Best country for women? Canada!

[happy atheist]

Damn socialists!

The US ranks #6, behind Canada, Germany, Britain, Australia, and France.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/1 ... #s=1095584

The rankings were based on six different categories, reported TrustLaw. These were:

1. Quality of health

2. Freedom from violence

3. Political participation

4. Workplace opportunities

5. Access to resources (i.e. education, property rights)

6. Freedom from trafficking and slavery

Apparently the US would rank higher if they didn't look at reproductive rights and health care access.

[nolongerIFBx]

And they get a year off work when they have a baby!

[Deleted03]

Certainly not for indigenous women.

[Mountain Girl]

I think Scandinavian countries used to be at the top of the list. Maybe it depends on what the criteria are. But yeah, I want to be Canadian :dance:

[holierthanyou]

Certainly not for indigenous women.

This time eleventy.

[Minerva]

Certainly not for indigenous women.

THIS.

[Katiebug]

And they get a year off work when they have a baby!

As a US resident who took a whopping 10 weeks off, and who maxes out at a potential maternity leave of 16 weeks (only 6 weeks of which is paid at all), I spent time searching for job opportunities in my field in Canada. I kid you not - most moms in the US would kill to have even 12 weeks off with an unemployment check, much less a year.

[freejoytoo]

You get a year off in the UK as well.

[Guest Anonymous]

This is actually quite a good list. Britain (my country) is nice and high and the other top countries are respectable places. Usually, when this kind of list comes out we're somewhere like 34th and behind a country that is still technically an oppressive dictatorship!

[alysee]

Certainly not for indigenous women.

THIS times 1000!

[Soldevi]

I think Scandinavian countries used to be at the top of the list. Maybe it depends on what the criteria are. But yeah, I want to be Canadian :dance:

This was only from certain group of countries, that is, G20 countries and as you can see in slide show, it actually lists 19 countries. The EU is the 20th participant.

But yeah, Canada didn't surprise me :) Good work!

[Funky Chicken]

Damn socialists!

The US ranks #6, behind Canada, Germany, Britain, Australia, and France.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/1 ... #s=1095584

Apparently the US would rank higher if they didn't look at reproductive rights and health care access.

AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE!!!

OY! OY! OY!

[fakepigtails73]

Very nice!

I'll say that I'm surprised that there is no Scandinavian country in the top 5...

[BlackHawk]

Certainly not for indigenous women.

I'm not Canadian nor do I play one on TV, so I'm curious why you say this? (I come in to this with no preconceived notions on how indigenous women are treated... I come in to this to learn!)

[happy atheist]

I'm not Canadian nor do I play one on TV, so I'm curious why you say this? (I come in to this with no preconceived notions on how indigenous women are treated... I come in to this to learn!)

I was going to ask this too. Is the ill treatment something that is ongoing? Or was it in the past?

[2xx1xy1JD]

Many indigenous women are screwed because, among other things:

1. The whole system of reserves means that they may live and have their family/community supports in places that are more likely to be away from urban centres. In some cases, reserves may be so remote that they can only be accessed by air.

2. As a result, there is often extreme unemployment.

3. Poverty on reserves is not in the public's face the way that poverty is the city would be, so there is less political pressure to do anything about it. Some reserves have truly third-world conditions - they lack indoor plumbing, safe drinking water, proper housing (esp. for harsh winters), etc. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashechewan_First_Nation

4. Historically, the Canadian government, in conjunction with some churches, had a policy of trying to "civilize" the natives by destroying their culture. Children were taken and sent off to residential schools, where they were forbidden to speak their language and were often abused. The practice was so widespread that it literally damaged the entire society - family relationships were ripped apart, and so many of the adults had suffered institutional abuse as children.

5. Many abused children grew into dysfunctional adults, so the legacy of the residential schools continues.

6. Alcoholism and substance abuse are major issues. You have people living in areas with inadequate services, sky-high unemployment, higher-than-average rates of abuse and not much hope for the future. Youth suicide rates are also high.

[happy atheist]

Is it worse for indigenous women than indigenous men? Are their specifically woman-focused policies?

Some of what you're saying sounds like reservations here in the US, although I don't think our government made such an effort to remove children from their families. I could be wrong about that. Education about native cultures is not strong here.

[tabitha2]

I know a guy who is full Apache.His birth mother gave him up for adoption because she wanted a better life for him than on what he would ever have on the reservation;He said it was truly a third world country-men just sit under a tree and drink day after day because they have no prospects and no hope really.

[BabyFullOfSin]

Yay for being a woman in Canada! I'm currently 4 months into the year long mat leave :-D

But yes, I agree that our First Nations peoples are not treated as they should be

[BlackHawk]

Is it worse for indigenous women than indigenous men? Are their specifically woman-focused policies?

Some of what you're saying sounds like reservations here in the US, although I don't think our government made such an effort to remove children from their families. I could be wrong about that. Education about native cultures is not strong here.

There was a time when natives were transported to schools away from their native housing in order to be "Christianized". During that time, they renamed natives and tried to get them away as early as possible in order for them to know so little about their culture that they were alienated form ever going back to the reservations.

I know a guy who is full Apache.His birth mother gave him up for adoption because she wanted a better life for him than on what he would ever have on the reservation;He said it was truly a third world country-men just sit under a tree and drink day after day because they have no prospects and no hope really.

That is awesome. We qualify to adopt a native American child, and are definitely on the list to do so if a situation comes up. Reservations in America are horrible mostly.. the ones you typically hear about are the nice ones. People would be amazed to set foot on a true, non played up reservation here and see the devastation that exists now. That's why I was interested to hear about indigenous of Canada.

