Incredible: In Algeria, women are being rejected by their men for breast cancer
Hayat is not yet 30 years old when she receives the diagnosis of breast cancer. One will have to remove her breast in an emergency op, it is said in the hospital - a heavy blow to the Algerian student. But that's not all.
As a result of the illness, Hayat not only loses her breast, but also the man she considered her soulmate to be her partner for life. Because when Hayat tells her fiancé about the diagnosis when she needs him most? to give comfort, to give courage, to give love? he leaves her, saying, "I want a whole woman, not just three quarters of a woman."
"Better to die with two breasts than amputation"
Like Hayat, hundreds of women are killed in Algeria, reports "dailymail", citing a report by the French press agency (AFP). "Some sink into depression, others end up in shelters, and many people do not know where to go after being rejected by their husbands," quotes Samia Gasmi, director of the Cancer Foundation "Nur Doha" ("Light of the Day").
Often, women tried to keep the diagnosis secret from their environment. They started wearing headscarves or wigs to hide their hair loss. One woman, reports Gasmi, did not even want to tell her own sister about the disease, another decided to "die with two breasts rather than agree to an amputation."
Society puts pressure on women
But how can it be that a disease for which no one can do, in Algeria is connected with such a rejection or even "self-seized" escape to the social offside? Islam is not, Camel told Chekkat "dailymail" because Islam "requires spouses to support each other," said the theologian of the Algerian Clerics Association.
The sociologist Yamina Rahou sees the reason in the narrow and reducing role the woman plays in Algerian society. The breasts are seen as a symbol of femininity. When taken from a woman, society no longer perceives her as a "full-fledged" woman.
So does Linda, 50, report having been left as a "half-wife" by her husband after the breast cancer diagnosis? and that after 18 years of marriage! "Cancer?" She says, "that's nothing compared to being let down after 18 years of marriage."
Under the suggestion of society, self-esteem and perception of women also suffer as a consequence. Partly just so strong that they consider a life without the "symbol of their femininity" not worth living.
Root of evil: people are reduced to sexual characteristics
In Algeria, every year 10,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. About 3,500 people die every year. Both numbers, however, only refer to the documented cases. Undiagnosed breast cancers and deaths come on top.
By comparison, in Germany, according to the German Cancer Society, around 69,000 "breast cancer" diagnoses are made each year, with just under 18,000 women dying from it. Germany has about twice as many inhabitants as Algeria.
The example of Algeria shows the fatal consequences that people's identification of gender roles can have. When things go so far that a fulfilled life is no longer possible, when certain sexual characteristics are missing, not only the women in Algeria but the whole society have a profound problem.
