The most dangerous African countries for women

desmond frimpong

July 19, 2018 9:02 PM

The poll, conducted between 26th March and 4th May, 2018, surveyed 548 professionals on women issues including health workers, NGO workers, policy-maker and people in academia.

Among the world worst countries for women, 3 African countries were included.

The most dangerous country for sexual violence against women, forced and domestic, as well as human trafficking is India, in accordance to a poll conducted by Thomas Reuters Foundation.

These were the perimeters the poll followed: sexual violence, health care, culture tradition, discrimination, human trafficking and non-sexual violence.

The survey, which was a repeat of a similar one carried out in 2011, ranked war-torn countries Afghanistan and Syria in 2nd and 3rd place.

Below are the African countries included:

Somalia

Ranked 4th in the world which makes them the 1st most dangerous African country for women. After over 20 years of conflict, the country’s economy, infrastructure and institution have been largely destroyed and people still have live treats from militant group, Al-Shabaab.

At the moment, Somalia is ranked amongst the 10 poorest countries in the world, with 45% of its 12.3 million people living in extreme poverty.

In relation to Thomas Reuters Foundation Survey, the country ranks as the third most dangerous in terms of access to healthcare and risk of exposure to harmful cultural and traditional practices. Almost all women aged 15 to 49 years (98%) have been subjected to female genital mutilation, with 77% undergoing the extreme form, according to UNICEF.

It further ranked fifth in terms of access to economic resources. The main source of livelihood in the country now is livestock management.

Democratic Republic of Congo

The DRC has over the period been tortured by wars,and civil strife. In such situations women and girls suffer the most due to the high rates of violence and extreme poverty that accompany such conflicts.

The DRC is known to be the 2nd most dangerous country for women, according to the survey. Sexual violence, which takes the form of rape and sexual assault, damages reproductive organs of these women, leading to urinary infections and other serious injuries. Some die from these assaults caused by armed men and other assailants.

DRC has about 4.5 million internally displaced people, the largest number in Africa, with women being affected the most.

Nigeria

The 3rd most dangerous African country for women and ranked 9th in the world. This survey claims the country’s military was accused by human rights groups of torturing, raping and killing civilians during a 9-year fight against the militant group, Boko Haram.

The survey named the Nigeria as the 4th most dangerous country for women in terms of human trafficking. It also came in 6th as the country where women risk their lives due to cultural traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage.

Genital mutilation continues to be an issue in Nigeria, as at 2017, about 20 million Nigerian women were found victims.

desmond frimpong

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