Today’s news about 8 of the 10 men being secretly set free in Pakistan says a lot about the lack of justice for women in the world. The men set free were responsible for the horrible attack on a young woman known as Malala.

Malala is world famous now as a courageous spokeswoman for the right of women to be educated. The fact that she was shot in the face for attempting to get an education speaks to the woeful attitude in the world about women and how they are treated as second class citizens or in some cases no better than chattel.

Each person is a human being and is endowed with certain inalienable rights. Of these rights is that no woman or young girl should be treated in any way as inferior to a man or a young boy. They too, have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Each human being should be treated with dignity and respect and they should all be treated equally before the law. Women and girls are not anyone’s property.

Pakistan, once again, has shown the unwillingness to be an open society with justice for all. They knew that by releasing those men who had perpetrated the illegal act of attempting to murder Malala, that they were wrong in doing so, otherwise they would not have done so in secret.

We all have mothers, wives, sisters or daughters. It is amazing to find in the 21st Century such a degree of barbarism that is displayed in the world by the horrific acts that are perpetrated against women. Honor killings, the huge sex trade that goes on in the world, and the lack of equality is appalling. It is hard to find anyplace in the world where true equality between the sexes exists. In the United States we are still working on women obtaining equal pay for equal work.

Women nurture our children who are our future. The least we can do is to cherish and respect their humanity and their human rights. Let the wisdom of Malala lead us into a better future for all.