COMMENTARY: India Needs to Treat Its Women with Respect

A global poll of experts this week released the findings of a study that indicate India is the worst nation in the world in which a woman can live.

The poll found that traditional customs in India -- such as infanticide, child marriage, and slavery -- make India an exceptionally unpleasant country for its women.

In India, it is common practice for women and girls to be sold as chattels, girls to be married off as young as 10, and young girls exploited and abused as domestic slave labor.

Frankly, we were surprised to learn that India -- a nation whose primary religion is Hinduism -- treated women with less respect than any predominantly Islamic country.

This is probably because we have read of many situations in Islamic countries where women are not given equal rights as men. For example, in Islamic nations, a married woman cannot leave her home unless she has her husband's permission to do so.

We believe that India needs to pass some laws that will provide more respect for its women and girls. Certainly, forcing girls as young as 10 years old into marriage is one custom in India that needs to be put to rest.

Indeed, the government of India needs to seriously scrutinize the mistreatment of India's women, and to pass some devout laws to end their bondage -- once and for all.