Empowering Women Through Mental Health and Self-Care

The Bible portrays women as worthy of honor and protection. Passages in the Old and New Testaments command men to love and cherish women, just as they would their own bodies. The famous Proverbs 31 passage celebrates women for their strength, wisdom, and dignity, not their submission. Genesis 3:20 highlights the foundational role of women as "the mother of all the living," emphasizing their sacred purpose.

In the Quran, kindness and respect for women are core principles. Verses prohibit men from harming women and command them to "live with them in kindness." A well-known saying of the Prophet Muhammad reinforces this, stating, "The best of you is he who is best to his womenfolk," setting a high standard for how men should treat women.

The Torah establishes laws that protect and honor women. The Fifth Commandment, "Honor your father and your mother," places both parents on an equal footing. Other passages celebrate a wife as a source of good and a blessing from God, while also providing legal protections that place a high value on a pregnant woman's life.

Across sacred texts, the message is clear: women are divinely created to be cherished, protected, and loved. A woman's purpose is to bring forth life, and a man's is to protect and support her as an equal partner. We are all called to be caretakers of humanity. We were not created to endure abuse. When you see it, call it out and protect yourself and others, for we are meant to be fierce protectors of life on Earth.

Violence against women, children, and men is a global pandemic rooted in misogyny and power imbalances. It's a human rights catastrophe affecting every part of the world. The numbers are heartbreaking: one in three women globally have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most often by an intimate partner. This is a battle for our collective humanity, and we cannot afford to be silent.

While no country is immune, some face a particularly severe crisis. In Ethiopia, nearly 60% of women have been subjected to sexual violence. In the Democratic Republic of Congo and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, partner violence reaches 70%. In conflict zones like Afghanistan, women often feel unsafe even leaving their homes. The tragic reality of femicide is also alarmingly high in Latin America, with countries like Honduras and Brazil seeing some of the highest rates.

The current suffering of women and children is a stark reminder of the urgent need for change. We must empower women by ensuring their access to healthcare and bodily autonomy. We must also provide young boys with the mentorship and education they need to become caring men. It's our collective responsibility to remove leaders who are driven by greed and replace them with those who value human life, equality, and justice. Let's work together to build a world where peace is not just a prayer, but a reality.

 A Call to Action 

 To combat this, we must unite. We must demand an end to leaders who prioritize power over human life and progress. The key is to vote for empathetic leaders—women and men—at every level of government who are committed to dismantling oppression. Our vote is our voice; let's use it as if our lives depend on it, because they do.