Let’s build a world of equality

Worldwide, today is a special day on the calendar page. International Women's Day is celebrated like every year. It is celebrated on this day, i.e., March 8, keeping in mind the belief in building a new world of equality in the unity of men and women. Today, more or less everyone knows about the observance of this special day for women based on the situation at that difficult time in 1857, about 167 years ago. As a result of remuneration discrimination and deprivation in various aspects, on that historic day in 1857, women workers in the garments factories of New York City, United States of America, took to the streets to protest against long working hours, child labour, wage discrimination, etc. To stop the movement, the Garments owners altogether could not stop their determined protest despite the inhumane torture of the helpless workers, especially the women.

Subsequently, in 1910, a large international women's conference was held in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. At that conference, the socialist women's leader Clara Zetkin called on all the women in the world to unite to establish their rights. At the same time, she proposed to observe the day as 'Women's Day' all over the world. After that, the day was first celebrated on March 8, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Since then, 'International Women's Day' has been celebrated in different countries of the world to establish the equality between men and women, equal partnerships, fair rights and above all, the empowerment of women. One of the objectives of celebrating the day is: to create a position of protest against those who have always wanted to oppress women who are victims of discrimination, to bring the achievements of women to the public, to establish equality between men and women in terms of overall development and above all, to establish the justice of women as human beings. As a whole, there is a clear understanding of 'International Women's Day' in almost every corner!

Today, 167 years later, when we are passionate about the 'Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)', the 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)', even before the chapter of Digital Bangladesh comes to an end, when the slogan of 'Smart Bangladesh' is buzzing around, the fact that women are oppressed or deprived of their rights is shocking anew. Reality is very cruel. Today, the world of equality between men and women has not developed. To the general people, 'gender' means a type of 'oppression' of patriarchal society towards women. The concept was belonged almost the case in the eighties. But even though many changes have been achieved in this concept over time, the misconception is as if mixed with bone marrow in the public mind. In the development world, 'gender' is a necessary or special initiative aimed at the equality of men and women. Considering the situation, for strategic reasons and for the purpose of overall development, women to men, on the other hand, women's cooperation with men and the initiative to create a favourable working environment is basically called 'gender' in the development world. For good reason, the establishment of women's rights and the discussion about gender is still one of the most important issues.
Today, women are advancing in almost every steps. Despite making exemplary contributions in various fields, violence against the majority of women still occurs frequently. Under the influence of patriarchy, the 64-year-old Mushtaqs are using the technique called ' marriage', who are indulging in sexual lust with 18-year-old TISHAs like the granddaughter. Their offensive movement through social media is indirectly encouraging young girls/women to victimise such sexual lust! In order to maintain the enabling environment of the civilised society, when the social thinkers, as well as the people of the development world, are very busy in the movement of equality, the cases of such unequal relations are turning into a contradictory culture. Even at this peak of civilization, campaigns, protests, rallies, round table meetings, human chain programmes, etc. are going on all over Bangladesh, like all over the world, to 'prevent violence against women'. Year after year goes by, programmes are celebrated according to the rules of time, but a certain powerful group continues to establish their masculine behaviour in a sophisticated manner. Not only on paper but in the bone marrow of people all over the world, there is a negative belief: 'Women are neglected-oppressed-deprived', etc! Whatever the reality, this image is stuck only because women are not fully respected as 'human beings'. As a hindrance to the development of women, this jam is not only hindering their mobility but also holding back a nation.

Along with the world, Bangladesh is also observing the International Day 2024. The main theme of the day is 'Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’. Lots of initiatives have been taken to celebrate International Women's Day 2024 in both the public and private sectors. Since it is quite hard to establish the equality and rights of men and women in the modern world without equal rights and opportunities, the active participation of women in development planning, implementation and expression of opinions should be increased. The government's foresight is urgently needed to ensure women's social security and freedom of speech. At the same time, it is also the crying need to empower women as a worthy resource by keeping them fully protected from technical blackmail and online violence.

Like the rest of the world, a lot of discrimination are still going on between men and women in Bangladesh. Even though there are huge inequality regarding the investments for men & women. By this time, there may have been a storm of discussion in various corners about the related issues! Although there are many cheeky bullies about women's development, it is very controversial when a negotiator is the catalyst of physical and family violence towards his wife.

According to the various newspapers’ data, from March 2020 to September 2023, more than 900 cases of rape have occurred all over the country. Despite the horrors of COVID-19, thousands of cases of domestic violence have been occurred! Also, the number of unreported cases can only be estimated. It is a surprising matter that is most of the rapes and other cases of violence against women are almost always committed by their close relatives. In other words, women are not safe anywhere. Women are being crushed every moment by the evil influence of this strict patriarchy and the oppression of religious discipline! However, every religion clearly calls for respect for women. In that case, before creating the opportunity for women to live in the world of equality, social security, freedom, accessibility and self-sufficiency in all areas should be ensured, in addition to the basic rights of women!

As today is International Women's Day 2024, the image of violence against women is subconsciously repeatedly peeking in the minds of civilization! We cannot be hidden in any way! Dealing with violence against women is not an easy task! Since men have almost all the power in a patriarchal society, it is imperious to change the perspective of men first and their mindests. Men should come forward to establish women's rights. They have to create a favourable environment in families, schools, workplaces, cities, ports, vehicles, and even in various service institutions. Proper implementation and enforcement of laws is very important. It is very important to establish the legal rights and importance of men and women in the society. Discrimination against women will continue if the society cannot deeply understand that both are equal beings—this sense of humanity. And these initiatives have to be started from the very beginning, that is, from the families. So let's all stand against violence. Let's speak out from our respective places and prevent women's violence. The above actions are absolutely human! It is the core responsibility of all of us, especially of men, to ensure the respect for women they deserve as 'human beings'.

The majority of people in this developing or middle-income country must want to prevent violence against women and establish women's rights! So what are the barriers of it? What are the root causes of it? Is the man-dominating approach the main cause? Or lack of public awareness? Or the effect of the vicious cycle? Is there not a lot of strategic problems? Anyway, surely we want to establish women's rights! In that case, first of all, the supervision of the government is very much important. Besides, men need more sensitivity. Every boy in this country and their family should think, "I/we will respect the entire female family, including our mother-sister-wife"! At the same time, it is time to change the topic of discussion in newspapers and television talk shows! That is, rather than talking about the girl who is a victim of violence against women or her family, it is very important to make a sensitive criticism about the boy and the perpetrator of violence. The government as well as non-governmental development organisations can continue the campaign for the establishment of women's rights through the involvement of men! As per the situation demand, It is necessary to work jointly with private development organizations. In this way, once it will surely be possible to establish women's rights in our society and country. After all, why is there so much discussion of “women's issues” only on March 8? Instead of discussion everywhere! So, let's build a world of equality for women!

The writer is a Columist, Op-Ed Writer and Development Associates. He could be reached at: [email protected].