reflect on progress made, to consider how to accelerate the 2030 Agenda, building momentum for the effective implementation of the long awaited goals of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.”
Credit: International Women’s Day 2017
The world body has set some key targets of that 2030 Agenda:
• By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes.
• By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
• End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
• Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
• Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
The United Nations also notes that the world of work is changing, with significant implications for women.
“We have globalisation, technological and digital revolution and the opportunities they bring, and on the other hand, the growing informality of labour, unstable livelihoods and incomes, new fiscal and trade policies and environmental impacts—all of which must be addressed in the context of women’s economic empowerment.”
All these words and good wishes sound great.
Yet International Women’s Day will represent, above all, another slap in the face of humankind who is still unable (unwilling?) to duly, effectively honour those who gave them life.
Recent related articles in Human Wrongs Watch:
Seven Scaring Facts About Widening Gender Gap
Huge Health Needs for World’s One Billion Migrants
‘The World Needs Science and Science Needs Women’ – UNESCO
‘World Must Implement Pledges on Women’s Human Rights’
Burma: Security Forces Raped Rohingya Women, Girls – Human Rights Watch
7 in 10 Victims of Human Trafficking Are Women and Girls
Saudi Arabia Urged to Use Economic Plan to Bolster Women’s Right
Inequality (II): “It Will Take 170 Years for Women to Be Paid as Men Are”
150 Million Migrant Workers World-Wide – 66.6 Million Are Women
More articles by Baher Kamal in Human Wrongs Watch:
Antarctic Ice Lowest Ever – Asia at High Risk – Africa Drying Up
UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic
Of Arabs and Muslims and the Big Ban
Every Year 700 Million People Fall Ill from Contaminated Food
A Dire Vacuum in a World in Crisis
Indigenous Peoples Lands Guard 80 Per Cent of World’s Biodiversity
World’s 40,000 MP’s Must Enjoy Their Rights – But Are They?
Want to Prevent Stroke, Diabetes, Cancer? Get Moving… Now!
Trump to Pull Out of the UN, Expel It from the US?
Inequality (III): Less Employment… and More ‘Junk’ Jobs
Inequality (II): “It Will Take 170 Years for Women to Be Paid as Men Are”
Inequality (I): Half of World’s Wealth, in the Pockets of Just Eight Men
Poor Darwin – Robots, Not Nature, Now Make the Selection
When Your Healers Become Your Killers
Is Cash Aid to the Poor Wasted on Tobacco and Alcohol?
Poor Darwin – Robots, Not Nature, Now Make the Selection
When Your Healers Become Your Killers
Is Cash Aid to the Poor Wasted on Tobacco and Alcohol?
“Bonn Has Become an Insider Tip on the International Stage”
Battle of the Desert (and III): The Silk Road
Battle of the Desert (II): A ‘Great Green Wall for Africa’
Battle of the Desert (I): To Fight or to Flee?
Children of the ‘Others’, Sons of Minor Gods
World to Cut Gas Emissions by 25 Percent More Than Paris Agreement
Toxic Air – The ‘Invisible Killer’ that Stifles 300 Million Children
Climate Doomsday – Another Step Closer
What Happens When a Small Farmer Migrates?
‘The Earth Is Not Flat; It Is Urban’
Take a Deep Breath?… But 9 in 10 People Live with Excessive Air Pollution!
Believe It or Not, Pulses Reduce Gas Emissions!
Ships Bring Your Coffee, Snack and TV Set, But Also Pests and Diseases
One Humanity? Millions of Children Tortured, Smuggled, Abused, Enslaved…
Arable Lands Lost at Unprecedented Rate: 33,000 Hectares… a Day!
War on Climate Terror (II): Fleeing Disasters, Escaping Drought, Migrating
War on Climate Terror (I): Deserts Bury Two Thirds of African Lands
African Farmers Can Feed the World, If Only…
Climate Victims – Every Second, One Person Is Displaced by Disaster
400 Million People Live with Hepatitis But They Do Not Know
Rights of Indigenous Peoples ‘Critical’ to Combat Climate Change
Forests: To Farm or Not to Farm? That’s the Question!
‘Monster’ El Niño Subsides, ‘Monster’ La Niña Hitting Soon
‘Modern World Is Chaotic, Confused; Human Security a Must’
Xenophobic Rhetoric, Now Socially and Politically ‘Acceptable’ ?
‘Hate Is Mainstreamed, Walls Are Back, Suspicion Kills’
What If Turkey Drops Its “Human Bomb” on Europe?
Humanitarian Aid – Business As Unusual?
World Oceans Day – A Death Sea Called Mediterranean
The Humanitarian Clock Is Ticking, The Powerful Feign Deafness
Humanitarian Summit, The Big Fiasco
Humanitarian Summit: Too Big to Fail?
Humanitarian Summit Aims to Mobilise Up to 30 Billion Dollars
Africa, Resolved to Address African Problems With African Solutions
‘We Cannot Keep Jumping from Crisis to Crisis’
‘Human Suffering Has Reached Staggering Levels’
Now 1 in 2 World’s Refugees Live in Urban Areas
Middle East – The Mother of All Humanitarian Crises
Mideast: 1 in 3 Pays Bribe to Access Basic Public Services
Climate: Africa’s Human Existence at Severe Risk
No Water in the Kingdom of the Two Seas – Nor Elsewhere
Will the Middle East Become ‘Uninhabitable’?
Can an Animal Heist Fable Help Solve the Middle East Crisis?
A “Colombian Triangle” for Daesh in Libya?
‘Take My Iraqis and Give Me Some Syrians’ – Europe to Turkey
New Nuclear Hysteria in the Middle East
Africa Launches Largest Trading Block with 620 Million Consumers
Big War Lords Playing Brinkmanship Game in Syria
Cameron at large: Want Not to Become a Terrorist? Speak Fluent English!
Women’s Rights First – African Summit
Africa, Only If It Bleeds It Leads?
Seven Top Challenges Facing African Women
Once Auctioned, What to Do with the ‘Stock’ of Syrian Refugees?
Silence, Please! A New Middle East Is in the Making
The Over-Written, Under-Reported Middle East (II): 99.5 Years of (Imposed) Solitude
The Over-Written, Under-Reported Middle East (I): Of Arabs and Muslims
Egypt in the Rear Mirror (I): The Irresistible Temptation to Analyse What One Ignores
Egypt in the Rear Mirror (II): Who Are the Not-So-Invisible Powers Behind the Troglodytes?
Fed Up With Empty Promises, The Arabs May Abandon Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Anti-Nukes Move from Norway to Bahrain
Middle East Nuclear Free Bid Moves to Finland – Yet Another Lost Chance?
Annual Spending on Nuclear Weapons, Equivalent To UN Budget For 45 Years
Watch The Sky–It May Rain Atomic Bombs
Save The Planet? Just Eat Cars, Drink Fuel!
Who Is Afraid of 300 Or 400 Or 500 Million Miserables?
Violence And Death For Millions Of Life-Givers
Whither Egypt (I) – Did You Say Dictatorship?
Whither Egypt (II) – Economic Bankruptcy
Politicians Promote Fossil Fuels with Half a Trillion Dollars a Year
Who Dares to Challenge a 32 Billion Dollars Business – Human Trafficking?
Palestine: Yet Another One Hundred Years of Solitude
Does Anyone Know Anything About A New Country Called South Sudan?
South Sudan: Yet Another Kitchen-Garden?
Somalia? Which Somalia? Some Facts About Everybody’s — Nobody’s Land
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