The Americas
Which Countries are Best at Human Rights, Tolerance and Equality?

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2020)1,2
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank1,2
1	Canada	21.2
2	Uruguay	26.7
3	Costa Rica	36.7
4	Chile	40.1
5	Argentina	43.8
6	USA	47.4
7	Brazil	52.3
8	Bolivia	53.8
9	Peru	54.0
10	Mexico	56.6
	...
33	St Lucia	116.3
34	St Kitts & Nevis	123.4
35	Grenada	128.6
	The Americas Avg	74.2
	World Avg	87.7
q=35.

The Americas encompass countries that range widely on economic and democratic scales; from the well-developed to the politically anarchic; from the rich to the poor. It's far from the case that rich countries can afford to put more effort into human rights, tolerance and equality, compared with poor countries. Statistical analysis shows that these areas of development are largely a result of cultural factors and popular willpower, rather than wealth. The best countries in The Americas at protecting human rights, engendering tolerance and supporting equality, are Canada, Uruguay and Costa Rica. The worst countries are Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis and St Lucia.

1. Results by Country
2. Human Rights & Tolerance
   1. Human Rights Watch Comments
   2. Nominal Commitment to HR
   3. HR Treaties Lag
   4. Personal, Civil & Economic Freedom
   5. Press Freedom
   6. Slavery
3. Gender Equality
   1. Gender Inequality
   2. Gender Biases
   3. Year Women Can Vote
4. Prejudice
   1. Anti-Semite Opinions
   2. LGBT Equality
   3. Freedom of Thought
5. Links

---

1. Results by Country

#equality #gender_equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #tolerance

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2020)1,2
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank1,2
1	Canada	21.2
2	Uruguay	26.7
3	Costa Rica	36.7
4	Chile	40.1
5	Argentina	43.8
6	USA	47.4
7	Brazil	52.3
8	Bolivia	53.8
9	Peru	54.0
10	Mexico	56.6
11	Ecuador	58.1
12	Panama	59.9
13	Guatemala	63.0
14	Colombia	64.4
15	Jamaica	64.6
16	El Salvador	66.9
17	Paraguay	70.5
18	Honduras	72.1
19	Nicaragua	74.5
20	Venezuela	76.7
21	Trinidad & Tobago	81.5
22	Dominican Rep.	83.3
23	Barbados	85.3
24	Haiti	86.6
25	Suriname	86.9
26	St Vincent & Grenadines	89.6
27	Belize	94.1
28	Cuba	97.7
29	Guyana	102.9
30	Bahamas	105.3
31	Antigua & Barbuda	105.4
32	Dominica	105.6
33	St Lucia	116.3
34	St Kitts & Nevis	123.4
35	Grenada	128.6
	The Americas Avg	74.2
q=35.

The best countries in the world at ensuring human rights, fostering equality and promoting tolerance, are Sweden, Norway and Denmark₁. These countries are displaying the best traits that humanity has to offer. The worst countries are The Solomon Islands, Somalia and Tuvalu₁.

The data sets used to calculate points for each country are statistics on commentary in Human Rights Watch reports, its nominal commitment to Human Rights, speed of uptake of HR treaties, supporting personal, civil & economic freedoms, supporting press freedom, eliminating modern slavery, opposing gender inequality, the rate of gender bias (from 7 indicators), the year from which women could participate in democracy, its success in fighting anti-semitic prejudice, LGBT equality and freethought. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Baltic States and Europe₁, whereas the worst are Melanesia, Micronesia and Australasia₁.

For more, see:

• "Which are the Best Countries for Human Rights, Equality and Tolerance?" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

The table on the right shows the full results list for The Americas.

Compare The Americas to other regions of the world: Compare International Statistics by Region and Continent.

2. Human Rights & Tolerance

2.1. Human Rights Watch Comments

#human_rights

Human Rights Watch Comments (2017)3
Pos.		Higher is better Score3
1	Canada	8
2	USA	4
3	Chile	2
4	Paraguay	1
5	Costa Rica	1
6	Panama	1
7	Guatemala	-1
8	Peru	-1
9	Honduras	-1
10	Argentina	-2
11	Brazil	-2
12	Mexico	-2
13	Haiti	-2
14	Ecuador	-3
15	Colombia	-3
16	Bolivia	-3
17	Venezuela	-5
18	Cuba	-6
	The Americas Avg	-0.8
	World Avg	-1.9
q=18.

