What war does to women

There is so much going on in the world. The clouds of war and violence seem to hover around the globe and there seems to be no end to this mayhem and chaos. Billions of military troops march out in the name of war and conflict every day. They fight against each other under the shadows of cannons, tanks, nuclear warfare, chemicals, gunfire and smoke. The fight goes on and on and when it ultimately ends (which it never does), we find them buried deep under the ground. They take cities, culture and heritage down with them, like they never existed. And just like that, it’s all gone. Acres of fields that could have provided food for starved stomachs are burnt into ashes, homes that had memories scribbled on their walls are brought down to a single pile of rubble and people who made up a family tree are lost, taking generations down with them. And just like that, it’s all gone. But all this is nothing! Yes it’s nothing in comparison to the agony and pain that women go through. Women bear the brunt of war and pay the toll at a price that is far too horrifying. Women are the true victims of war; each woman at some point loses a father, a brother, a husband or a son. Her home that she invested years in building, her home that is the very abode of her dreams and hopes is snatched away in front of her and in that moment she is helpless. And just like that, her dreams are shattered. Each woman goes through that emotional torture and humiliation when the most degraded of all weapons of war, being rape, is used. If it is not her, then it’s her daughter, her mother, her sister or her friend. And just like that, her dignity is gone. This doesn’t stop here. She walks in the streets of her country, which is stained with blood and surrounded by dead bodies. Yet she walks bravely among those piles of the dead looking for her loved ones. If she finds them, she carries them to the graveyard on her shoulders. If she doesn’t find them she prays to be haunted by them. And just like that, she lives. Women in these war stricken lands are suffering daily. They live in the shadow of their dead, hoping and praying for a better future. Billions of dollars are spent on nuclear weapons and warfare – imagine what this money could do for the poor and hungry, majority being women and children. But, who cares? It’s time that we women of the world, come together and do something about it. Anwar Sadat once said,

“There can be hope only for a society which acts as one big family, not as many separate ones.”