WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR WHAT IS OURS!

Dear Michelle Bachelet,

As a kid my friend never regretted being a girl instead she was proud of being one. Growing up with her brothers and cousin brothers she somehow ended being more tomboyish than a girlie girl. She was very good in studies, got a good job after finishing her studies. In fact she did everything as she was expected to. She out did her brothers who always did what they wanted.

Things would have gone on well had she continued to do so that as she was supposed to do. The day she decided to have a mind of her own everyone/everything turned against her. How could she do what she wanted after all she was a girl? That is the only thing that made the difference. What she was trying to do, was marry a man of her choice.

This was a wakeup call for me I realized how this world was loaded in a man’s favour and at the same time in a woman’s un- favour. Here was a financially independent, university educated woman, with educated not only parents but grandparents. If she stood at such a disadvantage in this world, how about my less fortunate sisters. Her family can’t think of letting her have her way no matter what the stakes are. Her mother is ready to blindly marry her to someone she chooses rather than concede to her choice.

A colleague of mine is a victim of domestic violence. An educated smart woman she hides it from her educated parents. That is the right thing to do she thinks as she shouldn’t trouble her parents and what can she do.

I painfully realize that is the cause of subtle nuances in our upbringing that makes us this way. We are made to behave this way without us realizing this. Those who do are also helpless in the scheme of things.

This is the story of two educated and financially independent woman of my place and then there is the disadvantaged lot. A few years back a sex scandal broke out in Kashmir in which high officials exploited girls on various pretexts like jobs. Some girls were drugged and obscene videos made and they were finally blackmailed into prostitution. So many years have passed and no one has been punished. The witnesses continue to turn hostile. A trafficking scandal also came to fore but nothing happened.

I often see people looking at women, who are at higher positions, women who have achieved something with an eye of suspicion. It’s frustrating that they are always in a cloud of doubt.

A lot of work needs to be done. There is so much that has to be done especially in

EDUCATION. Education in a must for every woman who wants to improve her lot.
POLITICAL & FINACIAL EMPOWERMENT. It can help a lot in making inroads.
RIGHTS. Women need to be aware of their political, legal, human rights
LAWS. So many laws in different parts of the world are against women.
TRAFFICKING & PROSTITUION: It has to go. Women are not slaves they are individuals just like men.

Like my friend who is fighting her family to get what she thinks is her right we have to fight for a lot of things and I think my friend Michelle you are in a position to make a difference in the lives of women all across the world.

In sisterhood

Nusrat

As the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women officially begins its work this month, World Pulse is asking women worldwide: What is YOUR vision and recommendation for UN Women? We invite you to raise your voice by writing a letter to UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet outlining your recommendation for how this new UN agency can truly affect change on the ground to promote gender equality and uphold the rights and needs of women both on a local and global scale.
Learn more: http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire/programs/international-violence-agai...