Status of Women Around the World: Facts and Figures

Grants from the Global Fund for Women support women’s organizations working to stop violence against women, increase girls’ access to education, advance economic and political opportunity, and improve health.

Violence Against Women and Girls

Every year, an estimated 800,000 people are trafficked across borders for exploitation, the majority in the commercial sex trade. Approximately 80 percent are women and girls.
UNFPA State of World Population, 2005

6,000 girls a day (more than 2 million a year) undergo genital mutilation.
World Health Organization, 2005

Around the world, one woman in five is likely to be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
World Health Organization, 2005

Health Status

Every year, some 14 million adolescent girls give birth. They are two to five times as likely to die owing to pregnancy-related complications than women in their twenties, and their babies are less likely to survive.
UNFPA, 2005

Women in sub-Saharan countries have a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, compared with a 1 in 2800 risk for women from developed countries.
UNIFEM, 2006

In Trinidad and Tobago, the rates of hiv/aids are five times higher for girls than for boys, ages 15-19.
World Health Organization, 2005

Preventing unintended pregnancies through access to family planning could avert 20 to 35 percent of maternal deaths, saving the lives of more than 100,000 mothers each year.
UNFPA, 2005

By the end of 2005, India had surpassed South Africa as the country with the highest number of HIV cases (5.7 million) and highest number of deaths (over 400,000) from AIDS.
United Nations, 2006

Access to Education

2/3 of the world’s 875 million illiterate adults are women.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2005

Every year of a mother’s education corresponds to 5 to 10 percent lower mortality rates in children under the age of five.
UNFPA, 2005

Of girls attending primary school in Afghanistan, only 9 percent continue to secondary school.
Human Rights Watch, 2004

Political Power

Women hold only 14 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide. Only eleven countries have met the un target of 30 percent female decision-makers.
UNIFEM, 2006

In the 21st century, some countries still do not have universal suffrage. Among them are Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Women’s Learning Partnership, 2005

A study of panchayats, the local government councils in India, found that the inclusion of women members has resulted in profound changes, including councils that are more responsive to local demands for better infrastructure, housing, schools and health care.
UNFPA, 2005

Economic Status

Women constitute about 70 percent of the world’s absolute poor—those living on less than a dollar a day.
National Council for Research on Women, 2005

According to the World Bank, in developed countries, women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn, and in developing countries, 73 cents.
UNFPA, 2005

If the value of the unpaid, invisible work done by women − approximately us$11 trillion per year − were included, global output would be almost 50 percent greater.
International Labour Organization, 2005