In this article, we take a look at the least feminist countries in the world. You may skip our detailed analysis of women-led businesses & gender inequality and proceed directly to The Least Feminist Country in the World.
A Historic Milestone
On June 2nd, Mexico is set to witness what The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) describes as a landmark election. It is expected to be the largest election in the nation’s history, with an anticipated turnout of approximately 99 million voters, per The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT). However, what makes the election truly unprecedented is that Mexico is on the brink of electing its first-ever female president. According to The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), both front runners in the election campaign are women, namely Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez. The imminent election of a female president in Mexico isn’t an isolated event. Rather, it is part of a much larger global effort to not only challenge gender-based social and cultural inequities but also ensure that women can play a critical role in driving political and economic success.
Women-led Businesses
Politics isn’t the only area where women have managed to secure high-level positions. Just a few years ago, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) appointed Jane Fraser as its CEO, marking it as the first time ever that a major Wall Street bank was led by a woman. Currently, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is one of the notable names, alongside General Motor Company (NYSE: GM), and Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL), that have women in chief executive roles. However, appointing female CEOs isn’t a symbolic gesture to gain social capital. In fact, a recent study by Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) showcases how impactful female business owners have been in growing their businesses since the pandemic. According to Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), from 2019 to 2023, women-owned businesses’ growth rate outpaced the rate of men’s 94.3% for number of firms, 252.8% for employment, and 82.0% for revenue. The Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) Impact of Women-Owned Business Report 2024 also revealed that during the pandemic, women-owned businesses added 1.4 million jobs and $579.6 billion in revenue to the US economy. However, like almost every other facet of life, despite their significant contributions to the global economy, women continue to be subjected to inequitable working conditions.
Gender Inequality
According to the Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), 51% of peri and post-menopausal women report menopause negatively impacted their work life. Yet, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) reports that only 14% of these women believe their employers recognize the need for menopause-specific benefits. Moreover, other than a select few nations in the world, most nations, including the US, have no state or federal-level policies to mandate menstrual leaves. Apart from a lack of mindfulness of women-centric challenges, many other biases result in women being financially exploited. A government survey on gender pay gaps in Australia showed that the average gender pay gap of surveyed companies was 19%. This gap was even more significant in firms such as Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), where the gap was 48% and 42% respectively. Similarly, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) had a gap of 29%, although the company maintained that this gap was due to a higher proportion of men in senior roles.
Although several nations have managed to overcome gender inequality to a significant extent, women in most countries continue to suffer at the hands of social and cultural stigmas. This is particularly evident in the developing world, where many countries have poor gender equality and gender pay gaps are often substantially higher than the global average. A study on gender equality in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023 revealed that women earn 40 to 46 percent less than men in urban areas. United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023 revealed that women held only 28% of management positions globally in 2021. Despite it already being poor, the situation in Northern Africa, Western Asia, and Central & South Asia is even worse, with a figure of just 15%. This is despite the fact that gender equality is considered to be one of the most important factors in alleviating poverty. In fact, Moody’s Analytics, a subsidiary of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) claims that the global economy is losing out on at least $7 trillion of economic gains each year due to a failure to reach gender parity in the workforce.
With these factors considered, if you’re wondering which country has the worst gender pay gap or where is gender inequality most common in the world, join us as we look at the least feminist countries in the world.
To develop our list of least feminist countries in the world, we utilized 4 different datasets. These included UNDP’s GENDER INEQUALITY INDEX (GII), World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), UN Women’s Women Empowerment Index, and Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security’s (GIWPS) Women Peace and Security Index. Using data from all 4 sources, we calculated an aggregate score for each country. The list was sorted in descending order, with the top 20 items being selected as the least feminist countries in the world.
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Here are the 20 Least Feminist Countries in the World.
20. Cote d’Ivoire
Insider Monkey Score: 2.04
Historically, women in Cote d’Ivoire have had access to limited rights in terms of social standing and work opportunities. According to research at McGill University, one of the defining moments for gender inequality in the country was the 1964 Law on Marriage, under which a married woman was not authorized to work nor to open a bank account under her name. Over the years, the country introduced several amendments and bills to eliminate discriminatory laws, and in 2016, a new constitution was adopted with a strong emphasis on establishing gender equality.
19. Benin
Insider Monkey Score: 2.14
In 2020, Benin witnessed 397 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live-born children. In comparison, there were only 8 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live-born children in Europe. To combat this issue the country has relaxed restrictions on abortion laws considerably, with the belief that illegal and unsafe abortions were one of the leading causes of maternal deaths during childbirth.
