The world’s most dangerous countries for women

Targeted violence against females, dismal healthcare and desperate poverty make Afghanistan the world's most dangerous country in which to be born a woman, according to a survey released by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The Democratic Republic of Congo ranks second due to horrific levels of rape, the survey said. Pakistan, India and Somalia ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the global survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination to female foeticide (the destruction of a fetus in the uterus), genital mutilation and acid attack, the foundation said. The survey was compiled by the foundation to mark the launch of TrustLaw Woman, a website aimed at providing free legal advice for women’s' groups around the world. TrustLaw asked 213 gender experts from five contents to rank countries by overall perceptions of danger as well as by six categories of risk. The risks consisted of health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking. Women in Afghanistan have a near total lack of economic rights, rendering it a severe threat to its female inhabitants. Continuing conflict, NATO airstrikes and cultural practices combine to make Afghanistan a very dangerous place to be a woman, says Antonella Notari, head of Women Change Makers. The staggering levels of sexual violence in the lawless east of the Democratic Republic of Congo account for its ranking as the second most dangerous place for women, the foundation said, citing one recent U.S. study that claimed that more than 400,000 women are raped in the African country each year. A collection of images, provided by Reuters, illustrates the dangers women face in those five countries. For more information, visit Trust.org.