Many indigenous women are screwed because, among other things:

1. The whole system of reserves means that they may live and have their family/community supports in places that are more likely to be away from urban centres. In some cases, reserves may be so remote that they can only be accessed by air.

2. As a result, there is often extreme unemployment.

3. Poverty on reserves is not in the public's face the way that poverty is the city would be, so there is less political pressure to do anything about it. Some reserves have truly third-world conditions - they lack indoor plumbing, safe drinking water, proper housing (esp. for harsh winters), etc. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashechewan_First_Nation

4. Historically, the Canadian government, in conjunction with some churches, had a policy of trying to "civilize" the natives by destroying their culture. Children were taken and sent off to residential schools, where they were forbidden to speak their language and were often abused. The practice was so widespread that it literally damaged the entire society - family relationships were ripped apart, and so many of the adults had suffered institutional abuse as children.

5. Many abused children grew into dysfunctional adults, so the legacy of the residential schools continues.

6. Alcoholism and substance abuse are major issues. You have people living in areas with inadequate services, sky-high unemployment, higher-than-average rates of abuse and not much hope for the future. Youth suicide rates are also high.

Thanks for the answer! Off to go look at the info you gave!

[Terrasola]

Excellent truth telling about aboriginal women in Canada (aboriginals = First Nations, Inuit, and Metis). Here's more info:

* On many First Nations reserves there is no property ownership (the Band owns the property rather than individuals) which disadvantages women, especially non-Band members, if their relationships break up. If nothing is owned and the partner is not working (usually the case with average unemployment rates above 60% on reserves), then the woman and their children will have no financial support post-break-up.

* On some reserves the woman will not be permitted to remain living on the reserve post-break-up if she is not a Band member, regardless of how long she has lived there.

* For First Nations full-status women, it used to be that they lost their status when they married anyone who was non-status. 1xx, do you know if this is still the case? If so, this means they lose their right to live on the reserve, their right to receive their share of certain land claim and other payments, the right to go to university or other post-secondary education free of charge, the right to not pay provincial or federal tax, etc. It is a significant gender bias. I hope this has been changed, but fear it has not.

* Most Inuit women are flown out of their communities and "down south" when they reach 7+ months into their pregnancies (unlike First Nations, Inuit do not live on reserves) to spend the remainder of their pregnancies near hospital facilities - alone. If they were working, or have child care and other family responsibilities this is a significant hardship for them and their families. Many women lie about their due dates or "miss" their flights so that they can have their babies at home with their partners present. This is changing gradually as Inuit women are gradually being trained in midwifery. However, with so many smaller settlements and the nature of northern geography this may be an issue for a long time to come.

If you are an aboriginal girl in Canada, the statistical probability is that you are more likely to grow up in poverty to addicted parent(s), and not finish school. When you reach adulthood, the statistical probability is that you will have more children at a younger age than your non-aboriginal counterparts and raise them as a single parent, be unemployed for significant periods of your life, live in sub-standard crowded housing, be more likely the victim of domestic violence, and have poorer health and a lower life expectancy than non-aboriginal women. (See: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2 ... ng.htm#a34)

This is our national disgrace.

[crazyforkate]

Glad to hear it, but we still have a long way to go...along with the issues aboriginal women face, the reproductive rights system in general has a lot of room for improvement (reciprocal billing, even access for people in remote areas or certain provinces/territories).

[Minerva]

Glad to hear it, but we still have a long way to go...along with the issues aboriginal women face, the reproductive rights system in general has a lot of room for improvement (reciprocal billing, even access for people in remote areas or certain provinces/territories).

Yes. Access to abortion is horrid in remote locations, which constitute most of Canada's surface area.

[Minerva]

Excellent truth telling about aboriginal women in Canada (aboriginals = First Nations, Inuit, and Metis). Here's more info:

* On many First Nations reserves there is no property ownership (the Band owns the property rather than individuals) which disadvantages women, especially non-Band members, if their relationships break up. If nothing is owned and the partner is not working (usually the case with average unemployment rates above 60% on reserves), then the woman and their children will have no financial support post-break-up.

* On some reserves the woman will not be permitted to remain living on the reserve post-break-up if she is not a Band member, regardless of how long she has lived there.

* For First Nations full-status women, it used to be that they lost their status when they married anyone who was non-status. 1xx, do you know if this is still the case? If so, this means they lose their right to live on the reserve, their right to receive their share of certain land claim and other payments, the right to go to university or other post-secondary education free of charge, the right to not pay provincial or federal tax, etc. It is a significant gender bias. I hope this has been changed, but fear it has not.

* Most Inuit women are flown out of their communities and "down south" when they reach 7+ months into their pregnancies (unlike First Nations, Inuit do not live on reserves) to spend the remainder of their pregnancies near hospital facilities - alone. If they were working, or have child care and other family responsibilities this is a significant hardship for them and their families. Many women lie about their due dates or "miss" their flights so that they can have their babies at home with their partners present. This is changing gradually as Inuit women are gradually being trained in midwifery. However, with so many smaller settlements and the nature of northern geography this may be an issue for a long time to come.

If you are an aboriginal girl in Canada, the statistical probability is that you are more likely to grow up in poverty to addicted parent(s), and not finish school. When you reach adulthood, the statistical probability is that you will have more children at a younger age than your non-aboriginal counterparts and raise them as a single parent, be unemployed for significant periods of your life, live in sub-standard crowded housing, be more likely the victim of domestic violence, and have poorer health and a lower life expectancy than non-aboriginal women. (See: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2 ... ng.htm#a34)

This is our national disgrace.

Aboriginal women go missing and are murdered at high rates, and the police are known to deal with their cases badly. Also, I imagine a chunk of their population is still affected by Alberta's sterilization law, as it was only repealed in the 70s.

[freejoytoo]

What was Alberta's sterilisation law?