Reuters Poll: U.S. Ranked ‘Top Ten Most Dangerous For Women’ Alongside Congo, Saudi Arabia, Somalia

A recent Reuters survey has placed the United States in the same category as several third-world countries in terms of “dangerousness for women.”

“War-torn Afghanistan and Syria ranked second and third in the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of about 550 experts on women’s issues, followed by Somalia and Saudi Arabia,” says a Reuters report on the survey.

India was ranked as the most dangerous country in the world for women.

“The only Western nation in the top 10 was the United States, which ranked joint third when respondents were asked where women were most at risk of sexual violence, harassment and being coerced into sex,” according to the report.

“People want to think income means you’re protected from misogyny, and sadly that’s not the case,” said Cindy Southworth, Executive Vice President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. “We are going to look back and see this as a very powerful tipping point … We’re blowing the lid off and saying ‘#Metoo and Time’s Up’.”

There is no question that all violence against women is unacceptable. But ranking the United States among such nations in level of “dangerousness” is pure delusion.

For comparison purposes, the United States is ranked only three spots higher than the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 48 women are raped every hour, 12 percent of women will experience rape in their lifetime, and rape is used as a weapon of war.

“There have been many reports and witness accounts of the gang rape of young girls and elderly women by armed militia, and also accounts of men being raped,” says a Guardian report on the subject.

India was ranked at the top of the list for practices like “forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide,” none of which occur in the United States.

Syria ranked third on the list due to its ongoing seven-year war.

“There are so many dangers for girls and women,” said Maria Al Abdeh, executive director of Women Now For Development, which supports women’s centers in Syria. “There is sexual violence by government forces. Domestic violence and child marriage are increasing and more women are dying in childbirth. The tragedy is nowhere near an end.”

Saudi Arabia ranked fifth. Women are still not allowed to have driver’s licenses there, and though a recent law was passed allowing women to drive, they will be required to be accompanied by a male counterpart when the law goes into effect.

“One of the worst laws that prevent women from having equal opportunities is guardianship – because every woman is subjected to a male guardian. She cannot get a passport, cannot travel, sometimes she cannot work,” said Ahlam Akram, founder of British Arabs Supporting Universal Women’s Rights.

Placing “harassment” and “misogyny” in America, neither of which should be tolerated, on the same moral level as rape, stoning, and forced marriage is a dishonest stretch of epic proportion.

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