Woman Studies
Global Stratification
Measures of well-being reveal consequences of a global system of inequality:
life expectancy
infant mortality
access to health services
Human Poverty Index: Developing Countries
In developing countries, the following indicators are used:
% of people not expected to live to age 40
adult literacy rate
proportion of people lacking access to health services and safe water
% of children under 5 who are moderately or severely underweight
Human Poverty Index
Meant to indicate the degree of deprivation in 4 basic dimensions of human life:
A long and healthy life
Knowledge
Economic well-being
Social inclusion
The Rich and the Poor: A World View
Who Are the World’s Poor
79% of the world lives in poverty. However, women and children are the most likely to live in poverty both domestically and globally.
1 out of 2 children in the world lives in poverty.
70% of those that live on $1 a day or less are women.
Around 25,000 children die every DAY because they lack proper nutrition (UNICEF)
Who Are the World’s Poor?
Women constitute about 49% of the world’s population, perform 2/3 of all working hours, receive 1/10th of the income, and own less than 1% of the world’s wealth.
To read more about the global gender gap in wealth, income and other disparities go to this website: women moving millions
Consequences of Global Stratification: Gender
Around the world, women feel poverty more than men do.
Women in wealthier countries have better health and education than women in poorer countries.
Child Poverty in Wealthier Nations
Consequences of Global Stratification: Population
60% of people live in countries with an average income of less than $760/year.
The richest countries have only 15% of the world’s population.
As countries develop, fertility levels decrease and population growth levels off.
Consequences of Global Stratification: Health
High income countries have:
Lower childhood death rates.
Higher life expectancies.
Fewer children born underweight.
Clean water and adequate sanitation.
Consequences of Global Stratification: Education
In the richest nations, education and literacy are almost universal.
18% of the world’s nations have literacy rates below 50%.
Most of the worlds illiterate children are girls and women and girls are often denied access to education.
Here is an inspirational trailer for the film He Called Me Malala about Malala Yousafazi who won the Noble Peace prize at 17 for speaking out about the lack of education of girls globally.
No Where in the World Are Women Treated Equal To Men!
Honor Killings- Thousands of women and girls are murdered every year by their family to preserve the “honor” of the family typically in cases when the family doesn’t agree with the girl dating someone or she is raped. Follow this link to an NPR piece to listen to on Oscar Winning film on honor killings
If you have more time, I have provided this link to the first 40 minutes of the Oscar Winning film in the npr report.
Feticide and infanticide- the killing of female fetuses or babies due to the preference in highly patriarchal societies for male babies. The cultural and social pressures to produce a boy are often intense. It is estimated that there are 100 million girls currently simply because of these practices. Here is a video feticide in the Punjab region of India, where the ratio of men to women is one of the worst.
Other global issues (covered in the film on the discussion board)
Bride Burnings- women are burnt for insufficient dowry
Childhood Marriages- globally girls are married off very early
Widespread domestic violence and sexual assault
Human Trafficking in the U.S.
Please read this article from the Newsweek cover below entitled “Sex Slaves in America”: http ://www.newsweek.com/2015/02/13/sex-slaves-farm-304354.html
Sex Trade Videos: Just a few optional videos
Sex Slaves in America The rise of sex slaves
Georgia sex trade U.S. sex trafficking ring of women from southeast Asia
Global Stratification
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Measures of well
-
being reveal consequences
of a global system of inequality:
¤
life expectancy
¤
infant mortality
¤
access to health services