Women Have Rights Too

International Women’s Day falls on March 8 every year, and it stands for the equality between men and women in terms of politics, social and economy. The global theme used by the United Nations for the International Women’s Day this year is “Equal Rights, Equal opportunities: Progress for all”. So in line with this year’s theme, let’s focus on equal rights for women all around the world.

Talking to my mother about women’s rights in the 1960s, she said women then were housewives, took care of the kids and their ‘workplace’ was the kitchen. They got meals ready on time, waited patiently for their husbands to come back from work and obeyed their orders, even if they were dissatisfied.

Some parents also felt it was unworthy to spend a considerable amount on their daughter’s education. They were never given the same chances in education as compared to boys. Daughters were always meant to be given away. Thus, in the past, women were not appreciated and perceived as unknowledgeable, so they did not commanded equal rights as men.

To date, women have come a long way to make a difference. They are part of a strong society with equal footing with men. These can be seen in institutions of higher learning where the ‘occupants’ are mostly women.

In the workplace, women have already climbed higher than men. They can achieve better and hold higher positions. Women have successfully blended into politics and have become Prime Ministers like Indira Ghandi, Benazir Bhutto, Khaleda Zia, Margaret Thatcher and Corazon Aquino just to name a few.  But no matter how capable they are in the industry, I feel, women still belong in the kitchen. They never forget their responsibilities at  work or at home.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Recently, I read an interesting online article, titled “Social Justice: Equal Rights for Men and Women”, published by the Food and Agriculture Organizations, United Nations. The article states women play an important role in producing the world’s rice. In Africa, the men plough fields and drive draught animals as the women do the major work which is to sow, weed, apply fertilizer and pesticides, harvest and thresh.

Sadly, women’s work always doesn’t figure in economic statistics because of discrimination. Women farmers also do not have rights to own land and they do not get paid for their farm work. This situation does not happen only in Africa, but in many other developing countries in the world. Personally, I think women who work on these farms should be given equal rights as men. They deserve to have their contribution in farm work recognized, receive payment for their work and own land because they are, in fact the community that keep the farms going.

Countries such as the United States and United Kingdom have taken action to protect equal rights for women. In Malaysia, the government has enhanced women’s equality in 1995 by increasing women’s participation in decision-making positions, safeguarding their rights to health, education and social well being. Legal obstacles and gender discriminatory practices have also been removed. Through this enhancement, I believe we will have a bright future in terms of equality of women in our country.