Women News Network - WNN

by Thingnam Anjulika Samom - Panos correspondent
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Women News Network - WNN

Manipur Children eat kobok, a local sweet. Photo image - Ratan Luwangcha-Drik

When food is scarce in many parts of rural India, girls are fed less than their brothers. But in the north-eastern region it’s a different story.

Tucked away near the Himalayas in the north-eastern corner of India is the state of Manipur. Hitting the national media mostly for its separatist movements, the remote area suffers its share of poverty and hardship.

Struggling to feed the family is a fact of life for many in Manipur and the six other states in the region. Undernourishment in children as a whole is higher than the national average. But there is some evidence to suggest that when mothers enjoy greater equality, their daughters will stand a chance of better health.

Dr. L. Ladu Singh, at the International Institute for Population Science in Mumbai, is one of a team of researchers who studied the weight of 2,469 children aged under three in Manipur and six other north-eastern states. They discovered that, on average, infant girls weighed more than boys the same age.

The research team was intrigued by this finding in a country where girls are often discriminated against. In other areas of India, especially in rural parts of northern states, discrimination against the girl-child starts at birth, and it can lead to denial of food, care and education, as well as practices such as female infanticide.

Dr. Ladu Singh believes a clue to the small weight advantage enjoyed by these north-eastern girls lies in the social status of their mothers.

“Possible reasons for the well-being of the female-child in the north-east could be late age at marriage of the mother, lesser number of children, good traditional feeding practices and greater literacy,” he explained.

Manipur lies close to the border with Myanmar. Here the female literacy rate is higher than the national average - 60.5 per cent according to the 2001 census, compared to the national figure of 53.7 per cent. Its women-run market is said to be the largest of its kind in South Asia. Women’s groups in the state are renowned for their social activism.

In their study published in the Asia-Pacific Population Journal, Dr. Ladu Singh and his co-researchers conclude that the education of mothers is the single most important factor in determining whether children are well-nourished. By contrast, they claim the father’s background seems to have little impact.

At seven months old, Jelly is one of the more recent arrivals in the village of Ningombam Leikai, in rural Manipur. She is already eating the same rice, fish and vegetables that are cooked for the entire family. This is in addition to breast milk and supplementary cereals.

“She’ll eat anything - bananas, biscuits, roasted puffed rice..,” said her 25-year-old mother Olivia, a housewife from the Hindu Meitei tribes who live in the plains of Manipur. She beamed as she fed her daughter dollops of sticky, slightly salty rice. Rice, the staple diet, is the first solid food to be introduced among the Meiteis.

Jelly, it appears, is not being fed more than the boys in her village. Rather, in the absence of gender discrimination, girls and boys in Manipur are being fed the same amount.

“How can the same hand give more to one mouth and less to the other?” asked Ibemcha, of Thanga Ngaram village. Ibemcha has a son and two daughters.

Manipur’s health minister D. K. Korunthang echoed this view: “Why should we feed our daughter less? Boy or girl, they are our children. Why should we discriminate? In fact, among the hill tribes, we are happy when a daughter is born, for she brings wealth. At her marriage we’ll get mithuns (large South-East Asian wild oxen) and so many other things. Having a son means more expenses,” he laughed.

Manipur is not free of gender bias. Some Meiteis admit they would prefer sons.

Forty-two-year-old Angoubi, a government employee in Imphal, waited 20 years hoping for a son to carry the family name. After nine daughters, she gave up.

What’s more, while it is true that women enjoy a relatively high social status in India’s north-east, they also do most of the work in the fields and carry out household chores. Many suffer exhaustion, leaving them depleted of nutrients.

Based on their belief that the status of mothers holds the key to children’s nutrition, Dr. Ladu Singh and his fellow researchers advise that if communities want well-nourished children, they should find ways for women to do less onerous work. They argue it is now “imperative to bring about a change in the occupational practices of the region” to improve the nutrition of mothers and also that of the next generation.
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In many parts of rural India today mothers do feed girl-children less than their sons. This UNICEF report shows nine-month-old twins Devki and Rahul who were brought by their mother to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre in Kolaras — in the Madhya Pradesh district of India.
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Thingnam Anjulika Samom is a freelance humanitarian journalist based in Imphal, India. _______________________________________________________
 
Click HERE to view human rights reports by Panos-London.
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- March 2008 Women News Network - WNN Report / Amnesty International

Violence and extreme poverty in rural South Africa place women at grave risk of becoming infected with HIV, according to a new report by Amnesty International. This undermines the ability of women who are HIV positive to seek and obtain treatment, thus worsening a national epidemic that is one of the worst in the world.

