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Gender equality
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====Harmful traditional practices==== [[File:Say no to dowry.jpg|thumb|Anti-dowry poster in [[Bangalore, India|Bangalore]], India]] [[File:FGM prevalence UNICEF 2016.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=map|FGM in Africa, Iraqi Kurdistan and Yemen, as of 2015 ([[Special:Filepath/AfricaCIA-HiRes.jpg|map of Africa]]).<ref name=UNICEF2016/>]] "Harmful traditional practices" refer to forms of violence which are committed in certain communities often enough to become cultural practice, and accepted for that reason. Young women are the main victims of such acts, although men can also be affected.<ref name="NHS Traditional">{{cite web|url=http://www.gbv.scot.nhs.uk/gbv/harmful-traditional-practices|title=National Gender Based Violence & Health Programme|website=Gbv.scot.nhs.uk|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=8 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208001701/http://www.gbv.scot.nhs.uk/gbv/harmful-traditional-practices|url-status=live}}</ref> They occur in an environment where women and girls have unequal rights and opportunities.<ref name="ohchr.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet23en.pdf|title=Fact Sheet No.23, Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children|website=Ohchr.org|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=10 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910231123/https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet23en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> These practices include, according to the [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]:<ref name="ohchr.org" /> {{Blockquote|[[female genital mutilation]] (FGM); forced feeding of women; early marriage; the various taboos or practices which prevent women from controlling their own fertility; nutritional taboos and traditional birth practices; son preference and its implications for the status of the girl child; female infanticide; early pregnancy; and dowry price}} Son preference refers to a cultural preference for sons over daughters, and manifests itself through practices such as sex selective abortion; female infanticide; or abandonment, neglect or abuse of girl-children.<ref name="ohchr.org" /> Abuses regarding nutrition are taboos in regard to certain foods, which result in poor nutrition of women, and may endanger their health, especially if pregnant.<ref name="ohchr.org" /> The [[caste system in India]] which leads to [[untouchability]] (the practice of ostracizing a group by segregating them from the mainstream society) often interacts with gender discrimination, leading to a double discrimination faced by [[Dalit]] women.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/chrgj-hrw.pdf|title=CASTE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DALITS OR SO-CALLED UNTOUCHABLES IN INDIA|website=2.ohchr.org|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=28 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728154019/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/chrgj-hrw.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2014 survey, 27% of Indians admitted to practicing untouchability.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/one-in-four-indians-admit-to-practising-untouchability-biggest-caste-survey/|title=Biggest caste survey: One in four Indians admit to practising untouchability|date=29 November 2014|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=18 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218114401/http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/one-in-four-indians-admit-to-practising-untouchability-biggest-caste-survey/|url-status=live}}</ref> Traditional customs regarding birth sometimes endanger the mothers. Births in parts of Africa are often attended by traditional birth attendants (TBAs), who sometimes perform rituals that are dangerous to the health of the mother. In many societies, a difficult labour is believed to be a divine punishment for marital infidelity, and such women face abuse and are pressured to "confess" to the infidelity.<ref name="ohchr.org" /> Tribal traditions can be harmful to males; for instance, the [[Satere-Mawe]] tribe use [[bullet ant]]s as an [[initiation rite]]. Men must wear gloves with hundreds of bullet ants woven in for ten minutes: the ants' stings cause severe pain and paralysis. This experience must be completed twenty times for boys to be considered "warriors".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/travel/Holidays/Wildlife/article77936.ece|title=Bitten by the Amazon|last=Backshall|first=Steve|date=6 January 2008|newspaper=The Sunday Times|location=London|access-date=13 July 2013|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222144437/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/travel/Holidays/Wildlife/article77936.ece|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other harmful traditional practices include [[marriage by abduction]], ritualized [[sexual slavery]] ([[Devadasi]], [[Trokosi]]), [[breast ironing]] and [[widow inheritance]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T-Anth/Anth-13-0-000-11-Web/Anth-13-2-000-11-Abst-Pdf/Anth-13-2-121-11-720-Wadesango-N/Anth-13-2-121-11-720-Wadesango-N-Tt.pdf|title=Violation of Women's Rights by Harmful Traditional Practices|first1=Newman|last1=Wadesango|first2=Symphorosa|last2=Rembe|first3=Owence|last3=Chabaya|website=Krepublishers.com|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=24 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024141418/http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T-Anth/Anth-13-0-000-11-Web/Anth-13-2-000-11-Abst-Pdf/Anth-13-2-121-11-720-Wadesango-N/Anth-13-2-121-11-720-Wadesango-N-Tt.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/elim-disc-viol-girlchild/ExpertPapers/EP.4%20%20%20Raswork.pdf|title=The impact of harmful traditional practices on the girl child|website=Un.org|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=3 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703173157/https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/elim-disc-viol-girlchild/ExpertPapers/EP.4%20%20%20Raswork.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CEDAW/HarmfulPractices/GenderEmpowermentandDevelopment.pdf|title=Breast Ironing... A Harmful Practice That Has Been Silenced For Too Long|website=Ohchr.org|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=26 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226024853/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CEDAW/HarmfulPractices/GenderEmpowermentandDevelopment.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kit.nl/net/KIT_Publicaties_output/ShowFile2.aspx?e=1415|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819085837/http://www.kit.nl/net/KIT_Publicaties_output/ShowFile2.aspx?e=1415|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 August 2014|title=Exchange on HIV/AIDS, Sexuality and Gender|date=2008|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref> =====Female genital mutilation===== [[File:Campaign road sign against female genital mutilation (cropped) 2.jpg|thumb|left|Road sign near [[Kapchorwa]], [[Uganda]], 2004]] [[UNFPA]] and [[UNICEF]] regard the practice of [[female genital mutilation]] as "a manifestation of deeply entrenched gender inequality. It persists for many reasons. In some societies, for example, it is considered a rite of passage. In others, it is seen as a prerequisite for marriage. In some communities β whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim β the practice may even be attributed to religious beliefs."