Human Rights Watch comments concentrate mostly on negative issues, however, they also make positive comments for those countries that engage in human rights defence around the world, or who make improvements at home. By adding up positive and negative comments (including double-points for negatives that involve large scales and crimes against humanity), the Social and Moral Index turns HRW commentary into quantified values. Some countries may be unfairly penalized because HRW have not examined them, and, some countries "get away" with abuses if they manage to hide it, or if it goes unnoticed - a negative point has been given for those countries in which HRW specifically state that access to investigators has been barred. The points were limited to a minimum of -10 because there are some points at which things are so bad, with abuses affecting so many, it is difficult to be more specific about the depths of the issues.

2.2. Nominal Commitment to HR

#human_rights

Nominal Commitment to HR (2009)4
Pos.		Higher is better Treaties4
1	Argentina	24
2	Uruguay	23
3	Paraguay	23
4	Peru	23
5	Mexico	23
6	Ecuador	23
7	Chile	23
8	Costa Rica	23
9	Guatemala	21
10	Bolivia	21
11	Brazil	21
12	Panama	20
13	Honduras	20
14	Venezuela	19
15	Canada	19
16	Nicaragua	19
17	Colombia	19
18	El Salvador	18
19	Belize	16
20	St Vincent & Grenadines	15
21	Dominican Rep.	14
22	Jamaica	14
23	Antigua & Barbuda	13
24	Dominica	12
25	Haiti	12
26	Trinidad & Tobago	12
27	Suriname	12
28	Bahamas	11
29	Barbados	11
30	Guyana	11
31	Cuba	11
32	St Kitts & Nevis	9
33	USA	8
34	Grenada	7
35	St Lucia	6
	The Americas Avg	16.5
	World Avg	15.1
q=35.

There are many international agreements on human rights, and, many mechanisms by which countries can be brought to account for their actions. Together, these have been the biggest historical movement in the fight against oppression and inhumanity. Or, putting it another way: these are rejected mostly by those who wish to oppress inhumanely. None of them are perfect and many people object to various components and wordings, but, no-one has come up with, and enforced, better methods of controlling the occasional desires that states and peoples have of causing angst for other states and peoples in a violent, unjust or inhumane way. Points are awarded for the number of human rights agreements ratified by the country, plus the acceptance of the petition mechanisms for disputes. The maximum possible score in 2009 was 24.

2.3. HR Treaties Lag

#human_rights #international_law #micronesia #politics #small_islands

HR Treaties Lag (2019)5
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Yrs/Treaty5
1	Ecuador	2.15
2	Uruguay	2.25
3	Colombia	3.68
4	Costa Rica	4.05
5	Mexico	4.08
6	Chile	4.12
7	Panama	4.26
8	Peru	4.64
9	Canada	5.73
10	Argentina	5.90
11	Venezuela	6.51
12	Bolivia	6.70
13	El Salvador	6.80
14	Brazil	7.36
15	Jamaica	7.61
16	Honduras	7.64
17	Cuba	7.80
18	Guyana	7.85
19	Nicaragua	8.10
20	Guatemala	8.10
21	Paraguay	8.78
22	Belize	8.88
23	Barbados	9.94
24	St Vincent & Grenadines	9.98
25	Dominican Rep.	10.24
26	Dominica	11.14
27	Trinidad & Tobago	12.26
28	Haiti	12.61
29	Antigua & Barbuda	12.76
30	Suriname	12.81
31	Grenada	13.86
32	Bahamas	13.93
33	St Lucia	14.11
34	USA	14.23
35	St Kitts & Nevis	15.00
	The Americas Avg	8.45
	World Avg	10.02
q=35.

Human Rights (HR) Treaties Lag is a count of how long it took each country to sign each of 11 key HR treaties. From the date of the first signatory of each treaty, all other countries have one point added to their score for each day they delayed in signing. Results are presented as average time in years to sign each one. The lower a country's score, the more enthusiastically it has taken on international Human Rights Treaties - which are, of course, minimal standards of good governance. The slowest are the countries of Micronesia, Melanesia, Australasia and Polynesia all lagged by over 12 years per treaty. The best regions are The Americas, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.

