The image of the 21st century
woman is confident, prosperous,
glowing with health and
beauty.
But for many of the 3.3 billion
female occupants of our planet,
the perks of the cyber age never
arrived. As International
Women's Day is celebrated today,
they continue to feel the age-old
lash of violence, repression,
isolation, enforced ignorance
and discrimination.
"These things are universal," says Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of New
York-based Equality Now. "There is not one single country where women can
feel absolutely safe."
In spite of real progress in women's rights around the globe – better laws,
political participation, education and income – the bedrock problems that
have dogged women for centuries remain. Even in wealthy countries, there
are pockets of private pain where women are unprotected and under attack.
Some countries, often the poorest and most conflict-ridden, have a level of
violence that makes life unbearable for women. Richer ones may burden
them with repressive laws, or sweep the problems of the least advantaged
under the carpet. In any country, refugee women are among the most
vulnerable.
1 Afghanistan: The average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less
than an Afghan male. After three decades of war and religion-based
repression, an overwhelming number of women are illiterate. More than
half of all brides are under 16, and one woman dies in childbirth every
half hour. Domestic violence is so common that 87 per cent of women admit
to experiencing it. But more than one million widows are on the streets,
often forced into prostitution. Afghanistan is the only country in which the
female suicide rate is higher than that of males.
2 Democratic Republic of Congo: In the eastern DRC, a war that claimed
more than 3 million lives has ignited again, with women on the front line.
Rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them
unprecedented. Many victims die; others are infected with HIV and left to
look after children alone. Foraging for food and water exposes women to yet
more violence. Without money, transport or connections, they have no way
of escape.
3 Iraq: The U.S.-led invasion to "liberate" Iraq from Saddam Hussein has
imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women
and girls. The literacy rate, once the highest in the Arab world, is now
among the lowest as families fear risking kidnapping and rape by sending
girls to school. Women who once went out to work stay home. Meanwhile,
more than 1 million women have been displaced from their homes, and
millions more are unable to earn enough to eat.
4 Nepal: Early marriage and childbirth exhaust the country's malnourished
women, and one in 24 will die in pregnancy or childbirth. Daughters who
aren't married off may be sold to traffickers before they reach their teens.
Widows face extreme abuse and discrimination if they're labelled bokshi,
meaning witches. A low-level civil war between government and Maoist
rebels has forced rural women into guerrilla groups.
5 Sudan: While Sudanese women have made strides under reformed laws, the
plight of those in Darfur, in western Sudan, has worsened. Abduction, rape
or forced displacement have destroyed more than 1 million women's lives
since 2003. The supporter of APC militias have used systematic rape as a
demographic weapon, but access to justice is almost impossible for the
female victims of violence.
6 Guatemala: The impoverished female underclass of Guatemala faces
domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-
Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left
hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages.
7 Mali: One of the world's poorest countries, few women escape the torture of
genital mutilation, many are forced into early marriages, and one in 10
dies in pregnancy or childbirth.
8 Pakistan: In the tribal border
areas of Pakistan women are
gang-raped as punishment for
men's crimes. But honour killing
is more widespread, and a
renewed wave of religious
extremism is targeting female
politicians, human rights
workers and lawyers.
9 Saudi Arabia: Women in Saudi
Arabia are treated as lifelong
dependents, under the
guardianship of a male relative.
Deprived of the right to drive a
car or mix with men publicly,
they are confined to strictly segregated lives on pain of severe punishment.
10 Somalia: In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a vicious civil war has put
women, who were the traditional mainstay of the family, under attack. In
a society that has broken down, women are exposed daily to rape,
dangerously poor health care for pregnancy, and attack by armed gangs.
"While the potential of women is recognized at the international level," says
World Health Organization director-general Margaret Chan, "this potential
will not be realized until conditions improve – often dramatically – in
countries and communities. Too many complex factors, often rooted in social
and cultural norms, continue to hinder the ability of women and girls to
achieve their potential and benefit from social advances."





source www.feministezine.com/feminist/international/Ten-Worst-Countries-for-Women.html

Africa countries be ruling worst countries since Independence

Modified;

Naija is not on that list..

In Summary, Islamically dominant countries ain't Life friendly at all.



TMan

Hmm, I can't read that epistle cos of it's extensive nature; in b/w, using the heading, am able to sum up that this thread is feminine related and it's of no way a concern to me cos na Abu mu NWOKE!!!!!

na wa o

chai.... dat first photo on circumcision gat me crazy
pls let dem stop doing it on matured girls na

tank God say Nigeria noh dey o

Just the poster's post and this is already on the front page

This thread go hot, no doubt sha..

Where's naija

Ok

Chai! Pathetic!

wow

Women fight for your right ooo.

You need to stand up and be a man (sorry be a woman), just be what you want to be.

Ok

They don't know that if there were no women on earth living would have been hell.

Hypocrites! As if they don't like kpekus

Wow, things dey happen ooo

Wetin concern me

Not surprised at all

fp again today






sorry I did not read the post I will com bak later I just hv to comment 1st



smiles

most of the countries mentioned above are either those that had or are having conflict/violence issues... This should be a lesson to our nigerian youths #2015
the first pic aint right though

You need to see the way my eyes bulgded @ d 1st pic.
Wickedness in high places. #Tufiakwa.

A list from biased minds!

Placing Saudi Arabia on that list is a very wrong submission.

Because Saudi Arabia refuses to allow women mix freely with men? They would have been delisted if they allowed men Bleep women like dogs on streets like here in the US?

A society that caters for women needs, why must a woman drive when male drivers, husband or relatives can take them out when they wish? Is driving a car the priority or getting to your destination?

I see this as a respect to women rather than marginalisation.

Thumbs up to Saudi Arabia for treating women as the most valuable being.

Update

See what majority of Saudi Arabia women think (PLEASE READ);

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/02/saudi-protest-driving-ban-not-popular

nigeria should be number 1.

@ that first pic,wat are those men doing to the girl

:oSomalia??I even thought they treat their women like goddesses,you should see how vain the women are and the way their men brag about them being the most beautiful in africa.,that's sad tho!#respect women cos y'all men came from women too!

That first pix bad gidigan ooooo

hmmm

NIGERIA.. Though I am d last, but I successfully made front page