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.unfpa.org/female-genital-mutilation|title=Female genital mutilation|website=United Nations Population Fund|access-date=April 25, 2021|archive-date=May 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527085515/https://www.unfpa.org/female-genital-mutilation|url-status=live}}</ref> An estimated 125 million women and girls living today have undergone FGM in the 29 countries where data exist. Of these, about half live in Egypt and Ethiopia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-unicef-joint-programme-female-genital-mutilationcutting-accelerating-change|title=UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Accelerating Change|newspaper=United Nations Population Fund|access-date=4 April 2017|archive-date=9 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409002244/http://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-unicef-joint-programme-female-genital-mutilationcutting-accelerating-change|url-status=live}}</ref> It is most commonly carried out on girls between infancy and 15 years old.<ref name="NHS Traditional" /> =====Forced marriage and child marriage===== {{Main|Forced marriage|Child marriage}} [[File:Girl Summit - 22nd July in London (14498368279).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|Poster against child and forced marriage]] Early marriage, child marriage or [[forced marriage]] is prevalent in parts of Asia and Africa. The majority of victims seeking advice are female and aged between 18 and 23.<ref name="NHS Traditional" /> Such marriages can have harmful effects on a girl's education and development, and may expose girls to social isolation or abuse.<ref name="ohchr.org" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html|title=Child marriage|date=22 October 2014|website=UNICEF|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=7 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907061839/https://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/topic/womens-rights/child-marriage|title=Child Marriage|website=Human Rights Watch|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712041122/https://www.hrw.org/topic/womens-rights/child-marriage|url-status=live}}</ref> The 2013 UN Resolution on Child, Early and Forced Marriage calls for an end to the practice, and states that "Recognizing that child, early and forced marriage is a harmful practice that violates abuses, or impairs human rights and is linked to and perpetuates other harmful practices and human rights violations, that these violations have a disproportionately negative impact on women and girls [...]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/pmnch/media/events/2014/child_marriage.pdf?ua=1|format=PDF|title=Resolution adopted by the General Assembly : 69/XX. Child, Early and Forced Marriage|website=Who.int|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=20 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020153359/http://www.who.int/pmnch/media/events/2014/child_marriage.pdf?ua=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite a near-universal commitment by governments to end child marriage, "one in three girls in developing countries (excluding China) will probably be married before they are 18."<ref name="unfpa.org2">{{cite news|url=http://www.unfpa.org/end-child-marriage|title=End Child Marriage|newspaper=United Nations Population Fund|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=14 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714002638/http://www.unfpa.org/end-child-marriage|url-status=live}}</ref> [[UNFPA]] states that, "over 67 million women 20β24 year old in 2010 had been married as girls. Half were in Asia, one-fifth in Africa. In the next decade 14.2 million girls under 18 will be married every year; this translates into 39,000 girls married each day. This will rise to an average of 15.1 million girls a year, starting in 2021 until 2030, if present trends continue."<ref name="unfpa.org2" /> =====Bride price===== {{Main|Bride price}} [[Bride price]] (also called bridewealth or bride token) is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the parents of the bride. This custom often leads to women having reduced ability to control their fertility. For instance, in northern Ghana, the payment of bride price signifies a woman's requirement to bear children, and women using birth control face threats, violence and reprisals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/councilarticles/sfp/SFP301Bawah.pdf|title=Women's Fears and Men's Anxieties : The Impact of Family Planning on Gender Relations in Northern Ghana|website=Popcouncil.org|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=20 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420115200/https://www.popcouncil.org/research/womens-fears-and-mens-anxieties-the-impact-of-family-planning-on-gender-rel|url-status=live}}</ref> The custom of bride price has been criticized as contributing to the mistreatment of women in marriage, and preventing them from leaving abusive marriages. [[UN Women]] recommended its abolition, and stated that: "Legislation should ... State that divorce shall not be contingent upon the return of bride price but such provisions shall not be interpreted to limit women's right to divorce; State that a perpetrator of [[domestic violence]], including marital rape, cannot use the fact that he paid bride price as a defence to a domestic violence charge."<ref name="ReferenceB"/> The custom of bride price can also curtail the free movement of women: if a wife wants to leave her husband, he may demand back the bride price that he had paid to the woman's family; and the woman's family often cannot or does not want to pay it back, making it difficult for women to move out of violent husbands' homes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Equality Now (2007) Protecting the girl child: Using the law to end child, early and forced marriage and related human rights violations|url=http://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Protecting_the_Girl_Child.pdf|website=Equalitynow.org|date=7 January 2014 |access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=28 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528120452/http://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Protecting_the_Girl_Child.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Lelieveld, M.|date=2011|title=Child protection in the Somali region of Ethiopia. A report for the BRIDGES project Piloting the delivery of quality education services in the developing regional states of Ethiopia|access-date=17 April 2015|url=http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/FINALChild_Protection_in_the_Somali_Region_30511.pdf|website=Savethechildren.org.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924095119/http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/FINALChild_Protection_in_the_Somali_Region_30511.pdf|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Stange, Mary Zeiss |author2=Carol K. Oyster |author3=Jane E. Sloan|title=Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World, Volume 1|year=2011|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-1-4129-7685-5|page=496}}</ref>
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