[Opinion]: International Women’s Day: The Position of Women in Society

As a woman in leadership, I find this discussion exciting and engaging because I staunchly believe in and advocate for the rights and dignity of women.

I work with women (including young girls) in street situation, women who unfortunately fall victims to human trafficking, women who sadly experience domestic/intimate partner violence and young women who are forced into marriage, women with children with disability particularly those who have been abandoned by their partners, and women in other vulnerable situations.

When I reflect on the experiences of these women, I see clearly the place of women in society. These women have been harshly dealt with by life. They suffer exploitation, rejections, deprivations, the list is endless. Yet, they remain resilient, steadfast in their responsibilities. They struggle through life sometimes to support their children, their husbands, their families, including those who hurt them and I wonder how the world would exist without women.

Let us turn our focus to the middle-class women. This class of women form part of the labor force of the society. They are privileged with western education. They work equal hours with their male counterparts and put in all their resources of time, skills, energy, creativity, in their work. The middle-class women move from their official works to domestic works which may take the rest of the day after work till late hours into the night. Interestingly, their outside office work is not considered when calculating their productivity. The people a labor force woman serves at home may not even be thankful. Yet, she would not relent but continue to give herself to enrich her family, her community, her work place and the entire society. What would be the position of this sheer magnanimity?

There is no doubt that women occupy a central position in the life of the society and that is exactly where she should be positioned. Even if the society decides to ignore and pushes her to the fringe of the society, the woman would still daily render her service. Because, women know where they belong. Nature knows where they belong although people downplay their value to the extent of enslaving, exploiting, and abusing them and their rights. But everyone knows the indisputable and immeasurable worth of women. Society knows that it would be a shadow without this elegant beauties and jewels of God we call women.

A woman would hold on to life and try to confront it with faith, hope and courage. She will not let go easily until she exhausts her last energy. Listen to a woman narrate her ordeal through life, it would amaze you what keeps her through such. Women know how to cry and laugh at the same time; they know how to love even when it hurts. A woman knows that love is her very nature and lives through it even the most painful experience of loving. Her act can be deemed foolish by ignorant ones. Though broken, a woman would still see herself as a source of life and healing to her family. Unabashedly, love is her nature molded in the Image of God.

Women are so tossed and broken by life’s challenges so much that they sometimes undervalue their own worth. Women battle so hard to excel even with their qualifications, skills and expertise because society often refuses to recognize their rightful position.

It is mind boggling that some members of the opposite sex even from very low life’s positions such as no or low academic background, no jobs, no skills, etc. would express utter disrespect/disregard for a person simply because she is a woman. On the contrary, same persons will accord high respect to a male from a lower life’s cadet because he is a man. Sadly, this disregard also comes from highly exposed persons of the opposite sex who are expected to think and act differently.

Some women themselves do not act differently. Some women downplay their worth and that of their fellow women. There are women who would not vote their fellow women into positions but would rather vote in a man who is less qualified compared to the contesting woman. Some women shy away from vying for what they are well qualified for, either because they do not want to be seen as too forward or they fear to underperform in the position. By, so doing, women themselves fail to insert themselves within their rightful position in the society.

This discourse calls for a change of mindset from the current win-lose position to a win-win position, where both genders see, appreciate, values each other’s contribution in every sphere of life. They need to accord equal respect and dignity to everyone. Similarly, women would insert themselves where they naturally belong, in the Centre, not at the periphery of society. Women are endowed with innumerable qualities. No gainsaying the position of women anywhere, they only need to assert themselves, take their rightful position, and make their unique contribution to society. In fact, we are in a no contest. No need to crawl for men to stand tall. We can all stand tall beside each other. Every sex is properly positioned and the center is large enough for us all to fit. No one needs to be shoved to the periphery. We can all fit into the Centre.

As we mark this year’s International Women’s Day, I advocate for a day that women would be treated as full humans; respected for who they are (life givers) and appreciated for the gifts they are to society. With the unparalleled contributions they make to the human family, I advocate for an end to all conditions that subject women to slavery and exploitations of any form, whether domestic violence, human trafficking, early or forced marriage, unequal treatment or marginalization of any form within the society.

Let us celebrate those great women who have excelled beyond the different forms of inequalities and oppressive cultures and play key roles in politics, economics, religion, academia, health, motherhood, and every aspect of society. We must also recognize and celebrate the wonderful women who carry life’s struggle and the burden of oppression, exploitation, and disrespect. Women whose dignities have been violated yet they continue to contribute in their sweat to raise their children. They have equally enriched society with their hard labors, and pains and they must be recognized and appeased. These women would forgive society when society appreciates their position and valor and cease to perpetrate inequality.

Source: Sr. Olivia Umoh is a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul with 36 years of vocation. She is a Social Worker with over 30 years of experience in various aspects of Social Work practice, administration, leadership, facilitation, evaluation, strategic planning, spiritual direction, and counselling. She is passionate about the wellbeing of children and young persons and works towards protecting them, as well as assisting them to develop their potentials.

She is currently the Director of Safe-Child Advocacy, a Social Service institution owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi- Ghana, which provides supportive services to children, youth and women in street and other vulnerable situations. She has expertise in facilitating religious chapters. She also has special interest in helping congregations define their charisms. She holds an MPhil in Sociology from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana and MA in Leadership in Mission from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA.