Women should be given the right to have as many or as few children as they like. These countries prevent women exercising this right by stopping access to contraception: Chad; Equatorial Guinea; Gabon; Greece; Ireland; Kampuchea; Laos; Libya; Malawi; Malta and Saudi Arabia.

Government positions on Contraceptive Services

Source: International Planned Parenthood Federation Policy Analysis Unit, 1979.

Women get paid less than men. Women’s average earnings as a percentage of men’s, in manufacturing industry, 1982.

Source: ILO Year Book ofLabor Statistics, various editions, US Bureau of the Census, various editions.

Women are less likely to be promoted than men.

Teaching staff in England and Wales

Source: Department of Education and Science statistics.

Women do not have the same rights as men in voting, buying or owning property, getting jobs or getting married. Only some countries have passed laws which try to amend this situation.

Percentages of countries which have not passed equal rights laws.

B: Sexual equality provisions - these are laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, and require equality before the law regardless of sex.

C: Civil, political, economic, social and cultural affairs - these are provisions that extend sexual equality provisions, so attempting to remove some of the obstacles that cause inequality between men and women.

D: Marriage and the family - these are provisions that prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex in marriage and/or the family - for example in the choice of name, in guardianship of children or in disposal of property.

E: Employment - those constitutional provisions that prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex in employment, including equal access to jobs and equal opportunities for training and advancement.

Source: International Planned Parenthood Federation, 1985.

Women are frequently subjected to male violence - in the home or on the streets.  In a Leeds study 59% of the women questioned had experienced violence to themselves in the past year, and 47% had witnessed violence to other women. This table indicates how many of these incidents were reported to the police.

Source: Jalna Hanmer and Sheila Saunders in the Public and the Private, Eva Gamarnikow (Ed).

Other statistics show that

. 75% of murdered women were killed by a husband or boyfriend.

. 25% of all violent crimes reported during one year in Glasgow were assaults against wives or girlfriends.

. Approximately 1 in 100 married women are victims of domestic violence.

Sources: Select Committee on Violence in Marriage, 1975, Jane Root, Pictures of Women: Sexuality.

Most women challenge the idea of conventionally-defined success. They place high value on aspects of life which are usually defined as means - such as being convivial - and lower value on those areas - such as career advancement - which are conventionally seen as ends.

The proportions of working women rating seven different aspects of their jobs as ‘essential’ or ‘very important'.

Work you like doing	91%
Friendly people to work with	86%
A secure job	76%
CoRvenient hours of work	75%
A good rate of pay	74%
An easy journey to work	59%
Good prospects	49%

Source: Department of Employment Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, 1980.

There are many areas in which women work harder than men, and for less reward. Housework is a typical example. Men must share work in the home if women’s equality is to be achieved.

70 young women were asked which members of their families regularly did housework (figures in percentages).

Source: Typical Girls?, Christine Griffin, 1985.