Horizons magazine is published by Presbyterian Women (PW) the national women’s organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Issue link: http://horizons.epubxp.com/i/623149
January/February 2016 11 C ultural Disrespect In India, two particular practices threaten the very lives of girl children: female infanticide and honor killing. Female infanticide is the murder of a girl child through sex-selective abor- tion, deliberate murder or intentional neglect of an infant or young girl. Though India has criminalized female infanticide, it continues in a number of states. India continues the practice of dowry, although illegal, which makes female children especially undesirable, as their families must pay large sums of money at the time of marriage. For this reason, female infanticide is espe- cially prevalent in rural areas and among lower castes. Honor killing is the practice of killing girls and women who are per- ceived to have defiled a family's honor by allegedly engaging in sexual activity or other improprieties outside of marriage. Transgressions that are not initiated by the girl—including rape, incest or sexual abuse—may also be grounds for a girl's male kin (father, husband, brother, uncle or cousin) to kill her to restore honor to her family. Criminal penalties for honor killing are lenient in countries where this practice is most prevalent. Because many cases go unreported, it is difficult to determine the number of women who are the victims of honor killing. Life, But Lacking Health In addition to the hundreds of thou- sands of girls killed or never born, millions of Indian girls and women suffer poor health. A 2010 study showed that parents spend 14 percent more time with boy children than girl children, and that boys are likely to be breastfed for longer and to receive v accinations and vitamins. 3 B eyond these preventive measures for health, Indian women and girls traditionally eat last and least, only having what's left after the men are satiated. Women's malnutrition is an even more critical issue should a woman become pregnant. Her health is criti- cal for the developing baby. Many women who practice purdah or who do not have the right to free move- ment, must ask a male member of the family for permission to go to a doc- tor, or must take a male family mem- ber with them to the doctor. These two complications often result in fewer visits to the doctor. Throughout India, women strug- gle with malnutrition, marriage at an early age, early and/or frequent preg- nancies and lack of medical care. These issues have pushed India's maternal mortality rate to the 55th highest out of 184 countries ranked in the world. 4 Education Out of Reach Traditionally, girls in India have been given education relating mostly to household chores. This mindset has changed in urban areas in the twenty-first century, so many more young women are pursuing higher education. In many remote areas of India, families still tend to view edu- cation as secondary to girls' fulfilling domestic duties. Skepticism about whether girls need education poses a challenge that is compounded by a shortage of money to pay for tuition and sup- plies, and schools' distance from home. In India, women's virginity and purity is of utmost importance to marriage. Many families are afraid to send their girls to far-off schools, w here they will not have family pro- tection and will be taught alongside boys by male teachers. Lack of education is the root cause of many problems. Without educa- tion, mothers are not aware of health and safety issues for their children, or how to prevent and treat those issues. Uneducated women have fewer employment opportunities and less financial stability, which continues a cycle of scarcity. Violence Against Women As in every other country in the world, India's women suffer domestic violence. Traditionally, India viewed violence against women as a private family matter, something that should not be discussed or reported to authorities. This trend is changing, with the number of Indian women reporting domestic violence rising each year since 2003. 5 Violence against women is not a private mat- ter; rather, it is a global issue that affects women all over the world— impoverished, wealthy, educated, uneducated, of all classes. In many households throughout India, women are treated as a burden, a drain. Ironically, they often work the most in the household. In many of these homes where women are viewed as a burden, they are subjected to physical and mental violence. Women are counted as an unskilled workforce, because they work largely at home and housework is not counted as work. When they work outside the home, they are paid less than men. So, despite physical and emotional attacks at home, women are often economically reliant on their husbands.