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Heather Cheng
Mrs. Barnes
English 112
25 March 2015
The Struggle
Women in the Middle East and Africa have been denied basic rights for years and this is a
serious issue in the fight for equality and must be addressed to better the lives of women around
the world. The women in these countries have to struggle for what they have, struggle for not
only basic rights but their bodies as well. Some of the things that they are forced to do are
absolutely unimaginable to people in places such as America. It is hard to think that women can
be treated so poorly in this day and age, but the harsh reality is that they are treated as lesser of a
human being simply because they are women.
In the Middle East, a place where women are forced to hide their faces under a veil so
that their face is only shown to the eyes of her husband. A place where laws didnt permit
women to study, vote or own property (Taghdiri). These are just some of the problems women
are faced with. The most extreme is the cutting off of female genitals to maintain purity and
sex drive. This is such a large practice that the rate of female genital mutilation among women
ages 15 to 49 is at 91 percent. Among teenagers 15 to 17, it is 74 percent (Eltahawy).
Furthermore, a woman having a sexuality is not accepted by the people and families believe it is
the only way to be married (Eltahawy). This does nothing to improve their wellbeing and takes
away everything that makes them women.
Africa is also a place where women suffer from this misogynistic society. The property
rights of women and cultural practices play a huge part in how the women there are abused.
When a woman becomes a widow, everythings she owns is taken away from her and given to a

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male relative. Then, the family will often pay a stranger about an equivalent of six U.S. dollars to
have sex with her to cleanse her of her dead husbands evil spirits (Walsh). After all this, the
women usually end up on the streets begging for scraps to take care of their children and often
getting raped. This in turn leads to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa where the women
affected dont have any money to get medical attention and are left helpless on the streets.
The people need to see the value of women in these countries because without them, the
continuation of their race and economy would be at stake. In this area, women constitute 80
percent of the agricultural labor force and provide 60 percent of farm income. Yet, depending on
the study, they own only 1 to 10 percent of the land (Walsh). Not only is this very inefficient,
but also contributes to why there are food shortages in Africa. This makes the already poverty
filled state of Africa even worse by adding starvation.
When the women do come out and try to make authorities aware of the domestic violence
and unjust rights, they are often asked for bribes, ignored, or told to go back to abusive
husbands. The courts in some African countries have a reputation for being biased, slow, corrupt,
and staffed with ill-trained judges and magistrates (Walsh). Trying to fight back against unequal
rights is hard without the support of the government or officials.
All this abuse and neglect is caused simply because they are women. Middle Eastern
women do not have any rights and have their genitals cut off because of this. African women
cannot own property and are often raped as a result as well. They cannot do anything about this
either because of their biased court system and views of women. People need to be aware of the
situation in Africa and the Middle East and help get the women educated to better their future in
creating a more equal society.

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Work Cited
Eltahawy, Mona. "Fighting Female Genital Mutilation." New York Times 17 Nov. 2014: A25(L).
Global Issues in Context. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Taghdiri, Celia. "She died for womens rights ... in Iran." Skipping Stones Apr.-June 2014: 15+.
Student Resources in Context. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Walsh, Janet. "Women's Property Rights Violations And HIV/AIDS In Africa." Peace Review
17.2/3 (2005): 189. TOPICsearch. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.