THE STATUS OF A WOMAN

Status is very important that a person should have in any family and any community. Status affects how a woman is treated, how she values herself, the kinds of activities she is allowed to do, and the kinds of decisions she is allowed to make. 

In most communities where I live, women have lower status than men. Women’s lower status leads to discrimination—that is, being treated poorly or denied something simply because they are women. When women are denied power in these ways, they must depend on men to survive. As a result, they cannot easily demand things that contribute to good health, like family planning, safer sex, enough food, health care, and freedom from violence.  

Often a where I live in the villages woman cannot decide how the family’s money is spent or when to get health care. She cannot travel or participate in community decisions without her husband’s permission. Having too many children, or having children too close together. 

Under all these conditions, women live less healthy lives and get less health care. They also often accept their low status, because they have been raised to value themselves less than men. They may accept poor health and seek help only when health problems are severe or life-threatening. 

  As RASYN we are trying to see what can be done to see that women; are taken as important as men in our communities.