Doris D’Hooghe & Frauke Heyde
Unfortunately, violence against women* is still an everyday reality (*more specifically, anyone who identifies as a woman or female, i.e., not just cis women, but also trans women, gender fluid individuals, etc.). Given that every human being needs and deserves safety, one of the most profound and universal human needs, this brings us to the question: why women? We assume that violence against women isn’t caused by the fact that women are weak or helpless, as they are often perceived. We assume quite the opposite: violence and its threats might exist because people fear the power of women.
Peace is needed to reduce the violence perpetrated on human beings. When we speak of peace, we speak of peace in the world, families, relationships, and the connection between parents and children. This peace requires safety, connection, and dignity to exist. It is said that women are often invaluable in this peace process because of their specific powers: experience shows that women living in situations of war are capable of empathy, forgiveness, and reconciliation, which intrinsically means that they can bear their suffering and, above all, transform it. Their power to “understand” the other, giving support and cooperation, offers opportunities to face problems inside and outside the home. A woman has the power to care for and have compassion for the other, which means that from a firm “self,” she can meet the other in his individuality. She transcends egoism and enters the transpersonal qualities such as calmness, serenity, purity, universality, and love, which is the cradle of peace.
Sadly, many women have lost contact with this power or have even forgotten it. Perhaps they lost awareness of it somewhere on their life’s journey. Maybe they were denied, ridiculed, or betrayed… We call these women “the women without a face.”
So let’s say loud and clear: let women rise and reinstall their faith in their womanhood. Parents should raise their children based on equality and encourage them to develop their unique individualities with the necessary support from society, culture, and religion. Support women as they develop and establish their unique humanity, as this kind of self-respect will enable them to reconcile with each other instead of being competitors. Let “divide and conquer” no longer be the principle that leads and separates women. The key word is empowerment. A woman who feels empowered is influential, respected, respectful, and dares to take up space in this world.
This is when women will be seen, no longer invisible, and obtain their ultimate face.
When women come together, visible and present, an extraordinary power unfolds. Just look at the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, who received no answers after the disappearance of their children and, therefore, still hold weekly silent demonstrations. Or think of the Chilean women who came together in the streets with their struggle songs, Un Violador and Tu Camino. Their message was decisive and clear: stop the violence perpetrated against us. The images of their song went viral, proving that women worldwide felt addressed and, above all, empowered that they were not alone and that their voices may be heard. So, the shared power that comes from empowering women (including men!) is invaluable and deserves a particularly strong place in our society.
When women, once they have integrated their power, can re-experience their dignity and feel the boundaries of good and evil, they might offer a (even more) powerful response to the violence inflicted on them. As empowered women stand and rise together throughout all of society, let us cherish the hope that any violence, the violence that inflicts so much shame and pain, will begin to disappear slowly, inch by inch, as peace grows, piece by piece.