Women’s Rights Statistics
- In ten countries around the world, women are legally bound to obey their husbands.
- The World Economic Forum ranked the united States 60th out of 136 countries in political empowerment of women, below India, China and Uganda.
- More than 468 bills restricting women’s health along with access to reproductive rights were introduced in state legislatures between October 2013 and October 2014. None were introduced for men during the same period.
- Abortion is illegal in five countries and subject to severe restriction in many others.
- Police and judiciary in many countries dismiss women when they report crimes and many women in those countries are unaware of how the justice system works.
Women in the Workplace Statistics
- An increase in the female labor force results in faster economic growth.
- Hispanic and Latina women are paid only 54 percent of what men are paid on average.
- Engineering and computing make up 80 percent of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs, yet less than 25 percent of those working in those industries are women.
- Forty-one percent of women are the primary breadwinners in their household and 23 percent are co-breadwinners.
- Forty-one percent of women are the primary breadwinners in their household and 23 percent are co-breadwinners.
- In 2010, over 36 percent of women in the workforce were college graduates compared to 1970 when less than 12 percent held college degrees.
- Women own up to 30 percent of all businesses today, adding $1.2 trillion to the economy and providing almost eight million jobs.
Gender Inequality Statistics
- Half of working mothers say that they have taken unpaid sick time to care for a child who is sick.
- In 1970, women earned only $0.59 for every dollar made by men. Today, it is $0.77.
- While mean are promoted based on potential, many employers report promoting women based on accomplishments.
- In a survey of 4,000 employees of large companies, only 18 percent of women said they wanted to be CEO compared to 36 percent of men.
- Of the 1.4 billion people living in poverty, two-thirds are women.
- Girls continue to score higher on reading assessments and lower on math assessments than boys.
- Women spend more time in household activities as performing unpaid volunteer duties than men.
- Women are more likely than men to suffer from mobility impairments, chronic health conditions and are less likely to be physically active.
- Women are more likely than men to perform preventative care to maintain health than men.
- Imprisonment rates for both men and women have risen over the past two decades, but men are still more likely to be incarcerated for crimes than women.
- In Egypt, a woman has only been able to file for divorce since 2000, but must give up all financial and property rights to do so. She must also repay any dowry paid by to her family. Men in Egypt, however, have unconditional rights to divorce and do not need to go to court to divorce. Women must also submit to mediation while men are not required to do so should they seek a divorce.
- A divorced woman in Japan must wait six months before remarrying although men have no such restrictions.
Women in Leadership Statistics
- Women represent only 18.5 percent of the United States Congress
- Twenty-four states have never elected a woman governor.
- Women make up just 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs.
- Companies with the highest percentage of women on their board of directors outperformed those with the least by 53 percent.
- Rwanda has the highest number of women in government with almost 64 percent of the seats held by women.
Women in Combat/Military Statistics
- Of today’s active duty military, 14.5 percent are women.
- Women make up 14.2 percent of the enlisted ranks and 16.6 percent of officer ranks.
- Although women are barred from serving in the infantry, almost three percent make up the military’s front line in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- As of 2013, there were 67 women lost to hostile fire in Iraq and 33 killed in Afghanistan. Another 900 were wounded in battles in the two countries.
- Over 30 percent of the women in enlisted ranks were in the medical field and almost 31 percent worked in an administrative capacity. Approximately 39 percent of female officers were in healthcare with the Navy having the most women in that field with 46 percent.
- There was only one woman held prisoner during the Civil War, two held prisoner during Desert Storm and three during Operation Iraqi Freedom. There were 90 women held prisoner during World War II.
- A 2012 survey conducted by the military reported that six percent of women were victims of unwanted sexual contact.
- Surveys conducted by the Rand Corporation found that 50 percent of assaults reported by women were crimes that included rape.
Violence Against Women Statistics
- Every 15 seconds a woman is battered.
- Every seven minutes, a girl is bullied at school.
- Globally, 35 percent of women have experienced either physical or sexual intimate partner violence.
- Almost half of the women killed in 2012 were killed by an intimate partner or family member.
- In a study of women throughout the world, only 14 percent of women reported intimate partner violence to police and only 13 percent reported non-partner violence.
- Over 22 million women in the United States have been raped.
- Over 12 percent of the women who survived rape were under the age of 12 and just under 30 percent were between the ages of 11 and 17.
- In 2010, 48 percent of women were sexually assaulted by someone they knew, 17 percent by an intimate partner and 25 percent by a stranger.
- Women are more likely than men to be victims of a stalker.
Miscellaneous Statistics Related to Women
- Increasing income in households controlled by women changes spending in ways that benefit children.
- As many as 90 percent of all women want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance.
- Women make up 57 percent of college graduates. In addition, 63 percent of master’s degree holders are women.
- Girls perform worse on tests when they must mark whether they are male or female before taking it.
- Only two percent of women think they are beautiful.
- One out of four college-aged women has an eating disorder.
- Women are marrying later and having fewer children.
- Although the number of women who commit crimes has risen over the past few years. Women are less likely to be arrested for nonviolent property crimes than men.