Widespread Abuse of Women Reported

Women around the world are being subject to widespread abuses ranging from denial of the vote to mutilation and murder, says the State Department’s annual report on global human rights.

The report includes a country-by-country look at conditions affecting women. Several of the 193 country reports were released this week, with the full study to be published later.

Genital mutilation in African countries, rape of female prisoners in Pakistan, exploitation of servants in the Persian Gulf states and wife murders in India and Bangladesh are among the problems cited in the report.

“That female life is not valued as much as male life is apparent in countries such as China, where it is reported that more female fetuses than male are aborted,” an overview of the report said.

Beyond physical abuse, it said, “women throughout the world were subjected to onerous and discriminatory restrictions of such fundamental freedoms as voting, marriage, travel, testifying in court, inheriting and owning property and obtaining custody of children.”