For more, see:

• "Which are the Best Countries for Human Rights, Equality and Tolerance?" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

2.4. Personal, Civil & Economic Freedom

#freedom #politics

Personal, Civil & Economic Freedom (2014)6
Pos.		Lower is better Rank6
1	Canada	6
2	USA	23
3	Chile	29
4	Costa Rica	38
5	Uruguay	42
6	Panama	46
7	Bahamas	48
8	Peru	53
9	Suriname	55
10	El Salvador	58
11	Jamaica	60
12	Haiti	61
13	Dominican Rep.	63
14	Guatemala	68
15	Bolivia	71
16	Nicaragua	76
17	Mexico	77
18	Paraguay	77
19	Trinidad & Tobago	79
20	Brazil	82
21	Barbados	85
22	Ecuador	97
23	Honduras	101
24	Argentina	103
25	Colombia	111
26	Guyana	126
27	Belize	138
28	Venezuela	154
	The Americas Avg	72.4
	World Avg	79.7
q=28.

The Human Freedom Index published by the Fraser Institute is...

“... a broad measure of human freedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. It uses 79 distinct indicators of personal and economic freedom in the following areas: Rule of Law, Security and Safety, Movement, Religion, Association, Assembly, and Civil Society, Expression, Relationships, Size of Government, Legal System and Property Rights, Access to Sound Money, Freedom to Trade Internationally, Regulation of Credit, Labor, and Business. [...]

The highest levels of freedom are in Western Europe, Northern Europe, and North America (Canada and the United States. The lowest levels are in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. [...]

Countries in the top quartile of freedom enjoy a significant higher per capita income ($37,147) [compared with] the least-free quartile [at] $8,700). The HFI finds a strong correlation between human freedom and democracy.”

"The Human Freedom Index" by The Fraser Institute (2016)₇

2.5. Press Freedom

#democracy #freedom #mass_media #politics #UK

Press Freedom (2013)8
Pos.		Lower is better8
1	Jamaica	988
2	Costa Rica	1208
3	Canada	1269
4	Uruguay	1592
5	Suriname	1819
6	USA	1822
7	El Salvador	2286
8	Trinidad & Tobago	2312
9	Haiti	2409
10	Argentina	2567
11	Chile	2624
12	Guyana	2708
13	Nicaragua	2831
14	Dominican Rep.	2834
15	Paraguay	2878
16	Guatemala	2939
17	Peru	3187
18	Brazil	3275
19	Bolivia	3280
20	Panama	3295
21	Venezuela	3444
22	Ecuador	3469
23	Honduras	3692
24	Colombia	3748
25	Mexico	4530
26	Cuba	7164
	The Americas Avg	2853
	World Avg	3249
q=26.

The freedom to investigate, publish information, and have access to others' opinion is a fundamental part of today's information-driven world. Scores on the Press Freedom Index are calculated according to indicators including pluralism - the degree to which opinions are represented in the media, media independence of authorities, self-censorship, legislation, transparency and the infrastructure that supports news and information, and, the level of violence against journalists which includes lengths of imprisonments. The index "does not take direct account of the kind of political system but it is clear that democracies provide better protection for the freedom to produce and circulate accurate news and information than countries where human rights are flouted".

It must be noted that press freedom is not an indicator of press quality and the press itself can be abusive; the UK suffers in particular from a popular brand of nasty reporting that infuses several of its newspapers who are particularly prone to running destructive and often untrue campaigns against victims. The Press Freedom Index notes that "the index should in no way be taken as an indicator of the quality of the media in the countries concerned".

2.6. Slavery

#burundi #eritrea #france #human_rights #indonesia #slavery

Slavery (2018)9
Pos.		Lower is better % Victims9
1	Canada	0.05
2	Chile	0.08
3	Uruguay	0.10
4	Argentina	0.13
5	Costa Rica	0.13
6	USA	0.13
7	Paraguay	0.16
8	Brazil	0.18
9	Bolivia	0.21
10	Panama	0.21
11	Suriname	0.23
12	Ecuador	0.24
13	El Salvador	0.25
14	Peru	0.26
15	Guyana	0.26
16	Jamaica	0.26
17	Barbados	0.27
18	Colombia	0.27
19	Mexico	0.27
20	Guatemala	0.29
21	Nicaragua	0.29
22	Trinidad & Tobago	0.30
23	Honduras	0.34
24	Cuba	0.38
25	Dominican Rep.	0.40
26	Venezuela	0.56
27	Haiti	0.56
	The Americas Avg	0.25
	World Avg	0.65
q=27.

