When the women were rejected by the society Jesus had a special concern towards them, especially to those women who were oppressed by the society. He raised them up and helped them to live in dignity.
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COMPASSIONATE JESUS SPEAKS TO WOMEN |
“Do not weep for me: weep rather for yourselves and for your children” Lk. 23:28
When the women were rejected by the society Jesus had a special concern towards them, especially to those women who were oppressed by the society. He raised them up and helped them to live in dignity.
Recently I had a chance to visit some of the islands in Kalpitiya. I met a young girl who has a child from her own brother, and they live together. Also there was another woman with eight children from many men. They woman was about 37 years old but looked as if she is 70. No birth certificates available to any of the eight children and, when I inquired about the name of the father, to be included in the birth certificates, she said, “Sister you put the name of the last man as the father to all”. All these women are Catholics. There was a twelve year old girl who was sold to a man, who has abused her many times. She was sold for 250 rupees (less than 2 Euros). A girl who is 18 years old, but still in grade 6, told me her desire to study. She does not have any chance of receiving education in this island. Some of the women help their husbands to clear the fishing nets for long hours but the middle men earn the profit out of their labour. There was a woman who was hiding away with her six children from the husband’s beatings.
In a rehabilitation centre, I have contacts of twenty young girls between thirteen to sixteen years of age who are pregnant. When I approached them, they told me how they were raped by their boyfriends and mostly by their family members or close relatives. After the delivery, most of them leave this place of shelter. There was a thirteen-year-old girl, whose pregnancy is seven months. She could not stand with the heavy load she was carrying. She is still in a shock but spoke very slowly with a heavy heart. Some babies were not normal, being born of the same blood. Many of the girls were ignorant of their future. Some said that they were abandoned by their families because of the shame they encountered.
I have been visiting the female prison every Sunday. There are so many pathetic stories I hear from women. I meet nearly sixty to seventy women who come for Sunday Mass. After Mass I am allowed to stay about an hour. Some women are imprisoned for murder, especially murdering their husbands and there are many for selling drugs. Others have come due to illegal foreign agency issues. Many sex workers can be seen in the prison.
I have met women in the North, especially at Mullikulam. They are war widows. To find a living for survival has become a difficult task for them.
I met a group of women in a village at Embilipitiya working in the fields with immense courage to earn their living. “The government statistics have revealed that violence against women has increased by 98% and child abuse has increased by 168% between 2000 and 2013.”
My experience speaks loud in the depths of my heart. The words of Jesus echo in me when I see them. “Do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children.”
What is our response towards these vulnerable women in our society?
Sr. Deepa Fernando
