The global gender gap defies simple solutions. Eighty-five per cent
of countries have improved conditions for women over the past six years,
according to the World Economic Forum, but in economic and political
terms there is still a long way to go.
"From London to Lahore,"
says Oxfam, "inequality between men and women persists." Here The
Independent on Sunday explores the best places to be a woman today.
1. Best place to be a woman: Iceland
Iceland
has the greatest equality between men and women, taking into account
politics, education, employment and health indicators. The UK comes in
at 16th place, down one since 2010. The worst is Yemen, and the most
dangerous is Afghanistan.
2. Best place to be a politician: Rwanda
Rwanda
is the only nation in which females make up the majority of
parliamentarians. Women hold 45 out of 80 seats. The UK comes in at 45th
place, behind Pakistan and United Arab Emirates. The worst countries,
such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, Oman and Belize, have no women in
parliament.
3. Best place to be a mother: Norway
Norway
is the world's best place to be a mother, with low risks of maternal
mortality – one in 7,600 – and skilled help at nearly all births. The UK
is ranked 13th. The worst is Afghanistan, where a woman is at least 200
times more likely to die during childbirth than from bombs or bullets.
4. Best place to read and write: Lesotho
Literacy
rates among women in Lesotho exceed those of men, with 95 per cent of
women able to read and write, compared with 83 per cent of men. The UK
is ranked 21st. The worst country is Ethiopia, where only 18 per cent of
women can read and write, compared with 42 per cent of men.
5. Best place to be head of state: Sri Lanka
Women
have run Sri Lanka for 23 years. The UK comes in at seventh place,
while dozens of countries, including Spain and Sweden, have never had a
female head of government.
6. Best place to be a woman in the arts: Sweden
The
Swedish Arts Council has launched initiatives to improve gender
equality in the arts. The Swedish Film Institute mandates that film
grants be distributed evenly between men and women and there are quotas
for women in film production. In the UK, only 6 per cent of film
directors and 12 per cent of screenwriters are women.
7. Best place to be a top dog: Thailand
Thailand
has the greatest percentage of women in senior management (45 per
cent). The UK did not rank in the top 20 countries, with 23 per cent of
senior management made up of women. The lowest is Japan, where 8 per
cent of senior management positions are held by women.
8. Best place to give birth: Greece
Greece
is the world's safest place to give birth, with a one in 31,800 risk of
dying in childbirth. The UK is in 13th position, but the worst place to
have a baby is thought to be the world's newest country, South Sudan.
There are fewer than 20 midwives in the whole country.
9. Best place for economic participation: Bahamas
The
Bahamas holds the top spot globally for economic participation and
opportunity for women. The UK ranks 33rd. The Bahamas has closed its
gender gap by 91 per cent in the past six years, while the
lowest-ranking country, Yemen, has closed only 32 per cent of its
economic gender gap in the same period.
10. Best place to be a journalist: Caribbean
The
Caribbean is the region with the highest proportion of TV, print and
radio news stories reported by women (45 per cent). The worst region is
Africa, with 30 per cent of stories reported by women. Europe comes in
at 35 per cent. In the UK, about 9 per cent of national newspaper
editors are women.
11. Best place for the right to choose: Sweden
Sweden
permits women to have abortions without restrictions for the first 18
weeks of pregnancy and there are no mandatory consent requirements. El
Salvador, the Philippines and Nicaragua are among the worst because of a
ban on all abortions. British women can have an abortion up to 24
weeks; two doctors have to give consent.
12. Best place for labour force participation: Burundi
Burundi
in sub-Saharan Africa ranks first for labour force participation and is
the only country where the female labour force participation rate (92
per cent) is higher than that of men (88 per cent). The UK is ranked
47th. The worst country is Pakistan, where the labour force is made up
of four times as many men as women.
13. Best place to earn money: Luxembourg
Luxembourg
shares the top spot (with Norway) for estimated earned income. When
income is capped at $40,000, women and men are as likely to earn the
same amount. The UK is ranked 23rd, while the lowest female earners are
in Saudi Arabia, where women earn $7,157 to men's $36,727.
14. Best place to go to university: Qatar
In
Qatar six women are enrolled in tertiary education for every man.
Questions remain as to whether their investment in education has led to
the integration of women into the economy. The UK is ranked 38th. The
worst country is Chad, where three times as many men are enrolled as
women.
15. Best place to live long: Japan
Women
in Japan can expect to live longest (87), beating men by seven years.
Female life expectancy is shortest in Lesotho (48), but only two years
less than men. Life expectancy in the UK has reached its highest
recorded level for men (78) and women (82). It has the smallest gender
gap, four years, of any country in the EU.
