Top 20 Best Places to be a Woman (hint: it's NOT the US)

[FayeforCure]

When more than half of the world's population wakes up on Thursday â€" the 101st International Women's Day â€" it will be hard to know whether to celebrate or give in to despair.

A British woman will face the prospect of at least 14 more general elections before women equal men in the Commons. But a woman in Qatar will be six times more likely to go to university than the man next door.

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 â€" one in 7,600 â€" 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.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/revealed-the-best-and-worst-places-to-be-a-woman-7534794.html

[acme54321]

Uhhh... did you notice that the US is on that list? 

Some really meaningful statistics in here also

[ben says]

Very cool list.

[fsquid]

I guess it is a cool list for throwing random facts out at a party or something.  The revelence is non-existent.

[FayeforCure]

Lessons learned and something to strive for here in the US:

7. Best place to be a top dog: Thailand

Thailand has the greatest percentage of women in senior management (45 per cent).

AND

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.

Fo the US to have this dubious distinction:

17. Best place to be an athlete: US

Five of the top 10 highest-paid female sporting athletes in 2011 were from the US.

Doesn't particularly help the 150+ million females in this country.

[acme54321]

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.

Wow, must be just wonderful to be a woman in a country with a literacy rate like that! 

[BridgeTroll]

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.

Wow, must be just wonderful to be a woman in a country with a literacy rate like that! 

Yeah but...

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.

[mtraininjax]

Doesn't particularly help the 150+ million females in this country.

http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/QS-womenwork2010.htm

I find this statistic most appealing of women in the United States, according to 2010 statistics:
Women accounted for 51 percent of all workers in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations.

So much for the pity party!

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

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.

Wow, must be just wonderful to be a woman in a country with a literacy rate like that! 

Yeah but...

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.

So you better learn to read quickly.

[FayeforCure]

Doesn't particularly help the 150+ million females in this country.

http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/QS-womenwork2010.htm

I find this statistic most appealing of women in the United States, according to 2010 statistics:
Women accounted for 51 percent of all workers in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations.

So much for the pity party!

mtrain, that is interesting indeed...........until you read this:

9. The median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers was $669, or 81 percent of men’s $824.

Hmmm, where is that equal pay?

[I-10east]

1. Best place to be a woman: Iceland

Bjork rules that country with an iron fist.

[FayeforCure]

1. Best place to be a woman: Iceland

Bjork rules that country with an iron fist.

You mean this one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rk

I love her green energy and anti-privatization stance:

Bjork Protests Geothermal Energy Company Sale In Iceland




The Huffington Post Joanna Zelman First Posted: 01/23/11 12:23 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:25 PM ET

  Climate Change ,   Green Energy ,   Activism ,   Celebrities ,   Energy ,   Iceland , Johanna Sigurdardottir , Bjork , Bjork Energy , Bjork Geothermal , Bjork Magma Energy , Bjork Petition , Bjork Protest , Celebrity Activism , Celebrity Activists , Magma Energy , Green News
.
Singer Bjork joined fellow Icelanders in protesting the sale of a geothermal energy company this week, according to a recent Reuters report. In what seems to be a disturbing act of "parliamentary oversight," a deal was approved to sell Iceland's HS Orka to Magma Energy Corp, a Canadian-based geothermal firm. Since the deal was made, the public has been fighting it, demanding a vote on the privatization of the country's natural resources.

Geothermal energy is considered an intriguing sustainable resource, produced by drilling into the earth and extracting heat, which is then converted into usable energy.

This week, Bjork presented Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir with a petition signed by 47,000 people. Considering that the entire population of Iceland is less than 320,000, this is a remarkable number of outraged people. According to The Canadian Press, the petition stated that "For 100 years, good people protected our natural resources and public interest. [Then] the sale of natural resources and irresponsible access to them began. Now it is time to stop that unfortunate development."

Sigurdardottir invited Bjork and other activists to discuss the issue in her office. After the meeting, Bjork reported that "basically we are in agreement on the issue, but it's always a question of methods. In plain language, it's a question of how to deal with the system, the bureaucracy."

Meanwhile, Magma reported that the government has not contacted them, and Monday was "business as usual." Although perhaps actions speak louder than words in this case - Monday afternoon, Magma's shares apparently dropped 2.9 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Earlier this month, Bjork staged a karaoke protest against the Canadian firm, where she gathered signatures for the petition.

This is not the first time that Bjork has taken on an activist role. Following the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, Bjork created the charity remix record Army of Me to raise money for UNICEF. In 2005, she participated in the Live 8 concert series, headlining the Japan show. In 2008, Bjork ended a performance in China with a shocking call to free Tibet. That same year, she wrote a letter to the Times discussing the role of natural resources in the Icelandic economy, encouraging a shift away from aluminum smelters and towards a more sustainable future. She created the Bjork fund to invest in creative businesses with the goal of boosting Iceland's economy. And now, Bjork is throwing herself into the fight against Magma Energy Corp.




It seems that Bjork's hard work may be paying off, as Prime Minister Sigurdardottir joined in with singing protestors and accepted the petition "with great pleasure."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/23/bjork-protests-geothermal_n_810674.html

Note that Iceland also has a female Prime Minister.

Why are we so behind in the US?

[Kaiser Soze]

Best place to be a women is between Kaiser Soze's sheets.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Best place to be a women is between Kaiser Soze's sheets.

Her first.....

[amuard]

It is amazing how in some countries, women have taken a higher stature or at least compared to how they have been doing for the past years, decades even.

There have been more places that have taken them as leaders, which can actually be said as a new face in terms of governance. 

That new thing though would not always translate to anything great unless they are as dedicated to pull their job off.