Israel ranks dead last for gender equality among OECD countries
In comparison to an index of developed countries, and not all 179 countries, Israel fails on four scoring conditions of gender equality
Israel ranked dead last in gender equality among OECD countries, according to a recently published SIGI (Gender Discrimination Index) report. The study examines discrimination against women in some 179 countries.
Compared to other OECD countries, and not all 179 countries, Israel failed based on the four scoring conditions of discrimination within the family; personal protection and security; access to financial resources; and the exercise of civil liberties.
Ayelet Razin Beit-Or, lawyer and general-director for the Advancement of the Status of Women Authority in Israel, explained to the Ynet website that the report ranked Israel, alongside Japan, as the country with the widest gender equality gaps in the OECD.
Beit-Or pointed out that the Advancement of the Status of Women Authority made significant efforts to combat these disparities, notably by promoting women's participation in the public sphere and strengthening their representation in various areas of society and the economy.
According to the director-general, the establishment of the Promotion of the Status of Women Ministry, headed by Minister Mai Golan, was a positive step towards the issue of gender equality, however she said reaching that goal “is still a long way off.”
Israel received a bad score for discrimination against women, with an average of 33.4 on a scale of 0 to 100, where zero indicates no discrimination and 100 indicates total discrimination.
The worst equality gaps in Israel were discrimination within the family and the exercise of civil liberties. Israel, for example, scored 40.9 for the first, while the OECD average is 14.2.
Other countries with significant inequality between men and women are Turkey, Chile, the USA and Slovakia. By contrast, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden have relatively low levels of inequality.