Equality

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Man and women should be treated equally. The image of the 21st century woman is confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty but we cannot forget about the less fortunate women in the rest of the world. Nowadays in certain countries, women are still not treated equally, they have so many rules restricting their lives such as in countries like Iraq, Pakistan, India and especially in Afghanistan which is one of the most challenging places in the world to be a woman. Women should have the equal access to education, taking part in the economy and in the decision-making process.
Women are treated unfairly in education. In Afghanistan, women are treated unfairly due to the Taliban’s rules and men treating them as inferiors. They have a lot of restrictions against women. For an example, women are banned on studying at schools, universities or any other educational institution. The Taliban has converted girls' schools into religious seminaries. Some schools for girls are even being burned down, hundreds of teachers educating girls have been threatened or killed. Nine out of ten women in Afghanistan are illiterate. In Iran, on 20 August 2012, an announcement was made by Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology that 36 universities in Iran would be cutting 77 fields of study from the female curriculum, making them male-only fields. The fields chosen include most sciences and engineering. Why are women treated unfairly? Over centuries men have been trained and educating women to consider themselves as the inferior gender and to accept men as the superior gender, which they are not. Women are not stupid, they are in fact smarter than men. In school, girls are normally smarter than boys in most subjects except sports due to the different body structure. Therefore, women should be provided a safe learning environment and appropriate educational content. Women should be given an equal chance of education to compete with men on an equal footing and the most important thing is education is the best strategy to liberate women from male domination.
Besides, women are also treated unfairly in economy. In Afghanistan, women are completely banned on work outside the home, which also applies to female teachers, engineers and most professionals. The culture prohibiting women to appear in public combined with a widespread lack of education mean women enjoy few economic opportunities. Furthermore, women are also being discriminated, treated unfairly at work. 25 percent of female workers have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in the workplace, and 17 percent said they have felt sexually harassed by a fellow employee or manager, according to a nationwide survey by Kelly Services, conducted by Harris Interactive. The most common incidents of discrimination or unfair treatment that women face at the workplace are being overlooked for a promotion, not having concerns addressed or taken seriously, paid less than male co-workers who have the same skills and experience and not receiving credit for their work. Women should be treated equally in the workplace. Like what Bella Abzug said, “The test of whether or not you can hold a job should not be in the arrangement of your chromosomes” .
Women are also treated unfairly in their family. In a family, mostly the women are expected to do all of the housework and taking care of the children while the men drink beer and watch football. In Afghanistan, women are completely banned from activity outside the home unless accompanied by a mahram which means a close male relative such as a father, brother or husband. If a woman unaccompanied by a mahram, she will be whipped, beaten and verbally abused. This is ridiculous. Let’s say that if an unmarried woman’s father died and she has no male sibling, does that means she is stuck in her house forever. This does not make sense at all. Besides, the marriage of the women in Afghanistan are all decided by their father or brother. They have no choice but to follow their father and brother's decision. More than 50% of Afghanistan girls are married or engaged by 10 and almost 60% of girls are married by 16. Women activists say up to 80 percent of marriages in poor rural areas are either forced or arranged. Most girls marry far older men, some in their 60s whom they meet for the first time at their wedding. Some girls are bartered into marriage to repay debt or resolve a dispute for their family which is really sad. Women should have the right to make their own decision in marriage. This is very important because the guy that a woman wants to marry should be the person that she can trust and will always be by her side and have her back no matter what happen.
As a conclusion, women are not weak, stupid or useless. Mostly people think women are somehow more delicate and need men to protect them from harm but what is the harm that people think women need protection from. The harm that women suffer the most are caused by men such as rape and abuse so if men stop harming women, women do not need any protection. Men are physically more stronger than women, that is something no one can deny. However, psychology shows that women are stronger mentally, biologically and emotionally. Women all over the world have gone through severe trauma, abuse and oppression, but they still have positive attitudes in the world. This proves that women truly are much stronger than men. Women are also stronger when it comes to socializations and peace-making, not to mention they can create life by giving birth, by becoming mothers. Women look at the world and want it to be peaceful, it shows that there are more women working for non-profit organizations and volunteer than men do. I believe this is due to their unique connection to humanity which is childbearing. Women experience a much deeper, inner satisfaction and greater biologic fulfillment in human procreation than man. Women compare to man are much more necessary to the procreation of children. Men should learn to appreciate women because without woman there will be no human in this world. They must learn to have peace of mind and enjoy life without having to constantly struggle to prove that they are the stronger sex. Men have much to learn from women. A woman is not an object or something, she is someone. Men should treat women with respect. Therefore, women should be treated equally.