By Katherine Baldwin
LONDON, June 13 (TrustLaw) - Policies that promote gender equality, safeguards against violence and exploitation and access to healthcare make Canada the best place to be a woman among the world’s biggest economies, a global poll of experts showed on Wednesday.
Infanticide, child marriage and slavery make India the worst, the same poll concluded.
Germany, Britain, Australia and France rounded out the top five countries out of the Group of 20 in a perceptions poll of 370 gender specialists conducted by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The United States came in sixth but polarised opinion due to concerns about reproductive rights and affordable healthcare.
At the other end of the scale, Saudi Arabia - where women are well educated but are banned from driving and only won the right to vote in 2011 – polled second-worst after India, followed by Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico.
“India is incredibly poor, Saudi Arabia is very rich. But there is a commonality and that is that unless you have some special access to privilege, you have a very different future, depending on whether you have an extra X chromosome, or a Y chromosome,” said Nicholas Kristof, journalist and co-author of "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide", commenting on the poll results.
The ranking
Child marriage, foeticide and infanticide, sexual trafficking, domestic slave labour, domestic violence and high maternal mortality all make India worst of the G20.
Women can’t drive and were only given the right to vote in 2011. They are well educated but most who have studied to tertiary level are unemployed.
Violence, child marriage, sexual trafficking, harassment and exploitation make Indonesia dangerous for women while health services are poor.
Some of the highest rates of sexual and gender-based violence in the world blight a country where women are well represented in politics.
Male chauvinism and deep social and economic inequalities that restrict women’s access to healthcare and other services put Mexico at 15.
Foeticide and infanticide mean China has one of the highest male-to-female sex ratios at birth, resulting in huge gender imbalances.
Domestic violence and high rates of prostitution and human trafficking make Russia a difficult place to be a woman.
Violence, child marriage and domestic slavery remain huge problems in Turkey while a rise in political conservatism is curtailing freedoms.
Social and economic inequalities have a disproportionate impact on women due to their reproductive role and need for additional healthcare.
Ingrained stereotypes and a patriarchal culture continue to restrict women’s freedoms and curtail advancement in public and private sectors.
Women suffer from a lack of good healthcare and poor access to sexual and reproductive education and services, particularly outside Buenos Aires.
Italy has made big strides but women still face discrimination in the workforce, including lower salaries and poor access to managerial positions.
Women face an ingrained patriarchal culture. Many are taught that their contribution to the workforce ends when they have children.
Women have good access to education but suffer disproportionately from a lack of universal healthcare. Reproductive services are being rolled back.
Women benefit from access to free healthcare and favourable maternity leave policies but continue to be under-represented in the workforce.
Laws and policies protect women’s rights and promote their freedoms but they aren’t always reflected by the situation on the ground.
Women benefit from free healthcare, good access to education and opportunities in business but remain underrepresented in government.
A female head of state is a major boost but Germany fares worse than many European states in terms of women in the boardroom.
Policies promoting women’s rights and well-enforced laws against violence and exploitation make Canada the best place of the G20.
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