Malta’s global ranking on gender equality has slipped further after dropping 15 places last year, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report.
Malta ranks 104 out of 145 countries, surpassed by countries like Azerbaijan (96), Tajikistan (95), Kyrgyz Republic (76), Zimbabwe (57) and Kazakhstan (47) where being born a woman is hardly an occasion to celebrate.
Brunei Darussalam, which ranked 88th (16 points ahead of Malta) last year introduced fines or jail terms for “offences” ranging from indecent behaviour and failure to attend Friday prayers to out-of-wedlock pregnancies. The Sultan will this year introduce punishments, such as death by stoning for offences including sodomy and adultery.
This is the worst position Malta has held in the past five years, with the biggest drops registered under a Labour government that has promised to be “the most feminist in Maltese history”.
Malta is below China (ranked 91), a country that forces professional women to get married, under a policy called ‘Leftover Women’, as well as Belarus (ranked 34), which is a patriarchal dictatorship.
The report, which looks at the gender gap in health, education, politics, economics, and other factors, shows that the gap in 2014 between men and women globally, in terms of health, education, and politics has narrowed by just four per cent in the past decade.
Despite all the hype about efforts to increase female participation in the Labour market, Malta ranked 122 in the sub-index on the economic participation and opportunity, joined by Turkey as the lowest performing countries in Europe and Central Asia region.
When women do manage to enter the labour market or maintain their employment after marriage, they compare relatively well on wage equality. Malta ranked 50th, surpassing countries like Germany (101st), the UK (62nd), Australia (63rd), and the US (74th).
When women do manage to enter the labour market or maintain their employment after marriage, they compare relatively well on wage equality
Malta did achieve top ranking in women’s educational attainment together with another five countries: Honduras, Czech Republic, Brazil, Slovak Republic and Swaziland.
On health and survival, Maltese women’s chances were ranked 108th globally, losing one point since last year. The same rank for women in Ethiopia is 59th, with an abundant diet being one of the factors for health and survival.
Malta lost another 10 points on political empowerment, ranking 86th compared with 76th place last year. Pakistan follows, ranking 87th – a country where women face a dual system of civil and sharia law.
Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli came under fire recently after appearing to defend Labour MP Joe Debono Grech’s threatening language towards Marlene Farrugia who resigned from the PL to become an independent MP.
Dr Dalli had said that if women provoked certain situations they should face the consequences, which led to Dr Farrugia to call for the minister’s resignation. Attempts to reach the Civil Liberties Minister for a reaction were unsuccessful.
There is a long road ahead for gender equality, and not only in Malta. The World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report said it would take the world another 118 years – or until 2133 – to close the gender pay gap entirely.
Globally, women in Nordic countries tend to enjoy more gender equality than in other parts of the world with Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden taking the top four spots on the forum’s list.
Yemen again tops the 10 worst countries for gender equality, followed by Pakistan, Syria, Chad, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Mali and Egypt.
The Sunday Times of Malta contacted several representatives of women’s rights and human rights NGOs for their reaction but most had not yet read the report; others said they were abroad.