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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">FYI</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10 WORST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD FOR WOMEN – NEW RESEARCH SAYS<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo's Global
</span><a href="https://giwps.georgetown.edu/the-index/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">Women, Peace and Security Index.</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
The index measures women's well-being — based on factors such as justice, security, and inclusion — in 153 countries.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<div style="border:none;border-bottom:solid #D8D8D8 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 13.0pt 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#111516">“Worst Countries in the World for Women”- Research<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:middle"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:middle"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/lia-ryerson"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#111516;letter-spacing:-.25pt;text-decoration:none">Lia Ryerson</span></a><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.25pt">,
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:middle"><a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#111516;letter-spacing:-.25pt;text-decoration:none">INSIDER</span></a><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.25pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:middle"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Mar. 6, 2018, 2:24 PM
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="Afghanistan woman"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.25pt">A female student in Kabul, Afghanistan.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">
Rahmat Gul / AP </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">Syria was named the
</span><a href="https://giwps.georgetown.edu/country/syrian-arab-republic/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">worst country for women this year</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">,
according to the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo's Global
</span><a href="https://giwps.georgetown.edu/the-index/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">Women, Peace and Security Index.</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
The index measures women's well-being — based on factors such as justice, security, and inclusion — in 153 countries.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">While the Nordic countries dominate the
</span><a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/best-countries-women-2018-2"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">best countries for women's list</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">,
the lowest-ranking countries on the index are historically more unstable and volatile.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">1/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">10. Niger<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="10. Niger"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">Niger
is one of the world's poorest nations. </span></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">Only 17% of women in Niger aged 15 to 24 are literate,
</span><a href="https://www.one.org/us/the-toughest-places-for-a-girl-to-get-an-education/?source=blog"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">according to a list</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
compiled by ONE campaign (a non-profit aiming to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">Additionally, Save the Children released a
</span><a href="http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/EVERY%20LAST%20GIRL%20REPORT%20FINAL.PDF"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">2016 report</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
of the best and worst places for girls based on five indicators, which included child marriage and adolescent fertility rates, and Niger, where 76% of young women were reportedly married before they were 18, and one in five adolescent girls gave birth a year
on average, scored the last place in a list of 144 countries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">2/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">9. Sudan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="9. Sudan"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">Sudanese
women wait their turn to vote outside a polling station, on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan.
</span></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Mosa'ab Elshamy / AP
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">According to a profile from UNICEF,
</span><a href="http://data.unicef.org/resources/female-genital-mutilation-cutting-country-profiles/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">34% of women aged 15 to 49</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
in Sudan believe that a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstance, and that 34% of women aged 20 to 24 were married or in a union by the time they were 18.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">3/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">8. Mali<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="562" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="8. Mali"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">A Malian
woman cheers Malian soldiers arriving in a convoy at the military base in Timbuktu, Mali.
</span></span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/archive/MALI-NORTH--GM1EA3C1BNJ01.html"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;letter-spacing:-.25pt;text-decoration:none">Jerome Delay / AP</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">According to a list compiled by ONE campaign,
</span><a href="https://www.one.org/us/the-toughest-places-for-a-girl-to-get-an-education/?source=blog"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">less than half (38%)</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
of girls in Mali have completed primary school. Only </span><a href="http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/EVERY%20LAST%20GIRL%20REPORT%20FINAL.PDF"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">9%
of women</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"> have parliamentary roles (a bleak figure compared to Rwanda,
</span><a href="http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/EVERY%20LAST%20GIRL%20REPORT%20FINAL.PDF"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">which has 64%</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">),
and </span><a href="https://www.cintl.org/page.aspx?pid=296#Poverty"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">72% of the population lives on less than $2 a day</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">4/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">7. Iraq<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="562" id="Picture_x0020_6" src="cid:image005.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="7. Iraq"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">Mosul,
Iraq. </span></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Suhaib Salem/Reuters
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">A 2010 United Nations fact sheet stated that
</span><a href="http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4cf4a67d2.pdf"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">one in five Iraqi women</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
were subject to domestic violence, and a 2012 Ministry of Planning study found that
</span><a href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/I-WISH%20Report%20English.pdf"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">at least 36%</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
of married Iraqi women have experienced some form of abuse at the hands of their husbands.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">5/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">6. Congo, Democratic Republic<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_7" src="cid:image006.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="6. Congo, Democratic Republic"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">Nine
out of ten people in DRC need urgent humanitarian aid. </span></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro / AP
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">Congo has the potential to be one of Africa's richest nations, due to its
</span><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.bbc.com_news_magazine-2D24396390&d=DgMFaQ&c=0u3nQZwm2He4OdaqbWh55g&r=tvVfS72tPvU9gKD4ntMU5Q_kA7a10JvaqAXuQJsbvjE&m=0SHZj9492yElhsueadJfjBg8_Myp6XFF1z8bEJKGNAU&s=auRttafWv9GFrXRRyWVRmQgfPmP6ehq21PfG5Rmmk8E&e=" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">wealth
in natural resources</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">— however, it remains one of the world's least developed countries, with at least
