General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Since anyone with a penis is a potential rapist there is only but one (or two) answers: [View all]antigone382
(3,682 posts)Off the top of my head there is India, Thailand, and larger areas of East Asia. I think South Korea may be re-approaching gender balance but I'm not sure.
And I already mentioned the legacy of female infanticide in China. That was a longstanding tradition. Speaking of slavery, off the top of my head I can say that about one in forty female children in Cambodia is sold into sex slavery. Girls as young as three or four are raped, girls as young as eight have their hymens sewed together so that their virginity can be resold. Women are drugged, placed in cages, shocked, and gang raped as punishment if they refuse to comply. I recall a story of one girl who was punished by having her eye gouged out after she asked for a day off following a forced abortion.
Worldwide the number one cause of death for women of childbearing age is childbirth. The factors contributing to this are often that their growth is stunted due to malnourishment (something with disproportionately affects girls because boys will eventually become their families social security and are therefore fed better), early marriage (or rape) and pregnancy, lack of access to medical care, and lack of education. Not all women die; some just suffer complications that make their lives a living hell. Globally about 2 million women suffer from fistula, a preventable condition resulting from prolonged childbirth, in which there is a tear between either the rectum or the bladder and the vagina. It causes continual incontinence and painful infections, and the smell further stigmatizes these women and turns them into social pariahs. Fistula is a consequence of absolute powerlessness; if you don't call it de facto slavery, I don't know what to call it.