Only option for poor women in
By Sr. Lilly Francis SMMI, Executive Secretary, CBCI Commission For Women
INDIA :The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn1:14) - In the year 1983, while I was in Chile, Sr. Sophie, a French national who was expelled from China during the communist regime placed a Bible written in Spanish in my hand and showed me the back cover, where it was written: "A boy was walking on the countryside enjoying nature and reached a farmland and saw a white ant-hill in the middle of it. He was lost in admiration of their skill and labourious work. Suddenly he heard a sound and saw the farmer ploughing the farmland, in short while the farmer will reach the ant-hill. Sensing the danger that lay at hand, he took all his strength and shouted "Go away the danger is at hand…" Alas, the more he shouted, the less they understood and for a moment, he wished ‘if only I could become an ant with these ants...’ (This episode was from an Indian epic)
Two thousand years ago, the Son of God incarnated himself in the human flesh to commune with human, to speak in the language of the human. Over the centuries, many of His disciples made such immersions among the people who are segregated, oppressed and marginalized. Be it a personal choice made by individuals be it a communal choice made by communities or even by corporate entities, an option for the poor has to do with our sharing to some extent in the lives of poor people, in their joys and sorrows, hops and fears (cf. Gaudium et spes,1). "With out this dimension, all our efforts geared towards the welfare and the interests of the poor, will be merely patronizing. Its dare consequence would be to make them feel more powerless and dependent than ever"( Option for the poor, Catholic India, Fr.Thomas d’Aquino Segueira)
In the past two decades, Indian Bishops made such immersions into the life of women. Let us listen to Bishop Bosco Penha whom I have the honour of quoting extensively: "My concern for and involvement with the women’s issue came about circumstantially. In 1989, I was elected the Chairman of the Commission for Laity and Family of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in
"In the progressive march of Independent India, The attitude towards the girl child has regressed to the realms of the barbarians. A report by the UNICEF says that
The deep-rooted male-preference in
Sexual harassment and rape are becoming more and more endemic in our times. A recent WHO study found that working women who carried dual responsibility of attending office and caring for the family were battered by stress, strain and conflict which shattered them emotionally. A rapist may be an acquaintance, a neighbour, a friend, a lover, a family member, a teacher, a colleague. Most victims know the accused. What is more horrendous is rape and the brutality involved in so many of these rape cases. A 15-year old girl, robbery suspect was put in a jail cell with more than 20 men, and for one month was raped relentlessly and forced to have sex for food, human rights group representing the just-released girl. (Times of
"We saw how sexual violence was central to the Hindutva Project in
"Trafficking in women is a huge international industry very well organized at a global level. UN figures say that in the last 10 years over 30 million woman have been trafficked all over the world and of these roughly ten million are minor girls between the ages of 5 and 15 sold for child labour or coerced into prostitution. Due to the outburst of HIV/AIDs epidemic demand for virgins and minors has been steadily on the increase. Asia, we may say, is the epicentre of global trafficking.."
"6000 dowry deaths and close to 2000 harassment cases are reported under the Dowry Prohibition Act from across the country every year. According to unofficial estimates nearly 25,000 women are said to die due to dowry harassment, with many more left maimed or scarred.
There is an imperative need for families to neither give nor take dowry, which can go a long way to keep such instances under check. Ever heard of a husband virtually cutting off fingers of both his wife and daughter with scissors besides savagely biting them!
Well, how the lure for money seems to transform some people into beasts, was recently demonstrated in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district. The barbaric manner in which four members of a family allegedly tortured their 26 year-old pregnant daughter-in-law and her four-year old daughter to get more money from the woman’s family apparently surpassed all civilized norms.
Two Vadodara women, who could not bear the macabre torture meted out to them by their husband for not bearing a son, escaped to Ahmedabad to get their gut-wrenching tale heard and dealt with. It’s a miracle they are alive to tell their tale. Sunita and Kajal, co-wives of Rajesh Rajput, escaped from Padra in Vadodara to Kasturba Trust, a home for destitute women in Koba, a few days ago with their daughters. Their crime: none could bear Rajesh the coveted progeny, a son. In fact, Rajesh married Kajal, after Sunita did not have a boy. Sunita, currently seven months pregnant, says she was subjected to six abortions between two daughters. Anjali (7) and Kashish (5). "I was being forced to abort this child that I am carrying. I refused and was being subjected to hell," says Sunita, weak from years of beating and torture. All hell broke loose for Kajal, who was tricked into the marriage by Rajesh, when she too delivered a girl child. Rajesh hung the baby, Khushi, when she was just over a month old, upside down in an attempt to kill her. Narrating his torture methods, Sunita and Kajal say nails were hammered into their ears and chilly powder mixed with hot spices forced into Sunita’s private parts, all because she had borne girls. Worse, Rajesh apparently made them drink his urine. "Kya kya logon ko batayein…. I was subjected to electric shocks. He tried to hang us both. That’s when we decided to escape," says Sunita, who suffers from hearing loss due to beating. "My husband is a murderer of six lives. He made me abort six times. He is a killer and he should be charged with murder." Sunita told TOI. The Vadodara police have arrested Rajesh and his two brothers on charges of physical and mental torture. (Times of
"The spiral of violence against women is rising at an alarming rate and one of the least noticed aspects of this is that of domestic violence. According to world statistics at least one out of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in her lifetime; one in four women has been abused during her pregnancy; up to 70 per cent of female murder victims are killed by their male partners.