18. Guinea
Insider Monkey Score: 2.15
Guinea is one of the countries in the world with the highest rates of female genital mutilation. Some sources claim that 95% of women between 15-49 have experienced FGM in Guinea. Although the practice has been criminalized under the country’s law, social stigmas regarding female purity and failure to punish practitioners means that FGM continues to be practiced widely.
17. Republic of the Congo
Insider Monkey Score: 2.26
In 2022, the Republic of the Congo introduced legislation protecting women from domestic violence and from sexual harassment in employment, however, it is still one of the least feminist countries in the world.
16. Nigeria
Insider Monkey Score: 2.28
Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. The 2023 UN Report on Trends in Maternal Mortality from 2000-2020 revealed that nearly 28.5% of global maternal deaths take place in Nigeria. Moreover, with incidents such as the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, educational opportunities for women in certain regions continue to be limited due to fear of hostility from radical groups.
15. Mali
Insider Monkey Score: 2.29
Mali is another nation that witnesses extremely high rates of FGM, along with alarmingly high rates of child marriage. In 2018, UN Women revealed that 54% of girls aged under 18 were married in Mali, while 16% were married before turning 15. In 2018, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ordered Mali to increase the minimum age of marriage to 18, however, under the current law the legal age for marriage remains 16.
14. Pakistan
Insider Monkey Score: 2.32
According to Amnesty International, there were 384 cases of honor killings reported by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 2022, although the actual figure is considered to be much higher. Despite this, convictions in cases of gender-based violence remain low, with one news outlet claiming that in 2020, only 2% of suspects involved in honor killings went on to be convicted. In addition, Pakistan is notorious for incidents of acid attacks, making it one of the least feminist countries in the world.
13. Syria
Insider Monkey Score: 2.34
Women and children have devastatingly been impacted by Syria’s political unrest over the last decade. According to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, there are close to 6 million people in dire need of nutritional assistance in Syria, out of which 74 % of them are women and girls. Gender-based violence has also increased during the unrest, as well as instances of early & forced marriages.
12. Sudan
Insider Monkey Score: 2.36
Much like Syria, the plight of women in Sudan has been aggravated by recent unrest. In 2023, the UN estimated that the number of women and girls at risk of gender-based violence had increased from 3 million to 4.2 million in the first 11 weeks of the conflict between the SAF and RSF.
11. Mauritania
Insider Monkey Score: 2.38
Mauritania is perhaps the least feminist country in the world in terms of legal policies and precedents. Although the minimum age of marriage in the country is 18, the law allows minors to be contracted into marriage if their guardian deems it is in their best interest. Precedents for sexual violence are similarly abhorrent, as highlighted in a submission to the UN by Human Rights Watch. It claims that victims of sexual abuse are subjected to virginity tests, and rape is only recognized if the victim’s hymen is broken as a result of the abuse.
10. Papua New Guinea
Insider Monkey Score: 2.46
Papua New Guinea witnesses 1.5 million annual cases of gender-based violence, according to a 2023 Human Rights Watch report. Moreover, between January 2021 and April 2023, only 1,304 arrests were made against 30,028 cases of sexual violence, making PNG one of the top 10 least feminist countries in the world.
9. Niger
Insider Monkey Score: 2.49
Per USAID, 76% of girls are married before age 18 and the average age of first marriage for girls is 15.7 years. This, coupled with alarmingly low literacy rates makes Niger one of the least feminist countries in the world.
8. Iraq
Insider Monkey Score: 2.49
Iraq is arguably the most sexist country in the world. Section 41 of the Iraqi penal code gives husbands the right to “discipline” their wives physically. Article 409 of the Penal Code states that the punishment for a man who kills or beats his wife or female relative is only up to three years in prison, which can be reduced to just 6 months if the act was committed due to honor, per the discretion of the judge.
7. Democratic Republic of Congo
Insider Monkey Score: 2.55
DRC witnesses appalling rates of sexual violence, with the country’s eastern region being particularly notorious for incidents where rape is used as a weapon of war. Since 2022, rebel groups in the region have committed horrifying war crimes, including an incident in late 2022 when 20 men were killed, and 66 women & girls were raped in the village of Kishishe.
6. Guinea-Bissau
Insider Monkey Score: 2.57
Female genital mutilation, child marriages, gender gaps in education, and domestic violence are all reasons why Guinea-Bissau is one of the least feminist countries in the world. According to the World Bank in 2023, 97% of women in the country experienced gender-based violence in the last eight years, out of which 86% experienced it in their homes.
5. Chad
Insider Monkey Score: 2.65
Child marriages and adolescent pregnancies are rife in Chad, making it one of the least feminist countries in the world. In 2021, for girls aged 15-19, the number of childbirths per 1,000 girls in the country was 138.