8 Worst Countries for Women in 2026, According to Global Safety and Equality Data

For millions of women, inequality is not simply a smaller paycheck or fewer seats in government. It can mean giving birth without medical care, living within reach of armed conflict, being denied an education, or having nowhere safe to report abuse.

The 2025/26 Women, Peace and Security Index ranks 181 countries by women’s inclusion, access to justice, and security. It uses 13 indicators covering education, employment, financial access, legal discrimination, maternal mortality, intimate partner violence, community safety, and exposure to conflict. Scores range from zero to one, with a lower score reflecting worse conditions for women.

The eight countries below occupy the bottom of that latest ranking. Most of the underlying figures were collected in 2024 or earlier because international data often arrive slowly, although the index includes 2025 parliamentary data and qualitative updates.

More recent United Nations reports show that war, displacement, service cuts, and political restrictions have continued to deepen the pressure on women in several of these countries.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan ranks last with a Women, Peace and Security score of 0.279. The index estimates that women average only 1.2 years of education, just 4.7 percent have access to financial services, and only 25 percent say they feel safe in their communities. It also records a maternal mortality ratio of 521 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The statistics reflect a system in which girls are barred from secondary school, and women are excluded from universities and much of the workforce. UN Women reported that nearly 80 percent of Afghan women ages 18 to 29 were not in education, employment, or training, while only one in four women was working or looking for work. Restrictions on movement, employment, and public participation have turned everyday activities into obstacles that men do not face.

Yemen

Yemen is second from the bottom with a score of 0.323. Only 5.4 percent of women have financial access, female employment stands at 5.5 percent, and women hold just 0.3 percent of parliamentary seats in the index data. More than 71 percent of women live within 50 kilometers of armed conflict.

The damage reaches women at the most vulnerable moments of their lives. UNFPA estimated that 9.6 million women and girls needed lifesaving reproductive health or gender-based violence services in 2025, while more than 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women faced acute malnutrition. Funding cuts also forced the closure of 54 health facilities and 10 safe spaces for women and girls, leaving many communities with even fewer places to seek help.

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic ranks 179th with a score of 0.362. Women average only 2.6 years of schooling, fewer than 10 percent have financial access, and the country records 692 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. About 86 percent of women live near armed conflict, one of the highest proportions in the index.

Conflict and repeated displacement have made weak public services even harder to reach. UN Women reported that 2.4 million people needed humanitarian assistance in 2025, including 442,000 displaced people, and that women and girls represented around 60 percent of those affected. Rural women face particular pressure because insecurity can take away farmland, income, health services, and safe routes to local markets at the same time.

Syria

Syria scores 0.364, placing it 178th. Just 17 percent of women told researchers they felt safe in their communities, the lowest community-safety result among the eight countries on this list. An estimated 97 percent of Syrian women also live within 50 kilometers of conflict.

Years of violence and displacement have left many women responsible for supporting families while facing limited work, legal, and housing protections. UN Women’s country data point to continuing discrimination in marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance, and freedom of movement. Displaced women and girls also face increased exposure to trafficking, forced marriage, exploitation, and gender-based violence.

Sudan

Sudan ranks 177th with a score of 0.397. The index records female employment at only 15.6 percent, financial inclusion at 10 percent, and maternal mortality at 256 deaths per 100,000 live births. Roughly 63 percent of women live close to armed conflict.

Conditions have deteriorated further as the war has continued. By April 2026, UN Women estimated that 17.1 million women and girls needed humanitarian assistance and 4.3 million were internally displaced. The number needing support related to sexual and gender-based violence had quadrupled since before the war, while women-led groups reported rising sexual violence and collapsing access to food, healthcare, and shelter.

Haiti

Haiti ranks 176th with a score of 0.399. Women hold only 2.5 percent of parliamentary positions in the index data, while maternal mortality stands at 328 deaths per 100,000 live births. Only 45 percent of women report feeling safe in their communities, and nearly 82 percent live close to conflict or organized violence.

Armed-group violence has displaced families and restricted access to hospitals, mobile clinics, and protection services. UNFPA reported that violence escalated sharply in several departments during late 2025, with women and girls facing kidnappings, killings, displacement, and limited healthcare. The agency received just 14 percent of the funding it needed for reproductive health and gender-based violence programs that year.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks 175th with a score of 0.405. The index estimates that 35.6 percent of women experienced recent intimate partner violence, the highest figure among the eight countries listed here. Maternal mortality remains high at 427 deaths per 100,000 live births, while only 45 percent of women say they feel safe in their communities.

Women in eastern Congo face additional danger from armed groups, displacement, hunger, and attacks on health facilities. The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office recorded 1,534 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025, while warning that stigma and fear probably kept many incidents unreported. UN officials have described sexual violence as a tactic used to terrorize and punish civilian communities.

Burundi

Burundi places 174th with a score of 0.407. Its female employment rate appears comparatively high at nearly 90 percent, but that number does not show whether the work is secure, properly paid, or protected by labor rights. Women average only 2.8 years of education, just 6.7 percent have financial access, and maternal mortality stands at 392 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The country is also absorbing pressure from conflict in neighboring eastern Congo. More than 64,000 refugees had crossed into Burundi by March 2025, most of them women and children, including about 2,500 pregnant women. The influx placed additional strain on an already fragile health system and increased the need for emergency obstetric care, protection services, and safe spaces for women and girls.

The pattern connecting these countries is difficult to ignore. Every one of the 12 lowest-ranked nations in the full index is classified as a fragile state, and nearly three in four women across those countries live close to armed conflict. Fewer than half feel safe in their communities, while more than one in five experienced recent intimate partner violence.

Yet these rankings should not reduce women to victims or countries to stereotypes. Women across Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, Haiti, Congo, Burundi, Syria, and the Central African Republic continue to run businesses, organize relief, document abuses, protect families, and build peace. The data reveal how severely institutions have failed them, but their courage reveals how much remains possible when women receive safety, resources, and a genuine voice in their countries’ futures.