Pundita Ramabai Sarasvati, the renowned educationist who studied the plight of Brahmin widows, wrote that the life of a Hindu widow "destitute as it is of the least literary knowledge, void of all hope, empty of every pleasure and social advantage, becomes intolerable, a curse to herself and to society at large". The widow becomes a non-person when her husband dies, so closely is her psyche linked to her husband’s identity. In most parts of the country a widow is considered a Kulakshani (an evil woman), or a Daaken (a woman who has eaten her husband).She can wear no make-up, jewellery or colourful sarees, she must eat bland food, and keep away from joyous functions. Among the rajputs, a widow is given no bread for the first twelve days of her husband’s death. Also, her bangles are forcibly broken, Sindoor (vermilion) removed and, dressed in blue, she is fed on flour blended in water. She is made to sit in a dark room with her legs folded under her thighs. She cannot share in jokes.
What is amazing and edifying is that, in the midst of all this pain and suffering - women, as a whole, have not lost their basic loving, nurturing, caring approach to people and life. I suppose it is due to the motherly instinct which is rooted in the being of every woman, who comes from the hand of the Creator. We therefore need to salute, women as a whole, on this achievement. In my humble opinion it is men that have to change their ways and stop looking at woman as inferior beings to be possessed by them and to be used as mere objects. Unfortunately, when they behave in this manner, they make love impossible because love can only occur between two human persons – not between one human being and another object." ("Birth to Death: A life of suffering" by Bishop Bosco Penha in ‘In Search of Space’ published by CBCI Commission For Women in 2008.)"
In the words of Pope John Paul II as quoted by Bishop John Baptist Thakur SJ, the present Chairman of the Commission, in his letter to the Nation informing about the theme "Empowerment of Women in the Church and Society" for the 28th CBCI Plenary Assembly said, "My heartfelt appeal that everyone, and in a special way, States and International Institutions, make every effort to ensure that women regain full respect for their dignity and role."
The 28th CBCI Plenary Assembly marked the beginning of a new era for the women in the Church and society. During the Presidential Address at the Assembly, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, then President of CBCI exhorted that, "the Church needs to intensify her prophetic and pastoral mission concerning the empowerment of women by widening the role assigned to them within the Church through a greater participation and sharing of responsibility by women in the community affairs and decision making. Gender injustice has been and still is one of the most terrible evil at the door of entire human family. We ought to address this reality with new eyes, with the eyes of Jesus, Our Lord and Master. Who cared lovingly for women and made them, his disciples and close collaborators."
The Plenary Assembly also witnessed, a very touching statement made by Bishop Valerian D’Souza, the former Chairman of the Commission for Women, who said "We have to ask pardon to women for the neglect that they experience even in the Church" as Pope John Paul II asked pardon to various groups.
At the close of the Assembly, a Statement was released that called for a CBCI Gender Policy. The zest for change continued and within six months, all the thirteen regions prepared their Regional Gender policies.
From 18th – 20th April 2009, the Commission for Women compiled the Regional Gender Policies and prepared the CBCI Gender Policy at Sadbhavana, Ohkla, New Delhi. On 22nd April 2009, Most Rev. John Baptist Thakur SJ presented the Gender Policy at the CBCI Standing Committee. The Standing Committee welcomed the Policy and appointed a team of five Bishops namely Yvon Ambriose, Thomas Dabre, John Baptist Thakur SJ, Edwin Colaco and Ignatius Menezes who are presently studying the Policy more in details. The Gender Policy underlines that equality and dignity of all human persons forms the basis of a just and humane society. The Policy maintains that Women’s empowerment is central to achieving gender equality.
The Gender Policy addresses the following areas of women’s concerns- Marriage and Family, Education, Health, Social Awareness, Economic Independence, Violence against Women, Trafficking & Sexual Abuse, Rights of the Girl Child, Environment, Tribal & Dalit Women, Women in Difficult Circumstances, Women for Peace, Women & Religious harmony, Promotion of Women’s Participation in Public Life/State Political Structures, Infrastructure, Commissions of the Church bodies, Equal Representation and Participation of Women in Consultative Bodies of the Church, Networking and Women Spirituality.
The Gender Policy aims at addressing the concerns of the poor- ‘the woman’, who are doubly marginalized and oppressed. As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make this preferential option for the poor- ‘the woman’, namely, to create conditions for marginalized voices to be heard, to defend the defenseless, and to assess lifestyles, policies and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor- ‘the woman’. Therefore, the preferential option for the poor- ‘the woman’, is not optional. The Latin American Bishops’ Conferences at Medillín (1968) and
Courtesy : Catholic News
Source:http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=6919
Forwarded by:
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