In the newly-released Global Gender Gap Report 2021 by the World Economic Forum, Iran under the rule of the mullahs is ranked 150 in terms of gender gap.
The report, which was released on March 30, 2021, points out that Iran has fallen two other steps over the past year. Iran in 2006 was ranked 108, but after 15 years, it has fallen 42 further steps. Out of 19 countries of the Middle East and North Africa, Iran has the rank of 16.
According to the World Economic Forum report, Iran has a disastrous situation in all areas. If someone does not know the wealth and opportunities of Iran, they might think that this is one of the poorest countries in the world, which is falling year after year in all Indicators of health and gender equality.
The report added: “…On the opposite end of the spectrum, the countries with the largest economic gender gaps are Iran (just 37.5% of the gender gap closed so far).”
The other statistical table of this report indicate that Iran ranked 119 in terms of Educational Attainment, 129 in terms of Health and Survival ranked, and 151 in terms of Political Empowerment.
The report highlights the low level of women’s labor force participation which according to this report is a driver of lack of economic participation. While it said the Middle East’s average women’s participation is 31 percent, it said that seven countries including Iran have the lowest rates in the world with 20 percent or less of women participation in the labor market.
Pointing to another important factor of women’s situation this report said: “Another important factor that limits economic opportunities of women in the region is lack of access to financial assets, including bank accounts. Combined with low presence in the workplace, this drives stark income differences between men and women. Six of the index’s 10 lowest-ranked countries in terms of income gender gaps are in this region. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, a woman’s income is on average only 24% that of a man, and in Egypt, 22%; in Algeria, 19%; in Iran, 18%; in Iraq, 12%; and in Yemen, 7%. Even in Israel, women’s income is only 61% of that of a man.”
About the women’s political participation in Iran the report said: “With the exception of the United Arab Emirates, where there are as many women as men in the parliament, women make up just 18.3% of parliamentarians across the region, and in five countries women represent 6% or less of lower-house members: Yemen (0.3%), Kuwait (1.5%), Oman (2.3%), Lebanon (4.7%) and Iran (5.6%).”