16. Best place to be a lady of leisure: Denmark
Women
in Denmark have more time for leisure, spending only 57 more minutes
each day on unpaid work than men, the lowest in the OECD. British women
spend two hours more per day doing unpaid work than men. Mexican women
have it hardest, spending four hours 21 minutes more on unpaid work than
men.
17. Best place to be an athlete: US
Five
of the top 10 highest-paid female sporting athletes in 2011 were from
the US. The worst country, Saudi Arabia, has never sent a female athlete
to the Olympics and bans girls from sports in state schools.
Sponsorship of British women's sport came to 0.5 per cent of the market
between January 2010 and August 2011.
18. Best place to leave your husband: Guam
The
Micronesian island of Guam has the highest divorce rate in the world,
and Guatemala has the lowest. The number of divorces in England and
Wales in 2010 increased by 4.9 per cent since 2009.
19. Best place to drive a car: India
New
Delhi is the best place for women wanting to break into the
male-dominated world of taxi drivers. An NGO in the country's capital
launched an initiative to train women in the first radio-taxi service
run only by women. The worst country is Saudi Arabia, the only country
in the world to ban women from driving.
20. Best place for high-skilled jobs: Jamaica
Jamaica
has the highest ratio of women in high-skilled jobs, such as
legislators, senior officials and managers. Almost 60 per cent of these
roles are filled by women. The UK is ranked 35th in the global survey,
with Yemen coming last. Women there take up only 2 per cent of
high-skilled jobs.
CASE STUDIES...
'We take good care of mothers and children'
Kristbjorg
Magnusdottir, a 42-year-old midwife, lives in Iceland, the best place
in the world to be a woman. The mother of four children, aged from three
to 16, says she feels lucky to be born in a country that encourages
women to be independent and hard-working
"There are lots of
opportunities here: until 20, almost all education is public and free,
there is very good healthcare and we take good care of mothers and
children. But mostly, there is a strong work ethic. There are lots of
single mums who work, and they are all respected in the community."
'I'm an MP – and we are in the majority'
Connie
Bwiza Sekamana, 33, is an MP in Rwanda, the only country in the world
where women make up the majority of parliament. When she entered
politics, only 12 per cent of MPs were women, but she helped to fight
for 30 per cent minimum representation in the post-genocide constitution
"I
felt I was given a special mission: the voice of the women who were the
most victimised by the genocide. This is where laws are made, and the
women here are highly educated. We can raise issues affecting women in
parliament and are listened to as much or even more than the men."
'Women die needlessly in childbirth'
Joy
Kenyi, a 38-year-old mother of four, lives in South Sudan, the world's
newest nation and the worst place for a woman to give birth. Mrs Kenyi
works for Unicef and is a specialist on maternal health. After she
experienced a traumatic first birth, she helped to launch a motorbike
ambulance scheme to rush women to health centres during pregnancy
"We
see so many women die unnecessarily during pregnancy, 16 mothers every
day. Eighty per cent of births happen at home. We have set up 75
motorbikes which help mothers with complications to reach facilities. If
women are not dying from pregnancy in the UK, why should they in South
Sudan?"
'We need more women to get to the top'
Zoë
van Zwanenberg, 59, from Dunbar, East Lothian, is the only female chair
of a national arts company. Leading the board of Scottish Ballet for
seven years, she says she finds it "extraordinary" that there are so few
women at the top of UK arts organisations making the big decisions
"Chairs
are expected to have a background in business, but the number of women
in senior positions in big businesses is relatively small. Assumptions
are made about how tough you are going to be, whether you are prepared
to tackle some of the difficult decisions and whether you're going to be
prepared to fight, but these aren't made on fact."
'We are getting better education now'
Mamokete
Sebatane, 65, is a visually impaired teacher from Lesotho, the only
country in sub-Saharan Africa which has closed its education gender gap,
and where more women can read and write than men. Having worked for
more than 40 years in Lesotho, Mrs Sebatane has had to overcome
discrimination based not only on her gender, but also her disability
"Parents
used to say that they would rather take their boy to school than their
girl, because they had to pay for them. Now, because of free primary
education, both can go. As more girls are educated, more women are
beginning to feel independent and confident. I am very proud of that."
'I want to help link up women around the world'
Noorjahan
Akbar, 21, splits her time between Afghanistan, the most dangerous
place to be a woman, and the United States, where she studies. Mrs Akbar
co-founded Young Women for Change, an organisation that fights for
gender equality. She organised Afghanistan's first march against sexual
harassment last year
"Whenever I go to Afghanistan, I get
mad. Every day, four or five times, I'm harassed on the streets; this is
the reality for most Afghan women. I intend to go back, though; I won't
give up on myself or the other women who deserve a better life. I want
to create an internet café in Kabul for women, where they can link up
with other women around the world."
Equals is a partnership of
more than 30 charities and arts organisations, bought together by Annie
Lennox to celebrate International Women’s Day.
http://www.weareequals.org/
