Unprotected

Every society calls itself civilized. Every country takes pride in its law, its system, its progress, its buildings, its roads, its education and its culture. But the true identity of a society is not found in its grand claims. It is found where a woman stands alone, where a child remains silent out of fear, where a weak human being stands helpless before the powerful, and where it becomes clear whose side society takes: the side of the victim or the side of the offender.

Women and children deserve love, protection and respect in every society of the world. Yet sadly, in many places, these very two are made the easiest targets. A woman is suppressed because she can be tied down through home, honor, relationships, children, economic need, shame and the fear of loneliness. A child is beaten, frightened, suppressed and silenced because he is small, weak, dependent on adults and unable to express his voice with full strength.

This is the first step of oppression: the oppressor always reaches where the answer appears weak.

There are good people in the world. There are men who see a woman as a human being, not as property. There are women who raise children not with fear, but with love and awareness. There are fathers who create trust in a child’s eyes, not fear. There are homes where a daughter is not considered a burden, where a son is not turned into a savage, where a child is not broken by beating. There are also societies where the law moves, institutions listen, teachers report, doctors ask questions when they see signs, the police put a complaint on record, and courts may take time, but they do not close the door.

But there are also cruel people in the world. There are heartless people. There are people who see a woman’s silence as their victory. There are people who call a child’s fear education. There are people who become kings inside their homes and then go outside and are called respectable. There are people who cut a woman all day with words, give orders at night, and in the morning teach her the lesson of family honor. There are people who beat a child and then say they are making him human. In truth, they are not making a human being; they are creating a being broken from within.

Oppression against a woman does not mean only raising a hand against her. Every word that makes her smaller every day is also oppression. Every suspicion that tightens her breath is also oppression. Every command that turns her from a human being into an object is also oppression. Every relationship in which a woman’s opinion, exhaustion, illness, desire, dignity and fear have no value is also oppression. If a woman speaks all the time with fear, lives through permission, grows tired of giving explanations, and becomes a guest in her own life, then this too is oppression. A wound does not have to be visible; many wounds are inside, and they live longer than the wounds seen from outside.

Oppression against a child does not mean only beating either. To frighten a child constantly, mock him, humiliate him in front of others, refuse to listen to him, turn his mistake into his entire personality, lead him through fear instead of love, and make him feel all the time that he is a failure, weak, foolish or unwanted — all of this is oppression. A child may be small, but his soul is not small. He feels everything. He recognizes tone. He reads faces. He learns who in the house is love and who is danger.

Some people say that without beating a child, there can be no upbringing. This sentence itself is the sign of a sick way of thinking. Upbringing does not mean breaking a child; it means holding and guiding him. A child can be made obedient through humiliation, but not strong. A child can be silenced through fear, but not made wise. A child can be controlled through beating, but not made confident. A child who is afraid all the time either closes himself from within, or one day carries the same fear into the world as anger against others.

Then society wonders why people have become so harsh, so heartless, so aggressive and so irresponsible. The answer is hidden inside the home.

Oppression against women and children exists throughout the world. It is not only the problem of one country, one nation, one language, one color, one religion, one class or one society. Oppression exists in developed countries as well. Cries can be hidden inside beautiful homes. Brutality can exist behind educated faces. People sitting in high positions can prove to be small human beings inside their own homes. Good clothes, polished language and a big degree do not automatically make a person good.

The only difference is that where the law is strong, the oppressor at least has the fear that the matter can come out. A complaint can be recorded. A school, a doctor, a neighbor, the police or a court can move at some level. Even there, the system is not perfect. Even there, there are flaws. Even there, many victims fight for a long time. But still, everything does not remain so easy for the oppressor.

Where the law is weak, the hands of the oppressor become longer. There, the person who commits oppression inside the home knows: where will the woman go? Whom will the child tell? Will the police listen, or will they question the victim instead? Will the family stand with them, or force silence? Will it take years to reach the court? Will the witnesses become afraid? Which side will the money go to? Whose mouth will be closed in the name of honor?

In such a society, oppression does not remain only a crime; it becomes normal.

The most dangerous sentence is: this is a matter of the home. Under this one sentence, so many women are buried, so many children remain silent, and so many crimes never even receive a name. If the home is a place of protection, it is beautiful. But if the home becomes a wall of oppression, it cannot be purified merely by calling it a home. A home is only a home where the human being is safe. Where the human being is afraid, there may be a building, but not a home.

