NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Eminent women and social workers from different walks of life recently came together for a webinar that discussed at length the atrocities meted out to women.
According to a statement, during the webinar, which was organised by the Women’s Department of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, participants flagged concern “over the retrograde treatment of women in society and the tendency to treat them as objects rather than human beings, and the growing trend of violence.”
It may be mentioned that the webinar was titled ‘Objectification and Violence on Women — New Norm of Cultural Appropriation’.
In her address, National Secretary of the Women’s Department of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Rahmathunnisa A, questioned the society’s silence on the exploitation of and violence against women.
She said, “Women are not safe anywhere at the home, market or workplace. We should not be silent on this. Women should raise their voices so that a woman gets the right to live as a woman.”
Similarly, General Secretary of the National Federation of Girls Islamic Organization Samar Ali contented that wearing hijab depends on the choice of the person.
“Whether it’s a matter of wearing hijab or abaya, it depends on the choice of the person. It is wrong to treat those who don the hijab as extremists. A woman is not a commodity. We have to fight against the exploitation of women so that they can get their rightful place in society,” Ali said.
On the other hand, The Women Education and Empowerment Trust General Secretary Shaista Rifat lamented that violence against women is a global issue.
“Violence and abuse of women is not a problem of any one country but the whole world is facing this problem. However, the situation in our country is quite serious. The mindset of not considering women as human beings and their objectification is flourishing in society. The capitalist system and the media are exploiting women and using them as a commodity. We all should speed up our efforts to change these conditions,” Rifat said.
