I have been very fortunate to not experience any of
stressors mentioned. However I have a cousin in Costa Rica who grew up with an alcoholic
father. He was not abusive physically but emotionally he did a lot of damage.
He came home every night very drunk. Then after arriving home falling all over
the place he was sick. While the mom carried him to the bed and changed him my
cousin and her younger brothers were left to clean the house as he purged all
the way to the room. Imagine a 6 year old cleaning up after her sick father.
Not sick my illness but sick by choice. Till this day he is still the same and
they all left the house at the age of 17. They found jobs and got married and
none of them drink. I could not imagine living my whole life in a household
where every night it was routine to see this happening.
I chose to read about domestic violence because I really do
not know which country has the worst rate. I did imagine it to be Afghanistan
but wasn't sure at all. When I read this small article I could not believe the
amount of abuse a woman goes through in that country.
Afghanistan: The
average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less than an Afghan male.
After three decades of war and religion-based repression, an overwhelming
number of women are illiterate. More than half of all brides are under 16, and
one woman dies in childbirth every half hour. Domestic violence is so common
that 87 per cent of women admit to experiencing it. But more than one million
widows are on the streets, often forced into prostitution. Afghanistan is the
only country in which the female suicide rate is higher than that of males.
Source:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2008/03/08/ten_worst_countries_for_women.html
