Charles Akhimien
 |
| Stop the Violence! |
“He ripped off my skirt
and pressed a dagger to my neck. He said he would kill me if I screamed. The
others held my legs apart while he then defiled me. I felt like I was going to
die......After him, the others with him took it in turns, doing it over and
over again. After a while, all I kept praying for was death. Surely death would
be better than this!”
This
is the personal account of a 16 year old Nigerian girl who was gang-raped by
some university students. Tales such as these are becoming increasing
commonplace all over the world, as violence against women is on the rise. It is now commonplace to see, read and hear about acts of
violence against women, in various forms, perpetuated almost on a daily basis.
This scourge is endemic in communities and countries around the world, cutting
across class, race, and age, religious and national boundaries.
Most
of these acts of violence against women are perpetuated in the home where women
are supposed to feel most safe. For many, ‘home’ is where they face a regime of
terror and violence at the hands of somebody close to them, somebody they
should be able to trust. These victimized women suffer physically and
psychologically. They are unable to protect themselves and even their children
for fear of further repercussions. Their human rights are denied and their
lives are stolen from them by the ever-present threat of violence.
What is the reason for
violence perpetuated against women?
There
is no one single factor to account for violence perpetrated against women. Several
complex and interconnected social and cultural factors have kept women
particularly vulnerable to the violence directed at them, all of them
manifestations of historically unequal power relations between men and women.
Factors contributing to these unequal power relations include: male belief in
their inherent superiority, socioeconomic, cultural and even religious factors.
But
by far the most important factor in predicting domestic violence against women
is parental influence. Parents should know better and teach their young boys to
respect girls even at an early age. Although the male sex is undoubtedly
stronger physically, that doesn’t translate to superiority.
Women
also owe it to themselves to protect themselves against violence. This is by no
means easy because domestic violence for example, is usually compounded by
certain factors such as the presence of children. Domestic violence is one of
the most chronically underreported crimes. But women must realize that they
cannot under any circumstances endure any form of mental, economic, emotional
and physical abuse from their husbands in the home. They must speak out and
seek help.
Violence
against women is the most egregious infringement on human rights in the 21st
century. In a world of so much sophistication and technological advancement, as
well as scholastic erudition, violence against women is an anachronism. To
eradicate violence against women for good, it should be taken just as serious
as racism is taken.
My
mother always used to say “women are like flowers”. Indeed women are flowers
that need to be handled and treated delicately. Thus protecting a woman is
chivalrous and is the decent thing to do.
