Stigma And Mental Health Impact Of Divorce On Women: A Nigerian Perspective
Divorce refers to the termination of a marriage or a marital union. Divorce usually involves the cancellation or reorganization of a person’s legal duties and responsibilities which were extended to him/her through marriage or bonds of matrimony. In most countries, divorce is required by law so as to allow the former partner to marry another person…
Widowhood Practices In Nigeria And Abuse Of Women’s Right
Widowhood is a tragedy that befalls a married person as a result of the timely or untimely death of the spouse. In many cultures, widowhood in women is considered as stigma and widows as inauspicious. Various tribes and cultures in Nigeria have diverse ways of practicing rites pertaining to burial, but traditions are particularly hard on…
At 29, Marriage Is Made My Only Identity
“Beta, my heart is aching. I am getting old. I can’t bear all this pain for long. What will happen to you after I am gone?”, says my mother over the phone. “Just marry and I will be okay,” she adds. Before I could even use an excuse to hang up, my father goes on to…
Understanding The Harmful Tradition of Breast Ironing
What is Breast Ironing? Breast Ironing is a harmful cultural practice that continues to perpetuate silently in different parts of the world for centuries. Breast ironing is the pounding or ironing of a pubescent girl’s breasts, using hard or heated objects like stones, spatulas, and pestles, over a period of time (sometimes years) for the breasts…
Why Many Women in India stay Away From The Workforce?
According to the Global Gender Gap report 2020 by the World Economic Forum, India has one of the widest gender gaps in women’s economic participation and opportunities. India ranks 145th out of 153 countries in the economic participation index. Only around 25% of women, compared with 82% of men in India, work. Apparently, Indian women choose…
Why Can’t Women Escape Abusive Relationships?
Violence against women by their partners is prevalent in all countries, across different socio-economic classes. 1 in 3 women globally faces domestic violence. 1 in 5 women worldwide dies because of intimate partner violence. These are reported data – and we know that there is a huge number of women who can not even report domestic violence.…
Patrilocality: Roots of Gender Discrimination in Many Countries
What is Patrilocality? In patrilocal societies, women move to their husband’s house and co-reside with their husband’s family after marriage. Patrilocality is associated with discrimination in personal autonomy, decision making, education, health, and division of labour between a woman and her husband. This post aims to explain the correlation between patrilocality and gender discrimination. With marriage,…
Gender Discrimination in Access and Consumption of Food Across Cultures
Equal access to food and nutrition is one of the core human rights. Yet, in several cultures across the world, women do not have equal access to food. There are strange taboos, norms and gender discrimination in the consumption and access to food in many countries. Poverty as well as discriminatory social and religious customs are…
Menstruation Exile in Nepal: Another Horrific Social Evil Revisited
In January 2019, a woman in Nepal died in the ‘menstruation hut’ with her 2 kids. They died of possible suffocation or carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire they lit to warm the hut in the freezing cold. Women in Nepal are forced to live in animal sheds or secluded huts in inhuman conditions, during menstruation.…
Breaking the Tradition of Enduring Pain
It is strange to see how we face testing time in life due to gender bias. It is there right in front of us, right from our workplace to our personal space. The major influencing factor being hundred per cent tolerance – a quality the women have always been admired for. I have seen the previous…
