...Empowering Women Deanna Lindsey Sociology of Developing Countries 28 May 2012 Why is it important that we empowering women in developing society? Why is it important that women are empowering in any society? How has empowering women change societies and the economic landscape of these countries? Why some countries have been slow to empower women in their countries? This paper will address these questions and other areas as it relates to the empowerment of women. Empowering means “To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority”. So when you hear the phrase “empowering women” what comes to mind? Initially I had no clue, it was until I read articles that I fully understood what it meant. Political empowerment, Economic empowerment, and Social empowerment is what empowering women is all about. I’ve only listed a few of the categories, but some countries and or societies treat them as mutually exclusive to women. The first article I read emphasis the importance’s of education among women. Educating women would be one of the first steps toward empowerment. Education helps with social development and improves your well-being. Yet there are still place that excluded young girls from a formal education. The benefits of women being educated greatly outweigh them being illiterate. With education empowerment among women; they better informed on health matters which can lead to deduction in population and child mortality rates. Educated...
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...Women in Developing Nations Development has evolved over time, from referring to improving the way of life to expanding freedoms and quality of life as a human being. Development is the right to choose a fulfilling and successful life. It can refer to several societies and areas as developed or developing. Well-developed nations are considered under the idea that many of the individuals possess many of the human rights, such as high literacy rates, high life expectancies, and good health programs. Many developing nations lack the resources needed to support health programs and educational programs. Though there are many challenges facing development, the most important is the mistreatment. Women make up half of the world’s population and they are mistreated and abused in many developing nations. Much of the time, they do not have rights and are controlled by men. In many developed countries around the world, successful government, increases in profit, and community expansion are sought and conquered by women leaders. Development is slowed in some countries due to the leaders and citizens rejecting change and holding on to tradition (Payne and Nassar). Eliminating exercises such as infanticide, female genital mutilation, and honor killings, these nations could rise above poverty and death and join the developed and successful nations of the world. Women can add so much to a community, so developing countries need to start including them to create better-developed countries. In...
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... Child Marriage Throughout the world, marriage is seen as a celebration where two madly in love individuals unite as one. Child marriage on the other hand, gives no such cause for a celebration or any type of happiness. Globally, especially in developing countries, many young children are ensnared and forced into marriage at a really young age to men twice or even three times their age. Robbing the innocence and purity of young girls is in fact an inhuman thing to do. Child marriage should come to an end throughout all countries. Child marriage is in fact a violation of human rights that exploits and strips young girls of their innocence, which then exposes them to the harsh realities of adulthood in countries where poverty and lack of education is high. Being a child means going to school, hanging out with your friends or just being at home eating junk food and watching television for long hours. In many developing countries children already know what being an adult means. Children are getting married, cooking and cleaning for their husbands, and even sleeping with them. According to Alexandra Hervish and Charlotte Feldman-Jacobs, “ In the last decade, 58 million young woman in developing countries – one in three – have been married before the age of 18, many against their will and in violation of international laws and convention of woman’s rights. Even more disturbing, according to new figures, one in nine girls, or 15 million, have been forced into marriage...
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...Problems in developing small scale enterprises in Bangladesh There are a huge number of problems in the question of developing small scale enterprises in Bangladesh, which are discussed below: Individuality: Maximum small scale enterprises are owned by the individuals and an individual has obviously some limitation. Lower Per Capita Income: Per capita income of our people is low and for this reason our people are not being able to generate adequate capital to run the business efficiently. Unskilled Human Resources: Human resources of our country are not skilled this is a problem with developing small scale enterprises in Bangladesh. The economic environment of our country is not hundred percent suitable for operating the business another cause of the restrictions. Excessive import of foreign product: Excessive import of foreign product in our country is another reason cause when the people of the country will be mainly dependent on the imported product then the entrepreneurs will loose their interest to develop small scale enterprises. Political instability: Political instability of our country is another reason for developing the small scale enterprises rate slow. Political environment of our country is not suitable enough to run the efficient business in our society. Deterioration of Morality: Public moral is getting down means most of our people are loosing their moral and for this reason developing small scale enterprises in Bangladesh is not so easy like the other...
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...10/4/2014 | | More than one billion in the world today, the great majority of whom are women, live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in the developing countries. Women represent 70 percent of the world's poor. They comprise more than 50 percent of the world's population but own only one percent of the world's wealth. Their lives are a litany of injustice, discrimination and obstacles that get in the way of achieving their basic needs of good health, safe childbirth, education, and employment. The sequence of discrimination that a woman may suffer during her entire life is unacceptable but all too common. Low income is the major cause that places women at high risk of poverty, and lone mothers are usually at the highest risk for extreme poverty because their income is insufficient to rear children. As the number of unmarried women increases, the diverse causes affecting their poverty must be examined. Poverty is multidimensional, and therefore, economic and socio-cultural factors overlap and contribute to the establishment of poverty. It is a phenomenon with multiple root causes and manifestations. Lack of income is a principal reason for women's risk of poverty as it deprives women of their basic needs and capabilities. As women disproportionately earn less income than men, they are deprived of basic education and health care. This deprivation passes on from one generation of women to the next, which leads to a perpetual feminization of poverty. The main reason...
