Women’s Week 2020: The Right to Dignity
Every woman has the right to live with dignity and without discrimination. They have a right to be treated equally in society, regardless of their background or where they come from.
In our run-up to International Women’s Day, we bring to you stories of the women and girls we work with who are fighting for their rights despite the odds stacked against them. We share these stories as a reminder that there is still a long way to go but we are on our way.
Today we bring the story of a single mother’s fight for her right to dignity. She has the right to not be discriminated against, regardless of her marital status.
A woman is often hailed in our society as a primary caregiver for a child. The patriarchal structure of our society dictates that a woman must take care of the child yet when it comes to seeing her as a provider for the child, society has a long way to go.
Seema is a child in need of care and protection. She lives with her mother and a younger sibling. Her mother is a nurse and often takes night shifts to be there for her children during the day. The mother is the sole breadwinner of the family. A few months ago, A friend of Seema had influenced her to run from home to pursue a career in modeling in a different city. The child ran from home with her friend, but upon reaching the destination she was pushed to work in a dance bar. She was eventually rescued and placed in a child care institution for her care and protection.
Recently, when the child was about to be restored to her family, the Child Welfare Committee commented on the mother being a single parent for the child. In their opinion, since Seema’s mother was a single parent, she was at fault for her child being vulnerable. They blamed her work for the child running from home. The mother was quite hurt but did not say much to the CWC and accepted their statement. The statement was sexist and inappropriate coming from the Child Welfare Committee, and the social workers from Prerana discussed the same with the mother later. The mother admitted to them that she had been quite shaken by the statement as she had tried her best to financially provide for the family, and also take care of them. Many factors had led to the child being trafficked, and the social workers spoke to the mother about not feeling disheartened, and that she was not to be blamed for the vulnerability of her child. Yet, the mother could not the comments out of her mind.
CWC members are supposed to be sensitive and not discriminatory towards people, regardless of their social circumstances. Child rights often intersect women’s rights and in Seema’s case, the CWC should not have blamed her mother for the child’s vulnerability. Accessing rights is hard for women, but authorities blaming them for their troubles adds to the struggles they face.
Azra Qaisar
Azra joined Prerana in December 2018 and works with the communications team while coordinating documentation for the Post Rescue Operation’s Sentinel project. Having a strong academic background, Azra is assertive and believes in bringing theory and logic to the practical work that the team executes on the field.
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