Today is International women's day. Women need to be honored. But some women are missing from mass public consciousness. Who are these forgotten women?
Let us start with victims of sex trafficking which unfortunately still permeates society. Governments have taken action, but corruption & lack of will has been a problem in making a dent. Mostly driven by human avarice and misuse of human trust, there are others who are victims of hateful religious ideologies. Let us spare a tear for the plight of the Yezidi women who were enslaved in full public glare in today's world, with no one helping them.
Let us next look at the traditionally hated mother-in-law & sister-in-law. In India, the hateful non-bailable & non-compoundable 498A law has been misused by women to falsely accuse their mother-in-law & sister-in-law, and their loved ones (including males) and put them in jail, until they are relieved by courts. A corrupt police & lawyer nexus continues to make this happen. The Indian National Commission for Women (NCW) comprised of rich, corrupt privileged women with ego issues in family passed this draconian law and put impediments in the way of its reform, causing immense anguish to several women in this process. They didn't do much for the more serious issues of sex trafficking.
We, as a species, are usually focussed only on our species. Is it okay to transcend this selfishness for a moment? Shall we look at the forgotten women of other species?
Let us consider the gentle cow, which is legendary for its love of its calf. In the animal agriculture/factory farms that is a 'gift' of the west to this world, the cow is confined to small filthy spaces & connected to milking machines where it cannot move. It is brutally artificially inseminated, even while it is lactating, resulting in udder infections, which results in blood & pus in milk. If the calf drinks milk, it is bad for business. The calf is forcibly removed from the mother. The boy calf goes to the veal industry, the girl back to the milk industry. Once the cow is exhausted from constantly being pregnant & lactating, it is rewarded with a trip to the slaughterhouse.
Next, let us consider the chickens. Confined to a filthy area of a sheet of paper for its entire life & given growth hormones, its upper beak chopped off, it cannot move for its entire life, for its eggs. Once it stops laying eggs, it is rewarded with slaughter. Male chicks are ground up alive & trashed. Females are recycled back into the egg & meat industry.
Finally, let us consider the poor pigs. Intelligent but reviled, yet eaten, humans have designed metal crates where pigs can't even move for their entire life, brutally artificially inseminated, fattened and slaughtered.
Let us shed a tear for all the forgotten women of this world. While the world celebrates this day & talks about arguably less important issues.
