Purple Self-Determination

Today like so many other posts on International Women's Day on March 8th I thought to mention a classic line like: In many countries around the world, girls and women are disadvantaged or excluded when it comes to education. But then I started to read what I had written two years ago about an incident about a woman when I published on June 2020 in the chapter about the 'purple self-determination' on Page 68 #book MANY MANY BEGINNINGS

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Around the Globe, 20h33, 01 February 1973,

Strong beliefs in purple self-determination and empowerment can be dangerous. The lower the average age of the population, and the lower the development pace of their origins, enslaving the youth in poverty, it is more likely that the youth can find any ideas that seem liberating very alluring. Especially, when a young assassin and a young victim are not educated about the other, the results can be deadly.

One day before the shooting, when she had entered the assembly, there were shouts of ‘Get out!!!;’ For years before her murder, she had received death threats. Though, she was not an easy target to kill. Having raised two children, she was tied to life like a coin to a magnet. Having tried to kill her in unsuccessful attempts before, no one knew that better than her husband.

However, in the months before her death, something changed dramatically. She entered a world dominated by men in a country where women’s political participation was rapidly growing. They were fighting together for women’s social, economic, and political achievements. Yet, despite her and her friend's sustained efforts to deal with discrimination and violence against women to call for gender equality, they failed on February 2.

when she wanted to speak, they did not allow her. Ultimately, she had to leave the assembly to protect her physical integrity, because the manifestation was quite scary.

Dropping her children to her friends after school, on this evening of February 2, she arrived home, anticipating that something awkward was going to happen. As she stepped into her bedroom and took a seat at her dressing chair, she was frightened as she faced her assassin in the mirror who was dressed casually. Completely naked, she became the target of a single bullet fired towards her head. This time, she was not lucky to escape.

The neighbors who were shocked by the sound of the gunfire called the police. By the time the ambulance took her to the hospital near her home, it was 21:30. To the surprise of her doctor, she did not die. The police could not find out where the assassin was hiding.

Seven days after, when she woke up from a coma, it became clear that she had been receiving threats from her husband ever since she got married. When intimate partner violence was too unbearable, she would ask for help from her friends, who would often pay more attention to the violence instead of how helpless and hopeless that violence makes her feel. Yet, nobody in her friend's circle realized that she may have felt the only way out is to kill herself; this time it was not her husband. The casually dressed assassin and the naked victim were the same people. Tragically, her attempt was just one incident in a series of assaults that already had claimed more than millions of lives and was going to claim millions of more lives since February 2, as over the last century, one billion women —one out of three women around the world—faced and would face intimate partner violence or sexual violence in her lifetime.

What was going on? Yet, her unexpected survival became a turning point in international women's consciousness. Everyone started asking questions.

In Canada, some were talking about poverty, historic marginalization, racism, and legacies of colonialism as the root of the problem, making women frequent targets of hatred and violence. Soon also other countries have realized that this is a genuine risk of harm to both perpetrators and their victims and what at first was looking like a fight to save women, was a fight for humanity.

The 10th September was declared as Suicide Prevention Day worldwide.

“Despite progress, one person still dies every fourty seconds seconds from suicide,” said World Health Organisation Director-General, many years after the funeral.

“Every death is a tragedy for family, friends and colleagues. Yet suicides are preventable. We call on all countries to incorporate proven suicide prevention strategies into national health and education programs in a sustainable way.” On World Suicide Prevention Day, the World Health Organization launched a “Fourty seconds of action” campaign to raise awareness of the scale of suicide around the world and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it.

From then on, nothing would ever be as before! “Mamma Mia, here I go again!” -

Then I read the post published today from my friend Antoinette Vermilye, Co-Founder, Gallifrey Foundation, International Gender Champion, Trustee - City-to-Sea, Advisor - SHE Changes Climate:

I hope this article from NYT can be read

It is a heartbreaking photoessay of the lives of women now.

On international women’s day I can’t celebrate knowing women in Iran and Afghanistan are having their souls eradicated.

Then I looked back what some thinkers wrote since last decades to prevent our current outcome:

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” ― Isaac Asimov, 1950 Ex-president of the American Humanist Association

“I would hope that those who are listening would not look upon this as a rude intrusion, but as an earnest effort to focus attention on an issue that might very well determine whether or not this country has the right to say from this point forward we believe in the inalienable rights of all people to remain free and independent on lands that have supported their life beyond living memory. Thank you for your kindness and your courtesy to Miss Littlefeather. Thank you and good night.” ― Marlon Brando, 1973 Once Hollywood’s most inscrutable star

“When will we learn? When will the people of the World, get up and say, enough is enough? God created us for fellowship. God created us so that we should form the human family, existing together because we were made for one another.” ― Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize

“Is the public 20 years too late? Or is the artist 20 years early? This is where I am. My mission is to bring the people from one side to the other.” “All ― Yoyo Maeght, 2010 Presidentofthe FoundationMargueriteetAiméMaegght

And than I looked at China with close ties to Iran and Afganistan. There the shine was not to overlook. An image captured by a drone showed the impressive skyline of Shanghai, illuminated - who would think - in pink and red to mark International Women's Day.

Not sure how to end positive yet with hope, I found relief in the promising news from the globe which was about an offensive (no not from Ukraine) against exclusion of women in education.

In the Pakistani city of Peshawar, women attended a seminar to honor International Women's Day . Foto: ARSHAD ARBAB / EPA