No Country for Women

 Weekly column written for the Singapore Unbound newsletter. Sign up here.

The situation of women in this country in the news is horrific. Women are subjected regularly to physical terror, not just on the streets but also in their own homes. 1 in 3 women have experienced some form of physical violence by their intimate partner, and 1 in 7 of women have been injured by that abuse. 1 in 2 female murder victims are killed by their intimate partners, often with a gun. The threat of sexual assault is real and constant. In the course of their lives, 1 in 5 women have been raped. From 2016 through 2018, the number of rape/sexual assault victims increased 146%.

Women are prevented from full and equal participation in the economy. Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8,000,000 days of paid work each year, the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs. Between 21-60% of victims of intimate partner violence lose their jobs due to reasons stemming from the abuse. When women are allowed to work, they make just 78 cents for every dollar earned by men; some of them make only 54 cents.

Educational opportunities are also not distributed equally. There are over 1,000 public schools in the country that separate male and female students based on discredited science and gender stereotypes. An example of such discredited science is that boys are better at math than girls are because boys’ bodies receive daily surges of testosterone, whereas girls receive surges of estrogen only for a few days a month, when they can cope with mathematical thinking.

You have probably guessed by now that the country in question is not Afghanistan. It is the United States. I don't mean to suggest that the situations for women in both countries are similar, but I do think that the relentless focus of American media on the Taliban's misogyny stinks of hypocrisy, if not Islamophobia. The US is in no position to lecture anyone about women's rights. It has its own longstanding patriarchy, misogyny, and discrimination to deal with.

Jee Leong Koh
August 19, 2021

*All statistics taken from the websites of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and American Civil Liberties Union Women's Rights Project.

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