Nigeria, Somalia and DRC Listed as African Countries Where Women Are Most at Risk

Somalia is the worst country in Africa for women to live in, and the fourth worst in the World, a new study has shown.

According to the survey conducted last year by Thomson Reuters Foundations, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Nigeria are ranked second and third worst in Africa, and seventh and ninth respectively in the world map.

India, Afghanistan and Syria are the most hostile in the world in that order, with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are ranked fifth and sixth respectively.

Yemen is ranked eighth while USA closes thee list of top ten.

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In India for instance, cases of crime against women rose by 83 per cent between 2007 and 2016, with four cases of rape reported every hour.

The ranking was done based on healthcare, economic resources, cultural or traditional practices, sexual violence and harassment, non-sexual violence, and human trafficking.

Data compiled by the UN in 2015 shows that South Africa had the fifth-highest murder rate in the world.

Foreign nationals are mostly targeted by their accusers for allegedly taking jobs from locals.

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In Kenya, according to a recent report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), 52 percent of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) said that there was insufficient state protection on the activities of women and other vulnerables in Kenya.

The study established that the most common crime that WHRDs have been unjustly accused of committing in their line of duty was incitement to violence and disobedience to law (37 percent). This offence, according to the research, is occasioned by methods, such as protests and picketing, that the Women and other vulnerable groups employ in order to seek audience with the duty bearers.

The study further established that the police and local chiefs were the common perpetrators of human rights violations at 56 percent. They were responsible for the arbitrary arrest of WHRDs. Community members and politicians were also cited as notable perpetrators at 24 percent and 13 percent respectively. This significantly places duty bearers at the Centre of human rights violation in Kenya.

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In several incidences, politicians and the wealthy have been accused of perprtrating gender-based violence against women, most of whom are perceived to be ‘weak and desperate’.

In Kenya, a recent study found that 32 percent of young women aged 18–24 years and 18 percent of their male counterparts reported experiencing sexual violence before the age of 18.

In another research conducted by the National Gender and Equality Commission, it was found that about 39 percent of women and girls in Kenya aged 15 and above have experienced physical violence, with approximately one in four experiencing such violence each year.

The average cost of medical-related expenses per survivor and family amounted to Ksh16,464, reporting the incident to the chief and community structures cost Ksh3,111, reporting to police cost Ksh3,756, productivity loss from serious injuries amounted to Ksh223,476, productivity loss from minor injuries was Ksh18,623, and productivity loss from premature mortality from gender-based violence amounted to Ksh5,840,664.

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The average medical-related expenses per household were Ksh3,417 after outliers (extremely high costs) were removed.

Kenya was not ranked in the research.

Online information portal Wikipedia states that Over 40 percent of married women in Kenya have reported being victims of either domestic violence or sexual abuse.

Worldwide, over 30 percent of “ever-partnered women” aged 15 and older have experienced physical or sexual partner violence. The distinct factors and causes of this high percentage have often not been studied due to lack of data.

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