Women represent a little over half of the world's population, yet in many countries they are seen as little more than property to be exploited by men. The cruelest example of this commodification is in the practice of forced marriage. Whether through law or social practice, all over the world women are forced into marriage, often at the expense of their own health and safety. These women can be as young as children or legal adults and come from all religious and ethnic backgrounds. One of the main reasons this practice continues in so many areas is because there is no single root cause. It would be easy to blame a single religion or economic situation, but those are not the real reasons behind forced marriage. Children all over the world are …show more content…
There poverty and Islam are harder to blame and people generally believe there is less of a gender gap. The truth is women are still seen as commodities and objects for men and as such they are still forced into unwanted marriages. There is perhaps nowhere as shocking to find forced marriage than Toronto, Canada, yet "in September 2013, Toronto's South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario released a report that counted 219 confirmed or suspected cases of forced marriage in Ontario and Quebec from 2010 to 2012,-" which proves how forced marriage is everywhere (Browne). These numbers are not going unnoticed as the Canadian government is taking new measures to make forced marriages illegal. It may seem surprising that it was not already an illegal practice, but many countries in the western world are simply not equipped to handle forced marriage. As of January 2015 “Bill S-7, which adds forced marriage to the Criminal Code, [is expected to be] approved" finally making forced marriage a punishable offense in Canada (Browne). Most Americans assume that forced marriage is a far-away problem, but many American-born women from immigrant families are taken back to their parent's home country and forced to marry the man of their parent's choosing ("Thousands"). It is not uncommon for immigrant parents to expect their children to be married the same way they were in their home countries, even though the child may have never been there. Despite being raised as normal American teenage girls, they may still be taken “back home” and forced into marriage by any means necessary since they are still viewed as their parents’
As a result, nineteenth marriage forced women to be completely dependent and compliant with the husband 's as they held all the means of sustenance, and if deserted by the husband, they were often left with very meagre means of sustenance. Subsequently, as the shortfalls of marriage became apparent, many activists through the nineteenth century and onwards have supported reform of the institution of marriage, and the empowerment of women, which allows us to move towards an egalitarian
Seen as sexist and oppressive societies – girls have no value if they are not married, women should obey orders from men
As Rafaela, Mamacita, and Sally’s examples show, the men living in the Mango Street neighborhood persecute their women. The men force their women to stay home. They also restrict their women’s rights by making them speak a new language, and in the extreme case, they beat their women. Although many negative aspects of gender may have lessened over the past few decades, the society should still work toward lessening more of these negative aspects around the world, and especially in the Middle East and North Africa, because extreme gender inequalities still exist today. Treating women inhumanely should be considered as extremely immoral, since we’re all human beings and born to be equal.
Arranged marriages are typically not practiced in the United States, however, they are still a part of other cultures. While arranged marriages are often seen as a barbaric or outdated practice, they can still be successful. It may not seem important to study arranged marriages since they are not widely practiced in modern America or other western cultures but some benefits of arranged marriages found could be used to lessen the negative image western civilizations have about cultures that continue the practice of arranged marriages. There are definitely drawbacks in the practice of arranged marriage but there are also benefits that are often overlooked.
Majority of the function that help maintain a society, is controlled by men. This is evident in politics, subsistence production, family life, leadership, social organization, ceremonies, and settlement patterns (Bonvillain 92). The treatment faced with women is harsh, emotionally and physically. When the women first marry to someone that was arranged for them, they are to live with their husbands in his village. This isolates women because they are not in the comfort of their own family, making it dangerous for them.
The culture that exists in America is one that is constantly changing to suit the times and the many different types of people that reside in the country. One aspect of American culture that has changed profoundly is the institution of marriage. Marriage began as the undisputed lifestyle for couples willing to make the ultimate commitment to one another. However in less than a century, pointless and destructive alternatives such as premarital cohabitation, have developed to replace marriage.
