Monday, 4th October 2021 — With all that is going on in the world, there are some very perilous issues that we as humans must address. One of the most important is the health and human rights of girls and women. Boys and men are equally valuable. Yet, I focus specifically on the female gender in this commentary.
Recent incidents in Texas, USA, and the pull-out of military forces in Afghanistan, along with domestic violence rising in Anguilla, are cause for grave concern regarding the protection and rights of women, young ladies and girls. Texas’s Governor was instrumental in creating legislation that adversely impacts the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), which protects sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.
Even the United States Supreme Court, Justices concurred with the Governor’s decision and essentially overturned Roe v. Wade – a landmark decision of the Supreme Court that ruled the US Constitution protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. Now, any private citizen in Texas has the right to sue a person who seeks to abort a pregnancy and anyone who assists.
Whether or not we agree with pro-choice/pro-life, every female has the human right to govern her own body. Men who implemented these laws have no idea what females experience in terms of incest, rape, unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy terminations, etc. They have no clue regarding what girls and women go through during our lifetimes (i.e. menstrual cycles, giving birth, losing a child or foetus, perimenopause, menopause and contracting sexually transmitted diseases). Why is it that males believe they have the right to dictate what we females do with our bodies?
Female bodies experience so many changes that masculine physiques cannot even fathom. Some women have no understanding of their own physical selves nor empathise with what the feminine gender goes through. I speak from my own life’s experiences in which I have gone through several traumas perpetuated against me by the hands, words and deeds of others. One never forgets what happened. The self-healing work to release post-traumatic stress disorders, triggered by memories of these horrific events, is never-ending.
I strongly advocate for the health and human rights of all girls and women. We must stand firmly together and recognise that if we do not support the uplifting of the human race’s female gender, and eliminate the downtrodden status imposed on so many of us, then humanity’s conditions will continue spiralling downward.
Women and girls have the humanitarian right to receive access to education, equal pay, freedom from brutality and have unrestrained self-determination. As humans, we are a far cry from equality and justice for every female everywhere.
For example, the men of the Taliban in the Middle-East are now in charge of that country’s affairs. Women are forced to wear clothing that covers their bodies completely from head to toe – only their eyes, feet and hand’s skin are exposed. Neither girls or women are allowed to go to school and become educated. These actions are not merely unlawful – they are outrageously inhumane.
When will we protect our girls, young ladies and women from being harmed? When will we teach and compel our boys, male youths and men to be honourable and respectful of females?
The longer I live, the harder it becomes for me to observe these cruel injustices. At this stage in my more than half-a-century of living, I step away from any person who is unable to give the honour and respectfulness that The Most-High commands us in treating one another. It is challenging to do that when the individual is a closely related kin or dear friend. Yet, my higher consciousness and soul will not allow myself to be mistreated, stepped on nor abused anymore.
As a society, and individually, we must all play our role and contribute our compassionate efforts to eradicate all forms of health and human rights abuses and violations. We cannot afford to sit back and do nothing.
We say in the Caribbean that when America sneezes, we catch a cold. Whatever impacts people in the USA, and elsewhere across the globe, has a positive or negative effect on all a’ we in Anguilla. So, let us transform our perspectives and learn to honour and respect our bodies and ourselves.
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Kay M Ferguson is a contributing columnist who uses a nom de plume, The Empress Extraordinaire. Her words encourage us to explore who we are, evolve as human-beings and transform our world. Link with Kay at anguillawriter@gmail.com.