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...(Malcolm 1977 page 12). In developed countries, abortion is legal whereas most developing countries do not encourage and permit abortion. This brings about the differences in safe and unsafe abortions. Abortion accounts for over 70,000 maternal deaths worldwide. Abortion has a long history. In the past, it was done using crude tools such as sharpened tools, physical trauma and other traditional methods. With advancement in the field of medicine, contemporary methods are now used and involve the use of medication and surgical procedures (Nada 1998 page 61). Each country in the world has different legality, cultural and religious statuses and prevalence of abortion. The ethical principles towards abortion and removal of pregnancies also vary. Countries such as the United States of America and Britain have heated politics surrounding the issue of abortion in pro-life and pro-choice campaigns (Ted 1995 page 66). These are based on the argument that for one group, it should be legalized and for the other, abortion should not. Most governments in the developed countries have legalized abortion. Many developing and underdeveloped countries have not legalized abortion and have no control over what is done by the medical personnel. Abortion and childbirth complications have been the leading causes of maternal deaths the world over. With the advent of the 21st century, maternal deaths have declined. This has been attributed to education on family planning as well...
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...implementation of women empowerment has both negative and positive aspects. There can be many disadvantages of empowering women. Firstly, many people still have the traditional perception that the woman's place in the society is her home. Empowering women would mean to allow her to leave her comfort zone and indulge in activities that could pollute her spiritually, emotionally and physically. A woman’s most precious possession is her virginity (Hudson, 1977). Most Islamic countries still follow this norm. Therefore, many at times women might not be given a fair chance to go out in the society to fulfill their dreams, socialize or to even voice out their opinions. For example; a Muslim woman is denied the right to choose her husband, report of abuse and is even excluded from mosques due to certain Islamic principles (Issues Of Concern For Muslim Women, 1995). As such, this can prove to be a little difficult for women living in some Islamic countries to totally move away from their cultural values. Secondly, lack of education for rural women restricts women from knowing their legal rights and also from getting involved in activities outside the home. In some areas women are still living with the notion that they are just to perform household chores and that there is no other life for them other then cooking or cleaning. For example, an eighteen year old Tunisian girl was forced to drop out of school as she was forced to choose house work over school work. (Hudson, 1977).Therefore, the...
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...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...
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...To be born a woman can be a serious hazard for your health. Depending on her place of birth a woman will likely face adverse health effects in numbers far higher than her male counterparts. In many nations women face a numerous amount of barriers to health. Poverty has well documented effects on health outcomes and over 70 percent of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty are women. When women are malnourished it creates a vicious cycle from her being unhealthy to her child being unhealthy and this continues as she has more children or her children have children. If a woman lives in a low income country that has an undeveloped health care system she may lack the access she needs to proper care as well. Women also often suffer a lack of independence that keeps them from being able to make their own health decisions even if they understand what needs to be done for their health. They often lack the control to make decisions when it comes to their sexual life. Often a woman’s legal status leaves her unable to take ownership of land or to divorce an abusive husband or to have control over who she marries. This lack of status contributes to the high poverty rates faced by women. Violence against women is a major cause of long term physical, mental and sexual health problems for women. To be born a woman, especially in a developing nation, increases the risk of a less healthy life. Women on average live longer lives than men, but across the board are living less healthy lives than...
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...It is no secret that females in developing countries are often unable to receive a proper education. With a lack of education comes unexpected risks, including reduced health, a decline in family income, and even a higher risk of trafficking and exploitation ("Girls' and Women's Education - Expertise - International - World Education, Inc."). For many women in underdeveloped countries such as Arab and Afghanistan, attempting to achieve an education could put their lives at risk. Two women, Laura Boushnak, and Shabana Basij-Rasikh discuss this issue in two different TED talk videos. In the first, Basij-Rasikh discusses how Afghan women should be able to earn a proper education, and tells the story of how her father fought for her to have that....
