By Fawaz Adebisi
A new report that measures women’s rights and well-being across the world has ranked Nigeria as one of the top 20 worst countries for women to live in.
The 2023 Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index report placed Nigeria at the 162nd position out of 177 countries, showing a significant decline from the previous edition.
The report, which was jointly published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), evaluated 13 indicators related to women’s inclusion, justice, and security.
These indicators include education, jobs, laws, and organized violence.
According to the report, Nigeria performed poorly in all three categories, especially in security. The report revealed that Nigeria is among the five countries with the most political violence targeting women (PVTW) events in 2022.
These events included attacks by armed groups and identity militias, such as communal militias in Zamfara and Katsina, and rebel groups like Boko Haram.
The report also highlighted that Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, with 917 deaths per 100,000 live births.
This is linked to factors such as child marriage, limited access to contraception, and reproductive health education.
Moreover, the report noted that Nigeria has a low level of women’s representation in parliament, with only 4.5% of seats held by women.
This is partly attributed to the increasing political violence against women.
The report stated that all the bottom 20 countries, including Nigeria, experienced violent conflicts between 2021 and 2022.
Furthermore, 2022 has been identified as the most fatal year for conflict-related deaths since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The top five countries for women to live in are Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland.
The bottom five countries are Afghanistan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan.
