Meaningful Ribbons
| DATE: 2007-12-12 | PRINT | Share
With the marking of the World Human Rights Day here in Maldives, the Sixteen Days of Activism celebrated following the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women comes to an end.
The world marked these very important days in typical manner with rallies, speeches, and other activities commemorating the efforts of the activists as well as the survivors of abuses carried out against them, whether it is violence against women or human rights abuses.
In the Maldives, the past two weeks has been nothing short of interesting. Every presenter on Television Maldives as well as any Government employee carried a small arrangement of ribbons on their apparels. Since 26th November it was a white ribbon, with a smaller red ribbon joining the white one on December 1st, World AIDS Day.
Even the President sported the two ribbons during his many official outings, and it led me to think about its significance.
The red ribbon has been around since the late 90s; however, the white ribbon is new, having made its appearance only this year. Despite the fact that most of the people wore the ribbons because they were asked to, with no understanding of what it stands for, it is important to realize the message the ribbons mean to those who wore it to support the causes it stood for.
The AIDS ribbon is not new, and over the years, its meaning has lost its impact. The Red Ribbon stands as a sign of warning not to carelessly ignore one of the biggest problems of our time. It is red like love, as a symbol of passion and tolerance towards those affected with HIV/AIDS. It is red like blood, representing the pain caused by the many people that died of AIDS, and it is red like the anger for the helplessness by which we are facing a disease for which there is still no chance for a cure.
There are some people who had opposed to wearing the red ribbon, thinking it means they are supporting AIDS. In their ignorance, they feel they are supporting homosexuality and promiscuity which they believe is the main causes for AIDS. The epidemic kills a person every 15 seconds, with another person contacting HIV every 13 seconds. It does not differentiate between race, religion, or age. It is universal, and knowledge remains the answer to stopping the spread of this infection.
The White Ribbon, quite new to the Maldives, has been used by feminists as a symbol of their movement. However, in recent times, it is increasingly becoming a symbol of violence against women, safe motherhood and other related causes. Successful awareness campaigns of violence against women using the White Ribbon have been carried out in United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
Traditionally, the White Ribbon is worn by men as a symbol of their opposition to violence against women. It is a personal pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls.
With over 15 forms of gender based violence, the most effective way of dealing with it is the men taking the lead in the fight against these social ills.
As social issues are swept under the rug, unless it serves a some political purpose, the public needs to arm themselves with knowledge on the actions the rest of the world is taking in combating these ills.
The most recent campaign launched by UN Offices is the "Stop Rape Now" campaign. With a cross-armed X gesture, it is aimed at stopping the use of rape as a weapon of war. Even though Maldives is not high in the list of countries that might be victimizing women in this manner, with gang warfare increasing, the health and welfare of women and girls related to the members of the gangs could be in danger of such an act.
So the next time a ribbon comes your way with instructions to wear it, take a moment to understand the discourse behind the simple piece of cloth. It is the hope and oft-times the only way to show your courage and support to causes that have no voice! It is your way of standing with the rest of the people who are fighting the same cause all over the world!
| DATE: 2007-12-12 | PRINT | Share
With the marking of the World Human Rights Day here in Maldives, the Sixteen Days of Activism celebrated following the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women comes to an end.
The world marked these very important days in typical manner with rallies, speeches, and other activities commemorating the efforts of the activists as well as the survivors of abuses carried out against them, whether it is violence against women or human rights abuses.
In the Maldives, the past two weeks has been nothing short of interesting. Every presenter on Television Maldives as well as any Government employee carried a small arrangement of ribbons on their apparels. Since 26th November it was a white ribbon, with a smaller red ribbon joining the white one on December 1st, World AIDS Day.
Even the President sported the two ribbons during his many official outings, and it led me to think about its significance.
The red ribbon has been around since the late 90s; however, the white ribbon is new, having made its appearance only this year. Despite the fact that most of the people wore the ribbons because they were asked to, with no understanding of what it stands for, it is important to realize the message the ribbons mean to those who wore it to support the causes it stood for.
The AIDS ribbon is not new, and over the years, its meaning has lost its impact. The Red Ribbon stands as a sign of warning not to carelessly ignore one of the biggest problems of our time. It is red like love, as a symbol of passion and tolerance towards those affected with HIV/AIDS. It is red like blood, representing the pain caused by the many people that died of AIDS, and it is red like the anger for the helplessness by which we are facing a disease for which there is still no chance for a cure.
There are some people who had opposed to wearing the red ribbon, thinking it means they are supporting AIDS. In their ignorance, they feel they are supporting homosexuality and promiscuity which they believe is the main causes for AIDS. The epidemic kills a person every 15 seconds, with another person contacting HIV every 13 seconds. It does not differentiate between race, religion, or age. It is universal, and knowledge remains the answer to stopping the spread of this infection.
The White Ribbon, quite new to the Maldives, has been used by feminists as a symbol of their movement. However, in recent times, it is increasingly becoming a symbol of violence against women, safe motherhood and other related causes. Successful awareness campaigns of violence against women using the White Ribbon have been carried out in United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
Traditionally, the White Ribbon is worn by men as a symbol of their opposition to violence against women. It is a personal pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls.
With over 15 forms of gender based violence, the most effective way of dealing with it is the men taking the lead in the fight against these social ills.
As social issues are swept under the rug, unless it serves a some political purpose, the public needs to arm themselves with knowledge on the actions the rest of the world is taking in combating these ills.
The most recent campaign launched by UN Offices is the "Stop Rape Now" campaign. With a cross-armed X gesture, it is aimed at stopping the use of rape as a weapon of war. Even though Maldives is not high in the list of countries that might be victimizing women in this manner, with gang warfare increasing, the health and welfare of women and girls related to the members of the gangs could be in danger of such an act.
So the next time a ribbon comes your way with instructions to wear it, take a moment to understand the discourse behind the simple piece of cloth. It is the hope and oft-times the only way to show your courage and support to causes that have no voice! It is your way of standing with the rest of the people who are fighting the same cause all over the world!
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