The Most Unfair Countries For Women - Guess who are the top ten?

The Most Unfair Countries For Women: 

By many measures, the United States is the wealthiest economy in the world. However, according to a recent survey, women do not benefit nearly as much as men. The U.S. ranked 23rd in the world for gender equality, behind countries including South Africa, Cuba, and the Philippines.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) report, the 2013 Global Gender Gap Report, measured the disparities between men and women in 136 countries. In the nations that scored the worst, economic and educational opportunities, as well as political representation and health outcomes, were far worse for women than for men. According to the report, Iceland was the best country for gender equality, while Yemen was the worst. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 nations with the worst gender-based inequality.

The world’s worst countries for gender inequality consistently failed to provide the same education opportunities for women that were available for men. 

Five of these nations were among the bottom 10 countries measured for equality of educational attainment.

According to the most recently available data, just 49% of Yemeni women and 40% of Pakistani women were literate, compared to 82% and 69% of men, respectively. 

Last year, the Pakistani Taliban shot teenager Malala Yousafzai for actively promoting girls’ right to an education. She survived and was nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her activism.

Women in islamic countries with extreme gender inequality frequently also lack representation in political office. 

Women accounted for at least 20% of parliament in only three of the 10 worst nations. In Yemen, there are no female members of parliament. Only one of these nations, Pakistan, has had a female head of state in the last 50 years. 

Pakistan’s former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto — the sole woman to lead any of these countries — was assassinated in 2007.

While the rank is based on the inequality between men and women, the nations also tended to among the worst countries for women overall. 

Nine of them had among the world’s worst labor force participation rates. Similarly, in half of the nations more than half of all women were illiterate, according to the latest available data.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 nations that received the worst score in the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Global Gender Gap Report. Each country was graded based on its score in four key areas: economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment.

 Countries scored worse by each measure when the gap between men and women for that measure was the widest. For example, women in Yemen do not have the lowest literacy rate in the world, but the gap between men and women by that measure is the widest, so Yemen received the lowest score for literacy. At the time the WEF produced their study all figures represented the most recently available data

For instance in Syria 

> Income gap: 15% (the worst)
> Labor force participation (m/f): 75%/14%
> Literacy rate (m/f): 90%/78%
> Pct. women in parliament: 12%

Syria has never known a female leader. However, two women — Suhair Atassi and Razan Zaitouneh — have been key leaders in the uprising against President Bashar Assad. According to USA Today, these Syrian women are poised to put Syria in the forefront of female representation in the Arab world. Atassi and Zaitouneh are exceptional in Syria, however, where only 14% of working-age women participated in the labor force, the lowest percentage of all the countries reviewed by the WEF. Three-quarters of working-age men, on the other hand, are engaged in the labor market. The ratio is one of the most imbalanced in the world

In Pakistan  

> Income gap: 21% (4th worst)
> Labor force participation (m/f): 86%/23%
> Literacy rate (m/f): 69%/40%
> Pct. women in parliament: 20%

Syria, received worse scores than Pakistan for inequality in economic opportunities between genders. Just 23% of women participate in the workforce, versus 86% of men, one of the widest disparities in the world. Just 3% of all individuals in managerial and leadership positions are women, worse than any nation except Yemen. The nation also received some of the worst marks for gender gaps in educational attainment. Just 40% of women can read, versus 69% of men, and just 65% of appropriately-aged girls are enrolled in primary school, versus 79% of boys the same age. Pakistan is one of just six nations in which a woman’s healthy life expectancy was shorter than a man’s. However, unlike the U.S., Pakistan has had a female head of state. Benazir Bhutto served as prime minister from 1988 to 1990, and from 1993 until 1996. She was assassinated in late 2007

In Iran

> Income gap: 21% (tied-4th worst)

> Labor force participation (m/f): 75%/17%

> Literacy rate (m/f): 89%/81%
> Pct. women in parliament: 3%

Iran received some of the lowest scores in the world for its gender disparities in economic participation. While 75% of working age men were in the labor force, just 17% of working age women participate, lower than all but three other nations. Estimated earned incomes differ considerably between both genders, as well, with men earning nearly five times what women do. Politically, the nation is male dominated: Just 3% of members of parliament are women, and men outnumber women in ministerial positions ten to one. A recent report from a U.N. representative noted 30 female presidential candidates were all ruled ineligible for the country’s presidential election due to their gender.

In Yemen, number one country for female inequality

> Income gap: 27% (8th worst)
> Labor force participation (m/f): 74%/26%
> Literacy rate (m/f): 82%/49%
> Pct. women in parliament: 0%

Yemen is, according to the WEF, the worst country for gender equality. The country had the worst representation by women in managerial or leadership positions. Just one out of every 50 legislators, senior officials and managers was a woman, the worst ratio of any country measured. Yemen is one of the few countries that does not have a single woman in parliament. Women are often not considered legitimate witnesses in court without a male to back up their story, and they are not allowed to testify at all on many issues. Less than half of the country’s women can read, compared to 82% of men. The country also scores very poorly for education equality. Just 31% of women of the eligible age for secondary education were enrolled, compared to nearly half of all men.

24/7 Wall Street