Women’s empowerment is an issue near and dear to my heart. And if you too are a woman, it should be near and dear to your heart too.
Honestly, if you’re a man it should be near and dear to your heart as well. Promoting the well-being of women and equality among all is something that everyone should be advocating for, regardless of your gender. The United States still has progress to be made in terms of women’s empowerment and equality, but has made enormous steps on a global scale. There are some places around the world, however, where women’s rights are an irrelevant and unworthy topic that goes undiscussed altogether, and these are the places where women need a voice the most.
Yemen
In this middle eastern country, a woman’s legal testimony only counts as half of a witness. That’s right, they don’t even count as a whole person. Beyond that, females aren’t allowed to testify at all if the case is over theft, adultery, or sodomy. If a single woman (unmarried or divorced) is giving testimony, it isn’t taken into consideration at all unless there is a man’s testimony to accompany it or if it took place in a setting where no men would be present. The WEF’s Gender Gap Report has ranked Yemen as the worst country for women several years running, and it’s easy to see why.
Saudi Arabia
Rape is a very serious issue, one that shouldn’t be taken lightly under any circumstance. Saudi Arabia doesn’t seem to understand that, and not only lacks rape victim protection, but takes it a step further in punishing women for being out on their own without a man to protect them, for having relations with an unknown man, and/or for being impregnated by an unknown man. Even thinking about such a notion is so infuriating, I want to fly to Saudi Arabia and talk some sense into them myself. Additionally, women aren’t allowed drive cars or obtain a driver’s license, swim in public swimming pools, or try on clothes when shopping.
Vatican City
Women still can’t vote. If that isn’t the definition of oppression, I don’t know what is. Women are held to such a lower standard than men that they aren’t allowed to have any sort of say in political decisions. Vatican City is the only country in the world that has this rule, and hopefully that will be changed soon.
Pakistan
In terms of involvement in the labor force, only 25% of women participate in comparison to the 86% of men. Less than one third of women finish secondary school, with less than three quarters even finishing primary school. Under half of the women’s population is literate in Pakistan, which makes finding employment opportunities close to impossible.
According to the World Economic Forum, not a single country in the world has completely eliminated the gender gap. For women across the world, it’s time to finally rise up and change that fact. Who’s with me?
