More than 150 years ago, Charles Dickens wrote about the period leading up to the French Revolution. In his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, he wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” On this International Women’s Day, I cannot help but feel the sting of truth in this statement. Women have undoubtedly made remarkable progress since the last several decades. Nonetheless, this progress sits uncomfortably alongside profound suffering, inequality and crimes against women worldwide.
One of the UN Sustainable Development Goals remains to achieve gender equality by 2030. It seems like women have come a long way since the last century. More and more women have attained education. The labour market participation for women has grown exponentially. Child marriages and maternal mortality have declined globally. The suffrage movement has borne fruit, women hold equal voting rights and much greater participation in parliament as well.
“Look Ma, how far we have come,” a voice echoes somewhere.
The path to progress and development hasn’t been entirely smooth and linear.
Labour market participation has not been able to ensure wage equality. Delayed marriages have not been able to counter skewed caregiving duties. In fact, the caregiving duties overstretch as women tend to be over-represented in teaching and nursing roles, as opposed to leadership positions in business and politics.
Looming above all these struggles are the Epstein Files, which the US Department of Justice continues to unspool upon us, bit by bit, numbing each brain cell which writhes in anger and disgust. Some of the young children who were sucked into this dark world and managed to make it to the other side are referred to as ‘survivors’. It’s heartbreaking, because they are survivors not of a calamity, disaster or fatality, but worse, of a society run and enabled by monstrous sick minds. This news has brought with it deep despair and grief, but the fact that it has been exposed, and is seeing the light of the day, is a positive sign. There is strength in watching the brave survivors band together, look the perpetrators of crime in the eye and hold them accountable in the court of law.
{{/usCountry}}Looming above all these struggles are the Epstein Files, which the US Department of Justice continues to unspool upon us, bit by bit, numbing each brain cell which writhes in anger and disgust. Some of the young children who were sucked into this dark world and managed to make it to the other side are referred to as ‘survivors’. It’s heartbreaking, because they are survivors not of a calamity, disaster or fatality, but worse, of a society run and enabled by monstrous sick minds. This news has brought with it deep despair and grief, but the fact that it has been exposed, and is seeing the light of the day, is a positive sign. There is strength in watching the brave survivors band together, look the perpetrators of crime in the eye and hold them accountable in the court of law.
{{/usCountry}}So in these best and worst of times for women wherein women have progressed immensely and just as easily are sucked into deep recesses of gender oppression and crime, what can we do as a society? We do what we can, and that is to love our daughters at home, nourish, nurture and empower them, so that they know their worth. This way they’ll know they deserve safety, love and respect. This way they won’t shrink to fit in spaces that can’t hold them.
“Look Ma, wings!” a voice reverberates. The winds are still rough, let’s clear the skies.
seeratkaurgill25@gmail.com
(The writer is a Canada-based freelance contributor)