8. Lebanon > Female-to-male income ratio: 0.27 (7th worst) > Labor force participation (m/f): 76% / 26% > Literacy rate (m/f): 93% / 86% > Pct. women in parliament: 3% Few nations were rated worse than Lebanon for women’s political empowerment. Just 3% of seats in Lebanon’s parliament were held by women, one of the absolute lowest rates. Further, none of the country’s ministerial positions were occupied by women. One problem for many women in the country may be that religious laws cover issues of personal status, such as marriage and divorce. Despite passing a new anti-domestic violence law in April 2014, Human Rights Watch said the country still has significant room for improvement. In particular, the organization said that “Exempting matters governed by personal status laws from the domestic violence law undermines women’s security in the home.”
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 19:14:41 +0000