Plight of women in South Asia still Deplorable;

Every 3 minutes an act of violence is unleashed against fair-sex

Every three minutes an act of violence is perpetrated against a female in South Asia, says U.N. Women in a report released Wednesday.

Crimes such as domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, incest, acid attacks and dowry deaths are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’.

But violence is not their only problem. Women also face discrimination and continue to have little say over their lives.

More women die in childbirth in South Asia -- 500 for every 100,000 live births -- than any other place in the world except sub-Saharan Africa. And more than half the women in the region cannot read or write.

These and other statistics indicate less visible discriminations such as a lack of access to resources including finances, land, inheritance rights, education, employment, justice, healthcare and nutrition.

"I believe that the most widespread and silent killer of women and girls is a combination of poverty and the low status awarded to women," says Maria Joao Ralha, team leader for South Asia at the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Arm (ECHO).

"Consequently women and girls are always the last to eat at home. They will most of the time not have enough to eat. They are more likely to become ill and often there's no money to take them to the doctor and they are more likely to die early."

These facts and figures are an eye opener for all of us and are really a great food for thought if the slightest traces of conscience are left within us as social beings.