By Dr. Elizabeth Hygnes
Integration of the genders and raising awareness of not only the issues but also the impacts might help to protect our communities. Once we see clearly how the others are struggling, we can avoid heading into a darker life.
A man will beat a woman due to a lack of control after exhausting office hours. A boy can beat a girl due to a lack of respect for the weaker opponent. The victim needs to be embraced and assisted through healing, and this can only be merely feasible with the unity of the whole community.
Pretending that the problems don’t exist will make the situation worse for everyone by enabling the perpetrator to continue and preventing the victim from being heard.
It is cowardly to act in violence that achieves no purpose. Is breaking and battering a woman the only thing to improve your own situation? If so, you have no real ambition or Christian compassion. You lack control of your life, so you take control of what you have no right to take.
Statistics show that men with debts, lower incomes, smaller IQs, or bigger psychological insecurities are the ones that perpetuate violence. An intelligent person can think of an action that will address a problem rather than diverting that energy into medical bills. Families with two income earners are shown to have bigger houses, fewer periods of unemployment, and less need for charity aid.
Just because a man is physically weak does not mean he is not able to become more prosperous with encouragement. A holy union should build one another up in an upward spiral.
This is how we protect our communities from gender-based violence.
Prioritize human rights and personal dignity
Covenant prohibits arbitrary deprivation of life; torture, cruel or degrading treatment or punishment; slavery and forced labor; arbitrary arrest or detention; arbitrary interference with privacy; war propaganda; discrimination; and advocacy of racial or religious hatred.
Just reading this might shock you. Do you see some basic rights that are lacking in your life? Do you see some basic rights that you have taken from others?
Bear in mind that these are only the basics.
Societies, where people feel more dignified in their daily lives, are more prosperous and less prone to wear. Every day you can seek to attain and maintain your basic level of human rights and those of others around you. Every day you can choose dignity to the level at which it is available to you. Then the only way is to go upwards.
Dignity in oneself is a ground-level requirement before we can start to build our lives, dreams and careers. Growing a business does not only bring dignity but requires pre-existing dignity of the person.
