U.N. Women Agency Report Looks At Gender Equality, Women's Rights Around The World (PHOTOS)

The United Nations' newest agency -- UN Women -- takes an ambitious and sometimes startling look at gender equality and women's rights around the world with its first-ever report.

The 2011 Progress of the World's Women: In Pursuit of Justice report is "a global survey of women's access to justice -- looking both at legislation passed by governments and the steps taken (or not taken) to implement those laws," according to the Guardian. "The report highlights the practical barriers that women—particularly the poorest and most excluded—face,” says former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet in the report’s introduction.

Among the report's more intriguing findings: at a staggering 51 percent, Rwanda has the highest share of women in parliament, while within their nation's manufacturing industry, Qatari women earn substantially more than men. On the flip side, 127 countries do not explicitly criminalize rape within marriage, while 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not a crime.

View more information and details from the full report here.

Take a look at some nations and a select fact about each below:

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Spain

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Share of women in parliament: 34 percent

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Share of women in parliament: 34 percent

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UN Women Justice Report

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UN Women Justice Report

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Comments

[TWKT]

12:06 PM on 07/10/2011

So the UN that has been involved in sex trafficking does not mention the low role that the organization actually puts women in.

[rockgod]

11:20 PM on 07/09/2011

Are these gals looking for love in all the wrong places?

[Scott Vaughan]

10:13 PM on 07/09/2011

Thank GOD the un has no power in the USA....

[Erewhon7]

12:18 PM on 07/10/2011

Thank Darwin, god has little power in U.S.

[danman2424]

07:14 AM on 07/13/2011

He used to. Unfortunately, this country continues its downward path away from morality, and consequently, away from prosperity.

[sassiestkat]

08:46 PM on 07/09/2011

And yet we're supposedly a "progressive nation", a leader in the rights of all peoples and the champions of equality regardless of gender or race. Our attempts at this = EPIC FAIL.

[Erewhon7]

12:17 PM on 07/10/2011

Umm... certainly whenever anyone looks for feminists in power one immediately thinks of Africa, Middle East or Central Asia. lmao.

[jimoaklanduniv]

06:53 PM on 07/09/2011

I agree, it is DEFINITELY time for Great women and Great Americans, like Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin to replace this Incomptent Idiot in office Now, digging us DEEPER and DEEPER into a hole that he STILL digging deeper, because of his Ignorance!!

[alan of springcanyon]

12:02 PM on 07/10/2011

Why would you want to get rid of the best, most staunchly corporatist republican president you've ever had?

[jt1980]

07:13 PM on 07/10/2011

Perhaps because Palin (or Bachman) will be even more?

[Kev Bat]

11:01 AM on 07/11/2011

Where were you when Bush was spending 14 Trillion plus the surplus Bill left him ?

[noob1]

08:59 PM on 07/08/2011

If you question which fēmina is the cutest beauty the answer is quite easeelee all of em, eh?

[philogical]

09:23 AM on 07/08/2011

Instead of being evidence of sexism and discrimination, the gender wage gap is largely a reflection of the utility-maximizing behavior of women. Accommodations made for child rearing and family responsibilities reduce work experience and in many cases commitment to the labor force, which often leads to lower wages. What is yet to be determined is whether the increased educational attainment and labor force commitment of younger women, along with greater opportunities for flexible work schedules and entry into once male-dominated fields, has the potential to remove the "gender gap" from the workplace vocabulary.

[sakovkt]

09:20 PM on 07/08/2011

Exactly!
And, if we take the concept of gender equality to its logical conclusion, does it really even matter if there is a "gender gap"?
Until males can gestate the young, women will always have more a choice between family and careers to make, no matter how much we attempt to accomodate them in the work place.
The question is, is it worth it, or is it even realistic?
Is having a tidy 50/50 gender split at work really worth it to bulging women driving forklifts or the inevitable latch string kids who grow up with the TV set parenting? Does it make companies more competative? Are women better than men?
Could this even be just some misguided, reverse discrimination, Third World women excluded, of course. That IS bad.
Equality does not mean we're identical, and tha twill have inevitable consequences.

[mokvaw]

06:12 AM on 07/08/2011

Ladies, ladies, ladies. Even with the inequality of everyday real life, you still make my day in every way. Thanks.

[Mike in San Pedro]

11:36 PM on 07/07/2011

Having traveled literally around the world and to more than a few Third World hellholes, the toughest people on earth are Third World women, IMO. May they all find justice and happiness.

[Ganeshari]

09:18 PM on 07/08/2011

Agree. While traveling throughout Southeast Asia many years ago, I was quite taken aback by seeing the women performing all the hard physical labor while the men did the physically easy jobs or just sat around talking or smoking opium.

[Connor Alexander]

08:09 PM on 07/07/2011

Sociological studies have shown that the more freedom and equality women have in a particular society, the more both genders tend to have sex both, in overall quantity and numbers of partners. Personally, I treat them as equal+. At least half of the finest human beings I know are women.

[Kittenesque]

07:02 PM on 07/07/2011

The year Sri Lanka had its first female Prime Minister - 1960
India - 1966
Bangladesh - since 1991 it's only been women Prime Ministers (opposing parties are headed by women and)
Pakistan - 1988
Welcome to the Eastern third world where we look down upon women as leaders of our society people.

Year US had it's first female President - uhhhhh...coming soon...I guess.

[rascal barquecat]

09:43 PM on 07/09/2011

Just not from the current crop of contenders, please.

[Kittenesque]

12:17 AM on 07/10/2011

Fair point!

[Cogent]

02:52 PM on 07/07/2011

The US is not listed because women earn more than males here.

[sugarpops]

06:01 PM on 07/07/2011

What a bunch of tripe. Where are the stats? Women in the USA still earn only 75 - 80% of what men earn.

[Cogent]

06:28 PM on 07/07/2011

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2015274,00.html

[Dr Kris]

11:43 AM on 07/08/2011

Time Magazine article:
"according to a new analysis of 2,000 communities by a market research company, in 147 out of 150 of the biggest cities in the U.S., the median full-time salaries of young women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their peer group."

Did you catch the key words? YOUNG women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their PEER group....

The article continues....

"Here's the slightly deflating caveat: this reverse gender gap, as it's known, applies only to unmarried, childless women under 30 who live in cities. The rest of working women — even those of the same age, but who are married or don't live in a major metropolitan area — are still on the less scenic side of the wage divide."

"... attributes the earnings reversal overwhelmingly to one factor: education. For every two guys who graduate from college or get a higher degree, three women do."

So, even those YOUNG women who make more have to work harder for it.

Don't be so spiteful -- go back to school....

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2015274,00.html#ixzz1RWq4q2FJ

[danman2424]

07:25 AM on 07/13/2011

Women in this country are one of the most historically privileged groups in recent memory. They have more rights, societal benefits, and laws protecting them than not only the men, but most any group in any other country.

As our government and society continue to hold young men back in a misguided attempt at "equalizing" the genders, this country falls further and further into the hole.

[darquelourd]

11:39 AM on 07/07/2011

my conclusion: Spanish chicks are hot

[tenaxproposit]

11:20 AM on 07/07/2011

Hey, women, for those under 35...hurry up and take over already, I am sick of working.

[turbobore]

09:56 AM on 07/07/2011

We need more women in this country wearing lepoard suits!