Five Surprisingly Good Places to Be a Woman

We're always hearing about how swell it is in Sweden -- but how about Lesotho and Latvia?

BY DAVID KENNER, URI FRIEDMAN | MARCH 7, 2012

When we think about the best places in the world to be a woman, Northern Europe typically springs to mind. And, indeed, countries such as Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are perennial heavyweights in rankings of gender equality. Sweden, for goodness' sake, offers women (fine, men too) 480 days of paid maternity leave -- at 80 percent of salary -- which can be taken at any point until the child is 8 years old. But the picture is more diverse than you might think. As the Independent recently pointed out, Rwanda is the only nation on the planet in which females make up the majority of parliamentarians, while Burundi is the only country where women have higher labor-force participation (92 percent of working-age females) than men (88 percent).

During the 101st International Women's Day on Thursday, March 8, there will no doubt be much talk of the work that must still be done to achieve greater gender equality. Women, Oxfam notes, earn only 10 percent of the world's income but clock two-thirds of the world's working hours. They hold a mere 14 percent of the world's parliamentary seats (see this great visualization of women in politics) and make up more than two-thirds of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty across the globe.

Yet the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s 2011 ranking of 135 countries by the economic, educational, health, and political gaps between men and women also surfaces a handful of nations that are doing surprisingly well when it comes to narrowing gender disparities. Here's a look at five that jumped out to us.

PHILIPPINES

Not only does the Philippines appear eighth overall on WEF's list, but it ranks first in "educational attainment" and "health and survival" and was the only Asian country to close the gender gap in those categories in 2011. Just this week, the country's Senate passed a bill aimed at ending gender discrimination in the workplace. A 2009 "Magna Carta of Women" promises that the state will "provide the necessary mechanisms to enforce and guarantee the realization of women's rights."

Childbearing, however, remains a contentious issue among Filipinos, 80 percent of whom are Catholics. Abortion is illegal, and access to contraception is not widespread. The World Bank estimates that 20 percent of Filipino women who want contraceptives can't get them.

Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images

 SUBJECTS: WOMEN
 

David Kenner and Uri Friedman are associate editors at Foreign Policy.

GOOD REASON

12:59 PM ET

March 8, 2012

You're Kidding, Right?

I think this is an excellent example of how the particular variables we choose to look at distort reality. South Africa? You're joking, right? Surely you are aware of the astounding level of violence and rape against women in South Africa? Shouldn't that figure into an index of "good places to be a woman"?

 

KIMCHI

5:34 PM ET

March 8, 2012

Womp Womp

I'm sorry guys but you missed the target on this one. South Africa?? Great place to be woman if you want to hang around with guys who boast about their rape records. And then get raped. The Philippines? Ok so women live longer and are more educated; how does that translate outside those numbers. A super oppressively religious country with no respect for reproductive rights, this country doesn't seem like it should even be a whisper between two people brainstorming this list. No. Just no.

 

JAN Z. VOLENS

5:59 PM ET

March 8, 2012

Keep your sight on women's rising role in Latin America !

Latin America still has some distance ahead to provide women with the stature they deserve. 500 years of stunting impact of the Catholic Church had retarted women's position in society. But "machismo" has been declining substantially in recent decades, exemplified by the "presidentas": President Michelle Bachelet of Chile (Doctor of Pediatrics, never married mother of three children from two different fathers), currently UN Director for Women's Rights. President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina (Attorney, mother of three childrten), President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil (Economist, grand-mother): Her chief-of-staff: Gleisi Hoffmann (Attorney, nickname: "The tractor"), her liaison with the 12 party coalition in Congress, Ideli Salvati (Attorney), her Minister of the Environment: Margarita Texeira (Environmentalist, her Minister of Development: Miriam Belchior, her CEO for half-state-owned "Petrobras" world third largest oil producer: Graca Foster (Geologist). Several other Latin American nations had "presidentas" und several had and have female ministers of foreign relations. ---- President Dilma Rousseff fought as guerrillera against the military dictatorship 1964-1984, was tortured and imprisoned. President Michelle Bachelt served in the resistance against the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, 1973-1989, was imprisoned. President Cristina Kirchner stood with her late husband President Nestor Kirchner - in the 1980's in the resistance movement against the military dictatorschip in Argentina.

 

EVELINA ROEHLER

3:13 AM ET

April 5, 2012

Wonderful places to enjoy

I think that, It must be true. we think about the best places in the world to be a woman, Northern Europe typically springs to mind. Countries such as Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are perennial. In my opinion, these place is not only good for the woman but also very wonderful for men. I have traveled in Iceland, and Sweden, And I decide that " yes, for me" Wonderful places to enjoy