The taking of slaves has been an unwholesome feature of Human cultures since prehistory₁₀. Private households and national endeavours have frequently been augmented with the use of slaves. The Egyptian and Roman empires both thrived on them for both purposes. Aside from labourers they are often abused sexually by their owners and their owners' friends₁₁. The era of colonialism and the beginnings of globalisation changed nothing: the imprisonment and forced movements of labour continued to destroy many lives except that new justifications were invented based on Christian doctrine and the effort to convert non-Christians. By 1786 over 12 million slaves had been extracted from Africa and sent to colonial labour camps, with a truly atrocious condition of life₁₂. But they were not the only ones to blame; in Africa internal nations such as the Asantes sold and bought tens of thousands of slaves₁₃.

The abolition of the slave trade was a long and slow process. Until a relatively modern time, even philosophers, religious leaders and those concerned with ethics justified, or ignored, the problem of slavery₁₄. The first abolitionists were always the slaves themselves. Their protests and rebellions caused the industry to become too expensive to continue. After that, it was the economic costs of maintain slave colonies that led the British to reject and then oppose the slave trade globally. Finally, the enlightenment-era thinkers of France encouraged moral and ethical thinking including the declaration of the inherent value of human life and human dignity₁₅. A long-overdue wave of compassionate and conscientious movements swept across the West, eliminating public support for slavery, until the industries and churches that supported it had no choice but to back down.

'Modern slavery' includes forced labour (often of the under-age), debt bondage (especially generational), sexual slavery, chattel slavery and other forms of abuse, some of which can be surprisingly difficult to detect, but often target those fleeing from warzones and the vulnerable.₁₆. Some industries (diamond, clothing, coal) from some countries (Burundi₉, Eritrea₉, Indonesia₁₇) are a particular concern. The Walk Free Foundation, say that in 2016, 40.3 million people were living in modern slavery₁₈.

For more, see:

• "The Historical Slave Trade and Modern Slavery" by Vexen Crabtree (2018).

See:

• Religion and Abolition of the Historical Slave Trade

3. Gender Equality

3.1. Gender Inequality

#gender #gender_equality #human_rights #misogyny #women

Gender Inequality (2015)19
Pos.		Lower is better19
1	Canada	0.10
2	USA	0.20
3	Uruguay	0.28
4	Barbados	0.29
5	Cuba	0.30
6	Costa Rica	0.31
7	Chile	0.32
8	Trinidad & Tobago	0.32
9	Mexico	0.35
10	St Lucia	0.35
11	Argentina	0.36
12	Bahamas	0.36
13	Belize	0.38
14	El Salvador	0.38
15	Peru	0.39
16	Ecuador	0.39
17	Colombia	0.39
18	Brazil	0.41
19	Jamaica	0.42
20	Bolivia	0.45
21	Suriname	0.45
22	Panama	0.46
23	Honduras	0.46
24	Venezuela	0.46
25	Nicaragua	0.46
26	Paraguay	0.46
27	Dominican Rep.	0.47
28	Guatemala	0.49
29	Guyana	0.51
30	Haiti	0.59
	The Americas Avg	0.39
	World Avg	0.36
q=30.

The UN Human Development Reports include statistics on gender equality which take into account things like maternal mortality, access to political power (seats in parliament) and differences between male and female education rates. Gender inequality is not a necessary part of early human development. Although a separation of roles is almost universal due to different strengths between the genders, this does not have to mean that women are subdued, and, such patriarchalism is not universal in ancient history. Those cultures and peoples who shed, or never developed, the idea that mankind ought to dominate womankind, are better cultures and peoples than those who, even today, cling violently to those mores.

For more, see:

• "Gender Equality" by Vexen Crabtree (2023).

See:

• Gender Equality

3.2. Gender Biases

#gender #gender_equality #prejudice #women

Gender Biases (2022)20
Pos.		Lower is better %20
1	Canada	41.121
2	USA	50.721
3	Argentina	74.321
4	Uruguay	78.622
5	Chile	79.921
6	Brazil	86.321
7	Trinidad & Tobago	87.422
8	Peru	89.121
9	Guatemala	89.621
10	Mexico	90.221
11	Colombia	91.221
12	Bolivia	91.321
13	Ecuador	92.321
14	Venezuela	92.421
15	Nicaragua	93.221
16	Haiti	98.922
	The Americas Avg	82.90
	World Avg	83.93
q=16.

The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) looks at gender biases across seven criteria; the % given here is for the total people who are biased across any of those criteria. By subtracting the value from 100%, you can see that those who do well on this index, you are seeing a count of those who do not appear to be biased against women in any of the criteria, and so, doing well on this index is a very positive sign for any country.

The data was included in UN (2022) with full results in Annex table AS6.7.1; their data stems for ranges between 2005 and 2022, depending on the country in question.

