They are by law made invisible in countries ranging from Saudi Arabia all the way to Afghanistan. They are plainly not visible in the corridors of power of Far Eastern countries (with South Korea being a notable exception), even as their very visibility and power in India makes them targets of vicious attacks in the excessively male societies of India.
Sobering numbers
Below is a table showing the excess of males over females in the general population, as per a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on gender equality, for select Asian countries that makes for some scary reading:
Source: HDR.UNDP
There are two ways of looking at the table: on the one hand, it says that there are 40 million more males than females in India, therefore the instances of gang rape and so on are only ever likely to increase in the years ahead. The other way of thinking about it is to consider the imbalance of 20 million (half the males "should" have been females if the overall population is to remain unchanged) as females deliberately killed.
That's 20 million dead female babies in one country alone. Add another 25 million plus in China followed by about 3 million each in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Then we look at another table, this time a human development index adjusted for inequality, primarily with respect to gender issues. The numbers are downright dirty now - while China shows relatively low inequality that is more or less on par with data for developed countries in Europe, the numbers for the other three countries are poor and pretty much at the bottom of the global scale. What makes this comparison interesting is the "scatter" of data across different levels of per capita GDP - while Saudi GDP per capita is fairly high above the US$8,000 level, that for China is around the $3,500 mark while India is around $2,000 and Pakistan, a few hundred dollars below that.
Source: HDR.UNDP
The issues in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic societies though appears incomprehensible to even the people living there. The imposition of Sharia law in trading communities (seeEconomics and Bamiyan, Asia Times Online, Dec 9, 2006 ) was always bound to cause great hardship and so it has in Pakistan. The falling oil wealth of Saudi Arabia as production starts declining means that greater impetus must be provided to releasing the economic potential of Saudi women. Instead, even halting reforms appear to have been pushed back due to rising unemployment amongst Saudi men (well officially, that should be termed under-employment) and resistance to reforms in many parts of Saudi society.
Sobering numbers
Below is a table showing the excess of males over females in the general population, as per a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on gender equality, for select Asian countries that makes for some scary reading:
Source: HDR.UNDP
There are two ways of looking at the table: on the one hand, it says that there are 40 million more males than females in India, therefore the instances of gang rape and so on are only ever likely to increase in the years ahead. The other way of thinking about it is to consider the imbalance of 20 million (half the males "should" have been females if the overall population is to remain unchanged) as females deliberately killed.
That's 20 million dead female babies in one country alone. Add another 25 million plus in China followed by about 3 million each in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Then we look at another table, this time a human development index adjusted for inequality, primarily with respect to gender issues. The numbers are downright dirty now - while China shows relatively low inequality that is more or less on par with data for developed countries in Europe, the numbers for the other three countries are poor and pretty much at the bottom of the global scale. What makes this comparison interesting is the "scatter" of data across different levels of per capita GDP - while Saudi GDP per capita is fairly high above the US$8,000 level, that for China is around the $3,500 mark while India is around $2,000 and Pakistan, a few hundred dollars below that.
Source: HDR.UNDP
The issues in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic societies though appears incomprehensible to even the people living there. The imposition of Sharia law in trading communities (seeEconomics and Bamiyan, Asia Times Online, Dec 9, 2006 ) was always bound to cause great hardship and so it has in Pakistan. The falling oil wealth of Saudi Arabia as production starts declining means that greater impetus must be provided to releasing the economic potential of Saudi women. Instead, even halting reforms appear to have been pushed back due to rising unemployment amongst Saudi men (well officially, that should be termed under-employment) and resistance to reforms in many parts of Saudi society.
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