Every year, the 16 Days Against Gender Violence Campaign kicks off all over the world to create awareness against gender based violence against women.
With all women affected, from the old to the young to the girl child, these 16 days of activism highlight the violence against women.
As the themes of the campaign have changed every year, it brings to light the issues of violence that plague women in today’s society. With violence taking the shape of honor killings, rape, domestic violence, acid burnings and dowry deaths, the call to action is now.
We should, however, guard against losing ourselves in the outrage of the moment and ensure that our campaigns are not motivated by anger, hate or vengeance, but love.
When we are in the grip of anger, hate or vengeance, there is always a danger that our perceptions may become extremely selective and distorted. We will see only what we want to see and interpret it through minds conditioned by our subjective and painful history.
Anger and resentment only amplifies the sense of separateness, emphasising the otherness of others and creating a seemingly unassailable fotresslike mental position of ‘rightness.’ Instead of unifying men and women in a common front against gender violence, it may recreate old patterns of attack and defence.
The Sunday Standard subscribes to the principle of common humanity and wish to create a society where everyone is blind to colour, gender, and race or tribe. We believe that anything that reinforces our differences instead of our similarities runs the risk of dividing humanity, no matter how noble the intention may be.?As we commemorate the 16 Days of Activism, we should ensure that grievances do not constitute a significant part of the gender discourse. Shaking a finger at someone does not help them change. If anything, it only keeps them stuck in their wayward ways.
Treating someone with compassion and forgiveness, on the other hand, is less likely to recreate old patterns of attack and defence. Those perpetrators of gender violence need our help more than our condemnation.
Recognising their actions as individual and collective manifestations of an underlying dysfunction is the best place to start. Reacting with condemnation, indignation and anger against them strengthens the sense of separation between us and them and their “otherness” may be magnified to such an extent that we no longer feel the common humanity we share with them and feel justified to alienate them.
We believe that the future can be reprogrammed during these 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. Our relationships can be created anew. We can have new beginnings, a life unlike the past.
But first, we will have to banish anger and resentment and replace them with love. And, of course, we should all embrace our oneness.
