Today is a special day; it is International Women’s Day. It would be a very dumb man who would deny the importance of the woman to our existence. Never mind that today we live in a world that trivializes the existence of life. Procreation which is considered one of the most sacred acts of mankind, and one which can only be performed by a woman has now been relegated to Abortion Clinics which can now be visited on many street corners around the globe. What a sad state the homo-sapiens species have become. Back to the point of this blog! Barbados Underground congratulates all women for the strides they have made in the last twenty years. Gender equality is something we will always support even though we may differ with how some women apply interpretations!
We could not let this day pass without touching on a related matter. Barbados has joined the rest of the world to stand cap in hand to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with China. China we all accept now being touted has the economic Tiger of the world. It therefore makes economic sense to engage in friendly relations with a country which has a horrid human rights record. Also the world seems to have forgotten that China is a communist country! Why is this known revelation of concern you ask? The United States of America continues to join with other countries to maintain a trade embargo on little Cuba while at the same time according China ‘most favoured status’; go figure!
Let us relate what we are saying about China to International Women’s Day 2008. The most recent report which we can find suggests that China’s oppression of Tibetan women continues. The Tibet Women’s Association reports on their website reiterated their “concern about the discrimination based on sex, ethnicity or cultural background faced by rural and ethnic minority groups including Tibetan women, with regard to access to education, health, employment, participation in leadership and ownership of land in China. The Committee also expressed concern that rural girls have disproportionate illiteracy and school dropout rates and at the lack of health care facilities and medical personnel in rural areas, the high maternal mortality rates and the rising costs for health care, such as user fees, which limit rural women’s access to health services.” Our best research has shown that little has changed for the Tibetan women. According to a report prepared by an Indian based Tibetan Women’s group, these women have been forced to take up prostitution and have been detained as political prisoners because of their dissenting views.
For Barbadians who are unaware of the struggle of the Tibetan people who have waged a struggle under the Communist Chinese government, they might do well to do a Google and follow the trail. Today, we congratulate the strides women have made but at the same time we cannot forget those who have been left behind.
Women who visit BU are free to offer comments because this blog was written by a man while acknowledging that it was inspired by the matriarch of the household.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.