Guinea-Bissau

The west African nation of Guinea-Bissau is one of the most poorly developed nations in the world. This is partly the result of the country's extensive political instability, ranging from military coups to presidential assassinations, in the years following the granting of the nation's independence from Portugal in 1974. Less than a third of the population is urbanized. Because of its dependence on subsistence farming and fishing, Guinea-Bissau is one of the five poorest countries in the world, with a per capita income of only $600. Agriculture accounts for 62 percent of the workforce, and most of that work is done by women. However, women's economic contributions are not considered valuable. Guinea-Bissau's extreme poverty (66.7 percent) is made worse by the fact that its income distribution is the most extreme in the world.

Almost all Guineans are Africans (99 percent) from the Balanta (30 percent), Fula (20 percent), Manjaca (14 percent), Mandinga (13 percent), and Papel (7 percent) tribes. Half the population is Muslim, and 40 percent have adopted indigenous religions. Portuguese is still the official language. Although women have constitutional and legal rights to equality, in practice they are discriminated against in all elements of Guinean society. Among some tribes, women are banned from owning or inheriting property; otherwise, property is inherited only by heads of household, who are usually men. Major social problems include systemic discrimination of women, violence against women, and female genital mutilation. Chiefly as a result of the efforts of women's rights groups and international pressure, there have been some efforts to equalize Guinean society, and by 2008, 10 women sat in the National Assembly, and the president of the Supreme Court and three of 19 ministers were women.

Guinea-Bissau ranks ninth in the world in infant mortality (99.82 deaths per 1,000 live births). Female infants (89.45 deaths per 1,000 live births) have a definite advantage over male infants (109.89 deaths per 1,000 live births). Life expectancy for both men (46.07 years) and women (49.79) is low, and the median age is only 19.8 years for women and 18.7 years for men. Guinea-Bissau has a fertility rate of 4.65 children per woman. Other social statistics also mirror poverty and lack of government commitment. Guineans have an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 1.8 percent and a very high risk of contracting bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, malaria, yellow fever, and schistosomiasis. More than half (58.1 percent) of Guinean men are literate, and less than a third of women (27.4 percent) have obtained the ability to read and write. Most boys attend school for seven years, but girls only do so for four years.

The Fula regularly perform infibulation, the most dangerous form of female genital mutilation, on young girls, and around half of all Guinean girls undergo female gender mutilation. Many girls are married at the age of 13 or 14 years, and polygamy is practiced in approximately a third of all households.

[Page 656]Domestic violence is extensive, but it is generally perceived of as an acceptable way of handling domestic disputes. Few cases are reported to officials. Rape laws exist, but they are rarely enforced. Prostitution is illegal, but the police do little to interfere with the practice. As of 2010, nothing had been done to deal with the problem of extensive sexual harassment.

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