The two
halves of our human race have sorrowfully a different experience of respect in
society. In fact a majority of women only wear a smile to hide their grief and
anger. The recent Pollachi sexual harassment and blackmail incidents have once
again caused an uproar in our nation after the convicts have confessed the enticing
trap of dinners and long drives they laid to catch the young prey, molest them,
video graph them and then threaten them.
As a people
of India, each of us today has a role to play in violence against women. These
are cautionary stories warning us as a community to understand what happens
when power corrupts and silences the vulnerable. Ours is a double standard
society where it is difficult to bring up enterprising young girls who are
largely expected to stay docile. Where do we look out for answers to solve this
critical issue of women withholding their truth because there are no ready ears
to listen to it? Sexual offences against women, are not a 21st
century problem, it’s one that civilization has faced since yore.
Incidents of
distasteful behaviour towards women in the real world as well as in the world
of mythologies are a common trend; but where do we search for a solution?
In the Bible
we have the story of David and Bethsheda and the murder of her husband Uriah.
In Psalm 51, we hear David’s repentance for the sin of his lust. However, the legacy continues in
his daughter Tamar’s story. In 2 Samuel 13, we have Ammon leading his cousin
sister into his bedroom pretending to be unwell. When he rapes her, she cries
and protests with a loud and clear voice. But just like the Bethshedas and
Tamars of today are told to keep quiet, Tamar’s brother Absolem also advises her
to remain silent. “Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother; do not take this to
heart.”
In our society,
women have degrees in their pockets but shawls of shame covering their faces. Sexual
assault today is not a women’s issue alone; it is a human issue. It’s a war
against half the population which has been gifted with a womb to procreate.
What if all the Tamars decide to stop the world? Proverbs 31:25 says, “Strength
and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.”
The Pollachi
happenings tell us that the girls were trapped with invitations to dinners and
long drives. Could we blame a Tamar today if she desired to go for a long
drive? If Tamar had to speak, she would perhaps have a different story.
Pollachi like situations of terror work to silence the voice of simple joys in
a woman’s life where power is used over her but her consent is not taken into
consideration. Even the balms of protest fail to heal her wounds.
Then how and
where can we find healing for women? We have a role model though who came as a
man on earth and taught us how to behave with women giving fulfilment to their
hopes.
Mark 5:21-43
speaks of the bleeding woman who has hope only in Jesus. “If I only touch his clothes, I
will be made well.” Society
today is very quick to pick up stones, but John 8:7 speaks of this ritual of
stoning and calls for grace to uplift those hurt and bleeding. “He
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” In Luke
13:11, we have a woman bent over for years. “Was bowed together, and could in
no way lift up herself.” For centuries women have been bent under
torturous weapons of lust. These are uniquely female troubles but Jesus
initiates their healing with a touch.
Pollachi is
a moment of lamentation today. The cries of the women there have caused another
national pain. Their voice must not be silenced; instead men all over the world
must be taught that respecting women is the true sign of manliness. Today the
world is often heard saying that ‘men will be men’, but it misses what the word
says in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “act like
men”.
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Well written...
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