Protecting Women, Saving the World

A suicide bomber recently attacked a market in Maiduguri; Nigeria. Jordan has just executed an abortive ISIS suicide bomber. In America a person who shot at an alleged abusive partner was convicted but given a non-custodial sentence. The Sun newspaper in the UK was recently embroiled in a controversy about the use of topless models on it's page 3. What all thse cases have in common is that they involved females. And they represent instances where women are being exploited and abused by men. What is striking is that in the countries where these things happen there appears to be a tolerance, and even acceptance for this type of treatment of females.

ISIS and Boko Haram both claim to be religious movements but it appears the pursuit of their objectives is fuelled by good old fashioned misogyny. All over the world women are being subjected to prejudice, abuse and exploitation because societies have a great difficulty in acknowledging that the inequality between genders is rooted in years of male chauvinism and ignorance. Men in authority still seem to actively seek out opportunities to humiliate and undermine women in their personal and professional lives. And until the law and every decent person in society starts respecting the right of females and offering them their due regard the world will continue to witness injustices and oppression against a group who deserve both our respect and the full protection of the law.