2. About Me… I will be graduating in May 2011 From MSUM, majoring in Exercise science with a Minor in Health and Medical. I’m 22 years old And attended UND in Grand Forks For two years before returning to My hometown of Moorhead to Finish my undergrad degree. My Dad And my boyfriend Matt both have Graduated from MSUM with finance Degrees, and I will be the second Person in my family to graduate from A 4 year college.
3. My parents have been together for 24 years and I have an older brother, sister, and a nephew who is 6 years old. I have been dating my boyfriend Matt for a year and a half and it is a blast! I enjoy spending time with friends and family, singing, and exercising. I was on the FM Acro team in high school and I claim to be the best water tuber in the world. I have some ideas of what I would like to do after I graduate but they change from day to day.
4. The Women of Zambia Zambia is a country located in the Center of Africa. It is roughly equivalent in size to Texas, about 290,585 square miles. The population in 2000 was estimated at 9.87 million. The population primarily consists of tribes; 7 main tribes, and 75 minor tribes. Zambian society is characterized by widespread discrimination against women and an absence of women in positions of power.
5. Reproductive and Human Rights Zambia is characterized by exceptionally high levels of fertility coupled with relatively high levels of maternal and infant mortality. According to statistics collected by UNICEF for the year 2000, the crude birth ratewas 39, the infant mortality rate was 112 and the maternal mortality rate was 650. Another study conducted in 2000 found that 60 percent of Zambian girls were either pregnant or already mothers by the age of 18. Abortion is legal in Zambia, but the conditions women must fulfill under the Termination of pregnancy act; include getting permission from three different physicians; are leading to women using unofficial abortion, resulting in a large number of deaths for women.
6. Domestic Violence For women, marriage is often referred to as the “shipikisha club” which means the “enduring club” and emphasizes the fact that women are expected to silently suffer any violence that their husbands or male partners choose to inflict upon them. Many women in Zambia are not only experiencing violence from their partners, but also by the males in their partners families. This is brought on by the practice of the payment of malobolo or bride priceas the family feels that they have purchased the bride and may, as a result, subject her to violence and other forms of ill treatment.
7. The statistics on domestic violence against women in Zambia are very Scarce, but a study conducted in 1998 by the world health organization Found that 40% of women surveyed had been subjected to domestic violence by their partners and a study done in 1999 by the YWCA indicated that most women reported violence as a normal occurrence in their relationships. This violence often takes on the form of rape, beating, stabbing, burning, threats of murder, and murder. According to the UNIFEM, 263 women were murdered in Zambia in 1996 by their partners or male family members.
8. Educational and Employment Opportunities While there are currently equal amounts of males and females represented in primary schools, few women go on to secondary and tertiary education causing women in Zambia to have higher rates of illiteracy than the men. This decreases employment opportunities for women. Women are very under-represented in senior, and public-sector management level positions. Women in Zambia have been particularly affected by increasing levels of unemployment and many have had no choice but to seek precarious work in the informal sector and others
9. Works Cited Bourke-Martignoni, Joanna. “Violence Against Women in Zambia.”EricStotta, 2002, http://www.omct.org/pdf/VAW/ZambiaEng2002.pdf. The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2008. Web. 27 Dec. 2008. “Women in Zambia.” Our-Zambia, n.p, n.d,11 June. 2010.
