"Unsurprising in a country that elected an alleged sexual abuser to its highest office."
by Jake Johnson
As the #MeToo movement continues to expose the sexually abusive, exploitative, and violent behavior of men in positions of political and corporate power in America, a new report published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Tuesday found that the United States is among the 10 most dangerous countries in the world for women, in large part due to its high levels of sexual violence.
Based on a survey of nearly 550 experts on women's issues from a variety of professions—including health workers, academics, development professionals, and journalists—the report found that the U.S. is the 10th most dangerous nation for women on the planet, behind Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Somalia, and several other nations.
"The United States ranked as the 10th most dangerous country for women, the only Western nation to appear in the top 10," according to the report, which is based on surveys conducted after the #MeToo movement began to grow rapidly last October.
When experts were asked "which was the most dangerous country for women in terms of sexual violence including rape, sexual harassment, coercion into sex, and the lack of access to justice in rape cases," the U.S. was ranked third.
(Image credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation)
The U.S. was also ranked sixth in non-sexual violence, which includes domestic and psychological abuse:
(Image credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation)
"We try to sell that we are a country of freedom and also of safety, but there are a lot of people in our country that are not safe, and victims of sex assault and domestic violence are certainly in that group," Abby Honold, a sexual assault survivor and activist in Minneapolis, concluded in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Originally appeared on Commondreams.org
