Human civilization has been in existence for around 5,500 to 6,000 years. Women have had rights for less than 1% of this time. In many, many countries around the world, which are home to the majority of the world's population, women still don't have equal rights. It is amazing to think that even in the 21st century, when humankind has made advancements that would seem like a pipedream just a few decades ago, women still have to fight for extremely basic rights.
Take Iran for example. Iran has a mandatory hijab law for women, which means they are not allowed to display their hair in any way. This is enforced by the Guidance Patrol, which seems like a very tame, helpful name, so it would be better to refer to it perhaps as the "morality police" which is what its better known by. The morality police don't provide helpful suggestions if it believes that women aren't wearing the hijab in the proper manner; they often beat women for violating Islamic law while violating Islamic laws themselves in an attempt to administer them and failing to see the irony. On 16th September 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, according to eyewitnesses, was beaten severely and ended up dying, triggering protests across the country which have resulted in hundreds of deaths by the nation's police, which are still continuing. These protests seemed to have achieved something which would have been thought of as impossible just a few months ago: the abolishment of the morality police and reassessment of the hijab law, if recent reports are to be believed.
Considering the above, you would not find Iran anywhere near the list of best countries in the world to live in if you're a woman. This is also why Iran will struggle to compete against many other nations in the world as discriminating against half your population is a recipe for disaster. The situation in Africa, while improving, is still not that great either. Most of the women in the continent work in low-paying, insecure jobs and there is little opportunity for any advancement. On the other hand, women empowerment is something many nations in the continent are aiming for and more women than ever before have started contesting for seats. Violence against women, including female genital mutilation, is common in many nations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with more than 200 million women and girls alive today having faced this violation of human rights.
23 best countries in the world to live in if you're a woman
On the other hand, Europe is a great example of how equal rights to all genders is beneficial for the overall benefit of the country. Of course, these rights are still evolving and there is still work to be done to achieve true equality, but the advancements made so far are laudable. Equality between men and women has been considered to be one of the founding principles of the European Union, though there is still an over-representation of women in sectors which have typically lower salaries and have lower representation in jobs which have decision making powers too. In the European Union, women on average earn 16% less than men while the differences are much more significant in many countries. Gender equalities also persist despite the fact that women are actually more likely to possess a higher education degree and yet are still found in typical roles associated with women traditionally such as care-related fields while not having a significant presence in science and engineering.
Nowadays, it is not just important but integral for companies to ensure that equality between genders is maintained if they want to succeed in the coming years and decades. There is growing pressure by investors on public companies to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in an era where just strong financial performance is not enough to indicate the success of a company. Part of this pertains to gender equality in the workplace, including more women in corporate boards and C-suite positions. This is why GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) has been well-received in this regard, with its CEO Emma Walmsley being the first female CEO of a major pharmaceutical company. GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) also announced that after its current CFO retires, the successor will be Julie Brown, who is currently the COO and CFO of Burberry Group.
Many companies have now realized the importance of female rights in an ever-increasing progressive world, which is why better maternity benefits are now being offered. Many major multinationals offer several weeks of paid leaves, which can be increased for a specific percentage of the total salary. Careers of women are not threatened because of such leaves and many women leadership initiatives are being undertaken to promote women in leadership positions. As opposed to companies which do not take such initiatives such as equal gender pay and equal opportunity in the workplace, these companies have an advantage and much better odds of achieving significant success.
According to Forbes, some of the best companies for women in the world include Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX). Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) is a footwear company which has experienced a resurgence in recent years and is among the best-selling footwear companies in the world. Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) also supports the United Nations Foundation's initiative of equality everywhere, including in the workplace. Other companies include AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) known for being one of the first companies to manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine.
The best countries in the world for women to live in have endorsed and enforced regulations to ensure that equality is a reality in these countries. Understandably, most of the countries in our list are developed economies. To determine our list we obtained data from the Women Peace and Security Index where we considered each country's rank based on number of years of education for women, percentage of employment for women, parliamentary representation for women, absence of legal discrimination and perception of community safety, calculating the average of all criteria. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the countries where women are a huge factor in their economic growth, starting with number 23:
23. Slovenia
Slovenia ranked high in average number of years of education for women, absence of legal discrimination and perception of community safety.
22. United States of America
With the overturn of Roe v Wade, women's rights in the U.S. have taken a big hit as the Republican led government and conservative Supreme Court dismantles gains that have been made in decades.
21. Australia
Australian women are over-represented as part-time workers in low-paid industries while not being properly represented in leadership roles. More than half of women over the age of 18 have experiences sexual harassment which shows the nation has more to do in terms of rights for women.
20. France
According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, France has been making significant progress over the past several years in this regard. However, France has shot itself in the foot with its ban on hijabs, which is an infringement on women's rights and needs to improve in this respect while maintaining its secularism.
19. Portugal
Portugal's constitution in 1976 afforded women equality with men. While women in Portugal were first allowed to vote in 1931, the rights were not the same as those afforded to men.
18. Singapore
Women enjoy the same rights as men in Singapore and only earn 4.3% less than men.
17. United Arab Emirates
The UAE has the second highest female representation in its parliament in the world and with a community safety perception of 98.5%, tops the list in that metric as well, earning an overall 17th position due to performing dismally in other criteria.
16. Ireland
In 2012, the abortion law in Ireland received global scrutiny after Savita Halappanavar died because of being denied abortion following a septic miscarriage. In 2018, abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy was made legal in Ireland, and even later in case the woman's life or health is at risk.
15. Latvia
Scoring 100% in absence of legal discrimination, and third in women's education, Latvia has improved significantly to earn its spot in the best countries to live in if you're a woman.
14. Estonia
Estonian women have on average much higher education than the global average, not to mention that the perception that there is an absence of legal discrimination is high in the country means that it scores well in our list.
13. New Zealand
With a gender pay gap of just 9.5%, New Zealand has done a lot in improving the quality of living afforded to women. Its Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden, became just the second woman in power to give birth while assuming the highest office of a country, after Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.
12. Canada
Canada is home to federal laws promoting gender equality and prohibiting discrimination based on gender which is why it has duly earned its spot among the best countries to live in if you're a woman. Canadian women were allowed to vote in 1960 for the first time.
11. Netherlands
The Dutch government has undertaken many initiatives to support women's rights while recognizing that women are severely underrepresented in Dutch politics and are also more likely to be a victim of violence.
10. Germany
While German law declares men and women as equal, the reality is that the country needs to improve the enforcement of this law, where the pay gap between men and women stood at 18% in 2020, as opposed to the EU average of 13%. Further, only 33% of women occupy supervisory boards in the major companies in Germany.
9. Switzerland
As compared to Nordic countries, Switzerland was quite slow in giving women the right to vote, which only happened in 1971. The right to vote in cantons began in 1959 and ended in 1991 when the last canton afforded women the right to vote. According to a 2016 OECD study, only Netherlands had more women working part-time among OECD nations than Switzerland which shows there is still a lot more that needs to be done for equality in the country.
8. Austria
Instead of just providing equal rights, Austria has worked to provide equal treatment to both genders, thus allowing women to benefit as the government has tried to compensate for gender inequality in the country.
7. United Kingdom
The Equal Franchise Act of 1928 gave women the right to vote and one of the major laws passed by the UK in respect to women's rights is the abolishment of tax on tampons which means there is a zero rate of VAT applied on women's sanitary products.
6. Luxembourg
Luxembourg is one of the richest nations in the world and the government has ensured that gender mainstreaming is strongly embedded in its policy.