The 124-page report, based on interviews with rural women living with HIV, describes oppressive relationships with male partners, economic marginalization and severe inequalities.

“Rural women in South Africa are disproportionately affected by poverty and unemployment,” said Mary Rayner, Amnesty International’s South Africa researcher and author of the report titled “I Am At the Lowest End Of All.”

“They continue to experience discriminatory attitudes and practices — particularly from male partners and live in an environment rife with high levels of sexual and other gender-based violence.”

The South African government has gradually improved its response to the HIV epidemic through the adoption of the Department of Health’s widely-welcomed five-year plan to combat AIDS, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Still, 5.5 million South Africans are HIV-infected (about 10 percent of the population), one of the highest prevalence rates in the world. Fifty-five percent of those infected are women. South African women under 25 are three to four times more likely to be HIV-infected than men in the same age group.

The report offers specific recommendations to the South African government to address the urgent needs of women with HIV in rural areas. The report calls on the government to urgently intensify efforts to prevent violence against women through stepped up policing and prosecution, and to address the economic inequalities that block HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care. Additionally, the report urges the government to widen access to health services for women in rural areas, and help them with the consequences of HIV, including safety concerns, when disclosing their status to male partners.

Many women interviewed by Amnesty International in South Africa said they were often unable to protect themselves against HIV infection because they felt at risk of violence from male partners when they suggested condom use.

One woman told Amnesty International that her husband, a truck driver, spent much of his time on the road. On his days off, he visited her but refused to use condoms when she asked him to do so. After he abandoned the family she became sick, and discovered at the local clinic that she was HIV positive.

Several other women interviewed by Amnesty International described being beaten and forced to have sex by husbands who refused to use condoms.

“Women’s lives in rural South Africa are scarred by persistent violence in their families, homes and in under-policed, unsafe communities,” said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International - Africa.

“The co-existence of epidemics of both HIV and violence against women has raised the costs of violence for South African women and girls both physically and psychologically,” said Kagari.

While there are many good reasons to increase testing for HIV across South Africa, the situation is complicated in a context of gender inequality and violence, poverty and social stigma. Women are currently tested in greater numbers than men. When they receive limited psycho-social support, disclosing their status can leave them vulnerable to abandonment, threats of violence and other consequences of stigma and discrimination.

The great majority of rural women interviewed by Amnesty International said that their male partners were reluctant to test for HIV or refused to be tested even when there were strong indications the men might be HIV-infected.

Many of the women faced abuse from their partners when they tried to access health services for HIV-related treatment and care.

“When a woman’s partner is in denial about his own HIV status, he may resent her going to the clinic or taking medication,” said Rayner.

“In the context of pervasive gender inequalities, stigma and violence facing women, particular attention must be paid by those providing HIV testing to anticipate and address possible adverse consequences for women once they disclose their HIV positive status and start treatment.”

Effective treatment for HIV and AIDS requires regular visits to hospitals and clinics for treatment and care. Rural women living with HIV in circumstances of poverty and unemployment face constant challenges in having regular access to food and often cannot afford transportation to health clinics for treatment.

Also hampering treatment in rural areas is the fact that South Africa’s health system is currently facing severe shortages of essential medical and staff necessary for providing a comprehensive service.

Amnesty International USA is currently campaigning in the U.S. Congress for passage of the International Violence Against Women Act, which would provide U.S. aid and support for efforts overseas to prevent violence against women, including medical treatment for victims, economic empowerment for women, programs to change social attitudes, and legal reforms.

“Violence against women is so widespread and deeply rooted around the world that to have an impact the U.S. government must take a comprehensive approach with a consistent vision,” said Maureen Greenwood, an advocacy director for AIUSA in Washington DC. “This legislation could make a difference in places like South Africa, where it is clear that violence against women affects the spread of AIDS with dire consequences.”

To read complete March 2008 124-page report go to: Amnesty International

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- Footage of life in South Africa and an interview with Desiree Boyson, a community AIDS activist who voluntarily serves the people of Wentworth in Durban, South Africa. -

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