Women in war and peace

New Straits Times
09-29-2000
Women in war and peace
Edition: Main/Lifestyle; 2*
Section: Opinion
Type: Editorial

IT is time that women are empowered to lead and participate more actively in the vital decisions that affect society and the nation because there are a host of issues which women can play a decisive role, especially those relating to war and peace in a turbulent world. The peace making process is one thing, but there are other areas such as environment, rural and resource development and politics in which greater involvement by women will make the world a better place. Women make up a substantial proportion of the labour force and without them working in various sectors, a modern economy will be crippled.

Even though women have made tremendous progress over the last century, the recognition and implementation of women's rights are unevenly spread - advanced in some countries particularly those which are developed, satisfactory in some and downright unsatisfactory and dismal in others. On a global basis and if we take into account that the majority of women are living in the Third World, a lot still needs to be done to further uplift their status, accord them their legitimate rights and due recognition given for their potential contribution to the world's betterment.
If a place is ripped apart by war, the pathetic image of a woman cradling her child in her arms while shuddering in a shelter to escape the fighting cannot but move us to tears. And yet those who are responsible for making war often evoke images of military valour to inspire their followers, while ignoring the plight of women and children caught in the vortex of the fighting and killing. This has happened throughout history and is tragically still happening now in some places although we have now entered the 21st Century along with the marvels of the Internet, hand phones and the K-Economy. This calls for new thinking among those who are deeply concerned with what is affecting the women of today. It is apt therefore, as advocated by Datuk Seri Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, that women be directly involved in the decisions that create war, the conduct of war as well as what happens after the fighting is over. Women are only directly involved in war only after crucial political decisions have been made, weapons distributed and the fighting has started.

This is tragic because women and children endure the most painful suffering in an armed conflict, and it does not matter who wins or loses. The statistics cited by Dr Siti Hasmah in her paper on the impact of war on women and children at the Second Meeting of the Regional Steering Committee on Economic Advancement of Rural and Island Women in Asia Pacific are shocking. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, between 70 and 80 per cent of the refugees today are women and children and that at least two million Arab children are refugees, and nearly four million are displaced. Women non-combatants in a military conflict are especially vulnerable and helpless because of the threat of rape and other forms of abuse.

There is this touching story of how an elderly woman managed to stop the fighting between a group of American and German soldiers in Europe during the Second World War and got them together to have a peaceful dinner on Christmas Day. She succeeded in doing this because she reminded them of their own mothers even while they were enemies goingfor each other's throats. If men have failed to bring peace to the world, they should step aside and let their mothers, wives and sisters do the job.

(Copyright 2000)