"Justice for Women" by Ellen Goodman

Should a woman be raped because her younger brother had walked with a different tribal girl unchaperoned? In Multon, Pakistan, this was such the case. Goodman tells the story of an innocent 18-year old girl who had her virginity taken from her without her own consent. Is this how the women of the world should be treated? In countries, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, women are raped, beaten, or more for no specific reason at all. The abuse of women has become a part of their culture. Like Bush states, "a thriving nation will respect the rights of women, because no society can prosper while denying opportunity to half its citizens." Yet though Bush supports women fully, the United States is one of the few that has not ratified the international women's bill of rights created 23 years ago. Goodman states that 170 other countries had ratified this bill already. What is the United States waiting for? By not passing the bill, in some sense we are supporting all those nations who do not honor women's rights, countries such as Iran, Somalia, and Sudan who are currently raping women everyday. We as a nation should support the other half of the citizens in the United States and other countries.

The international bill for women's rights was very close to being ratified, however Goodman states that Colin Powell had placed a letter that moved this potential bill back 17 places! Powell claimed that the bill needed to be studied in greater depth. It is the politicians who are causing this bill to be moved back , for they believe that such a bill could ruin families and even possibly "criminalize Mother's day" says Goodman. But on the contrary, though some negative results could occur, the overall effect would be so much more greater. Perhaps countries such as Pakistan would no longer treat women with disrespect.

By passing the treaty, we would not only be supporting the rights of women, but sending a message to all those countries that are raping and abusing women daily, that this practice is unacceptable. Why should women be hurt for no reason? I believe that because we have not passed this bill , we are in some sense letting horrible things slide. By doing nothing, we are just another one of those bad guys hurting women for no reason. It is time that we take stand and pass the bill so all women are treated with the respect they deserve. Though Bush says that he supports women fully, until he does something about it, he is just another one of them.