Pakistan ranks 3rd on list of most dangerous countries for women

LONDON: Afghanistan, Congo and Pakistan are the world's most dangerous countries for women due to a barrage of threats ranging from violence and rape to dismal health care and "honour killings", a Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll showed on Wednesday.

India and Somalia ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the global perceptions survey by Trust Law, the Foundation's legal news service.

Trust Law asked 213 gender experts from five continents to rank countries by overall perceptions of danger as well as by six risks: health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking.

Following are key facts on each of the five countries, ranked in order of danger.

1. Afghanistan

Beleaguered by insurgency, corruption and dire poverty, Afghanistan ranked as most dangerous to women overall and came out worst in three of the poll's key risk categories: health,non-sexual violence and economic discrimination.

* Women in Afghanistan have a one in 11 chance of dying in childbirth.

* Some 87% of women are illiterate.

* 70-80% of girls and women face forced marriages.

2. Congo

Still reeling from a 1998-2003 war and accompanying humanitarian disaster that killed 5.4 million, Democratic Republic of Congo ranked second due mainly to staggering levels of sexual violence.

* About 1,150 women are raped every day, or some 420,000 ayear, according to a recent report in the American Journal ofPublic Health.

* The Congolese Women's Campaign Against Sexual Violence puts the number of rapes at 40 women a day.

* 57 pct of pregnant women are anaemic.

3. Pakistan

Those polled cited cultural, tribal and religious practices harmful to women, including acid attacks, child and forced marriage and punishment or retribution by stoning or other physical abuse.

* More than 1,000 women and girls are victims of "honour killings" every year, according to Pakistan's Human Rights Commission.

* 90% of women in Pakistan face domestic violence.

4. India

Female foeticide, child marriage and high levels of trafficking and domestic servitude make the world's largest democracy the fourth most dangerous place for women, the poll showed.

* 100 million people, mostly women and girls, are involved in trafficking in one way or another, according to former Indian Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta.

* Up to 50 million girls are "missing" over the past century due to female infanticide and foeticide.

* 44.5% of girls are married before the age of 18.

5. Somalia

One of the poorest, most violent and lawless countries, Somalia ranked fifth due to a catalogue of dangers including high maternal mortality, rape, female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage.

* 95% of women face FGM, mostly between the ages of 4 and 11.

* Only 9% of women give birth at a health facility.

* Only 7.5% of parliament seats are held by women.