Nov 02 (Japan Times) - Japan was placed at 114th in the World Economic Forum’s global gender equality rankings for 2017 released Thursday, down from 111th last year and the worst standing among the Group of Seven major economies.
The fall chiefly reflected a decline in the political empowerment of women in the country, the Geneva-based think tank said.
The WEF survey, covering 144 countries, measures gender equality by analyzing women's participation rates and gaps between men and women in the categories of politics, the economy, education and health.
Japan's rating improved in educational attainment because more women were enrolled in higher education. In economic participation and opportunity, it rose to 114th from 118th due to a narrower income gap.
However, Japan fell from 103rd to 123rd in political empowerment due to low proportions of female lawmakers and Cabinet ministers.
Iceland topped the rankings for the ninth straight year, followed by Norway and Finland, according to the WEF, the organizer of the annual Davos meeting of business and political leaders.
Rwanda came fourth, up from fifth, thanks to a rise in women's economic participation.
The WEF warned that the global gender gap is now widening, following a decade of slow progress toward parity between the sexes.
In recent years, women have made significant progress toward equality in a number of areas such as education and health, with the Nordic countries leading the fray.
But the global trend now seems to have made a U-turn, especially in workplaces, where full gender equality is not expected to materialize until 2234.
