11 Worst Countries for Gender Equality

10. Egypt

Final rank: 136

Economic participation and opportunity: 135

Educational attainment: 115

Health and survival: 97

Political empowerment: 136

Although Egypt made steps in narrowing the gap in economy and politics, it ranked in ten bottom countries in these two areas, which affected its final position on Global Gender Gap scale. Female workers, who constitute 26 percent of the labor force, hold only seven percent of leading positions. They are equally underrepresented in politics where 12 percent of ministerial positions is in hands of female politicians. In the area of educational attainment, Egypt made certain progress. The country came close to erasing the gap in enrollment in all three levels of education. Still, the difference in literacy rate between genders is high – 65 percent of women compared to 82 percent of men is considered literate. Finally, Egypt scores in the area of health have worsened in last ten years. Maybe the most concerning issue related to women health is the widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) – around 90 percent of women was subjected to FGM.