Women, Peace, and Security: (An International Perspective)

By Shamim Aleem

God created man and woman equally. It is not that woman is inferior to man. Man and woman differ is physique, woman is delicate, man is physically strong, and this gave an upper hand to man. Might is Right was always the order of the day. It led to the open violence against woman. Woman could not raise her voice, could not protest, for the sake of the fear of being thrown out of the house. It was the feeling of insecurity that compel woman for subordination. Man wanted to maintain the status quo and was not willing to change in favor of woman. It took ages to convince that, to deny woman the rights she deserves is not only the violation of Human Rights but the main cause of world poverty.

The U. N. O. and other international agencies have been trying hard to pass on this message to the community at large. Most of the countries have agreed to commit themselves to this new philosophy. But there is a big gap between preaching and practice. It is easy to amend the laws but difficult to bring an attitudinal change. This is the challenge, the world is facing today. Our efforts should be to bring this change as smoothly as possible. Woman has to come forward to take up this challenge. But she has to be very calculative in her struggle for achieving these objectives, without disturbing the peace.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483671123

Shamim Aleem

Prof. (Ms.) Shamim Aleem is a Retd. Professor of Social Sciences and now a freelancer writer. She earned her Masters degrees in Political Science and Public Administration and Ph.D. in personnel management. As a Fulbright scholar she worked with the Police Foundation Washington D.C in 1988. For the past three decades she has been writing on different issues of women. She has authorized more than a dozen books, such as Women Peace and Security – An International Perspective. Women Police and Social Change Women in Indian Police and Women’s Development – Problems and Prospects. The Status of Women in Muslim World, is her recent work.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Shamim Aleem.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4836-7111-6

                Ebook          978-1-4836-7112-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 09/09/2013

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Contents

Preface

Foreword

The Status of Women: Past and Present

United Nations and Women Development

United Nations and Peacekeeping

Violence against Women

Forms of Violence against Women

The Need for Gender-Sensitive Police Reforms

Women, Peace, and Security: Steps toward Progress

A Note on Rape and Gang Rape in India

Other books by the Author

Dedicated to

the women of the world,

who have the courage

to take the challenge and

fight for the equality of women.

Also by Shamim Aleem

Women’s Developments: Problems and Prospects

Women in Indian Police

Women Police and Social Change

The Suicide: Problems and Remedies

Personnel Management in a Princely State (Hyderabad)

State Administration in Andhra Pradesh

Prophet Mohammad and His Family: A Sociological Perspective

Preface

God created man and woman equally. It is not that woman is inferior to man. Man and woman differ is physique, woman is delicate, man is physically strong, and this gave an upper hand to man. Might is Right was always the order of the day. It led to the open violence against woman. Woman could not raise her voice, could not protest, for the sake of the fear of being thrown out of the house. It was the feeling of insecurity that compel woman for subordination. Man wanted to maintain the status quo and was not willing to change in favor of woman. It took ages to convince that, to deny woman the rights she deserves is not only the violation of Human Rights but the main cause of world poverty.

The U. N. O. and other international agencies have been trying hard to pass on this message to the community at large. Most of the countries have agreed to commit themselves to this new philosophy. But there is a big gap between preaching and practice. It is easy to amend the laws but difficult to bring an attitudinal change. This is the challenge, the world is facing today.

Our efforts should be to bring this change as smoothly as possible. Woman has to come forward to take up this challenge. But she has to be very calculative in her struggle for achieving these objectives, without disturbing the peace.

Woman looks to man for security, man looks to woman for peace. The peace in the family and the peace in the world depends on a balanced role of the two.

The past was gloomy but we expect the future to be bright.

   Prof. (Mrs.) Shamim Aleem.   July 2013-07-11

735 Copper Creek Crl. Alpharetta 30004

e mail: [e-mail]   phone [phone]

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Foreword

It’s both an honor and a privilege to be reconnecting with Dr. Aleem. I have known her for decades as she was the first to take up research-based studies on women police and present her findings in the book Women in Indian Police. She questioned the image of women police as a force and tried to change it to be a service of social change.

Her book Women Police as an instrument of social change, which provided a whole new perspective to the role of women police in India. She had the added benefit to be associated with the Washington DC Police Foundation in 1988 as a Fulbright scholar.

Women, Peace, and Security is a research-based study. Dr. Aleem has made an attempt to present a picture of the status of women in different countries of the world and came to the conclusion that the problems faced by women all over the world are more or less the same, with a difference of degree. She is right. For I have seen this during my work at the United Nations as police advisor to the secretary-general in Peacekeeping Operations.

She rightly feels that it is a male-dominated society, where it is not always easy for man to give equal status to woman. Women continue to feel discriminated, both in perception and practice.

One of the serious problems facing the world today is violence against women. Though most of the countries have signed the international documents for equality, safety, and elimination of violence against women, when it comes to practice, there is a big gap between preaching and practice.

Prof. Shamim Aleem has rightly pointed out that mere legislation will not improve the status of women unless there is a wholesale attitudinal change—which is not an easy task. Today, the challenge before the world is how to create awareness, sensitivity, and attitudinal change to make the world safer for women.

I thank Professor Aleem for focusing attention on these burning problems with a hope that her book will inspire the readers and policy makers to find answers to such questions for a better and equitable world.

Dr. Kiran Bedi, IPS

56 Uday Park New Delhi 110049

E-mail: [e-mail]

Dr. Kiran Bedi is the first lady to break the ice and joined the prestigious Indian Police Service. She worked with the United Nations in New York as the police advisor to the secretary-general in the Department for Peacekeeping Operations.

The Status of Women:

Past and Present

The women’s journey from the ancient to the present era is a long story, full of thorns and struggles. The status and the role varied from place to place, depending on the culture and traditions. But to have a realistic picture of women is difficult as any historical investigation depends on interpretation and speculation, and in this case, these are secondary sources written by men, not women.

In all civilizations, the underlying assumption was that men and women possess different capacities, which determine the division of work within and outside the family. This resulted in the subordination of women’s position in the society vis-à-vis men and had a far-reaching impact on the rights and status of women.

Right from the early times, women have been viewed as a creative source of human life. Historically, however, they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source