According to the World Bank's World Development Indicators Afghanistan continues to have one of the highest child mortality rates in the world
The Democratic Republic of the Congo was previously touted at the worst place in the world to be a woman and while they have since dropped from first place according to a new survey, this is no time for celebration for the DRC or their successors to one of the worlds least coveted titles, Afghanistan.
The survey was compiled by the Thomson Reuters Foundation to mark the the launch of TrustLaw Women an international hub of news, information, resources and discussion on women’s legal rights. According to the organization’s statement on the release of the new site, TrustLaw “promises to widen access to the rule of law and empower women worldwide with information from trusted sources”.
“In many countries, basic human rights are systematically denied to women. TrustLaw Women has been created to help women know and defend their rights. We believe that empowering women tackle at the very roots of poverty. In the developing world when a woman works, her children are better fed and better educated because they spend their money for their family,” said Monique Villa, chief executive of Thomson Reuters Foundation
The perception poll, which was released on Wednesday 15 June 2011, was conducted with the participation of more than 200 experts on women’s rights and women’s issues on five continents. The poll found that, overall, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India and Somalia posed the greatest danger to women than their global counterparts.
According to the survey Afghanistan is the world’s most dangerous country in which to be born a woman , due to targeted violence against female public officials and other gender-based violence, minimal healthcare and extreme poverty. The issue of gender inequality and abuse is global and one that continues to plague Afghanistan, as forced marriages, honor killings, “horse-trading” to settle disputes and heavily placed movement restrictions continue to be placed by Afghan society on the country’s women and girls. Discrimination and abuses are heavily prevalent in rural areas where many families still restrict public interaction of their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters. Many girls are denied a basic education and numerous school for girls continue to be burned down.
Following closely behind for this un-coveted title are the DRC, Pakistan, India and Somalia feature in descending order to compile the list of the five most dangerous countries in the world to be a woman, according to the polls participating gender experts.
The DRC holds a close second due to the shocking levels of sexual violence in the country and the use of rape warfare, the country continues to hold the title of the ‘rape capital of the world’. Previously the UN has described the Congo as “the rape capital of the world”, after more than 8000 women were reported as raped during the countries conflict in 2009 alone and at least 200,000 cases since 1996. A survey of 3,436 women in 2006 and 2007, a study published in May by the American Journal of Public Health found that 1.8 million women in DRC had been raped during their lifetime. For the survey period, the rate was 48 rapes every hour. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that violence against females is the cause of more death or disability, for girls and women aged 15 to 44, than that of cancer, malaria, traffic injuries and general warfare combined.
Pakistan’s largest gender violation pushing it towards the top of the list is the country’s high levels of child and forced marriage and gender-based violence such as “acid attacks, child and forced marriage and punishment or retribution by stoning or other physical abuse,” according to the polls findings. The human rights commission in Pakistan states that as many as 1,000 women and girls die in honour killings each year.
India found its placement on the top five list due in a large part to the county’s high level’s of child marriage, female infanticide and sex trafficking. “India’s central bureau of investigation estimated that in 2009 about 90% of trafficking took place within the country and that there were some 3 million prostitutes, of which about 40% were children,” the poll found. The countries levels of forced marriage and forced labour trafficking only added to their ranking, as according to the UN Population Fund, “up to 50 million girls are thought to be ‘missing’ over the past century due to female infanticide and foeticide”.
Somalia rounds off the list due to the conflict ridden country’s high levels of maternal mortality, rape, female genital mutilation (FGM) and limited access to both education and healthcare. UNICEF has given Somalia the not so glorious title as ‘the worst place in the world for children’, and estimates that one in seven children under the age of five is acutely malnourished. An estimated 240,000 children under 5 years of age in Somalia being acutely malnourished, of which 63,000 are severely malnourished, according to an early warning report published on 1 February 2010 by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FAO/FSNAU) and FEWSNET.
The poll’s results were based on responses from more than 200 international aid professionals, academics, health workers, policymakers, journalists and development specialists chosen for their expertise on gender issues. The countries was also ranked according to six risk factors: health, discrimination and lack of access to resources, cultural and religious practices, sexual violence, human trafficking and conflict-related violence.
The one thing each country has in common is that they all highlight how wide-spread and deep the issues of gender based-violence and inequality run. Therefore the one is drawn quickly to ask the question, “what can be done?” The key to a prosperous future lies in the lives of generations of girls and ensuring they have equal rights and access, especially in regards to healthcare and education. Education is an essential element to achieve peace and international cooperation, and to ending poverty and conflict. The promotion of lifelong education for women and girls, not only fosters their personal development, but that of their families, communities, country’s and continues to the global scale. Through education the negative gender-based norms and practices that are all to commonplace in many countries around the world, can gradually be replaced with the positive image of empowered and educated women and girls. Education combined with social, legal and other positive practices will give way to gender-equality. However if such steps are not taken and gender inequality continues to prevail in societies then the balance of power will continue to see women and girls teetering in an unbalanced world for the duration of their lives and generations to come.
