Women’s rights are human rights
Get Susan Lee’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
I have been in a situation which is a dire women’s rights and human rights hazard and violation. This has been going on for the last 10 years. Because of my Christian beliefs and the indoctrination I’ve been in, I felt hesitant to seek proper healthcare about this situation, which led to a devastating outcome. I lived with this in isolation and in silence because I did not even know how to properly broach this topic. But after much research and eye-opening conversations with compassionate individuals who heard my story and treated me without judgment and kindness, I realized that my religion has wronged me. The fault was not my own — I was under a lot of stress at the time and just was not myself during that period. But “god” took advantage of me and exploited my vulnerable situation to try to benefit from this unwanted health outcome. It would not let me access essential life-saving healthcare services and tried to impose antiquated notions of reproductive health down my throat. It was a human rights violation at its worst and honestly, a degradation and a display of the misogyny so present in the Christian religion. This is an impossible situation I am in. The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), a leading organization which advocates for reproductive justice and rights for AAPI women states that the women’s right to have autonomy and agency over her Life and body is paramount. A reasonable person would come to this conclusion. The Christian “god”s cruelty and its barbaric agenda has caused so much complication, stress, trauma and guilt and pressure in my Life. A woman’s right to exercise agency and autonomy over her life and body is a basic human right and one even my 10-year old self knew. But I was so brainwashed by this religion that I did not exercise my right at the time and I regret this deeply. To this day, this being nauseatingly tests me and tries to punish me and give me shit for this situation. It demands that “I fit” into this nefarious being’s agenda even though this is an impossible situation for most women, most people. I feel like it is insisting that I have to follow its shady, grotesque Christian agenda. This situation is so bad for my mental and physical health. This being does not care about my health or my well-being. What’s worse, this being seems to treat me like some kind of a slave and seems to think this is okay. All of this to happen, because of my decision in 2011, seems so unnatural and forced. What “god” is doing is an assault on my rights as a human being. I give this being a big “F*ck you!” and am ready to share about my lived experiences with others, especially other women who are going through similar experiences. This is my short, precious brief Life here on Earth — I don’t deserve misogyny, patriarchy imposed on me and my body and blatant abuse. I am also writing this as a cry for help — this narcissistic abuser will not leave me alone. I’m hoping that by writing about my experiences, others will step up to share their experiences with religious trauma, misogyny within the Christian church, subjugation of women and the undermining of women’s agency and autonomy by this religion and its teachings.
