Poverty in Ethiopia
Poverty in Ethiopia
What exactly is a social problem, one may ask. Simply stated, a social problem is a condition arising from operation of society which is viewed as unacceptable by an influential segment of the population and becomes the target of attempted corrective social action. One particular social problem is poverty. Ethiopia is one country that suffers tremendously from poverty. In early 1992, the economy of Ethiopia was in a catastrophic condition and economic performance was low. Also, widespread poverty was increasing. The per capita income is suggestive of this condition, and, furthermore, forty-six percent of the people were classified as poor. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world and only a quarter of the population has access to clean drinking water. Poverty and lack of opportunities lead to increasing violence and criminality, as well as growing drug consumption. In Ethiopia today, more and more people live on the streets and many poor families are forced to share accommodations with others. This is one way that traditional family structures are destroyed. This is a terrible problem because family structure is one thing that kept many Ethiopians hoping and waiting for a better, more financially stable, way of life. Another result of poverty is an increase in the sexual abuse of children and increases in cases of prostitution. These increases, however, are not only related to the developments in the tourism sector, but the reason is more the severe poverty of a large portion of the country. The terrible situation with Ethiopia’s poverty has forced more and more children onto the streets. This puts these children at risk of kidnap and money-making sexual exploitation. In addition to commercial sexual exploitation, sexual abuse of children in their own families has also increased due to poverty. The desperate economic situation especially targets women who habitually have a higher work load than the men.
What exactly is a social problem, one may ask. Simply stated, a social problem is a condition arising from operation of society which is viewed as unacceptable by an influential segment of the population and becomes the target of attempted corrective social action. One particular social problem is poverty. Ethiopia is one country that suffers tremendously from poverty. In early 1992, the economy of Ethiopia was in a catastrophic condition and economic performance was low. Also, widespread poverty was increasing. The per capita income is suggestive of this condition, and, furthermore, forty-six percent of the people were classified as poor. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world and only a quarter of the population has access to clean drinking water. Poverty and lack of opportunities lead to increasing violence and criminality, as well as growing drug consumption. In Ethiopia today, more and more people live on the streets and many poor families are forced to share accommodations with others. This is one way that traditional family structures are destroyed. This is a terrible problem because family structure is one thing that kept many Ethiopians hoping and waiting for a better, more financially stable, way of life. Another result of poverty is an increase in the sexual abuse of children and increases in cases of prostitution. These increases, however, are not only related to the developments in the tourism sector, but the reason is more the severe poverty of a large portion of the country. The terrible situation with Ethiopia’s poverty has forced more and more children onto the streets. This puts these children at risk of kidnap and money-making sexual exploitation. In addition to commercial sexual exploitation, sexual abuse of children in their own families has also increased due to poverty. The desperate economic situation especially targets women who habitually have a higher work load than the men.