Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan - May, 10 2008: Afghan
women walking with their children at the Blue Mosque.
by Marleysa (pen name Anna Bayrakdar - previously published in 10thousandcouplesmagazine on May 2012)
According to the World Economic Forum, as much as 85% of countries have
improved conditions for women over the past six years, but there is still a
very long way to go for the following five worst places in the world to be a
woman in. A
recent global survey taken in many countries has
short-listed countries such as Afghanistan, D R Congo, Pakistan, India, and
Somalia as being the worst places to be a woman.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, chosen as the worst place of all to be a woman, is a country of
conflict and strife, and is poorly governed. The simple facts are that
approximately 87% of Afghan women are illiterate since schooling for women is
frowned upon in their culture. Add to that the fact that approximately 70% of
Afghan women are forced into marriages at the young age of 13, yet another
custom or cultural tradition, and you begin to understand why it's considered
to be the worst place for women to be.
Another fact is that with very poor access to doctors, about one in 11 women
has a very real chance of dying in childbirth.
Another contributing factor is the domestic abuse of women, which is seen as
just part of women's daily life with hardly any protection, if at all, or help
from police or any other governmental authority. Women in Afghanistan are seen
as the "property" of their husbands and therefore have no economic
rights. In recent years, a number of women have resorted to self-immolation
(burning themselves with acids) as a way to escape from bad husbands or forced
marriage arrangements.
Women that do try to speak out or take on public roles such as policewomen
or news broadcasters are seen to be challenging ingrained gender roles. These
women are often intimidated to stop or simply killed.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo
The D R
Congo, also widely known as the "rape capital of the world," is
second in line as one of the worst places in the world for a woman to be born.
This war-stricken country, where men use kidnapping and rape as a weapon of
war, has ruined thousands of lives. The armed forces in the conflicts between
North and South Kivu Provinces are constantly targeting women. In 2009 alone,
more than 8000 women or girls were raped by these armed forces, according to
the UN.
Women in this country are continually treated as second-class citizens with
almost no opportunity to ever enter politics. Since the culture here is also to
force very young girls into arranged marriages, until very recently, education
for women was almost nonexistent. Through the campaigning of various factions,
this seems to be slowly changing, and more girls are sent to school now.
Pakistan
Third on the list of
worst places to be a woman, Pakistan has a huge problem of domestic violence
against women. As many as 90% of women here experience domestic violence on a
regular basis. But even worse than the domestic violence is the fact that more
than a thousand women and girls are victims of so-called "honor"
killings every year.
Another horrifying but all too common practice is that of burns from
acid-throwing that women have to endure as "punishment" for spurning
marriage proposals or unwanted sexual advances. Men take this spurning as an
intolerable humiliation and often retaliate by throwing acid into a woman or
girl's face. in order to horribly disfigure her as "punishment." But
alas, a glimmer of hope for women has arisen with the forming of the
non-governmental organization
Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF). This organization, with
the support of a UK charity Acid Survivors Trust International, helps with
medical care and battles for justice. ASF is campaigning for new laws to
restrict the trade of battery acid (often used in girls' faces) and to provide
rehabilitation for the victims.
India
Fourth on the
list of worst places to be a woman, India is yet another country with a
tradition of forcing young girls under the age of 18 into unwanted marriages.
But even much worse than that is the horrific fact that as many as 50 million
girls are "missing" just within this past century, due to
female
infanticide and foeticide. This clearly reflects the absolute low status
accorded to women in India.
Sex-selective abortion cases have become a significant phenomenon in several
parts of India. The reasons for killing baby girls are mainly economical. Girls
need a dowry to be paid to a future husband, and in this poverty-stricken
country, the cost of a dowry and an ignorance of family planning are the
predominant reasons for these hideous crimes against baby girls.
Somalia
Somalia,
the fifth worst place to be a woman, is a place where 95% of young girls face
genital mutilation, usually between the ages of four and 11. Given the fact
that there is a very poor health system, as few as 9% of women are ever able to
give birth in a health facility, making the maternal mortality rate very high.
Here, as in many other places in Africa, women are often not allowed any
education to speak of. Domestic violence is seen as just another part of daily
life, and women live in constant fear of being kidnapped, raped, or killed. Add
to that a total lack of proper health care or basic needs, and cultural
inferiority as a reality for women, and one can fully understand why this
country is considered to be one of the worst places in the world to be a woman.
To conclude, these are but a few of the horrors that women still have to
endure in some countries and that we, as a caring world, need to look at
seriously. Action needs to be taken to help emancipate more women around the
world.
Preferred Writers Group: 5 Worst Places in the World to Be a Woman: Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan - May, 10 2008: Afghan women walking with their children at the Blue Mosque. by Marleysa (pen name Anna Bayrokdar).
