Lausanne World Pulse – LAUSANNE REPORTS – Europe Today

By Ksenija Sabo
September 2009

Nearly twenty years have passed since the wall fell between East and West Europe. But what did the new “freedom” bring?

Delegates from twenty-two countries took part in Hope for Europe’s Women in Leadership conference.

In Modra, Slovakia, delegates of twenty-two countries took part in Hope for Europe’s Women in Leadership conference. Both older and younger generations were represented. After all the reports were shared on the conference, the big picture was put together from all of the puzzle pieces.

Overview
Even in the present financial collapse, countries of the West are still better off economically than in the East, where there is still much hardship. The “middle class” is all but gone; there are only the rich and the poor working class. However, the East and West have similar problems.

For example, the highest number of teen pregnancies are found in England, and terminating pregnancies are legal until the very moment of birth. In Germany, there is a high rate of underage mothers, and in Byelorussia, ninety-eight percent of all abortions are performed on girls aged fifteen to nineteen. Abortion is legal throughout Europe. Populations are dwindling. Many from the East travel to the West to find work. Twenty-five percent of the total population in Moldova live and work abroad. In Romania it is the same, with more and more people moving out of the country in search of a better life.

Some countries, like Greece, are a goal for refugees from Turkey and Albania. Holland is the most liberal country of all. Here, euthanasia is legal, as is the use of narcotics and legality of same-sex marriages. Marriage between same-sex partners is being made lawful in other countries as well.

Family Situations
The rate of domestic violence is highest in Moldova: seventy percent of households have some form of violence. Second is the Czech Republic with sixty percent. In Byelorussia, twenty-four percent of children are born in either single-parent homes or to couples who are not married.

In both the East and the West there is a rising tendency for couples to not get married. In Eastern countries, Romania and Bulgaria in particular, women are considered “less important.” In Greece, sixty percent of women are unemployed, while with men it’s only six percent. Every second or third marriage will end in divorce.

Ksenija Sabo is a respected Bible teacher in Serbia. She holds seminars locally and internationally on how to study the Bible inductively. Sabo is also on the steering community for Hope for Europe Women in Leadership.