Five Bizarre Things Women Were Asked To Do This Week

Worldwide, women have been targeted with bizarre regulations and expectations over their everyday behaviours, from dressing to curfew. Whether by parents or political leaders, women are prompted to stay within society's generational patriarchal limits. Some examples of women bearing the brunt of patriarchal politics for years can be seen in countries like Iran with its dressing regulations, the education ban in Afghanistan, and multiple alarming regulations in North Korea, where dissenters have been subjected to brutal killings for just wanting to live a normal life. 

Women's rights are suppressed to constantly remind them that it is in fact a man's world and women are just surviving in it. Although that sounds like an exaggeration, here are five examples of regulations imposed on women just this week, that make the saying feel like reality.

Vladimir Putin Asks Women To Have 8 Or More Kids

The Russian President made a ridiculous plea to women to bear eight or more children, as he believes that a large family is the solution to demographic challenges amid their conflict with Ukraine. As abortion rates in the country are soring, Putin urged women to embrace larger families to boost the country's population in a recent video speech at the World Russian People's Council.

"Many of our peoples maintain the tradition of the family, where four, five or more children are raised…Recall that in Russian families our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had both 7 and 8 children. Let us preserve and revive these traditions. The family is not just the foundation of the state and society, it is a spiritual phenomenon, a source of morality," Putin said. Abortion rights in the country are also under fire as the country has one of the highest abortion rates in the world (341 abortions per 1000 live births).

Kim Jong Un Pleads Women To Have More Kids

North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un also followed the Russian president's footsteps, making a tearful appeal to women, urging them to have more children. At the National Mothers Meeting event in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un addressed the declining population in the country and got emotional while urging women to bear more children. 

"Preventing a decline in birth rates and ensuring good childcare are all of our housekeeping duties we need to handle while working with mothers," he said. The North Korean supreme leader is notorious for such restrictions on women in the country. In August, Kim Jong Un had imposed a ban on women wearing shorts. 

Instead of focusing on the real cause of the declining population and the reason why women are choosing to have fewer children, both world leaders, Putin and Kim Jong Un are bearing the brunt of childbirth on women thinking it would solve the problem.

Uttar Pradesh Bans Evening Classes For "Women's Safety"

As women in India beg for action from the government to ensure their safety, the Uttar Pradesh government has finally listened to their woes. But at what cost? The UP government's solution to rising crimes against women and young girls is to restrict their movement altogether.

As part of their safe city project, the UP government imposed a curfew on coaching classes after 8 pm for female students. This move not only suggests that women's freedom is the reason they face crime, but also restricts women's right to quality education. Besides, what about the crimes against women that happen in broad daylight?

Welsh Councillor Suggests Hiring Older Women To Cut Maternity Leave Costs

A Denbighshire councillor, Terry Mendies recently sparked a controversy in the Welsh country with a remark on women's right to paid maternity leave. He suggested that hiring more mature women would help cut the cost of women who expect pay during their maternity leave.

"Many new starters are younger, newly qualified staff and rates of maternity leave in some teams are high... you are recruiting younger staff, and then they are going on maternity leave... then we've probably got to use agency staff to cover them, and that's an extra cost... So why would you not target the recruitment to be a bit more… a bit more mature people?" Mendies said in a council meeting. These derogatory remarks are a harsh reminder that pregnant women are seen as a liability by their employers.

European Union Government Offices To Ban Religious Clothing

Government offices across the European Union are mulling banning employees from wearing clothing of religious symbolism like hijabs, in the interest of neutrality, the EU’s top court stated. The decision, published by the Court of Justice of the EU on Tuesday, said such bans were permissible in order to enforce an “entirely neutral administrative environment”.

The court was asked to rule after a Muslim employee in the municipality of Ans, Belgium, was told she could not wear a headscarf at work. However, the court documents noted that her job involved little contact with the public, but the court said that bans on religious clothing or symbols had to be applied evenly. “Such a rule is not discriminatory if it is applied in a general and indiscriminate manner to all of that administration’s staff and is limited to what is strictly necessary,” it said.