Remember Remember the Twenty Fifth of November

In 1981, the 25^th of November was designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This day was chosen by the United Nations in honour of the Mirabal sisters, political activists who were assassinated by the president of the Dominican Republic in 1960. Since then thousands of acts of violence have been committed against women and continue to be committed to this very day. 

I write these words with the painful realization that at this very moment hundreds of young girls and women are being beaten, raped and murdered, which makes these letters all the more heavier on my page. Sadly, staggering figures show that violence against women is a common thread that cuts through all races and nations. It’s absurd that people cannot agree on many issues, yet are unanimously comfortable with committing crimes based on gender discrimination.

Just like all evils, violence against women has many faces and takes many forms. Iraqi poet Ibn Nabatah Al Saadi said, “causes are many but death is one” and nowhere is this saying more potent than in the discrimination and violence against women. When a woman is abused death is inevitable, be it physical or emotional, a part of her dies and can never be revived.

 Domestic violence is one that seems to span the globe, statistics show that reasons as trivial as ‘burning dinner’ is enough to warrant aggression. Being abused by a loved one is the greatest of all pains for it shatters trust in people and diminishes self-worth.

Throughout history societies have managed to either legitimise or belittle the abuse of women in the name of one thing or another. Religious, economical and political issues continue to be abused in order to diminish a woman’s role in society, and keep its boundaries that of the backyard’s fence. For every woman who breaks out of that fence there are hundreds who live and die within it. 

The figures are shocking, many of which have left me dumbfounded. In many parts of the world young girls are forbidden education for no reason other than that they are girls. As a result two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women. Instead they are married off as children in return for a meagre price as if they are a commodity of sorts; the number of these child brides has reached 60 million worldwide. The UN estimates that 700,000 young girls and women are trafficked and subjected to the most horrendous acts of exploitation every year. In the Middle East, what is known by ‘honour’ killing has taken many women’s lives. If a man feels that a woman has been dishonourable in any way he is not only allowed, but also expected, to kill her and end the so-called “shame” she has brought to the family. In Asia a growing trend of acid attacks have left many women maimed and disfigured. Since 1999 there were about 3000 acid attacks in Bangladesh alone. If these reports show anything, it is that no matter what the circumstance men seem to take a chance at abusing women. Even during the revolutions in Egypt random groups and policemen alike were sexually assaulting women, leaving nowhere for these women to seek justice. It is nauseating to say the least that women cannot feel safe in their own skin.

So why do many men around the world act so blatantly on their aggression towards women?

Inequality is at the core of such aggression. When one gender, race or group thinks itself supreme then crimes will be aplenty and aggression will be the norm.  Only when women are seen, as equal to men will these injustices be a thing of the past, remembered only as a black mark on mankind’s history that shall not be repeated. Until then, every aspect of society remains hinged to these scales and as long as they remain tipped the law will lean as well.

Governing laws in most countries are not put in place or implemented to fight crimes that violate women’s rights. For example, most cases of rape go undocumented because women are afraid that they would either be implicated in the process or that their case would be dismissed as another statistic.  Women believe that the law, society and the media are unsympathetic to rape victims, it is no wonder then that women choose silence over protest. All laws must be amended and others put in place to ensure the safety of all human beings especially those whose rights are infringed upon daily and for the most ludicrous of reasons.

Today is a day for the world to understand these crimes and know that they are still being committed. We women must remember our fallen sisters and keep upright those who are about to fall. Today is a day where we lend our voices to those who have lost theirs in fear of flying fists and bloodied faces. The 25^th of November is a day chosen to speak against violence on women and I say each and every day should be the 25^th of November.  

This article was written as a contribution to the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office in honour of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Published on their blog on 25th November, 2012. 

Here is the official link to the article: http://bit.ly/UlIFPQ 

An open letter to The Guardian

Dear Guardian,

For years you have taken it upon yourself to single-handedly defame my country the United Arab Emirates. For reasons unknown the UAE has had to endure your endless bombardments of smear campaigns and ugliness in the name of free journalism.

In articles dating as far back as 2000 you have attacked the Emirates in all your sections from politics to travel. You have sent reporters with a mission to excavate only the negative no matter how minute it may be and inflated it into certain truths. You have only to enter the name of any Emirate in your website’s search box and watch as the archives of ugliness start to unfold. Pages worth of headlines that will make anyone who knows the UAE shudder. Your commentators and news reports have called our buildings “the nastiest you’ve ever seen” our lifestyle “a place where the worst of western capitalism and the worst of Gulf Arab racism meet in a horrible vortex” labeled our rulers “dictators” and even advised Dr. Who not to film on our land!

All this unsubstantiated drivel we have heard from you throughout the years and have remained silent simply because we have taken it as just that.

Eventually when your army of pen-pushers failed to paint the bleak image of the UAE that they have set out to do you stepped up to this one-sided battle and wrote an editorial denouncing my country, but why?

For anyone who has ever been to the UAE or chose to make it their home, for the people of UAE this is mind-boggling to say the least. The UAE is a peaceful country; its rulers are as much of the people as the people are a part of this country. Emiratis are a welcoming, tolerant people who have in only 41 years opened up their doors and overcome the culture shock that comes with such a transformation with class and grace. 

The country’s foreign affairs are solid and its worldwide humanitarian efforts are ones all nations must strive to emulate. One has only to visit the UAE, talk to its people and the people who have chosen to raise their children in it to know what it truly is.

We understand your bewilderment at the success of this great nation’s experiment in unity and peace. We do not blame you for feeling a tad bit confused about its resilience in the face of economic adversity and the continuous drive of its people. But does that really warrant all this resentment from you?

Granted, there are many aspects to our country that need to be developed and revised and we are well on our way to doing so. 41 years old this December the UAE’s achievements, cultural sophistication and tolerance transcends its young age as a united nation. In our 41 years we have not waged wars, we have sought peace, we have not divided our land based on race, we have embraced more than 200 nationalities as our own. We have tolerated judgment and criticism from nations who have fought and aided wars on either side of the globe and listened to them preach their version of democracy while they take actions of which hypocrisy is ashamed.

We are an educated nation with a 97% literacy race and we have heard you loud and clear. Now it is time for you to hear us. Twelve years of this one-sided reporting is putting a damper on your impartiality and frankly hurting your credibility as a respected paper. Any person in their right mind, whether they have been to the UAE or not, cannot believe that a country as popular and loved as this one would not have one good aspect to report or comment on. How could people from all walks of the earth flock to a nation that is as ugly as you say? That is a true anomaly, a real wonder of the world, a mystery that has yet to be explained and based on your reporting I think it never will be.

This article was published in The Gulf Today newspaper on 18th November, 2012.
Arabic version of this article was published in Al Khaleej newspaper on the same day: http://bit.ly/TQXwPY