When the time came for Muhammad Juhri’s pregnant wife to give birth, the couple was advised that a C-section would be the best procedure for the birth. This was because the blood pressure of Juhri’s wife was extremely high. Unfortunately, Juhri cannot afford to pay the $1,000 fee for a C-section operation so he brought his wife instead to a midwife who can perform a normal delivery. As expected, his wife suffered complications during the delivery and died. Fortunately, the baby was safe.

Aside from being an issue of poverty, the case of Juhri’s wife also shows gender inequality. Apparently, the woman was not free to make her own decisions regarding her own healthcare, resulting in her demise.

According to the National Commission on Violence against Women, maternal deaths are also common because families often do not have access to high-quality health services and women are often not educated about the necessities of a healthy pregnancy. The commission also stated how husbands usually make decisions regarding the care their wives receive, even though they are often unaware of good medical care and how their wives feel about their own condition.

The World Bank reported that about 10,000 women die each year because of birth-related complications.

Sex tourism is a booming industry today in Cairo, Egypt. Despite the fact that human trafficking is illegal, it often becomes the respite of majority of the impoverished families in the country.

Recently, a 14-year-old girl was forced by her own family to wed a man from Saudi who was about 50 years older than her. In return, the Saudi man paid the girl’s father 10,000 Egyptian pounds which are roughly equivalent to almost 2,000 U.S. dollars.

However, the girl called home a few days later to tell her family that she plans to commit suicide if she does not manage to escape the clutches of her older husband. The girl claimed that she was sexually abused and medical tests proved the claims right.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Hundreds of wealthy Arabs visit the country every year to seek for temporary marriage. Underage girls from poor families are often married off to these Arabs in exchange for money. These rich Arabs spend several thousand dollars for a few months of frolicking with young girls.

According to a human rights lawyer, it’s not hard to see that poverty is the main reason behind the sex tourism problem in Cairo. Because parents are in dire need for money, they begin to see their young daughters as commodities that can be used to help them rise out of their poverty.

For most girls around the world, menstrual periods are just an inconvenient part of being a woman that needs to be dealt with using good hygiene and healthy habits. For the young girls of Kathmandu, menstruation can actually stand in the way of their education.

According to UNICEF, many of the girls do not attend school during their monthly periods. Because of these constant absences, only 30% of the girls attending school are able to reach the 10th grade. This is, without a doubt, one of the reasons why the literacy rate for females in the country is much lower than that of males.

The UNICEF stresses that one of the solutions to this problem is for schools to improve their sanitation management. Poor sanitation in schools makes it challenging for adolescent girls to deal with their periods.

This was discovered when the adolescent girls were surveyed as to why they choose to skip school during their menstruation. Most of them said that the lack of privacy discourages them from attending schools. There is also water shortage and lack of sanitary items for these girls. Even though some schools already have separate toilets for females, these toilers are not often well-managed.

Humanitarians are pushing for the improvement of these sanitary facilities like bathroom, especially since their lack has more to do with cultural traditions instead of financial reasons.

As if living in a war-devastated city was not hard enough, young people who reside in Mogadishu now has a new obstacle to face: the few things they can turn to for enjoyment have now been banned. Enforcers are now patrolling around the neighborhood to check for behavior that is not in line with Islam. Apparently, these types of behavior include watching movies, sports games and listening to music. In fact, anyone caught doing any of these activities are punished with lashes.

17-year-old Lugacade complained about how he and his friends cannot do things that people their age are doing around the world, like cheering on their favorite football teams or going to see a movie.

On April 3, an insurgent group called the Hisbul Islam released an edict that stated how playing music is an un-Islamic act. This forced most of the broadcasters in the city to stop playing tunes and jingles and replace them with sounds of animals and gunfire. Lucagade told reporters how the only way to watch games and movies was to go to friends’ houses in uncontrolled cities.

A’day, another youth, once sneaked off to watch a game at a friend’s house only to get caught by the enforcers. Fortunately, he managed to flee. However, he says that he has witnessed his fellow men being punished with lashes and it was not a fate he would wish on anyone.

Indonesia is one of the countries in Asia whose workers continuously leave to be able to work abroad. In fact, a recent survey stated that the number of Indonesian women who are working abroad has reached six million. This is about 90% of the population of Indonesian workers migrating to another country.

Most of the women leave to work in the Middle East, mostly in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Quatar. Other women go all over the Asia Pacific, working in more prosperous countries like Hong Kong and Singapore.

The large number of female workers leaving the country has made it difficult for many families. For instance, men who work as rural farmers also need to look after their children, often playing the role of both the father and mother. One farmer from Java Island says that his wife has been working in Saudi Arabia for seven years now and is able to send money to pay off the tuition fee of the children. However, the family still cannot afford to buy their own house or even own their own land.

Migrant workers actually contribute a lot to Indonesia’s income, amounting to about six billion dollars a year. However, experts are now questioning if this national income is worth it, especially since many female migrants stay in debt for a long time in order to pay the costs of their travel and placement.

Keo Srey Vy had a brother-in-law who wanted to buy a motorbike but did not have enough money to do so. To fund his new vehicle, he decided to sell his own child. However, his Keo did not approve of his decision and even threatened to tell the police. In a rage, the brother-in-law went to the restaurant where his Keo worked and threw acid at her face.

Disfigured by the acid attack, Keo reported the incident to the police station. However, instead of investigating the complaint, the police wanted to be paid to act upon the matter.

Keo is only one of the many women around the world who has been scarred by acid attacks by men in their family. Unfortunately, most of these women are yet to see a law that actually protects and defends them from such attacks.

However, hope may be drawing near now that countries such as India and Bangladesh have restricted the sales of acid and other chemicals. However, Cambodia is yet to join these countries in the new law.

The new acid attack law which is currently being drafted states that any suspect behind an acid attack would receive a life sentence. If the attack resulted in a minor injury only, the perpetrator would receive a minimum of five years in prison.