Cruel people do not always come with knives. Some cruel people advise in a soft voice not to make the matter bigger. Some cruel people say to remain silent for the sake of the children. Some say that a woman must save the home. Some say that a child is only a child and will forget. A child does not forget. A woman does not forget either. The wound of the body may perhaps heal, but the memory of fear remains inside the human being. Some voices stay in the ears for a lifetime. Some sounds of doors, some footsteps, some changing colors of faces become history inside a person.

Those who consider the pain of women and children small do not know the human soul.

If a woman is humiliated every day, even her smile grows tired. If a child is afraid every day, childhood begins to disappear from his eyes. If a woman is placed in the dock for every matter, she slowly begins to apologize for her own existence. If a child is constantly proven wrong, he either begins to hate himself or the world. These are not small problems. These are wounds that change a person from within.

In every society, there are two kinds of people. One kind sees oppression and still says: what does it have to do with us? The other kind hears the voice of a weak person and stops. The first are helpers of the oppressor, even if they call themselves neutral. The second are the hope of society, even if they are few in number.

Neutrality is not a virtue everywhere. If on one side there is a powerful hand and on the other side a wounded human being, then standing in the middle often means standing in favor of the powerful. Silence before oppression does not remain only silence; it sends the oppressor the message that the path is open.

That is why the first responsibility is not on the victim, but on society. Create an environment where a woman can speak. Create a system where a child feels safe. Create a law where the person who complains is not humiliated. Create a language in which the victim receives support, not lectures. Create a conscience that recognizes the oppressor, even if he belongs to one’s own home, family, neighborhood, class or country.

It must also be understood that the protection of women and children does not come only from law. Law is necessary, but not enough. The language of the home, the environment of the school, the thinking of society, the responsibility of the media, the behavior of the family, the upbringing of men, the economic independence of women, and the habit of listening to a child are all part of this protection. If the law exists but there is fear inside the home, half the work remains unfinished. If the home is good but the law is weak, the danger still exists.

A good society is one where the weak find a path. Where a woman is not taught only endurance, but is also given awareness of her rights. Where a child is not taught only obedience, but also that if someone does something wrong, it is allowed to tell. Where a man is taught that strength does not mean command, but responsibility. Where parents are made to understand that a child is not their property, but a complete human being. Where a relationship does not become a permission slip for oppression.

The person who suppresses a woman is not strong, but weak. The one who beats a child to prove his greatness is not great, but small from within. The one who runs a home through power is not running a home; he is running a system of fear. The one who fears a woman’s voice doubts his own manhood. The one who becomes anxious before a child’s question knows the weakness of his own character.

A shameless mentality is one that commits oppression and speaks of honor at the same time. It breaks a woman and invokes the name of the family. It beats a child and claims to be giving upbringing. It hides oppression and wears the clothing of decency. Such people exist in every society. Sometimes they live in poor homes, sometimes in rich homes. Sometimes they are less educated, sometimes they come from major educational institutions. The real issue is not the degree, but the conscience.

And where conscience dies, the face of a human being remains, but humanity does not.

The world must move beyond soft words when it comes to women and children. This is not only a subject of sympathy; it is a subject of justice. It is not only a family matter; it is a question of human dignity. It is not only about emotions; it is about law, system, morality and collective responsibility. Every society that cannot protect women and children must reconsider its claim of progress. Because progress does not mean only roads, bridges, buildings, technology and economy. Progress also means that a child can sleep at night without fear, that a woman can speak without fear, and that a weak human being knows that if oppression happens to him, he will not be left alone.

It is necessary to recognize the oppressor, but even more necessary is to break the environment that gives him power. A silent family, a frightened neighborhood, a weak law, a purchased testimony, a shamed victim, a long system, heartless people, soft words, false honor and sentences like “end the matter” help the oppressor. If all this changes, the path of oppression becomes narrow.

Women and children should not be an easy target in any society. They are the test of that society. A society that protects them saves its humanity. A society that silences them wounds its own future.

In the end, the question is very simple: where should a woman go after oppression? Whom should a child call after fear? If a society has no answer to this question, then no matter how developed, religious, modern, traditional, rich or educated it calls itself, it is weak from within.

The measure of humanity is not taken from the comfort of the powerful, but from the protection of the weak. Where the woman is not safe, where the child is not safe, the claim of civilization remains incomplete. And where the oppressor feels for the first time that the woman is not alone, the child is not voiceless, the law is not asleep and society is not heartless, that is where true humanity begins.