Saturday, May 26, 2012

Violence against women


Even though we are in the 21st century, violence against women is still a common issue in our society. Women's rights aren't being respected and nobody cares, not even the governments take any action in order to protect women and punish their batterers. And this is totally wrong!
Violence can be physical, psychological or sexual agression, and the most shocking fact is that it is commited by a man who is really close to the victim. In the developing countries not only due to a great lack of education allied to the totally wrong mentality of the people, but also because of religion matters or traditions, women are not valued and they are treated as garbage. In some situations women are trafficked to work in forced prostitution or to marry and have sex with a person they don't desire.  
In the developed countries women are more valued, but they don't have the same rights as men. Yet, most of the victims prefer to hide themselves instead of sharing their stories with friends or family or looking for help, because they are ashamed of what happens to them. 
In Europe domestic violence is the biggest cause of death and disability for women between the ages of 16 and 44. Every year 6-10 per cent of the women in Europe suffer domestic violence. In the USA one woman is battered every 15 second, usually by her partner. 45% women and 26% men had experienced at least one incident of inter-personal violence in their lifetimes. On average, two women a week are killed by a violent partner or ex-partner.
The following real story is about Michelle, a woman who has suffered from domestic violence for four years. She said in an online website that her husband used to make her feel useless, as if she couldn’t do anything properly on her own and he called her bad names too often. Their relationship took that long because every time he kicked or punched her, he said he was sorry and he always told her how much he loved her. But then she got pregnant and it got ten times worse, she stated. In the end he kicked her so badly that she lost the baby. Time come to leave him.
To conclude violence against women is an entire disrespect of human rights, and in my opinion men who keep with this practice should be severally punished or sent to jail. In the future I hope the number of the victims will diminish and women can have a voice, defend their opinions and take full control of their bodies because they aren't property of man at all!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in India in 2 October 1869. Later, he adopted the name "Mahatma", which means "great soul". His parents were merchants, however he broke the caste tradition and went to England at the age of 19, to study law. The other students didn't like him and they avoided Gandhi because he was an Indian.
He went to South Africa in 1893, where he developed his politics of peaceful protests and struggled to obtain basic rights for Indian immigrants who lived there and who suffered from racism. He founded the Natal Indian Congress to agitate for Indian rights in 1894.
He was the country's first "coloured" lawyer to be admitted to the bar. However, he was sent to jail twice because he didn't obey to anti-Asian laws.
In 1914 he returned to India where he lauched a campaign of peaceful non-cooperation with the British authorities which included boycotts of British goods and institutions, like courts and government. Besides, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability and increasing economic self-reliance. He was imprisioned again from 1922 to 1924.
India finally won independence in 1947. Unfortunately, one year later on 30 January 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist who thought Gandhi was too sympathetic to India's Muslims.
During his lifetime he lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, he was a dedicated vegetarian and he sought to practice non-violence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. 
He is known in India as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Non-Violence.