" In every region of the world, there are laws that discriminate against women. While 125 countries have laws in place to outlaw domestic violence, there are still 600 million women and girls in 66 countries who are denied this basic protection and 50 countries have a lower minimum age of marriage for women than for men, exposing women to the risks of early pregnancy and childbirth, the biggest killer of girls aged 15 to 19 in the developing world."

As everyone can see, this article mainly deals with the appalling conditions for women and girls in developing countries of the world who are denied basic human rights.

How can any caring human being who contributes to this site not agree that this remains a terrible injustice?

I feel just as strongly about this subject as the obviously intelligent young writer does, and I don't understand the under-current of anti-female sneers that oozes through some of the replies.

Suze, the article concentrates on women and girls, but never once mentions boys or men except as bad things that need to be put in their place.

This is why I reject it.

I am happy to discuss the plight of people suffering endemic disadvantage, but to people like this author, 50% of those people are simply not worth helping. they're just males, after all and everyone knows males live lives of privilege and indolence. Yeah, right...

The article reflects all that is wrong with Feminism and the self-serving self-promoters who profess it.

Hear Hear Antiseptic!

African Ubangi women put plates in their lips to ward off evil intentions from both men AND women in a very primitive African milieu.
Some tribes cut off one hand of young boys to deter slavery and abuse.

If all women in Africa did the plate lip they would be safe from exploitation from their own men and women and from opportunist foreigners, and yes Australians among them. But alas guided by western media they seek to live by the Vagina as do their western counterparts.

Africa has its own history and its own ways of dealing with that. The principle problem is overpopulation and much of the carnage and suffering in Africa has always been to do with western pressures to give up seemingly brutal customs that deter lifelong suffering.

The same is true in Australia and western countries but populations V resources has not yet reached the state where carnal influences prevail in orgies of suffering. But it will in due course. The film "Blood Diamond" says much about this!

For western women the answer is not plate lips but three questions remain:

1. If women detest men so much why do they so afraid of being left on the singles "shelf'. And why do they get drunk and dress provocatively to attract brute males to get off the "shelf". Only to tell the male after marriage that it was all a game and now he has to be their servant, without sex, or else she'll call legal aid and get her "HALF" of everything he ever earned.

2. If women are so placard waving concerned about environmental degradation why do they have more than one child (purely for POWER)when they know full well that its crooked because those extra children will pollute the planet more than any preceding generation driven by the same hormones that got them in the struggle they tell us they UNEQUALLY endure.

Continued,

Continuing,

3. Why do women continually say it takes two to make a baby and thus two should PAY & PAY for it when they KNOW damn well that men mostly just want to make love and:

You don't have to have baby to make love and
You don't have to make love to have a baby and
Every women instinctively knows how to abort a foetus if that need arose.

Women seeking EQUAL rights must understand, that pursuit can never have legitimacy unless you dress like normal decent people going out 'Friday nights'. And be honest with yourselves about coping with being left on the shelf. Or find a man you can tell you will only allow sex once a month after two years of marriage. Mind, being honest will bring lasting happiness but in most cases you will end on the "shelf".
But that is not the end of the world and its a necessary part of gender EQUALITY. Women take drugs and alcohol in great abundance to try and forget this very fact!

If you all still think its just MEN at the root of the gender equality problem, you don't have to get a plate lip, but for God's sake dress like an EQUAL and not like a fake Sex-Movie star!!

Women must ask: Do You want EQUALITY or a fast-ride to POWER at the expense of anyone or anything that gets in your David-Jones Boardroom way. I can tell you up front the interminable hand of justice will never allow you both. Gender

EQUALITY truly is a double edged sword and most women I talk to say they will put it in the too-hard basket and GO WITH THE FLOW. Even if that overpopulates the world and kills every other living thing on the planet by necessay pollution and habitat destruction to make room for thir "kids".

Here's an interesting snippet from the Australian today, which confirms what I noted over 3 years ago: participation of young men in higher education is at abysmally low levels, while that of women is at record highs.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/women-doing-ok-but-men-lagging-behind/story-e6frgcjx-1226093313435

"International education consultant Alan Olsen said about 603,000 domestic female students had obtained higher education qualifications between 2000 and 2009, almost 50 per cent more than the 404,000 completions by their male counterparts. His 10-year analysis, which tallied domestic completions against the corresponding population of 25 to 34-year-olds, revealed a 39.1 per cent attainment rate among women.

The rate for men was just 25.8 per cent."

and "The Australian Bureau of Statistics's attainment data, which includes skilled migrants and many international students as well as domestic graduates, also revealed a significant gender gap. Mr Olsen said just 29.9 per cent of 25 to 34-year-old men had higher education qualifications, compared with 38.5 per cent of women."

and ""It is surprising that we have waited so long to name males as an equity group. School success has been skewed in favour of females for some time," Professor Devlin said."

This is appalling and a real condemnation of the efforts of people like Ms McKay. It's even worse than it appears at first blush, because huge numbers of those women are not taking courses designed to lead to productive careers, but are taking soft courses designed to allow them to claim education supplement without having to do very much. The flood of social sector workers and the massive effort to puff up the sector is in part a result of that, while our productive industries are forced to import (male) workers from overseas to fill skilled positions.

How much longer can we afford to spend so much on so little?

What does UN women have to say about this appalling inequality, Ms McKay? A great result for women?

It seems even women in the developing world are not spared the usual rhetoric around gender despite glaring inequalities in those nations.

This article happens to be about women and unfortunately in those countries men wield a lot more power and have more choices than women in heavilty patriarchal societies. Do we just pretend these inequities do not exist. Women are often valued less than animals in some of these regions. While there is no doubt that men can be disadvantaged in these highly corrupt societies, the overwhelming inequities are with women. We are not talking about democratic societies but dictatorial regimes with often harsh punishments for those who step out of line.

The hatred that oozes out on these threads is really disturbing sometimes. KAEP's little fish story was a fiction to behold and completely ignored the 'little fish's' contribution to the household and relationship, probably working two jobs and coming home to do all the cooking and cleaning as well. Unbelievable.