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Global Women's Rights
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
It's estimated that 90% of women in Afghanistan experience domestic violence. Take Aisha for example, whose nose and ears were cut off after attempting to flee a marriage which she was forced in to at sixteen. In many countries, rape is seen as a weapon of war, or so frequent in some societies that a device called the Rapex, which hooks on to a man's penis and can only be removed by a hospital, has been invented. Women also disproportionately are affected by poverty, partly due to lack of education, discrimination, employment, lack of control of assets... In fact, Unifem estimate women could make up 70% of the world's poorest....
I studied human rights for my degree with a slant gender in a few of my essays and found that often, people are afraid to discuss gender within some cultures because of fear of imposing some kind of cultural imperialism. I guess it's kind of similar to when Peter Tatchell has gotten accusations of racism or antisemitism for criticising people's attitude towards homosexuality...
Meh... I could probably write a lot here, as I did my dissertation on this topic and apologies if this isn't at all articulate. My point is that people often seem to be afraid of touching the gender issue globally, but also in communities in the UK (there's an awesome book about Southall Black Sisters and another about Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women). However, I came across an article this morning which offered an approach to gender equality I'd not seen in mainstream press...
Ruth Sunderland is looking at economic arguments for global women's equality.
What do people think of it?
I studied human rights for my degree with a slant gender in a few of my essays and found that often, people are afraid to discuss gender within some cultures because of fear of imposing some kind of cultural imperialism. I guess it's kind of similar to when Peter Tatchell has gotten accusations of racism or antisemitism for criticising people's attitude towards homosexuality...
Meh... I could probably write a lot here, as I did my dissertation on this topic and apologies if this isn't at all articulate. My point is that people often seem to be afraid of touching the gender issue globally, but also in communities in the UK (there's an awesome book about Southall Black Sisters and another about Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women). However, I came across an article this morning which offered an approach to gender equality I'd not seen in mainstream press...
Ruth Sunderland is looking at economic arguments for global women's equality.
The message is clear: countries that deny fair opportunities to women are hampering their potential for development and growth. The struggles of a female subsistence farmer in Africa seem remote from our lives here in the UK, but empowering women in the developing world is in our interest. Societies where women are treated well are more likely to be peaceful and prosperous and, as growth slows in mature markets such as the UK, female consumers could play an increasing role in a new global middle class, which will open up opportunities for businesses here to sell their goods and services.
What do people think of it?
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But yes, I do agree that it's a serious problem. Incest and underage marriages are also big problems in Islamic countries. It's just a part of their culture though. Not saying I think it's okay, but it's not like the countries that would benefit from such policies are going to abide by such laws, so it's pretty much going to be a law against nations already doing the right thing.
I agree that it's up to the people in the country to change their own country, but it's certainly up to the West to help them as much as possible. What we often see is that the West places stability above all else in these places, in order to keep the oil and gas flowing.
On the main topic, access to birth control, access to education for women and the right for women to divorce are the three biggest things you can do to ensure that a country becomes developed.
Or the other way round - once a country becomes developed these things follow as wealth liberates (eg access to birth control isn't really relevant to poor people who want big families to provide for them in their old age, divorce becomes easier for women when there is enough wealth to support women and children seperate from the husband), generally women's rights follow economics not the other way round.
Not sure how (or if) its implemented though...