See:

• Gender Equality

3.3. Year Women Can Vote

#christianity #gender_equality #human_rights #politics #women

Year Women Can Vote
Pos.		Lower is better Year
1	USA	1920
2	Canada	1920
3	St Lucia	1924
4	Uruguay	1932
5	Brazil	1934
6	Cuba	1934
7	Dominican Rep.	1942
8	Jamaica	1944
9	Bermuda	1944
10	Panama	1946
11	Trinidad & Tobago	1946
12	Guatemala	1946
13	Venezuela	1946
14	Argentina	1947
15	Suriname	1948
16	Chile	1949
17	Costa Rica	1949
18	Haiti	1950
19	Barbados	1950
20	Grenada	1951
21	Dominica	1951
22	St Kitts & Nevis	1951
23	St Vincent & Grenadines	1951
24	Antigua & Barbuda	1951
25	Bolivia	1952
26	Mexico	1953
27	Guyana	1953
28	Colombia	1954
29	Belize	1954
30	Honduras	1955
31	Nicaragua	1955
32	Peru	1955
33	El Salvador	1961
34	Paraguay	1961
35	Bahamas	1963
36	Ecuador	1967
	The Americas Avg	1947
	World Avg	1930
q=36.

Women now have equal rights in the vast majority of countries across the world. Although academic literature oftens talks of when a country "grants women the right to vote", this enforces a backwards way of thinking. Women always had the right to vote, however, they were frequently denied that right. The opposition to women's ability to vote in equality with man was most consistently and powerfully opposed by the Catholic Church, other Christian organisations, Islamic authorities and some other religious and secular traditionalists.

For more, see:

• "Gender Equality" by Vexen Crabtree (2023).

See:

• Gender Equality

4. Prejudice

4.1. Anti-Semite Opinions

#antisemitism #christianity #germany #indonesia #israel #jordan #judaism #laos #morocco #netherlands #pakistan #philippines #religion #religious_violence #saudi_arabia #spain #sweden #turkey #UK #vietnam

Anti-Semite Opinions (2014)23
Pos.		Lower is better %23
1	USA	9
2	Canada	14
3	Brazil	16
4	Jamaica	18
5	Mexico	24
6	Argentina	24
7	Trinidad & Tobago	24
8	Haiti	26
9	Bolivia	30
10	Venezuela	30
11	Costa Rica	32
12	Uruguay	33
13	Nicaragua	34
14	Paraguay	35
15	Guatemala	36
16	Chile	37
17	Peru	38
18	Dominican Rep.	41
19	Colombia	41
20	Panama	52
	The Americas Avg	29.7
	World Avg	36.8
q=20.

Anti-Semitism is the world given to irrational racism against Jews. It is not the same as anti-Judaism (involving arguments against the religion) nor the same as anti-Zionism (arguments against Israel). In history, influential Christian theologians concocted the arguments against Jews that led, very early on, to widespread Christian action against Jews_24,25,26,27. As Christianity rose to power in the West and presided over the Dark Ages, there were widespread violent outbursts against Jews of the most persistent and horrible kind. The Crusades were frequently aimed at them and the feared Spanish Inquisition paid Jews particular attention. The horror of the holocaust instigated by German Nazis in the 1940s was followed (finally) by the era of European human rights and a movement against racism in general.

The places that are the least anti-Semitical are a few countries of south-east Asia (Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam) and some of the secular liberal democracies of Europe (Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK). The worst countries for antisemitism are Islamic states of the Middle East₂₈, which are undergoing their own Dark Age. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey see the most oppressive and violent actions towards Jews_29,30. Jews in Muslim countries face a host of restrictions and "ceaseless humiliation and regular pogroms"₃₁. In 2004 the European Union Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia reported on violent anti-Jew crimes in the EU and found that that largest group of perpetrators were young Muslim males₃₂.

For more, see:

• "Anti-Semitism" by Vexen Crabtree (2017).

