Women’s Rights in Third World Countries

Throughout history women’s right have been ignored, their entitlements have been nonexistent. These women are being deprived of their rights and are constantly reminded of their inequality to men. In some countries, women are born without rights. Even today there are many third world countries where women continue to suffer. They struggle to live and survive in undeveloped countries and unfavorable conditions. Women are deemed unimportant and considered inferior; this is a disadvantage of being born a woman. Crimes and violence against women are at an all-time high.
Fetuses and newborn babies are being killed daily solely based on their gender. Women are being beaten, raped and killed so frequent that it seems normal. Females are used as commodities and are being sold as sex slaves since they are seen as property and not human beings. There are countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, where women are married off before reaching puberty; where nearly all women have reported Domestic violence not only from their spouse but their own family members as well. You have honor killings, where a woman is killed for bringing shame or dishonor to the family. It is still a very much common practice even though it is now punishable. Some women are even killed by their husbands, so he can marry someone else. Women who contribute to the workforce and education is virtually unheard of.
Listed as one of the most dangerous countries for women, is Somalia. Somalia has the highest mortality rate in women, and here their lives are always in danger. Healthcare is inadequate and almost inaccessible, so pregnancy is even a high-risk task. Nearly all girls between the ages of 4–11 have been forced to undergo genital disfigurement. Then there is Sudan and Sierra Leone, where women and girls have had to endure Genocidal rape. Adultery would be punished with death. Dancing with a man and premarital sex would also be considered punishable.
In India, women are considered a financial burden to the family due to the Dowry System. This practice was banned in 1961 however, due to feeling ridiculed, disapproval or loss of status, families, continue with this custom. Here 50 million girls go missing from India’s population due to Gendercide. For every 1000 boys in India, there are only 914 girls. Gendercide is a systematic killing of members of a specific gender; the term is related to the general concepts of assault and murder against victims due to their gender with violence against women being problem dealt with by human right efforts, massing killing of girls and women. (InvisibleGirlProject.org)
The oppression and mistreatment of women in these countries are appalling and sickening. These women not only fight for their lives; they fight for equality in the workforce and education. Most women will never know what it is to thrive and flourish into strong independent women. They will lose the essence of being a person; they will lose their lives to suicide. Their lives will be lost and shattered by the societies that do not accept them. These women have nowhere to go, no refuge and no one to protect them. Over the decades there are some testimonies of the women that have escaped the challenges of being born in a third world, however, not enough to make a difference. What happens to the thousands of women that do not make it out?
