Spain

Many well-educated women in the cities live in relative equality. In other parts of the country it is more common for women to follow traditional gender roles. During the 20th century Spain experienced periods of dramatic political change.

Spain is not a totally homogenous country. Many well-educated women in the cities live in relative equality. In other parts of the country it is more common for women to follow traditional gender roles. During the 20th century Spain experienced periods of dramatic political change. When the dictator Francisco Franco came to power in 1935, women were deprived of the right to vote, own land, own property, open a bank account, and more. When he died in 1975 there was a pent-up need for justice and equality, and in a short time the country went to the other extreme, and now probably has the strongest legislation in the world against violence against women.

Population: 46 million (2010)

Religions: Christianity (Roman Catholic) 94%; other 6%

Life expectancy: Men 78 years, women 84 years (2011)

Literacy rate: Almost 100%

Income inequality: Gini coefficient 0.32 (2005) *

Ranking on the Transparency International list of Corruption Perceptions in 183 countries: 31 (2011) **

Ranking in the UNDP Human Development Index of 146 countries, taking gender equality into account: 13 (2011) *** 

Maternal deaths: 6 deaths per 100,000 births.

Number of children/woman: 1.47

Abortion legislation: Right to abortion up to the 14th week of pregnancy 

Law against rape within marriage: Yes

Violence against women in close relationships: 400 incidents of violence against women are reported each day. 73 women were killed by their partner/husband during 2010.

* Gini coefficient:
An economic metric of inequality in a population, for example in income distribution. The Gini coefficient has a value of between 0 and 1, where 0 implies that the assets of all individuals are exactly the same (total equality) while 1 represents total inequality. The lower the Gini coefficient for income inequality, the greater the equality of distribution of salaries, profits, welfare benefits and other forms of compensation.

** Corruption:
In 2011, Transparency International ranked 183 countries according to how widespread corruption was in the country. Position 1 on the list showed the country where corruption was least widespread, position 183 the greatest. Corruption within, for example, the police and justice systems has a marked influence on women’s lives.

*** Equality:
Every year, the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, measures human development in the world’s countries taking into account health, education and income, in the Human Development Index, HDI. In 2010 a new index was introduced: GII, Gender Inequality Index, which also takes gender equality into account. The countries are ranked from position 1 downwards.


Sources
:

World Bank
Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Center for Reproductive Rights
CIA World Factbook 
Wikimedia 
Transparency International 
UNDP HDI2011 
UNDP HDR2011 
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
http://www.fundacionmujeres.es/