The Human Truth Foundation

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

http://www.humantruth.info/the_americas_human_rights_tolerance_equality.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2022

#equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #The_Americas #tolerance

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2020)1,2
Pos.Lower is better
Avg Rank1,2
1Canada21.2
2Uruguay26.7
3Costa Rica36.7
4Chile40.1
5Argentina43.8
6USA47.4
7Brazil52.3
8Bolivia53.8
9Peru54.0
10Mexico56.6
...
33St Lucia116.3
34St Kitts & Nevis123.4
35Grenada128.6
The Americas Avg74.2
World Avg87.7
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

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

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2020)1,2
Pos.Lower is better
Avg Rank1,2
1Canada21.2
2Uruguay26.7
3Costa Rica36.7
4Chile40.1
5Argentina43.8
6USA47.4
7Brazil52.3
8Bolivia53.8
9Peru54.0
10Mexico56.6
11Ecuador58.1
12Panama59.9
13Guatemala63.0
14Colombia64.4
15Jamaica64.6
16El Salvador66.9
17Paraguay70.5
18Honduras72.1
19Nicaragua74.5
20Venezuela76.7
21Trinidad & Tobago81.5
22Dominican Rep.83.3
23Barbados85.3
24Haiti86.6
25Suriname86.9
26St Vincent & Grenadines89.6
27Belize94.1
28Cuba97.7
29Guyana102.9
30Bahamas105.3
31Antigua & Barbuda105.4
32Dominica105.6
33St Lucia116.3
34St Kitts & Nevis123.4
35Grenada128.6
The Americas Avg74.2
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:

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
1Canada8
2USA4
3Chile2
4Paraguay1
5Costa Rica1
6Panama1
7Guatemala-1
8Peru-1
9Honduras-1
10Argentina-2
11Brazil-2
12Mexico-2
13Haiti-2
14Ecuador-3
15Colombia-3
16Bolivia-3
17Venezuela-5
18Cuba-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
1Argentina24
2Uruguay23
3Paraguay23
4Peru23
5Mexico23
6Ecuador23
7Chile23
8Costa Rica23
9Guatemala21
10Bolivia21
11Brazil21
12Panama20
13Honduras20
14Venezuela19
15Canada19
16Nicaragua19
17Colombia19
18El Salvador18
19Belize16
20St Vincent & Grenadines15
21Dominican Rep.14
22Jamaica14
23Antigua & Barbuda13
24Dominica12
25Haiti12
26Trinidad & Tobago12
27Suriname12
28Bahamas11
29Barbados11
30Guyana11
31Cuba11
32St Kitts & Nevis9
33USA8
34Grenada7
35St Lucia6
The Americas Avg16.5
World Avg15.1
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
1Ecuador2.15
2Uruguay2.25
3Colombia3.68
4Costa Rica4.05
5Mexico4.08
6Chile4.12
7Panama4.26
8Peru4.64
9Canada5.73
10Argentina5.90
11Venezuela6.51
12Bolivia6.70
13El Salvador6.80
14Brazil7.36
15Jamaica7.61
16Honduras7.64
17Cuba7.80
18Guyana7.85
19Nicaragua8.10
20Guatemala8.10
21Paraguay8.78
22Belize8.88
23Barbados9.94
24St Vincent & Grenadines9.98
25Dominican Rep.10.24
26Dominica11.14
27Trinidad & Tobago12.26
28Haiti12.61
29Antigua & Barbuda12.76
30Suriname12.81
31Grenada13.86
32Bahamas13.93
33St Lucia14.11
34USA14.23
35St Kitts & Nevis15.00
The Americas Avg8.45
World Avg10.02
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:

2.4. Personal, Civil & Economic Freedom

#freedom #politics

Personal, Civil & Economic Freedom (2014)6
Pos.Lower is better
Rank6
1Canada6
2USA23
3Chile29
4Costa Rica38
5Uruguay42
6Panama46
7Bahamas48
8Peru53
9Suriname55
10El Salvador58
11Jamaica60
12Haiti61
13Dominican Rep.63
14Guatemala68
15Bolivia71
16Nicaragua76
17Mexico77
18Paraguay77
19Trinidad & Tobago79
20Brazil82
21Barbados85
22Ecuador97
23Honduras101
24Argentina103
25Colombia111
26Guyana126
27Belize138
28Venezuela154
The Americas Avg72.4
World Avg79.7
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
1Jamaica988
2Costa Rica1208
3Canada1269
4Uruguay1592
5Suriname1819
6USA1822
7El Salvador2286
8Trinidad & Tobago2312
9Haiti2409
10Argentina2567
11Chile2624
12Guyana2708
13Nicaragua2831
14Dominican Rep.2834
15Paraguay2878
16Guatemala2939
17Peru3187
18Brazil3275
19Bolivia3280
20Panama3295
21Venezuela3444
22Ecuador3469
23Honduras3692
24Colombia3748
25Mexico4530
26Cuba7164
The Americas Avg2853
World Avg3249
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
1Canada0.05
2Chile0.08
3Uruguay0.10
4Argentina0.13
5Costa Rica0.13
6USA0.13
7Paraguay0.16
8Brazil0.18
9Bolivia0.21
10Panama0.21
11Suriname0.23
12Ecuador0.24
13El Salvador0.25
14Peru0.26
15Guyana0.26
16Jamaica0.26
17Barbados0.27
18Colombia0.27
19Mexico0.27
20Guatemala0.29
21Nicaragua0.29
22Trinidad & Tobago0.30
23Honduras0.34
24Cuba0.38
25Dominican Rep.0.40
26Venezuela0.56
27Haiti0.56
The Americas Avg0.25
World Avg0.65
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:

