Women's Rights

Women's Rights

The August 23 New York Times magazine on the rights of women is a keeper for me. "Why Women's rights Are the Cause of Our Time" is a document I will use and refer to it again and again. I am well aware as a Christian woman that the term "women's rights" causes some of my sisters in Christ problems but it should not. As much as I am for the rights of women to earn and achieve and be treated equally, I have never seen myself as a feminist, a term I find somewhat harsh. I celebrate the differences between men and women and the way we complement each other but as I travelled to many countries of the world, I took special notice of the way women were treated and concluded that women are the burden bearers of the world. I have seen more women carrying coal and wood and oversized bundles of who knows what on their heads. I have seen them pulling wheelbarrows filled with clothes and vegetables. I heard testimonies of women who served as beasts of burden and who despaired their lot in life. Yet, all of that was theory to me until I went to Cape Town to work with HIV and AIDS. Early in my time there I realized that women bear the brunt of the HIV and AIDS pandemic and for the most part, they do so because they have few rights of their own. It was and is their lack of skills and opportunity and the added stigma of a virus that invaded their lives, mostly uninvited, that moved me to start the sewing and computer program that I now run. I love the women God has placed into my life, such as Namgamso and Matseko seen above. I feel called, with others, to help them, serve them, build their self esteem and provide opportunities as God helps me. I also believe that if those women are treated equally and are respected more by men, we could see the HIV rate dramatically reduce in South Africa. The Times magazine says: "In many parts of the world, women are routinely beaten, raped or sold into prostitution. They are denied access to medical care, education and economic and political power. Changing that could change everything." I agree!