Kofi Annan once said, “Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture, or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development, and peace.” Violence, we often get disturbed hearing this word itself, but what about those women who face it every other day in their lives? The global estimates that were published by WHO indicated that about 1 in 3 women worldwide have been experiencing either physical or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. This means there would be hardly a woman who wouldn’t have gone through a state of violence at some point or other in her whole lifetime.

Violence against women can take different forms which include domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment, child or early and forced marriage, sex trafficking, so-called ‘honor’ crimes, and female genital mutilation. This world has entered a new decade; from the dawn of civilization till date, women of the so-called patriarchal society of India continue to be subjugated and mistreated. She is dependent, and weak that’s the tag she is given by our society, she is exploited and has to face a ton of gender discrimination in every sphere of life. This gender-based violence which threatens her well-being, dignity, and rights, often extends across cultural, economic, social, and regional boundaries. A certain percentage of people believe that violence toward women and girls is normal or is an appropriate behavior, which is often supported by few in society. They feel that they can commit violence without disapproval.

Gone are those days when we used to just keep our mouths shut and suffer all the harassment; now it’s time to rise against this harassment and violence. It’s time to raise our voices strongly and bold enough that it will have an impact on society. Youth of this generation will be able to contribute to this. Empowering youth means we are empowering a country as a whole, for today’s youth is tomorrow’s future. Once we try to make them understand why violence against women ought to stop for a better society, that day all the harassment and violence against them will come to an end. Violence in any sector will hurt society; it will deteriorate the progress and peace of that country. Current and coming generations need to know the importance of these things so that they improve themselves and in turn improve the world around them to be a better place for women to live peacefully.

Violence is something that each of us can understand to its depth if we put ourselves in the shoes of those who are facing and going through this trauma, this understanding will help us to avoid the ill-treatments against women. These doodles are not merely images these are emotions of various lives, these are the images that come into our minds when we hear the term “Harassment or violence against women”, they are mirrors for our future, and they are the bold voices of our youth. Art is a strong weapon; it’s such a strong weapon that it can lead to a revolution of its own.

Women must be unconstrained to pursue what they want in their lives be it their careers hobbies or any other field, they must be provided with the freedom to develop into fully functioning humans, where their individuality is nurtured and acknowledged. Through this, we can lead millions of women across the globe to pursue their ambitions and move forth in life with strong determination, respect, and faith to achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability. Let’s all dream of a future that is both equal and beautiful and also a world where both men and women learn to respect and cherish each other’s success.

“Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.”- Malala Yousafzai

Anjali P S,
Sahrdaya College of Engineering and Technology

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