Women In The Third World Problems And

Women In The Third World: Problems And Prospects Essay, Research Paper

Women in the Third World: Problems and Prospects

One of the major problems women in the Third World face is the low status put on their lives and hence their families, communities and societies are all greatly affected. Another problem women in the Third World face is insufficient participation in growth and development. Women s access to economic resources, income and employment has worsened, their burdens of work have increased, and their health, nutritional, and educational status has declined. Limited success is due to the difficulties of overcoming traditional cultural attitudes and prejudices regarding women s participation in economic and social life. There is an inter-linked crisis of growing impoverishment, food insecurity, environmental degradation, and growing demographic pressure that have worsened their problems (Sen, 1987).

Status of Women

The power of women is limited in the Third World. They are thought of as second class citizens and mostly men inflict this viewpoint on them. In India boys are thought of as an asset to the family. There is a saying that through a son a man conquers the world (Eirlich). In India it is thought of as too expensive to educate girls. Parents must decide whether to educate their girls or give the girls’ dowry to husbands. A woman must marry a man her parents find for her. If these women don t give birth to boys then the in-laws say they are useless. Many women have to look after their children alone. Parents resort to desperate measures to get a son. They don t just rely on spirituality, but use technology like amniocentesis and ultrasound. Many parents when they are told they are having a girl will get an abortion, but they will never request an abortion when they are having a boy (Eirlich).

In India young girls end up working while boys play. When they are hungry, suffering or lonely they should not complain or they will disgrace the family. Girls end up being undernourished. One quarter of them die by the age of fifteen. When children get sick, boys are usually brought in immediately and girls are not brought in till they are very sick. Everyone tells girls that they have second class status as citizens. Without education or job skills they don t have the power to make their own choices. It is a form of modern bondage (Eirlich).

For women systems of male domination deny or limit their access to economic resources and political participation. The specifics of subordination vary considerably across regions, historical time periods and

Classes. Gender-based subordination is deep in the consciousness of men and women alike because it is thought to be a part of the natural biological differences between them. It is reinforced through religious beliefs, cultural practices, and educational systems (Sen, 1987).

Religious Conflict

Religion plays a large part in the subordination of women. Centuries of custom and religion are woven into many people in the world. Religion has the power to control the population. In one religion in Ethiopia it is the will of the god Ala to have as many children as possible and because of this many women there are forced by their husbands to have many children. The children are used to help the family when they are older (Eirlich).

In Nepal, where the Hindu religion is dominant, women do not have access to artificial contraception and the Hindu religion thinks it is a sin to use it. According to the church it is a sin to use artificial contraception. One in five children die by the age of five and husbands want another child right away. Born in an environment of poverty the women are anemic and the children become infected and are of small size (Eirlich).

In Manila 25,000 people survive in garbage. Eighty percent of the Filipinos are Roman Catholic. Less than a decade ago Ferdinande Marcos was in government and supported family planning education and free contraception. The Roman Catholics helped a new government take over. The result was that over a few years women using contraception dropped twenty percent. The Catholic Church and state used its muscle to paralyze a once successful birth control program (Eirlich).

Many women use the rhythm method of birth control because they are a part of a religion that condones artificial contraceptives. Bolivia is the poorest nation in South America with the highest birth rate. The poor in Bolivia are the ones having the most babies. Here government sponsored planning is not a priority. Women, being a part of the Catholic Church, use the rhythm method, which is useless, because their husbands usually come home drunk and women find it hard practicing the rhythm method under these conditions. The women in Bolivia have no choices; they are isolated and have no access to contraceptives (Eirlich).

Problems of Fertility

In the world today 350 children die silently per day. People accept that children die who develop immunizable diseases. With so many deaths women stay pregnant most of their lives to ensure that some of their children live (Eirlich). Literature has held that rural poverty; the economic roles of children concern for old-age security and patterns of property inheritance have led to high fertility rates (Sen 1987). Sterilization scams have been erected in the past where gov