With these powerful words, Libyan writer Inas Ahmida began her reflection on International Women’s Day, published on Al-Sabah platform. Ahmida’s poignant narrative comes as a reminder of the harsh realities facing countless women despite the celebratory rhetoric that often surrounds this day. She outlined the following truths that demand urgent attention:
– Women are raped and silenced, forced into crime, and subjected to degrading work.
– Women are denied their children, inheritance, education, property ownership, the right to drive, and equal job opportunities.
– Women are stripped of their basic rights, their bodies and souls violated, and deprived of the simplest necessities for a dignified life.
– Women endure poverty, illness, illiteracy, and even hunger while facing increasing marginalization and exclusion.
– Women are stigmatized due to illness, disability, or social status, pushed into isolation and deprivation.
– Women languish in prisons without trial, while others are forced to live under the threat of oppressive forces and restrictive traditions.
– Women are denied civil rights, barred from running for office, and excluded from decision-making positions.
– Here, among us, in a country that prides itself on preserving the Quran, women are violated, harassed, and subjected to unchecked verbal and psychological violence.
– Here, in a country with a Ministry of Social Affairs, a Minister of Women’s Affairs, dozens of offices and organizations dedicated to rights and empowerment, still, hundreds of women continue to suffer in silence.
On International Women’s Day, women do not need hollow celebrations or polished speeches. What they demand is real justice, safeguarded dignity, and unyielding rights.
