Hello, Ladies!
The International Woman’s Day is here and allow me to extend my warmest greetings to all of you!
Time to celebrate... to reflect on the progress as well as the remaining challenges we all, women, face!
The pandemic that has just recently marked its first year of presence among us does not make things better for us. Sometimes, in many occasions, things are even harder for us women. Even recently, United Nations or UN WOMEN, one of the UN bodies mandated to address the issues of gender equality and empowerment of women, has released a report, The Shadow Pandemic - Violence against women during COVID-19.
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| The Shadow Pandemic - report of UN Women. Photo was taken from www.unwomen.org |
We all know that even before the pandemic, statistic shows that 243 million women and girls in the range of 15 - 49 years old, have experienced sexual and/or physical violence by her intimate partner in the past year. I got that data from the UN Women report mentioned above. Violence against women is one of the biggest problems women face until now. Since the pandemic, the situation is getting worst because the pandemic forces us to stay at home at most if not all time and it has created a stressful environment for all of us. Those who are already facing the challenges with their partners before the pandemic now have to even fight and endure more unfortunate circumstances at home. Moreover, the existing services such us shelters and helplines now have to be adjusted if not reduced due to the pandemic. Well, here the UN Women reminds us that we all have the role in addressing this issue and I guess I will have to go back on this on more dedicated post.
Nevertheless, in this occasion, I always believe that remarkable achievements and valuable contributions of women, wherever you are, should be cherished. Many progress have definitley been achieved, as more and more women across the globe are much more empowered and have enjoyed many things. We can say that women and girls nowadays have enjoyed better education, more decent works, more fulfillment of civil and political rights, and much better health as well, among others. Of course the list is not exhaustive and I am so heartened to note that women's rights are becoming important parts, if not the center, of many policies and initiatives in Indonesia. Even at regional and international level, many mechanisms and initiatives have focused on issues related to women's rights.
