Life will get better – By Youth Champion Ignatia
Living as a women in a patriarchal country is not something easy – not neglecting the fact that some man are also oppressed by this system- we need to survive from many threats every single day.
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and is dependent on female subordination. This system makes a woman vulnerable in many ways. For example it is easy for men to sexually abuse a woman or girl who will then be stigmatized by society and be judged as a ‘naughty girl’. In some case, when woman are getting pregnant because of rape and want to abort it, people will pass judgment on her as a sinner and killer –and the man who did rape never gets any punishment and just continues life peacefully.
A research from Child and Adolescent Health shared the fact that about 3.2 million unsafe abortions occur every year among girls aged 15-19 years, mostly in developing countries. A number of factors contribute to adolescent pregnancy, such as level of education, urban/rural residence, ethnicity, cultural values and norms including gender imbalance and socioeconomic status. The situation is getting worse because the access or even the information towards safe abortion is very limited in many country and it leads to many cases of unsafe abortion which create trauma, stress and depression.
Many initiatives come up from woman around the world who care about other woman’s life –because the government doesn’t want to care. For example, Inna Hudaya from Indonesia who initiated a blog which share the information about safe abortion Who knew that 6 years later, what started as a simple blog will become a comprehensive hotline who provide safe abortion service for woman and receive hundreds call every week! Not just in Indonesia but also in Lebanon there is now the A project who work for safe abortion issue and provide counselling service.
The hard work from women around the world show that no matter how difficult the situation, how stubborn the government to understand woman needs, as long as there are people who care, life will get better.