Women Should Feel Safe To Be Independent

By N.F.T

March is a special month for women across the globe as we celebrate Women’s International Day on the 8th of March. It was moving to discover women and men posting updates on social media celebrating this occasion by giving their words of respect and empowerment to females spanning across several generations.

Despite this wave of positivity, earlier this month, a heinous crime was committed against a British woman who was a 33-year-old marketing executive. It was all over social media. Her name was Sarah Everard. She was found dead a week later after disappearing on the 3rd of March. Her case was confirmed as a homicide, but who was the perpetrator? Well, she was murdered by the very person people turn to for justice and protection — a police officer named Wayne Couzens. She was walking home on her own to Brixton from her friend’s house in Clapham. Unfortunately, she didn’t manage to reach home, which led her boyfriend to report her disappearance.

Posters of Sarah Everard were shared widely. Photo Credits to GETTY IMAGES

The thing is, she did what every woman who travel alone had been advised to do… She walked in public space, she was wearing modest clothing and she even informed her boyfriend after she left her friend’s house. The mugshot of the perpetrator also showed that she fought for her life. There were scratch marks all over his neck and chest. If the first thought that came to your mind is “she should have carpooled with a friend or ask her boyfriend to pick her up or maybe ask her friends to accompany her walk back home”, then you are participating in victim-blaming. Why can’t women feel safe to be independent? Instead of scratching the surface of an issue by victim blaming, one should have investigated the environment that caused such incidents.

Society has come to know that women are not weak. We are equally competent with men in many areas but we still must acknowledge that the majority of women are physically weaker than men. Furthermore, women are even provided with less rights than men in some countries. That’s why we naturally look upon men as protectors while women as nurturers. But looks like, women now have to take upon the extra burden of protecting themselves as well.

Why is Sarah Everard’s story crucial to know? In fact, not only hers but also so many others undergoing similar cases with regards to violence against women or sexual harassment that is still prevalent to this day. It is to show that despite the modesty rules bestowed upon women to keep themselves from harm, it is still futile without men chipping in. We need men to take action as well. No matter how much we celebrate women’s empowerment or raise awareness towards gender equality, there are roadblocks that we have to address if we ever want to move forward.

There have been plenty of educational talks given towards young girls about being strong, independent and empowered but so far, we’ve never really seen any talks held for young boys about respecting and appreciating women, about being a part of the gender equality movement, about how to be a gentleman and about controlling their sexual desires. Even if there is, the numbers are so small. We are emphasizing on empowering young women but overlooking young boys. However, in some countries, boys were the ones given lectures on sex education but young girls were given no clue. We can see how imbalanced education systems impact the overall society. The solutions are already there — balanced education. It’s just that we need to start implementing them.

Raising awareness about women rights being human rights. Photo Credits to Eleni Paroglou, GETTY IMAGES

Radleigh Lauren quoted that we have to “destroy the idea that men should respect women because we are their daughters, mothers or sisters. Reinforce the idea that men should respect women because we are people, human beings”. Women do not need an excuse to be cherished and protected. We need to strive as a whole, men and women, to create an environment where women can feel safe whatever they are doing and wherever they are.