Dr Fouzia Saeed honoured for struggle for women's rights in Pakistan
In the midst of a formal black tie banquet, Dr Fouzia Saeed was recognised for her three-decade struggle for women’s rights, especially the stand she took against sexual harassment.
She was given an award called ‘Battle of Crete Award’ in memory of the bravery of women of Crete showed in the Second World War. Last year this award was presented to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar for her brave struggle for democracy.
Ambassador Melanne Verveer, a well-known celebrity on women’s rights and United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, introduced Dr Fouzia saying, “She sets an example of courage and commitment to women’s advancement. Not only on her work against sexual harassment but her years of work against violence against women especially on several legislation is exemplary.”
The elite of Washington DC including some representatives of the House, Ambassadors of Greek and Cyprus and prominent Greek Americans were present at the elaborate event held in Willard Intercontinental Hotel, a few blocks away from the White House.
Dr. Fouzia’s struggles are well known for women’s rights, specifically her work against sexual harassment. In her speech she said, “While the United Nations has made some efforts to change its work environment, I am proud of my country for recognising this scourge. I am proud of my Parliament for making two laws to make sexual harassment a crime and am proud of my Federal and Provincial Governments for implementing it.”
She also acknowledged the bravery and push from the Ambassador Sherry Rehman in the process and other parliamentarians who played an important role.
The President of the Oxi (okhi) day Foundation in Washington DC, Manatos, explained the back ground of the Foundation and the Award. Oxi means ‘No’ in Greek and commemorates saying ‘No’ of the Greek head of the state to Hitler in 1940 and the Greek population saying ‘No’ to subjugation of Germans, when their forces came over to occupy them.
Being a small island Greek soldiers fought back and were the first ones to defeat Hitler’s Nazi forces. This defeat became a turning point and pushed Hitler back changing his schedule to reach Russia in winters. The delay made a big impact in the outcome of the war. Thus, to this day, saying ‘No’ is celebrated as Oxi Day and acts of bravery by small countries or individuals against big forces are recognized as icons of bravery for inspiration.
Battle of Crete was another attack on Crete where thousands of German paratroopers landed while most of the men were out on the main land fighting the war. It was the women of Crete who lead that battle and made their homes into forts holding the enemies out for ten days. Two awards are presented as symbols of bravery each year. One, Oxi Day Award and one Battle of Crete Award.
On the same evening the Oxi Day Award was presented to the blind Chinese dissident and human rights activist Chen Guangcheng for his bravery to struggle for justice and democracy. Last year’s recipient of this award was Jamel Bettaib, one of the five young men in Tunisia credited with starting the Arab Spring. Carl Gershman, the head of national Endowment for Democracy, introduced Chen and presented him the award.
Andrew Manatos explained, “We need to identify Davids of modern days who take on Gulaiths and we need to get inspiration from them.” The reference to this Greek story was given frequently to show the kind of brave individuals they select for this prestigious Award.
A profile of the awardees from the Washington Oxi Day Foundation distributed at the occasion described Dr Fouzia Saeed’s achievements in the past four decades for the rights of women. Her courage to take a stand within the UN system against the sexual harassment meted out to her in 1997, was recognized. She has chronicled her experience in her recent book Working with Sharks. Her persistence in following up this issue for all the working women in Pakistan and leading the movement of AASHA and her work with the Government and the Parliament was appreciated.
The audience applauded when Dr Saeed said, “modern day Davids do not necessarily have to use confrontational methods but can take risks and show courage through intelligent strategies and forge partnerships for change. She said our fight is not against an army or a government but is against centuries old patriarchal system and we need to build solidarity to get women recognized as full citizen in democratic systems.” Her husband Paul Lundberg, her mother in law and two nephews also attended the gathering, showing full support of her work.
The guests talked about Pakistani women making a difference and also discussed Malala’s case. A woman in the audience said, “Knowing how people inside Pakistan are struggling for peace is inspiring. It is quite different from the Pakistan we hear about on the television.”
Source: The News