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...GLOBALIZATION Globalization is a series of social, economical, technological, cultural, and political changes that promote interdependence and growth. Globalization raises the standard of living in developing countries, spreads technological knowledge, and increases political liberation. (Harris 5-23) The main cause of globalization is influence from other, more developed, countries. Globalization is a historical process that results from human innovation and technological progress. The social effects of globalization are clearly illustrated in Peru. Once a third-world country filled with poverty and oppression, Peru is now transitioning into a developed nation. In Peru, globalization has raised the human development index, empowered women, and created a stronger country. (Leon 90-91) One of the benefits of globalization on a social level is an increased Human Development Index. The Human Development Index is a measurement of a country's social, political, and economical growth in comparison to other countries in the world. The Human Development Index rates each country with a score between 0 and 1, with 1 being the most advanced, globalized country. Factors that are involved in determining a country's HDI are gross domestic production per capita, life expectancy at birth, adult literary, and the number of persons enrolled in educational institutions. In 1975, Peru's Human Development Index was a 0.643. By 2003, the Human Development Index had risen more than one tenth to 0...
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...110 27 July 2014 Child Brides As Gloria Steinem said: “ A woman needs a man is like a fish needs a bicycle.” 1 It instance that in this modern society, identify of females have been improve. Unfortunately, it still is undeniable that a lot of prejudices and injures still happen to females. One of the most significant one is child brides’ problem. Many people do not know what a child bride really is. Child brides are girls forced to marry an old men because of some different reasons when they are still are teenagers.2 This is kind of early marriage causes those child brides isolated with society, suffer from domestic abuse and become dependent on their violent husband.3 It may be shocking that there are 67 million child brides in 2010 and there will be approximately 142,000,000 child brides all around the world after only ten years later.4 More surprisingly, there will be 14 million new child brides every year.5 Now as situation of child brides is becoming worse and worse, this research paper will focus on analyzing three main causes of this pathetic reality. Firstly, some religions that allow existence of child brides can encourage their followers or their followers’ daughters to get married before eighteen. What’s more, developing countries and many rural areas where poverty widely existed contribute a great part to this growing tendency. Last but not least, lack of education also changes those 1 2 3 4 5 A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. The Phrase Finder...
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...1. There are several reasons that women experience gender inequality in developing countries. One of the major reasons is the traditional role of wife and mother. If woman is going to be a wife and mother, then it is assumed that she will have to take time off for childbirth. As a result women are usually offered lower paying jobs. Women also experience inequality because they have been historically considered to have less education than men. Women are also not treated equal because they are perceived as being less powerful, having less prestige, and less ownership than men. 5. The growth rate of the urban population in developing countries is dramatically increasing because of the desire to move from the country to the city for what is thought to be a better life. However, because of the rapid growth of urban areas the city is no longer able to provide jobs, housing, and resources that people need. The unemployment rates in urban areas tend to be extremely high especially for individuals who are new to the city. Many urban areas in developing countries not only suffer from high unemployment rates but also from transportation and housing problems. As the urban population increases the resources become limited and eventually nonexistent. Because of the severity of problems with urban growth, countries such as China are trying to regulate it. 6. An effect of the expansion of cities is the growth of urban crime. Urban crime is constantly growing. Urban crime is an obstacle of...
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...Developing countries and developed countries differ greatly when it comes to the role that women play in the society, politics and economics. In fact, what seems to distinguish developing countries most from developed ones is the education level, responsibilities, quality of life, legal rights, economic status and occupation,(if any) of the women in that country. For example, in the developing country of India, women are very low on the totem pole of society, while in a more developed country such as Japan, women have a much more active role in society and are virtually equal to men. In the developing country of India, women are left to do the work of maintain the household by performing menial tasks of subsistence farming and raising children. They are often the most exploited and least privileged person in the house (Park). Being a woman in India is a dangerous thing for several reasons. Economically it is more taxing to have a girl than it is to have a boy because if you have a girl then you have to pay a dowry to the man’s family who she is to be married to. In India all ways of telling the sex of a baby have been banned from use because many families will perform an abortion on the baby if it turns out that it is a girl. Also, if the mother can’t produce a boy, she is in great jeopardy of being killed. This is called a Dowry Death, and a 1997 report claimed that there are at least five thousand “Dowry Deaths” a year. This type of thinking is embedded in...
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...INTRODUCTION Every minute, another woman dies in childbirth. Every minute the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well being of surviving children. For every woman who dies, 20 or more experience serious complications. These range from chronic infections to disabling injuries (Such as Obstetric fistula). Maternal death and disability rates mirror the huge discrepancies that exist between the haves and the have-nots both within and between countries. Safe Motherhood begins before conception with proper nutrition and a healthy life style and continues with appropriate prenatal care, the prevention of complications when possible, and the early and effective treatment of complications. The ideal result is a pregnancy at term, without unnecessary interventions, the delivery of a healthy infant, and a healthy post partum period in a positive environment that supports the physical and emotional needs of the woman, infant and family. Working for the survival of mothers is a human rights imperative. It also has enormous socio-economic ramifications-and is a crucial international priority. Both the international conference on Population and Development and Millennium Development Goals call for a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015. This three prolonged strategy is key to the accomplishment of the goal: -All women have access to contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies. -All pregnant women have access to skilled care at the...
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