Women in the Developing World Third World Countries

Women in the Developing World

When one goes back in time we see that women have always been the target of the male gender. They have tried to control their thoughts, actions and feelings. Their opinions and ideas have not mattered and to the male gender, women were nothing but an object of pleasure and were considered to be their possession. With time the civilized part of the world realized that women are no one's possession and are just as humans and have feelings just like the males do. However even today when the world has become a global village, there are some third world countries where women are subjected to the same old ideas and their voice is suppressed. They are not allowed to do a number of things and their role as described by the males is limited to taking care of the household and the kids. They are not allowed to receive proper education and are also not given access to health facilities. The males don't realize that it is a God given right to the women to receive appropriate health services.

In many third world countries, large numbers of women die due to pregnancy related causes. "An estimated 529,000 women died from complications of pregnancy and childbirth in 2000, virtually all in developing countries" (BBC). The cause to such incidents taking place is the fact that there these the males do not use family planning. They do not use contraceptives and to them women are just a machine created to produce babies. Men simply do not care about the health of their wife as to them the wife is of no value. "The limited power many women have over their sexual and reproductive lives and lack of influence in decision-making are social realities which have an adverse impact on their health" (UN). In such places, awareness of family planning should be brought about in the societies and many who feel that they are religiously bound to not use contraceptives should be taught that no religion requires a baby to be born at the expense of the life of the mother. They should be taught about different contraceptives and these should be available widely throughout the problem country. It is seen that "satisfying the unmet need for contraceptive services in developing countries would avert 52 million unintended pregnancies annually, which, in turn, would save more than 1.5 million lives and prevent more than 7 million infant deaths in their first month of life" (Reuters).

Health issues have caused a lot of women to die in the developing countries. This is all because of gender inequality where man sees himself to be superior to the woman. Such countries should educate the men and make them realize that females are as much humans as themselves. Females should not be prevented from receiving any kind of medical treatment. "It is a sad fact that most of these health problems could be eliminated, as they have been in the United States. This is a reflection of the gender and economic inequalities that exist in these nations" (Elisabeth Anne Aron, M.D.). Many resist from women undergoing abortion regardless of whether her health is at risk or not. These people need to be educated and should realize that abortion should be an option if the mother's life is at risk. Once man does realize that women are equal to him then he will realize that he is being unjust by not using contraceptives and by running away from family planning. What they need is awareness which should be aroused in them through various organizations and the media.