Showing posts with label maternal mortality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maternal mortality. Show all posts

6.16.2011

The most dangerous countries for women

I came across this video on cnn.com this morning, ranking the most dangerous countries for women and the factors taken into account. Afghanistan, Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia were rated the most dangerous (respectively) for things like their maternal mortality rate (death during childbirth – a rate that is 1 in 11 in Afghanistan), rape statistics, female infanticide numbers, and female genital mutilation occurrences.

These things are horrifying across the board, no matter what culture you come from.

But as a middle-class American, it is really difficult for me to understand the thinking ingrained in such a culture that would raise men to think of women as less than human. Regardless of your position on the feminism spectrum, I think most of us in first-world countries would agree that a person is a person, and does not deserve death or mutilation because of their gender.

What do you think are some contributing factors to these high rates in "the most dangerous countries for women?" What action do you think will be required to see change in these countries?