Photo by Joanne Adela: Pexels

Women, who are the makers of life, can turn the world around. However, in cultures and societies all over the world, this potential has been shrouded, not by one or two but by layers of oppression, suffocation, and systemic injustice. One of the greatest paradoxes of the human race is the theme of strength versus suppression, or rather how powerful can women be?

Here's this, under the protecting purdah of constitutions and charters of human rights - this declaration of freedom, equal dignity, and unshackling - women are transformed and made into objects for control and desires by socialised norms, ingrained misogynists and opportunists around other sections of male entities that treat her like an object, these aspects will not only make war outside but also crush through a burden of mis-blame and shame.

Often it is said that illiteracy breeds the oppression of women. Perhaps, it may be argued that education empowers men. Still, such an argument would be woefully insufficient when we realise the fact that even in well-educated societies, women continue to be harassed, discriminated against, and victimised. Simple ignorance cannot explain female oppression; rather, it is a product of profound patriarchal values where male interests come first and female power is devalued.

This freedom was over seven decades ago, since independence for India; yet the freedom of women from the invisible shackles of social opinion remains to be a distant dream. For every state, every comment, and every inappropriate touch remind them that their safety and dignity are still negotiable. When will independence turn into true liberation?

There are many such horrific narratives by which different societies are being battered that when a woman is either harassed or raped, always fault finds with her. Maybe it is her dress or maybe her behaviour was bold, and she was too bold to stay there at home. That type of blame culture will never forgive the rapist's acts also. Also, it lays the fertile ground for them; meanwhile, accountability flies away towards societal oppression of women rather than the actors.

How does a man's inability to govern his impulses become the liability of the woman? Why must women pay the cost of the loss of morality and humanity in others?

Even after all the violence or harassment, the women are ostracized and condemned by the very same society which is supposed to be their refuge. In this scenario, the crime perpetrators go scot-free, with their crimes being downplayed or ignored altogether. In such a scenario, the oppression of women continues as they have been made victims, yet they have to carry the guilt around and remain silent.

The question begging for an answer is not why women are oppressed but rather why society does not abhor and vilify the behaviour that does this. Is it the woman's fault for being in her own body, or is it the man's inability to treat her as a human? The problem is not the attire or actions of women, nor their presence but rather a culture of tolerance for predatory behavior and dismissal of its consequences.

This toxic culture of victim-blaming has to be stripped away, and the perpetrators have to be punished. Society needs to unlearn all these age-old narratives. Men need to take responsibility for their complicity in understanding that respecting women is not an act of benevolence but a basic human duty.

Women are strong. They can withstand, give life, and change the world. But this power cannot be fulfilled unless it breaks the chains of oppression. A society that oppresses women will ultimately weaken itself for it is in the dignity and respect it accords to all its members that humanity is measured.

The problem is not women; it is society. Society has allowed these seeds of misogyny and violence to fest. Only when we come to realize that a so-called man who preys on a woman isn't just violating her; he's raping his humanity. Only then can we envision a world where the women stand tall, free of oppression, and wielding powers they've always possessed?

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