Into the Lives of Women in the Middle East 

For over a decade now, armed conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya have caused tragic levels of death, destruction, and disorder in the MENA region. After the Arab Spring uprisings, several other countries in the region are experiencing the infringement of conflict or struggling to maintain stability. In every war, women and girls have to face the adversities. Violent clashes have always proved to increase the prevalence of sexual and gender based violence. Given the status of females in the Middle East is in itself a grave concern, war has intensified discrimination and violence against them on various levels. Briefly, conflict has worsened the situation. But the question still stands on when are we going to combat this. 

 

Women and children are subjected to widespread protection violations. Due to poverty in these areas, parents marry off their girls at an early age. In Yemen, forced and early marriage of girls has tripled in the last five years and nearly 1 in 5 household is headed by girls under the age of 18. Once an adolescent girl is married, it is very rare an event that she remains in school or completes her education. Multiple schools have been bombed, affecting other female students' turnout much more than male students. 

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With the crisis disrupting water systems and local markets, women face danger as they collect supplies for their families or travel much greater distances to access basic services. In times of shortage of food, women and girls are the last to eat in a household. Nearly a million pregnant of lactating females are acutely malnourished in the Middle East. Human trafficking had alarmingly increased and females cover the majority of people that are trafficked. Women and girls are exploited as child brides and sex slaves. Practice of female genital mutilation(FGM) is omnipresent with rates of circumcision increasing day by day. 

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Due to widespread distribution of arms and ammunition, toxic masculinity has been fueled by the military that is systematically targeting women's voice, freedom, and dignity. They are highly underrepresented at peace talks and hardly get to hold any position in the political sphere. An average of 11% women of working age participate in the labour force. Why is this number too small even in the 21st century? When are we going to take up more efforts? Evidently, the current attempt is wat too meagre to bring justice and freedom to them. 

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A lot of deliberation has taken place yet the situation of females remains heart wrenching. Change is required and change is inevitable. The present crisis could only be combated if proper education is provided to everyone, including females. But if the curriculum itself promotes gender-stereotypes wherein illustrations are cited where boys are shown in more diverse roles and girls are shown in more stereotypically feminine roles, how will the circumstance be curtailed? Nations should devise a National Action Plan for the implementation of safeguarding rights of women in the social, political, and economic spheres. For once and all, war should end. Hence sanctions should be called against the UN Arms Trade Treaty. To combat violence, one stop centres should be created to provide all types of healthcare, basic necessities, and psychological support. 

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"Women's rights are human rights and human rights are women rights." They deserve dignity. They deserve a life!