On the eve of the March 8 celebration, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijani women of today, while adhering to traditional family values inherent in our nation, at the same time have a strong sense of modernity and an innovative nature.
“As creative successors to their enlightened predecessors who diligently worked on the path of cultural progress, their current public reputation and important achievements in the fields of healthcare, education, culture and science are among key characteristic features of the comprehensive development of our country,” the head of state stressed.
And, by the way, it was thanks to President Ilham Aliyev that the date March 8 regained the official status of a public holiday.
But it is not just a date when men give flowers and gifts to members of the fair sex. March 8 is a holiday of strong women who are capable of defending their sacred right to independence. And that is why it is the right thing to remind on March 8 that a lot still needs to be done to give women full equality in society, especially since historically Azerbaijani women received rights and freedoms much earlier than in Europe, and according to the Constitution of Azerbaijan both men and women have equal rights and bear equal responsibility before the law and society.
The country regularly implements measures and state programs to improve gender policy and enhance the role of women in society, thanks to which women have achieved significant success in science, education, health, culture and other fields. An excellent example is Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva; the number of female members of the Milli Majlis has reached 22, which is not much, but already quite significant. Women in Azerbaijan are actively engaged in entrepreneurship. Still, there are problems in exercising women’s rights.
Human rights activist Mehriban Zeynalova told Minval.az that although much is being done in the country to raise the status of women, the society itself still needs re-education, because the incidence of domestic violence has increased. Therefore, it is essential to step up work aimed at protection of women and their rights.
“I cannot say that no actions are being taken in this regard. They are, the state is working on it. For example, the laws on early marriages and domestic violence have been toughened, monitoring in this area is being conducted, serious work that helps to prevent crimes. And society is beginning to see the light. Note that in the past, these facts were largely hushed up, a girl was married off, and it was swept under the carpet, but today, with the rise of social media in our lives, and with the emerging understanding of what is good and what is bad, such cases are harshly condemned and severely punished. Still, I believe a woman in Azerbaijan will feel truly happy only if she is respected and not treated as an object of satisfaction of base instincts, sale and purchase, and venting of anger. The right to vote and freedom are the values that Azerbaijani women have earned, having come a long way from the veil to an uncovered face, so are the rights to study, work and vote on an equal footing with men,” Zeynalova said.
Yana Madatova
Translated from Minval.az
