We are living in a world where horrific violations of human rights still exist. It’s hard to believe, in this progressive era that is the twenty-first century. Sure, the holocaust is over. The transatlantic slave trade has been abolished. Many racial boundaries have been broken down, and, at least for now, the average American citizen seems to be under the impression that “the worst is behind us” as far as the history of injustice is concerned. This slumber can not last much longer. The process of globalization seems to be making the world smaller, awareness is slowly growing, and more people are waking up to the reality of what it going on in the world around us. Issues like human trafficking are becoming impossible to ignore. As this awakening occurs, as more research is done, as more people seek out information... one thing becomes increasingly clearer: It’s dangerous to be a woman.
Take a look at the statistics:
-70% of the worlds' poor are women.
-80% of the worlds' refugees are women.
-75% of the worlds' sick are women.
-2/3 of the worlds' workforce are women.
-However, only 10% of the world's income goes to women.
-1% of the world's property owners are women.
-1/3 of all women have been sexually abused.
-At least 80% of the worlds’ estimated 27 million human trafficking victims are women.
-39,000 baby girls die annually in China because they are not given the same medical care offered to male babies.
-Girls in India are 50% more likely to die than boys, between ages1-5, for the same reason.
-3,000,000,000 girls are the victims of female genital mutilation each year.
-2,000,000,000 girls worldwide disappear each year because of gender discrimination.
History makes it clear that a majority of the great social injustices pervading many cultures, both in the past and in the present, have been directly targeted at women. Bound feet in China, female mutilation in Africa, the murder or ostracism of Indian widows, Islamic law regarding women... and the list goes on. Sex trafficking, honor killings, maternal mortality, domestic abuse, abortion.
New York Times Journalist Nicholas Kristof writes; “The global statistics on the abuse of girls are numbing. It appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the battles of the twentieth century. more girls are killed in this routine ‘gendercide’ in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century”.
I suppose the next question is “why?”. What is the reason behind the oppression and exploitation of women? It has been said that the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. I suppose part of the reason for the attack is simply that violent, evil oppressors find women an easy target. Women in most cultures are taught to be silent, weak, and afraid... and as such they are more vulnerable and easier to take advantage of than men. Psalm 10:2 describes the attitude of these oppressors vividly: “ In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises”. Simply put, women are abused because there are men whose hearts are wicked to prey upon them.
But yet the fallen condition of the human heart and the schemes of evil men are still not able to fully explain this vicious attack against femininity. This issue can be traced back to one of the very first events in human history- the temptation and fall of man. John and Stasi Eldredge write in thier book Captivating; “...In the Garden of Eden notice- who does the evil one go after...single out for his move on the human race? He could have chosen Adam... but he didn’t. Satan went after Eve.” John and Staci go on to say that they believe Satan has a “special hatred” for women, because a woman embodies the beauty and glory of God that he has fallen from and because a woman is the bearer of human life, which he seeks to destroy. Whatever the reasons behind it, I believe that it’s safe to say that the enemy does target and seek to destroy women.
The question which naturally follows after considering such a fact is; “what are we going to do about it?” Ending injustice and violence against women isn’t just about rescuing victims of injustice and offering our aid. We’ve got to trace the problem to its roots. We’ve got to recognize it for what it is. We’ve got to challenge our culture, the media, religion, and tradition. We’ve got to break down the lies of the enemy regarding women, and acknowledge the ultimate enemy we’re up against in this fight. Only then will we see a change, rather than just dealing with the aftermath.