</span><a href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/08.02.16%20-%20USAID-DCHA%20DRC%20Complex%20Emergency%20Fact%20Sheet%20%233.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">7.5
million</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"> in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">In 2010, a UN representative referred to Congo as the
</span><a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34502#.WWS7OGXqquc"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">"rape capital of the world,"</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
and another study alleged that </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/12/48-women-raped-hour-congo"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">48 women are raped there every hour</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">6/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">5. Central African Republic<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_8" src="cid:image007.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="5. Central African Republic"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">A
woman goes through a security check before entering a polling station in the PK5 district of Bangui, Central African Republic
</span></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Jerome Delay/ AP
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">The Central African Republic (CAR) has been embroiled in violent armed conflict
</span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13150044"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">since 2013</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">,
and instances of violence against women, including rape, have been reported by the UN.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">"Numerous cases of violence against women, in particular sexual abuse and rape, have been reported in all of the localities
that Seleka combatants have passed through," the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo,
</span><a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/un-human-rights-experts-raise-alarm-continuous-violence-and"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">reported in 2013</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">7/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">4. Pakistan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="673" height="505" id="Picture_x0020_9" src="cid:image008.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="4. Pakistan"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">Hazara
students attend a sketching class in Mehrabad, Quetta September 3, 2012. </span>
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Naseer Ahmed/REUTERS
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">Violence against women and girls remains a serious concern in Pakistan, with offenses like
</span><a href="http://time.com/5047199/child-marriage-pakistan/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">child marriage</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">,
rape, murder "</span><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/25/honor-killings-continue-pakistan-despite-new-law"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">honor killings</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">,"
acid attacks, and domestic violence </span><a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/pakistan#49dda6"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">reportedly remaining prevalent</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">8/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">3. Yemen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_10" src="cid:image009.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="3. Yemen"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">A
woman walks past anti-Saudi and US graffiti sprayed on a wall of the closed Saudi embassy in Sanaa, Yemen.
</span></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Hani Mohammed / AP
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">According to the United Nations Population Fund, approximately
</span><a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNFPA_Yemen_-_Factsheet_GBV_-_October_2017_-_final_version.pdf"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">2.6 million women and
girls</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"> in Yemen are at risk of gender-based violence,
</span><a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNFPA_Yemen_-_Factsheet_GBV_-_October_2017_-_final_version.pdf"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">with 52,000 women at
risk of sexual violence</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">, including rape. According to World Report 2017, women in Yemen
</span><a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/yemen#1de7c4"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">do not have equal rights</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
to divorce, inheritance, or child custody as men in Yemen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">9/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">2. Afghanistan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_11" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="2. Afghanistan"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">Female
students listen to Afghan-American female pilot Shaesta Waiz at the Ariana TV building in Kabul, Afghanistan.
</span></span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kohistan/9533133442/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;letter-spacing:-.25pt;text-decoration:none">Rahmat Gul / AP</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">According to a Human Right's Watch report, only
</span><a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/10/17/i-wont-be-doctor-and-one-day-youll-be-sick/girls-access-education-afghanistan"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">37% of Afghan women</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
are literate, a third of girls are married before they turn 18 (and sometimes forced out of education), the country's
</span><a href="http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2017/02/25/maternal-death-rates-in-afghanistan-may-be-worse-than-previously-thought.html"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">maternal mortality
rate</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"> is high, and women's civil liberties are
</span><a href="https://giwps.georgetown.edu/country/afghanistan/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">overall restricted</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">10/10
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.15pt">1. Syrian Arab Republic<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><img border="0" width="750" height="563" id="Picture_x0020_12" src="cid:image010.jpg@01D43D56.4BC21780" alt="1. Syrian Arab Republic"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529;letter-spacing:-.25pt">A woman waits to receive humanitarian aid distributed by the Red Crescent, in Mersewa village, in the greater Afrin district, Syria
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#848F91;letter-spacing:-.25pt">Emrah Gurel / AP
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">Since March 2011,
</span><a href="https://giwps.georgetown.edu/country/syrian-arab-republic/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">Syria</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
has been engulfed in what </span><a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=146"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">has been referred to</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
as "the worst humanitarian disaster of our time." </span><a href="https://globalvoices.org/2018/02/20/themtoo-syrian-women-tell-stories-of-rape-in-regime-prisons/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">Rape
and torture in secret prisons, malnutrition</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">, and
</span><a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/urgent-call-address-gender-based-violence-syria-enar"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">gender-based violence</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">
is reportedly an everyday reality. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">"Gender-based violence continues to undermine the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims in Syria,"
</span><a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/urgent-call-address-gender-based-violence-syria-enar"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#185F7D;text-decoration:none">said Panos Moumtzis</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#212529">,
the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator (RHC) for the Syria Crisis. "It's imperative we do more."
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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