CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN IN AFRICA

CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN IN THE AFRICAN  SOCIETY

  Violence and Sexual Violence Unsafe Drinking    Water HIV/Aids

Women and girls in Africa experience the same kinds of violence and sexual violence that women in other parts of the world experience. A common weapon of war in struggles such as those in Sudan and The Democratic Republic of Congo is systematic rape. Women living in villages and refugee camps are targeted for rape. Female genital mutilation, preformed ritually in some African cultures, is a violent and dangerous practice that women can seldom prevent. Forced marriage, being sold into servitude and early marriage are also struggles some African women face

• Lack of safe and clean drinking water is a problem for African women; more than 300 million people in Africa lack clean water. African women may walk up to five miles a day to fetch water. Health is endangered by micro-organisms in the water. Babies are often sickened when women must mix infant formula using the dirty water.

• According to the HIV/AIDS awareness and charity organization, Avert, 59 percent of those living with HIV are female. There is a gender element to the illness in African. Lack of awareness or partner unwillingness to use protection endanger women. Statistics on the number of younger women contracting the illness show that in the 15-to-24-age group, 75 percent of those with HIV/AIDS are women. Often HIV-positive women or those widowed by HIV/AIDS lose their homes due to stigmatization in the community. Pregnant and nursing women with HIV/AIDS lack access to drugs to prevent passing it to their infants.

.Education

• Two-thirds of the 40 million African children who do not attend school are girls. Only 60 percent of girls go to primary school. The majority, 53.2 percent, of African women are illiterate. In some countries, such as Mozambique, the illiteracy rate among women is double that of men. Many families can afford to send only one or two children to school. Often boys are sent instead of girls