By Alexandra Sukin ’15, Co Editor-in-Chief
Like many high-schools students, I spent my free summer days lazing on my porch, getting scoops of drippy ice cream, and flipping through books that my sister brought me from college. There was no great crush or ultimate adventure—just one essentially unremarkable day after another, in smooth sequence and punctuated only by chores and sporadic bouts of anxiety when I thought about summer homework, remembered the dreaded Common App, or read the news.
“100 Days After Nigeria Girls’ Kidnap, Boko Haram Won’t Relent,” “Turkish Official: Women Shouldn’t Laugh in Public,” “Women and Teens Suffer ‘Barbaric Rape’ by Islamic State Fighters,” “ISIS Commander: Fighters Abducted Over 100 Yazidi Women, Children,” “India to free five men held in rape, murder of two girls found hanging from tree,” “Mexico’s machismo culture has forced me to change the way I dress,” “Acid Attack Survivors Pose For Photo Shoot, Show Us What ‘Beautiful Really Means’” Some of the headlines this summer were a frightening catalogue of violence, cruelty and discrimination against women. In the U.S. press, proposed legislation to address college campus sexual assaults also received a significant amount of attention. All of which served to remind me that in 2014, women as a group face tremendous challenges despite the fact that American women have made significant educational and financial progress. The fact that the right of women to laugh publicly, receive an education, feel safe from gang rape and mutilating acid attacks and attend college without worrying about the potential for sexual violence was in doubt was a jarring discordant note in my languid summer thoughts. However, with the depressing news came the realization that there is a lot of hard work to be done in the area of female human rights and those women who are privileged to live in societies which respect women’s equality need to do more to help those women who are prevented from obtaining an education, discouraged from laughing, attacked with acid and sold as sex slaves or property as spoils of war. It is a daunting task since there are cultural, religious and logistical barriers to helping women who are victimized by discriminatory or even inhumane treatment, but that does not mean we should ignore the problem.
We should demand that our own laws against sexual assaults and violence against women be vigorously enforced. Then, we should support and encourage those women and institutions within other countries which empower women, support a woman’s right to an education and fight discrimination and violence against women. Our media outlets and politicians should know that we care about women’s rights globally (Seniors who have turned 18- you may want to reflect on this on the way to the voting booth) and the negative spotlight should shine on misogynistic crimes both here and abroad.
For those complacent young American women who believe that as long as Hillary Clinton is a serious Presidential possibility and Beyoncé can proclaim her feminism while dominating the VMAs, and the entertainment industry in general, there’s nothing to worry about here, I would like to say: Don’t be so sure. Americans make up a small percentage of the world population (the United States Census Bureau estimates a little less than 5%). The state of women’s rights abroad will affect your career and travel opportunities in this era of global connectedness and multinational business. Just ask the female reporter who attempted to cover the protests in Tahrir square and was stripped naked and sexually assaulted by a mob. If it is dangerous for a woman to gain business experience by traveling to certain countries (think rape travel warnings for women going to India or Mexico) or women are powerless within a country, how many promotions and opportunities will be lost to you because the multinational company you work for finds it easier and more effective to give a man the job.
This is not a pleasant thing to think about as we approach the last days of summer, but too often our attention to matters of consequence is as fleeting as our warm and less scheduled summer days. So let’s remain attentive. Misogyny, like other hateful things, has a way of blossoming if left unchallenged.
If you are looking for a way to stay informed and help improve the lives of women and girls across the world, the following is a link to UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women: www.unwomen.org.
Sources Cited:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/29/turkey-women-laugh/13326925/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/13/yazidi-women-abudcted_n_5676151.html
http://www.newsweek.com/women-and-teens-suffer-barbaric-rape-islamic-state-fighters-264523
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/india-free-men-held-rape-murder-girls-article-1.1916339
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/21/acid-attack-photo-shoot_n_5697965.html
http://www.census.gov/popclock/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lara-logan-breaks-silence-on-cairo-assault/
About UN Women | UN Women – Headquarters
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/travel/women-alert-to-travels-darker-side.html?_r=0
