Traditions weigh on China’s women
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In China, one woman kills herself every four minutes.
According to World Health Organisation statistics, China is the only Every year, 1.5 million women attempt to take their own lives, and a The problem is worse in rural areas, where the suicide rate is three Xu Rong, head of the Suicide Prevention Project at the Beijing Cultural “It’s all too easy to get hold of pesticides,” she says. “Some women ‘Business deals’ Suicide attempts may often be impulsive, but they are the result of Marriage is a big issue where traditional attitudes still prevail. Many marriages are arranged and operate like business deals in which
Xu Rong believes this leads to emotional problems for young wives who “They have their father-in-law to deal with, their mother-in-law, Particularly in arranged marriages, where the husband may sense his Xu Rong estimates that 70-80% of suicides are the direct result of No way out Xie Lihua, editor of China’s foremost women’s magazine, agrees that “If a woman goes to live with her husband’s family and they treat her
“This is because there’s a saying among men that goes: ‘marrying a For most women there is no easy way out of an unhappy marriage. Divorce would mean leaving behind the financial security of the family, According to Xu Rong, some women attempt suicide as a way of asking for Other studies agree that many of the women who attempt suicide each The government realises the extent of the problem. For many years, marriage laws have made arranged marriage and Bleak prospects Besides traditional attitudes, modern trends also seem set to place In rural areas where social security is weak, sons are preferred to Combine this with strict birth control policies, and the result is that For every one hundred baby girls born in China, 117 boys are born, By 2020, China could be short of around 40 million women, leaving many “Women will face an even more terrible future in 20 years time. A helping hand
Xu Rong’s organisation attempts to prevent suicides by providing women Although these groups are limited to only a few villages they have been Other successes include a school outside Beijing where young rural There are vocational courses on cooking, hairdressing and computing, as It has an annual intake of around 600 young women. Since opening in 1998, 4,000 trainees have passed through its doors, City living These projects are small, but other forces are also at work which are In the manufacturing hubs of the south-east coastal provinces, up to Although many will return to the countryside to marry, the experience The move to the city is not without risk. Many young women have been But there are advantages. Here, relationships are formed away from the prying eyes of parents and Perhaps most importantly, young women away from home – whether in the They are discovering their own individual worth and their own As one trainee says: “Before I came here my mum told me it was better “But after coming here I didn’t think my aim should be to get myself a ____________________________________________________________________________ |
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