Only half of women are physically independent says report

Only half of women in developing countries are physically independent. The other half faces attacks and problems such as rape, sexual exploitation, forced sterilization and genital mutilation.

The new UN report says that in developing societies, half of the female population does not have the right to have all the information about the circumstances, events and factors affecting their body and their caste and personality.

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As a result, almost half of all women in the world's underdeveloped and least developed countries are exposed to sex, whether it's sexual intercourse, access to health care or the use of contraceptives. Loses any control over decisions. For these women and girls, these decisions are made by other people.

The report, released on Wednesday (April 13th) by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the situation of women in 57 developing countries, is titled "My Body Is My Own".

The figures included in the report show that every second woman in about five dozen countries is unable to make her own decisions about what kind of physical condition she will or will face.

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The report points out that women who are deprived of 'body autonomy' or 'physical autonomy' for themselves suffer the consequences of decisions made by 'others', including sexual assault and sexual exploitation. There are also cruel measures such as medical sterilization and genital mutilation.

The world body for sexual and reproductive health is called the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). "The bottom line is that hundreds of millions of women and girls do not own bodies," said Natalia Kanim, head of the agency. Their lives are under the control of others.”

According to the head of the UNFPA, these 'other' human beings and groups who make decisions about their bodies for such women and girls include the spouses, families, communities and governments of the affected women and girls.

Natalia Kanem, executive director of the World Bank's Population Affairs Fund, said the underlying factors behind this widespread injustice are often linked to social structures, social issues, patriarchal traditions and sexual issues.

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According to the UNFPA report, when affected women are deprived of their personal rights and privileges related to their caste, inequality increases from the family to the social level and this is the gender inequality. It also strengthens the tendency to discriminate.

"When control rests with others rather than the female population concerned, it is not possible for the affected women and girls to achieve the goal of physical autonomy," said Natalia Kanim.

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