9th March, Mumbai: Actress Somy Ali, who runs a US based NGO called No More Tears and works tirelessly for rape and domestic violence victims, says that she celebrates Women’s Day with the survivors. She says that looking them thrive is the best gift.
“I celebrate this day by spending time with all the female survivors No More Tears have rescued and they are now living abuse-free and healthy lives. It’s hard to express in words the joy I witness when I see them doing well and thriving considering all the abuse they have endured. I am proud to say that as women we are extremely resilient and if we get the right amount of help, there is no stopping us from being successful,” she says.
She adds, “This is perhaps the most significant for every woman in our world. There is a reason we use the term ‘Mother Nature’ and not the other way around. Given that so much has changed for women over centuries in terms of them getting basic human rights and progression in many other facets is definitely a celebratory day. Over hundreds of years, women have suffered and while the suffering still prevails, things have progressed for the better.”
Ask her Who or what makes her feel most important as a woman, and she says, “There are far too many to name, but it’s the ones who have suffered many injustices through dictatorship laws in their countries of origin, or women who are victims of acid attacks, domestic violence, rape survivors, and simply those who did not have a right to think for themselves because the authorities, be it their parents, husbands or any men, who played mind police for them and would not allow them to obtain something as simple as an education or hold a job. These women who were able to escape such cruelties and stand on their feet are my role models. They are real heroines in my movie of life. I look up to the resilient, the brave, the ones who struggled and fought the system in spite of many hurdles and road blocks, those are the women who will always be my heroes.”
Meanwhile, she says that women still need to be enabled to take her own decisions. “It hurts to say this, but there will always be a need to have a day to celebrate women. It is we who give birth to men and we deserve our basic human rights. We deserve to make our decisions whether it is to get married or to have children. It is our right to decide if we want to pursue an education and get a job so we can be financially independent. Thus, this is perhaps the most important day in the universe for all women. There has been immense progress, but we still have a long way to go because there are cultures and people who still tell their daughters, sisters and wives that if you attempt this, what will people say? Unless and until this, ‘Log Kya Kahenge’ ideology dissipates, things will not change fully for women. I eagerly await for that day to come, but I am pragmatic enough that it won’t be there at least in my lifetime. This does not mean that I will not witness more progression, but the vision and freedom I want for all women to attain is still quite far away for me to witness or grasp,” she says.