In the United States boys and girls are raised with equal rights and are equal in the eyes of the law and society. This is not the case for all countries and cultures though. America would be considered a utopia for a lot of woman around the world who have been subjected to extreme violence and living condition because of the genitalia they were born with.

Gender-based violence happens all over the world. It is especially harsh in Sierra Leone where rape is a common occurrence after their civil war. Rape is not punishable in Sierra Leone and so all of the rapists are just roaming the streets unpunished. There is not much that can be done about this in Sierra Leone because of the lack of repercussions.

Sex trafficking is a very scary and serious issue. Woman are bought and sold on the black market and forced to perform sexual acts all day every day. In Cambodia sex trafficking is very widespread. Girls are bought and sold at a very young age and forced to do unspeakable things for men who are in some cases over 5 times their age. Now there are police who go around to shut down as many brothels as they can to try to put an end to the sex trafficking in Cambodia.

Maternal mortality is a huge problem in Somaliland. Girls are under fed and anemic. There is a lot of female genital mutilation that goes on in Somaliland. FGM leads to infections from unsterile instruments and also leads to birth complications. As a result they are training midwives and are trying to have them at every health facility to reduce the birth complications and to make sure proper sterilization is implemented.

There is a lot of stuff that goes on that we in the US don’t have to worry about and don’t even hear about. Woman are subject to violence and harassment everyday all over the world and we need to raise awareness so that woman in the future aren’t subject to such cruel behavior.