Women Around the Globe
WHEN the first human pair rebelled against God, Jehovah foretold disastrous consequences that would befall both them and their offspring. Jehovah said to Eve: “Your craving will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.” (Genesis 3:16) The Bible consistently encourages deep respect for women, and millions of women enjoy happier, more satisfying lives because they and their families apply Bible principles.
According to a recent report on human rights, though, many other women worldwide are humiliated, exploited, and degraded. Commenting on the report, the International Herald Tribune states: “In painstaking detail, the report on 193 countries . . . paints a dreary picture of day-to-day discrimination and abuse.”
A few examples: In central Africa, girls must do most of the heavy farm work, and they attend school only one third as often as do boys. In one country there, adultery is illegal for women but not for men. The law of another African country excuses the husband who kills his wife if she is caught committing adultery, but the law does not excuse a wife who kills her husband in similar circumstances.
The report says that in parts of South America, police are unsympathetic to battered women. And working women usually must make do with 30 to 40 percent less pay than men.
In parts of Asia, women are the victims of forced sterilizations and abortions. In one country, there are up to 500,000 prostitutes, many of whom have been sold into this by parents seeking money to help buy new homes for themselves. Police in another country must cope with widespread “dowry deaths”—a wife is killed by her husband or his family because her dowry did not meet expectations.
Concerning Jesus Christ, the Bible assures us: “He will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one, and the souls of the poor ones he will save. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and their blood will be precious in his eyes.” (Psalm 72:12-14) So we have reason for optimism; women worldwide can look forward to improved conditions that will exist at that time.