The world in which we live

In the course of history women have come to be subject to men. In Christian Europe some men even raised the question whether women are human beings or not. Women took second place in the family, in church, in leisure, work, study and politics.

The old reality of male domination is still a major fact ruling people’s lives. This applies both to civil and religious realms.

United Nations’ Reports document the extent to which women still suffer the consequences of their inferior social and religious position.

Through ignorance, African parents in many countries still insist that their young daughters are circumcised. This involves a painful and unhygienic operation in which the clitoris is mutilated. Only education can totally eradicate this custom.

Parents in India often prefer boys to girls. A daughter is a burden because parents have to pay a ‘dowry’ to her future husband. Baby girls are frequently aborted in the womb or killed at birth. Half a million girls are killed in this way every year.