sonofghandi wrote:
And yet, as a woman I'd still rather take my chances in Latin America (already have, in the 1980's for a month) than in the Middle East. Why? It's all in the details:
from the link
Quote:
Although relatively fewer Latin Americans say women are treated with respect in their countries, the presence of several female heads of state in the region and other media exposure about this issue has likely contributed to a greater awareness and advocacy among residents in Latin America about the treatment of women. The United Nations recently affirmed the importance of ending discrimination against women and girls as one of its new sustainable development goals. There is also evidence that some governments in the region are taking the issue seriously and taking action to increase legal protections for women. However, it is unlikely that these policy changes alone will be enough to improve the treatment of women, especially as weak education programs, violence, and machismo attitudes persist.
So reports of less respect could be, ironically, evidence of growing respect because the gaps between the real and the ideal are now getting attention. If there is no such growing national awareness in the Middle Eastern and African countries, they will give themselves blithely high marks even while treating women worse than in the Latin American countries.
Then there's this:
(bolding by me, from the same link)
Quote:
Men More Likely to Say Women Are Treated With Respect
Men are more likely to say women are treated with respect and dignity than are women in most countries in Latin America, suggesting that some men in these countries have either less awareness about the experiences of women or a different interpretation of respect, perhaps influenced by machismo attitudes. The largest differences in sentiment exist in Jamaica, Argentina, and Suriname. Men and women in Haiti, Peru, Honduras, and Mexico have similar views.
The researchers then give a gender breakdown of Latin American countries showing that indeed, men in those countries are far more likely than women to say that women are treated with respect.
What the researchers don't do (or perhaps is only available in the data set you have to contact them to get) is do that same breakdown in the non-Latin American countries. So we have no way of sorting out what the men vs. women say there. I have met some horrifically sexist men say that they respect women very much but closer examination shows they actually have the caveat that those women must stay in assigned gender roles in order to be worthy of respect. So I'm taking the claim of respect in the Middle East and Africa with a whole lot of salt until I hear it said by women there, especially those who have broken outside of the traditional roles.
The researchers did have a link to a PDF with their methods, describing how people were reached (face to face, phone etc) and where ibn the various countries. There is a caveat buried in that PDF that "regions controlled by Hezbollah were not surveyed" and also that "areas controlled by rebels" and, "unsafe areas" were not surveyed. It's regions like that where women are most at risk so heap on some more salt before declaring who is more respectful than who.
The countries with "did not survey for safety reasons" regions are in former Soviet countries, Africa and the Middle East and limited parts of Asia- all areas ranked above Latin America. Maybe Latin America is way better for women than a quick glance at this chart would lead you to believe.
15 Oct 2014, 7:26 am
