Canada: best G20 country to be a woman

We live in the best country in the world to be female.

TrustLaw, part of the Reuters Foundation, has conducted a global poll to rank the world’s largest economic powers on their quality of life for women.

Canada ranked first; our neighbour to the south was sixth.

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Farah Mohamed, president and CEO of the G(irls) 20 summit, said Canada received the top ranking because “women have access to healthcare; we place a premium on education;” 62% of university graduates in 2008 were women; “and we have laws that don’t allow for child marriage.”

Not allowing child marriage is basic, but India, the lowest-ranking G20 country, is still affected by this major problem. There, 44.5% of girls are married before they’re 18.

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In Saudi Arabia, women are literally second-class citizens. They are not allowed to drive, there is no legislation against domestic violence, and the testimony of one man in court is worth that of two women.

China ranks at 14 because there is a still a horrifying rate of infanticide for girls. More than a million girls are killed upon birth each year. The national preference for sons has serious negative consequences on the economic and social development of the country, says Alana Livesey of the Because I am a Girl campaign.

Italy ranks eighth because 1.2 million women were sexually harassed at work in 2008 –about 4% of all women in the country — which ties into the larger problem of gender discrimination in the workplace.

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Where has there been progress?

Germany, the U.K., Australia and France rank in order after Canada.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is a meaningful role model. However, only 12.5% of board members for DAX-listed companies are women.

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The U.K. ranked third due primarily to women’s access to universal healthcare. But “government spending cuts have disproportionally impacted women, while violence against women remains a serious problem,” said Vivienne Hayes, chief executive, Women’s Resource Centre.

As for the U.S., it ranked sixth because in 2011, it enacted 92 anti-abortion restrictions at state level. Also, 22.9 million women do not have health insurance.