Jacob Hembrom
Today, we remember the International day of the Girl Child. Why do we have to be reminded of this day or to be made as a special day? In our male-dominated patriarchal society, we have not been fair enough in equal distribution of rights. Such treatment has caused a harsh reality. This day comes to us as an opportunity and as a reminder to evaluate and assess as to how far we have fared in implementing our ‘promises’ in giving ‘equal rights’ to the female world.
As a tribal, this day invites me to have a glance at the conditions of our girl child in my tribal society. When only girl children are born in a family, the parents are usually unhappy with them. It is considered as an ‘issue’ and a matter of worry and concern so as to who would be the heir of the property. Male inheritance is the in thing.
There have been so many laws and regulations established for the welfare and the safety of a women in a tribal society. But, with the changing time practices have got diluted and women have been brought down to mere ‘object’ to be used and played with. Women have very little chance to speak or to be heard.
A tribal widow having no issues has to face an unfortunate fate. How much have we involved them in decision making? Are they given due ‘respect’ in society? Have we ever provided them a platform where they can freely express themselves without any prior judgments? Have we provided them equal opportunities? These are the questions of the day that tribal society alone can answer.
Today’s complex socio- economic, political structures and relationships emphasized by poverty, gender, caste, class, and other concerns are such factors which supplement to the vulnerability of women and girl children in particular. Gender discrimination is an old phenomenon. The feminization of migration is a global trend, with women making up around half of world’s million international migrations. More women are migrating. The demand for workers in female-dominated sector is ever increasing, such as in domestic work. They are very often subjected to starvation, and may not be allowed to have any social contact outside the family or their working place. The demand for women are more because they are considered to soft targets, less empowered, more submissive and subservient, insecure, vulnerable, non complaining and cheap.
As we remember the International Girl Child day a key question that we need to ask is, should women continue to be subjected to this pervasive inequality and indignity? The answer should be a resounding “No”. But to improve conditions, we need to travel a long and difficult road to ensure legal and social systems do the hard work of securing fairness, justice, and equality for women.
This will require reviewing and, in some cases, revising land laws to ensure gender equality. It will require the sensitization of community and other leaders to fully grasp the rights and needs of women and families of ignoring rights.