Investigate a Social Issue
By:
Your Name
Professor
Sociology 100
November 4, 2013

Introduction: Social Issue
Early studies of political and economic change in the Less Developed Countries (LDC) say nothing about women’s issues. In the past decade different organizations focused around women have heightened awareness of how women play an important role in the political and economic development.
Women are significant to the success of family planning programs, bear much of the responsibility for food production and account for an increasing share of wage labor in developing countries. Women are very aware of the consequences of environmental degradation and can contribute to the development of a vibrant, civil society and good governance. In spite of their important contributions, women lag behind men in access to health care, nutrition, and education while continuing to face difficult social, economic, and political barriers. Women’s lives in the developing world are consistently hard. Often female children are less valuable than male children, resulting in higher female infant and child death rates.
Gender Inequalities: Sociological View
Gender is a dimension of social organization, shaping how we interact with others and how we think about ourselves. Gender also involves hierarchy, ranking men and women differently in terms of power, wealth, and other resources. That is why sociologists speak of gender stratification, the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women. Gender also affects the opportunities and challenges we face throughout our lives (Macionis, 2010).
Countries such as Africa, Pakistan and the Middle East have shown signs of severe gender inequality. One of the most horrifying forms of injustice includes painful female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision), which takes place in Africa. In parts of India, specifically Bangladesh, the sale of child brides for dowries is very common. There have been murders of some 5,000 Indian women a year-killings committed by husband or in-laws who were displeased with the size of their dowries. Economic deprivations have led many women into prostitution, in most cases involuntarily. Rape, including gang rape is common in Pakistan and Punjab, and incidents are not reported by the authorities. Statistically, a woman is raped every two hours in Pakistan; gang rape averages once every four days in the state of Punjab with only a quarter of the cases reported to the police (Kristof & WuDunn, 2010).
Known & Unknown
We are all aware of the challenges that the women are facing in the Less Developed Countries, there is nothing that is unknown. Women in such countries are 300 times more likely to die during childbirth or pregnancy (Boseley, 2009). One major problem in many of the Less Developed Countries is fewer educational opportunities for women and lower literacy rates than men. The most extreme case in Afghanistan’s Taliban government prohibited women from attending school. Women also were forbidden from working outside the home even if the family had no male as the main source of income.
There are many organizations such as: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that are working to help in the women in the Less Developed Countries.

Value of Sociological Research
Education in general is among the primary means through which societies reproduce themselves, changing the educational opportunities for girls and women is the most effective way to achieve lasting changes. When girls in developing countries do enroll in school, they run into gender-based discrimination and insufficient educational resources.
There are about 600 million adolescent girls in developing countries and the 10-to-24-year-old age group is the fastest-growing segment of the population. This demographic trend can boost the economic prospects of developing countries by providing opportunities to these young people. On average, girls with higher levels of education are more likely to participate in the labor force, engage in paid employment, earn more for their families over their lifetimes, and have healthier children who stay in school longer (Fustos, 2010).
Conclusion
Women’s rights around the world is an important indicator to understand global well-being. Women’s rights are being repressed constantly in the Less Developed Countries for decades and seem to only be getting worse in times of war. Violent attacks on women have come to be a norm of such countries. Educational opportunities need to be created in LDCs for the women, if we can succeed in getting education for the women in the LDC where women are not considered equal, we should be able eliminate the problems of healthcare and women rights. The story of Malala Yousafzai is very inspiring, who at the age of 12 stood up against the Taliban for her right to obtain an education. Malala’s bravery opened doors for an education for all the girls in Pakistan.

References
Macionis, J. (2010) Sociology. Published by Prentice Hall, NJ. Thirteenth Edition
WuDunn, Sheryl and Kristof, Nicholas D. (2011) “The Women’s Crusade” in Annual Editions Developing World 11/12, The New York Times Magazine, August 23, 2009
Boseley, Sarah. (2009) “Women in Developing Countries 300 Times More Likely to Die in Childbirth” in Annual Editions Developing World 11/12, The Guardian, January 15, 2009.
Fustos, Kate. (2010) Despite Wide Ranging Benefits, Girls’ Education and Empowerment Overlooked in Developing Countries. Population Reference Bureau.