Raksha Bandhan 2020 - Why The Festival Matters More Than Ever

News Peg

In India, many families meet for Raksha Bandhan, a holiday celebrating the bond between a brother and sister. Literally meaning the Bond for Protection, Raksha Bandhan is celebrated with the sister tying a rakhi, or string around her brother’s wrist, to remind the brother to respect, love and protect his sister. The rakhi symbolizes the merging or joining of the brother and sister.The families feast and worship God as well,  as the brother and sister promise to do constructive work together and to be present for each other throughout their life journeys. 

Raksha Bandhan was celebrated by Indians on August 3rd this year.

But during a time when women’s rights activism is on the rise and the pandemic has created its own raucous in some households, the festivity is more important than ever.

The Importance

In 2018, when the #MeToo movement caught steam, an NPR poll found that 81% of American women have experienced some form of sexual harassment in their life. 77% of the women said they were verbally harassed and 50% of the women said they had experienced un-welcomed sexual touching. 

In 2019, 87,000 women were intentionally killed around the world with 50% of them killed by their partners. Women and girls account for 75% of all human trafficking in the world in the same year, according to the United Nations. 

One year later in the middle of a pandemic, women still feel unsafe.

According to a United Nations Women study, Palestinian territories found an increase in gender-based abuse, disproportionately affecting women. In Latin America, domestic violence calls have seen a spike in countries like Mexico and Brazil. In China, Jingzhou officers received three times as many domestic violence calls compared to last year.

243 million women and girls were subjected to sexual violence by a partner in the last 12 months. 

The domestic violence against women has merely become a channelized version of usually different forms of harassment against women due to the pandemic, according to the United Nations. The Human Rights Watch has noticed this trend rising even in women who are diabled or domestic workers. Dubravka Šimonović, the UN special rapporteur, stated that the rise may also be due to increased time spent at home, stress in quarantine, and difficult living conditions.

According to the Human Rights Watch, “Many women living in residential institutions face risk of neglect, abuse, and inadequate health care, but also restrictions on their legal capacity, which take away their rights to make decisions for themselves.”

Across the United States, United Kingdom, Argentina, France, and Germany, authorities and women’s rights activists have reported increased reports of domestic violence against women during the pandemic. While in New South Wales there was a 40% increase in such calls, Singapore found a 30% rise in these reports.

What This Means

One can see that though the awareness of harassment against women has increased, the abuse itself hasn’t drastically decreased.

Women still face these difficult circumstances and situations in all parts of the world, especially in the middle of a pandemic. Domestic abuse has been called the “shadow pandemic” by the United Nations Women.

During such a time, a festival like Raksha Bandhan looks more important than ever. It reminds every man to look at a woman with respect, honor, and dignity. It reminds us to give women the respect a sister or mother deserves.

In the Bible, 1 Timothy 5:2, it is said - “Show the same respect to younger women that you would to your sister. DARBY. older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.”

The Manu Smriti, an ancient legal text, states, “society and divinity flourishes where all women are respected. Where they are not, all actions are fruitless.”

But over the course of time, man needs to be constantly reminded of these gems. During a festival like Raksha Bandhan, men will need to be reminded again of their duty and treatment towards every woman. 

While a woman has the capability to protect herself and create a society, in this case a promise is made.

A promise - of genuine love, respect, honor, and protection.