Every year, the World Economic Forum determines the global gender gap country by country, by analyzing different factors, such as women’s versus men’s education, political representation, and health.
This year, Iceland ranked number one in The Global Gender Gap Report and is followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden. This means women in these countries enjoy the most equal access to education and healthcare and they’re most likely to be able to participate fully in the country’s political and economic life.
“Overall, the gender gap narrowed slightly across the globe in 2013, as 86 of 133 countries showed improvements. However, “change is definitely slow”, says one of the report’s authors, Saadia Zahidi.”
The U.S. comes in at number 23. We’re pretty good on issues like education and health (e.g. very few women die at childbirth), but we’re very bad on political participation.
I often note that no country has achieved gender equality and this is always the report I have in mind when I say that. Year after year, this fact remains true. I see street harassment as a symptom of this inequality and a contributor to it — women are less likely to be in the workforce, receive an education, and be in politics if they face harassment simply trying to go to those venues.
Ending street harassment is one of many inter-related pieces we need to work to address before we can see true equality.
