Freedom

I'm free. I'm not a prisoner. I'm not constrained by anything other than my own mind & my physical capabilities. I can go where I want & do what I want within the law & my financial situation. I'm free to say what I think.

Aren't I lucky?

Women around the world are not free, even the wealthiest. Princess Haya one of the 6 wives of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has fled the Emirates & sought asylum in Germany because of his abuse. Her daughter Latifa attempted to flee last year but was re-captured & hasn't been seen since. Maybe people who holiday in Dubai should consider that.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 33 of the 251 journalists currently in jail around the world are women. Turkey is the world’s top jailer of women journalists with 14 in prison. The whole point of journalism is that reporters should be free to tell truth to power.

According to Amnesty women are discriminated against and subjected to violence the world over, just because of their gender. There is an Amnesty Womens Action Network https://www.amnesty.org.uk/tags/womens-action-network

Common forms of violence against women in India include domestic abuse, sexual assault, & murder. Many expressions of violence are not considered crimes, or may otherwise go unreported or undocumented due to certain Indian cultural values and beliefs, so accurate statistics are difficult to find. This is due in large part to the threat of ridicule or shame to the potential reporter, as well as an immense pressure not to damage the family's honor. 65% of Indian men believe women should tolerate violence in order to keep the family together, and women sometimes deserve to be beaten.

Women are victims of human trafficking:-

• 51% of identified victims of trafficking are women, 28% children and 21% men
• 72% people exploited in the sex industry are women
• 63% of identified traffickers were men and 37% women

Many women who fall victim to trafficking want to escape poverty, improve their lives, and support their families. Often they get an offer of a well-paid job abroad or in another region. Often they borrow money from their traffickers in advance to pay for arranging the job, travel and accommodation.

When they arrive they find that the work they applied for does not exist, or the conditions are completely different. But it’s too late, their documents are often taken away and they are forced to work until their debt is paid off. Women can be trafficked for many different forms of exploitation such as forced prostitution, forced labour, forced begging, forced criminality, domestic servitude, forced marriage and forced organ removal.

Once you become aware how much we take freedom for granted & how little freedom many people in the world at all levels of society have, you realise that we should be actively working to ensure that Human Rights are respected.