WOMEN
The vital essence of life
The embryo of the future
The foundation of existence
Woman, mother, daughter and sister
Eradicate them, and there is nothing…
Nasreen Pejvack

زن
گوهر حیاتی زندگی
رویش و جوهر آینده
پایه هستی
زن، مادر، دختر، و خواه ر
تخریب شوند، دنیایی وجود نخواهد داشت…
به همه ی خواهرانم، از هر رنگ، هر زبان و هر اندیشه
نسرین پژواک

By Nasreen Pejvack

It is March 8th once more; a day that has been dedicated to women following the travails of our forerunner mothers who fought hard for the privileges we enjoy today.

Throughout our history, many passionate tough women suffered greatly and worked hard to improve the lives of their fellow womankind. We are indebted to them for our ability to vote, for being able to attend educational institutions, choose our own professions, keep our children if one divorces, and much more. Even now, many today are working hard to increase and secure women’s rights, yet we are still facing various challenges even today.

Did we need to have a pandemic to learn that, throughout our modern world, no matter whether in developed or developing nations, domestic abuse is still a prevalent problem? Are there still so many barbaric men out there imposing violence on their wives and families? We must work together to eliminate such barbaric behaviour. We cannot sit back and think our troubles are over, but instead we must be an inspiration to one another and continue moving forward, supporting each other to become stronger and more powerful. Yes, we now vote, dress as we wish, and build our careers, but if domestic violence still plagues our planet, then our problems remain.

Another one of those problems is an ugly and unacceptable one; sex-trafficking. This extreme violence of sex slavery against women and girls, and even young boys, has been with us in different forms for a long, long time.

There are enough documentaries, movies, books, and articles out there for us to know very well how disgusting is the situation of these children from the moment they fall into the hands of traffickers. In 2010 it was estimated that there were over two million children and young adults in the hands of traffickers. Today the figure is 4.5 million; more than double in ten years. How have we missed this phenomena and allowed it to grow like a cancer right under our noses, letting monsters do as they please to our children?

Who are the traffickers? Men!

Who buys the children? Men!

How much do they make from this industry? Billions of dollars!

From time to time we get a glimpse into this sordid world, such as when the shenanigans of Harvey Weinstein make the news. Removing a few like him from the trade does nothing to reduce the problem, and much needs to be done. We have come a long way and have fought strongly against all kinds of evils. Our troubles and challenges have made us who we are today, but clearly the struggle is not over yet. We must even overcome the opposition of some other women whose religions or ideologies tell them that women should be subservient. They will never understand our fight.

There are many non-profit organizations out there working for women’s rights. I strongly believe if we women were the ones working together to run the world’s economies, first and foremost we would diminish the politics of greed and control. Then we could make sure no child would ever go to bed hungry, and no man would ever raise his hand against a woman or a child. We would make sure Planet Earth, as our only home, is safe and thriving for all the species sharing it. We would stay strong and protect it for all.

We would not let a few companies and elites in our world control the entire wealth of our planet and impose their methodologies on the rest of life on this planet, with many therefore living with distress and agony.

We have had wonderfully talented women throughout our history, especially the last several decades, fighting for us so that we may have the flourishing lives many of us know today. We must support and continue their legacy and not let them down.

Happy Women’s Day to you all.
Let’s complete our mothers’ work.
Let’s put our heads together and see
how we can eliminate Sex-Trafficking
and Human-Trafficking

Nasreen Pejvack was born in Tehran, Iran, and came to Canada in the 1980s, where she earned a computer programming diploma and began working in the IT field. Soon she moved to San Francisco and, while working there, obtained a certificate in software engineering. After 12 years in IT, she left the field to study psychology, and then worked as counselor and educator until 2013. Since then she has been writing novels, articles, short stories, and poems. Her debut novel, AMITY (Inanna Publications 2015), was a finalist for British Columbia’s 2016 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Nasreen has also published PARADISE OF THE DOWNCASTS, a collection of short stories and essays inspired by her experiences in Canada, and WAITING, a collection of poems, both with McNally Robinson in 2018. LUYTEN’S STAR is her latest publication.

To learn more, visit Nasreen’s website at: https://www.examine-consider-act.ca/