Oppression and Inequality
For
Women
There is a saying that “Women rights are Human rights”. Now the question here is why there is a need to say that, are women not human? Does we have to say it just to show that women should be treated as humans or is because do they not look like human?
Gender issues starts from the very beginning of our civilization there were always these questions about women rights “Do they really deserve such rights? ” and these question were always answered every time they were raised by showing the acts and proving that they are worthy of these rights our history is full of such acts of equality.
But it is a really sad perception that we have not learned from our history. In most part of our world women are looked at as less worth than man. Despite great strides made by the international women’s rights movement over many years, women and girls around the world are still married as children or trafficked into forced labor and sex slavery. They are refused access to education and political participation, and some are trapped in conflicts where rape is perpetrated as a weapon of war. Around the world, deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth are needlessly high, and women are prevented from making deeply personal choices in their private lives. Gender inequality remains a major barrier to human development. Girls and women have made major strides since 1990, but they have not yet gained gender equity. The disadvantages facing women and girls are a major source of inequality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health, education, political representation, labour market.
Below are some of the facts and figures which shows the importance of women rights and from what we are deprive by ignoring the rights. These facts and figures are taken from the United Nation “Human Development Report”.
Literacy—Women are much less likely than men to be literate. In South Asia, female literacy rates are only around 50% those of males, in Nepal 35%. Sudan 27%. Women make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterates.
Higher education—Women in developing countries lag far behind men. In Africa, their enrolment rates for tertiary education are only a third of those of men. Even in industrial countries, women are very poorly represented in scientific and technical study.
Employment—In developing countries women have many fewer job opportunities, the employment participation rates of women are on average only 50% those of men (in South Asia 29% and in Arab States only 16%). Wage discrimination is also a feature of industrial countries: in Japan, women receive only 51% of male wages. Women who are not in paid employment are, of course, far from idle. Indeed, they tend to work much longer hours than men.
Health—Women tend on average to live longer than men. But in some Asian and North African countries, the discrimination against women through neglect of their health or nutrition is such that they have a shorter life expectancy.
So the nutshell of this is that it is all about understanding what is better for them not for us. So if we look deep into the rights of women in a rational way and follow the rules of Islam under correct guidance. Then Women oppression will only be remembered as a forgotten history.