Some of these marriages are extremely dysfunctional while others seem to be practical. These marriages are considered different from forced marriages and are an acceptable type of marriage in Afghan society. Some arranged marriages lead to poor or horrific outcomes for the brides in order to separate from her spouse. Occasionally these marriages shift into being forced marriages. In the article “Afghan girls bound by family betrothals” the author states “In Kapisa province, just north of Kabul, an 18-year-old girl shot and killed herself because her family would not break off her three-year-engagement to a drug addict.” This exhibits how certain family’s decisions for their children are atrocious. In addition it shows how an arranged marriage turned into a forced marriage. At times young women may run away from as a threat tactic to their family reported by the article “Afghan girls bound by family betrothals.” A 17-year-old girl who ran away from her home for a few days resulted in her parents letting her marry the man that she loved rather than who they set her up with. This shows how some parents would be tolerant enough to let his own daughter marry the person she
Violence is prevalent throughout the world, and millions of people die every year because of this. There are many forms of violence, such as violence in war, domestic violence, violence against women (VAW), children and intimate partner violence (Krug et al., 2002:3). This paper will investigate aspects of domestic violence. Many scholars use domestic violence and violence against women interchangeably, but VAW is one form of domestic violence. The United Nations (UN) defines VAW as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life" (WHO, 2013) (Cheung et al., 1999: 2). Women are being harmed physically, emotionally, economically and psychologically on a daily basis, and reports filed regarding VAW each year are increasing rapidly. However, these reports do not represent the complete scenario, as most of the cases go unregistered or disregarded every day (Cheung et al., 1999: 2) because VAW is usually excused, allowed and overlooked (Amnesty International, 2009) (Merry, 2009: 5). Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one pervasive form of violence against women, which is usually committed by the husband or intimate male partners (Krug et al., 2002:89). This paper aims to explore patriarchal norms, social constructions and structural inequalities, which support IPV through the lens of masculinities, honor, and gender ideologies, as well as the concept of women as property in the context of Muslim communities.
Moreover, several court cases and laws are made to oppress women. In Afghanistan, women must please their husbands (Graham-Harrison). Forced marriages have been used to secure political relations and use women as pawns. Court cases passed to favor the rapist in rape crimes spreads rape culture. Laws are being made to prevent abortions even in the cases of rape and incest. “It is a travesty that this is happening” (Graham-Harrison). Women haven’t been president yet. One third of pregnant women are killed by their husband (Valenti). Shiite laws oppress women. They must have sex with their husbands (Gebauer). But no one talks about this because its not men they are affecting.
Throughout history women in general have been subjected to gender-based discrimination. The hardships and challenges women endured were based on cultural stereotypes that portrayed women as only somebody’s wife or mother — as if they were property. In patriarchal, male-dominated societies that exist in many, if not all aspects of the world continues to view women as the “weaker sex” who need constant provision and protection. It is that form of male chauvinism that leads to the abuse, suppression, and exploitation of women, especially in developing nations and societies. In the U.S. those beliefs were used to justify the suppression of women’s rights for a period of time which kept and prohibited them from right to vote, hold eminent
As the realization of women as an exploited group increases, the similarity of their position to that of racial and ethnic groups becomes more apparent. Women are born into their sexual identity and are easily distinguished by physical and cultural characteristics. In addition, women now identify that they are all sufferers of an ideology (sexism) that tries to justify their inferior treatment.
Women’s oppression is not just unique to our history alone. Different civilizations around the world have portrayed women despicably. In Japan during world war two, teenage girls were rounded up into sex camps. “An estimated one hundred thousand to four hundred thousand girls were forced to do sexual favors for Japanese soldiers, some of the girls were as young as 11 years old. They serviced up to 50 Japanese soldiers a day, while enduring beatings, starvation, sterilization and abortions. Even today, over half the 27 million people enslaved are woman in underground sex brothels.” [Robinson]
...ich women are able to manipulate their personal environment through control over material and social resources. At the same time, studies conducted in patriarchal settings of India and Bangladesh have observed that other factors that traditionally conferred power to women, such as the number of sons they bore or the amount of dowry they brought, also protected women from physical violence (Jejeebhoy and Cook 1997; Rao 1997; Schuler et al 1996). While there have been studies that have looked at the links between aspects of women’s empowerment and physical violence, few have looked at their links with women’s experience of forced sex within marriage. Available studies document that while education attainment decreased a woman’s risk of experiencing forced sex, her employment seemed to increase this risk).
Child marriage is a global issue, transpiring in all parts of the world. Abducted from their home and family, young girls - below eighteen - are married off against their own will not only affecting the girls (mentally and physically) but the country as a whole. The organization, Too Young to Wed, says “… marrying them off at such a young age, they are putting the girls at risk and perpetuation the cycle of powerlessness and poverty.” Child marriages occurred throughout history and still an affair today due to society’s tolerance. And the number of young girls forced to wed increased and will continue to increase if society remains tolerant to this sensitive matter.
Girls all over the world are forced into marriages due to financial necessity, tradition and to ensure their future. Most of these girls married are at a young age: “One third of the world’s girls are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15”( “Child Marriage Facts and Figures”). The young ages of those being married reveal how crucial it is to resolve this problem. When child marriage occurs the parents of the bride usually chose the groom for their daughters; and these grooms can be three times older than the young brides. Some children are brought into the world of marriage at the of 8 or sometimes less depending on their cultural views. The following can be used to help reduce the impact of early marriage: reinforcing laws that are passed against child marriages, and providing information on contraceptives to victims of early marriage. The most efficient way of resolving the problem of child marriage is through educating the people who practice it about its adverse effects.