See:

• Anti-Semitism

4.2. LGBT Equality

#equality #homosexuality #human_rights #intolerance #sexuality #tolerance

LGBT Equality (2017)33
Pos.		Higher is better Score33
1	Brazil	81
2	Uruguay	77
3	Mexico	70
4	Argentina	69
5	Canada	62
6	Colombia	58
7	Peru	50
8	Ecuador	50
9	Bolivia	45
10	Honduras	45
11	USA	44
12	Nicaragua	35
13	Guatemala	35
14	El Salvador	35
15	Suriname	30
16	Costa Rica	30
17	Venezuela	30
18	Panama	25
19	Cuba	25
20	Chile	25
21	Dominican Rep.	25
22	Paraguay	20
23	Haiti	15
24	Belize	15
25	Bahamas	10
26	Jamaica	-5
27	Grenada	-5
28	Dominica	-5
29	Guyana	-5
30	St Lucia	-9
31	St Vincent & Grenadines	-10
32	Antigua & Barbuda	-10
33	Trinidad & Tobago	-10
34	Barbados	-10
35	St Kitts & Nevis	-25
	The Americas Avg	26.1
	World Avg	12.6
q=35.

Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) folk is rife across the world. Legal restrictions co-exist alongside social stigmatisation and physical violence₃₄. LGBT tolerance and equal rights have been fought for country-by-country across the world, often against tightly entrenched cultural and religious opposition. Adult consensual sexual activity is a Human Right, protected by privacy laws₃₅. Despite this, homosexual activity is outlawed in around 80 countries₃₄. The Social & Moral LGBT Equality Index was created to compare countries and regions, granting points to each country for a variety of factors including how long gay sex has been criminalized and the extent of LGBT legal rights. Graded negative points are given for criminality of homosexuality, unequal ages of consent, legal punishments and for not signing international accords on LGBT tolerance. The signs in many developed countries are positive, and things are gradually improving. Europe is by far the least prejudiced region (Scandinavia in particular being exemplary). The Middle East and then Africa are the least morally developed, where cultural bias goes hand-in-hand with state intolerance, all too often including physical violence.

For more, see:

• "LGBT Rights Across the World: Which are the Best and Worst Countries?" by Vexen Crabtree (2017).

See:

• LGBT Rights Across the World: Which are the Best and Worst Countries?

4.3. Freedom of Thought

#europe #freedom_of_belief #freethought #human_rights #netherlands #religion #religious_tolerance #secularism #the_enlightenment

Freedom of Thought (2021)36
Pos.		Lower is better36
1	Ecuador	1.3
2	Bolivia	1.3
3	USA	1.8
4	St Kitts & Nevis	1.8
5	Barbados	2.0
6	Uruguay	2.3
7	St Vincent & Grenadines	2.3
8	Antigua & Barbuda	2.3
9	Chile	2.5
10	Colombia	2.5
11	Bahamas	2.5
12	Costa Rica	2.5
13	Honduras	2.7
14	Venezuela	2.8
15	Canada	2.8
16	Dominica	2.8
17	Argentina	2.8
18	Jamaica	2.8
19	Peru	2.8
20	Haiti	2.8
21	Panama	3.0
22	Guatemala	3.0
23	Grenada	3.0
24	El Salvador	3.0
25	Belize	3.0
26	Mexico	3.0
27	Paraguay	3.3
28	St Lucia	3.3
29	Dominican Rep.	3.3
30	Brazil	3.3
31	Trinidad & Tobago	3.3
32	Nicaragua	3.5
33	Guyana	3.5
34	Suriname	3.5
35	Cuba	4.0
	The Americas Avg	2.7
	World Avg	3.0
q=35.

Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Belief are upheld in Article 18 the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights₃₇. It affirms that it is a basic human right that all people are free to change their beliefs and religion as they wish₃₈. No countries voted against this (although eight abstained). This right was first recognized clearly in the policies of religious toleration of the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe in the post-enlightenment era₃₉ of the 19th century. In democratic countries, freedom of belief and religion is now taken for granted₄₀. In 2016 a study found that over 180 countries in the world had come to guarantee freedom of religion and belief₄₁. The best countries at doing so are Taiwan, Belgium and The Netherlands_36,42 and the worst: Afghanistan, N. Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia_36,43.

Long-term studies have shown that religious violence and persecution both decrease in cultures where religious freedom is guaranteed₄₄. Despite this, there still are many who are strongly against freedom of belief₃₈, including entire cultures and many individual communities of religious believers. Their alternative is that you are not free to believe what you want and they often state that you cannot change religion without being punished (often including the death penalty): this is bemoaned as one of the most dangerous elements of religion₄₅ and "the denial of religious freedoms is inevitably intertwined with the denial of other freedoms"₄₆ and the solution is, everywhere, to allow religious freedom and the freedom of belief.

For more, see:

• "Freethought - Freedom of Belief and Freedom of Religion" by Vexen Crabtree (2022).

See:

• Freethought - Freedom of Belief and Freedom of Religion