See:

3. Gender Equality

3.1. Gender Inequality

#gender #gender_equality #human_rights #misogyny #women

Gender Inequality (2015)19
Pos.Lower is better19
1Canada0.10
2USA0.20
3Uruguay0.28
4Barbados0.29
5Cuba0.30
6Costa Rica0.31
7Chile0.32
8Trinidad & Tobago0.32
9Mexico0.35
10St Lucia0.35
11Argentina0.36
12Bahamas0.36
13Belize0.38
14El Salvador0.38
15Peru0.39
16Ecuador0.39
17Colombia0.39
18Brazil0.41
19Jamaica0.42
20Bolivia0.45
21Suriname0.45
22Panama0.46
23Honduras0.46
24Venezuela0.46
25Nicaragua0.46
26Paraguay0.46
27Dominican Rep.0.47
28Guatemala0.49
29Guyana0.51
30Haiti0.59
The Americas Avg0.39
World Avg0.36
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:

See:

3.2. Gender Biases

#gender #gender_equality #prejudice #women

Gender Biases (2022)20
Pos.Lower is better
%20
1Canada41.121
2USA50.721
3Argentina74.321
4Uruguay78.622
5Chile79.921
6Brazil86.321
7Trinidad & Tobago87.422
8Peru89.121
9Guatemala89.621
10Mexico90.221
11Colombia91.221
12Bolivia91.321
13Ecuador92.321
14Venezuela92.421
15Nicaragua93.221
16Haiti98.922
The Americas Avg82.90
World Avg83.93
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:

3.3. Year Women Can Vote

#christianity #gender_equality #human_rights #politics #women

Year Women Can Vote
Pos.Lower is better
Year
1USA1920
2Canada1920
3St Lucia1924
4Uruguay1932
5Brazil1934
6Cuba1934
7Dominican Rep.1942
8Jamaica1944
9Bermuda1944
10Panama1946
11Trinidad & Tobago1946
12Guatemala1946
13Venezuela1946
14Argentina1947
15Suriname1948
16Chile1949
17Costa Rica1949
18Haiti1950
19Barbados1950
20Grenada1951
21Dominica1951
22St Kitts & Nevis1951
23St Vincent & Grenadines1951
24Antigua & Barbuda1951
25Bolivia1952
26Mexico1953
27Guyana1953
28Colombia1954
29Belize1954
30Honduras1955
31Nicaragua1955
32Peru1955
33El Salvador1961
34Paraguay1961
35Bahamas1963
36Ecuador1967
The Americas Avg1947
World Avg1930
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:

See:

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
1USA9
2Canada14
3Brazil16
4Jamaica18
5Mexico24
6Argentina24
7Trinidad & Tobago24
8Haiti26
9Bolivia30
10Venezuela30
11Costa Rica32
12Uruguay33
13Nicaragua34
14Paraguay35
15Guatemala36
16Chile37
17Peru38
18Dominican Rep.41
19Colombia41
20Panama52
The Americas Avg29.7
World Avg36.8
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 Jews24,25,26,27. 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 Jews29,30. 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:

See:

4.2. LGBT Equality

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

LGBT Equality (2017)33
Pos.Higher is better
Score33
1Brazil81
2Uruguay77
3Mexico70
4Argentina69
5Canada62
6Colombia58
7Peru50
8Ecuador50
9Bolivia45
10Honduras45
11USA44
12Nicaragua35
13Guatemala35
14El Salvador35
15Suriname30
16Costa Rica30
17Venezuela30
18Panama25
19Cuba25
20Chile25
21Dominican Rep.25
22Paraguay20
23Haiti15
24Belize15
25Bahamas10
26Jamaica-5
27Grenada-5
28Dominica-5
29Guyana-5
30St Lucia-9
31St Vincent & Grenadines-10
32Antigua & Barbuda-10
33Trinidad & Tobago-10
34Barbados-10
35St Kitts & Nevis-25
The Americas Avg26.1
World Avg12.6
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:

See:

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
1Ecuador1.3
2Bolivia1.3
3USA1.8
4St Kitts & Nevis1.8
5Barbados2.0
6Uruguay2.3
7St Vincent & Grenadines2.3
8Antigua & Barbuda2.3
9Chile2.5
10Colombia2.5
11Bahamas2.5
12Costa Rica2.5
13Honduras2.7
14Venezuela2.8
15Canada2.8
16Dominica2.8
17Argentina2.8
18Jamaica2.8
19Peru2.8
20Haiti2.8
21Panama3.0
22Guatemala3.0
23Grenada3.0
24El Salvador3.0
25Belize3.0
26Mexico3.0
27Paraguay3.3
28St Lucia3.3
29Dominican Rep.3.3
30Brazil3.3
31Trinidad & Tobago3.3
32Nicaragua3.5
33Guyana3.5
34Suriname3.5
35Cuba4.0
The Americas Avg2.7
World Avg3.0
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 Netherlands36,42 and the worst: Afghanistan, N. Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia36,43.

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:

See: