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

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2025)1
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank1
1	Canada	17.0
2	Uruguay	30.8
3	Costa Rica	38.8
4	USA	48.3
5	Argentina	48.4
6	Brazil	53.1
7	Chile	61.4
8	Bolivia	65.3
9	Mexico	66.3
10	Peru	68.4
	...
33	Cuba	106.0
34	Grenada	107.1
35	Antigua & Barbuda	123.5
	The Americas Avg	75.88
	World Avg	90.04
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 and the continent as a whole does better than the global average. The worst countries are Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada and Cuba.

1. Results by Country
2. Human Rights & Tolerance
   1. Press Freedom
   2. Slavery in the 2020s
   3. Freedom in the World
   4. Human Rights Watch Comments
   5. Nominal Commitment to HR
   6. HR Treaties Lag
3. Gender Equality
   1. Gender Inequality
   2. Gender Biases
   3. Year Women Can Vote
4. Prejudice
   1. Anti-Semite Opinions
   2. LGBT Equality in the 2020s
   3. Freedom of Thought
5. Links

---

1. Results by Country

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

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2025)1
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank1
1	Antigua & Barbuda	123.5
2	Argentina	48.4
3	Bahamas	70.3
4	Barbados	72.7
5	Belize	83.9
6	Bolivia	65.3
7	Brazil	53.1
8	Canada	17.0
9	Chile	61.4
10	Colombia	79.6
11	Costa Rica	38.8
12	Cuba	106.0
13	Dominica	92.0
14	Dominican Rep.	80.4
15	Ecuador	74.6
16	El Salvador	70.3
17	Grenada	107.1
18	Guatemala	77.4
19	Guyana	90.0
20	Haiti	104.1
21	Honduras	78.6
22	Jamaica	79.5
23	Mexico	66.3
24	Nicaragua	94.0
25	Panama	76.4
26	Paraguay	84.0
27	Peru	68.4
28	St Kitts & Nevis	98.9
29	St Lucia	90.3
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	84.8
31	Suriname	76.4
32	Trinidad & Tobago	68.9
33	USA	48.3
34	Uruguay	30.8
35	Venezuela	94.1
	The Americas Avg	75.88
q=35. No data: 232

The best countries in the world at ensuring human rights, fostering equality and promoting tolerance, are Sweden, The Netherlands and Denmark₃. These countries are displaying the best traits that humanity has to offer. The worst countries are Somalia, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia₃.

30 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on supporting press freedom, combatting modern slavery, its average Freedom in the World rating, commentary in Human Rights Watch reports, its nominal commitment to Human Rights, speed of uptake of HR treaties, 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 Europe₃, whereas the worst are The Middle East, Africa and Asia₃.

For more, see:

• " Which are the Best Countries for Human Rights, Equality and Tolerance?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

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. Press Freedom

#democracy #freedom #Freedom_of_Speech #Good_Governance #mass_media #politics #UK

Press Freedom (2025)4
Pos.		Higher is better4
1	Argentina	56.14
2	Belize	68.32
3	Bolivia	54.09
4	Brazil	63.80
5	Canada	78.75
6	Chile	62.25
7	Colombia	49.80
8	Costa Rica	73.09
9	Cuba	26.03
10	Dominican Rep.	69.87
11	Ecuador	53.76
12	El Salvador	41.19
13	Guatemala	40.32
14	Guyana	60.12
15	Haiti	51.06
16	Honduras	38.51
17	Jamaica	75.83
18	Mexico	45.55
19	Nicaragua	22.83
20	Panama	66.75
21	Paraguay	56.84
22	Peru	42.88
23	Suriname	74.49
24	Trinidad & Tobago	79.71
25	USA	65.49
26	Uruguay	65.18
27	Venezuela	29.21
	The Americas Avg	55.99
	World Avg	54.65
q=27. No data: 315

The freedom to investigate, publish information, and have access to others' opinion is a fundamental part of today's information-driven world, and is linked with Freedom of Speech and Good Governance. 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". The rankings are used as one of the datasets of the Social and Moral Development Index₆

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".

For more, see:

• "Human Rights" by Vexen Crabtree (2026).

See:

• Human Rights

2.2. Slavery in the 2020s

#burundi #eritrea #human_rights #indonesia #slavery

Slavery in the 2020s7
Pos.		Lower is better Per 10007
1	Argentina	4.20
2	Bolivia	7.20
3	Brazil	5.00
4	Canada	1.80
5	Chile	3.20
6	Colombia	7.80
7	Costa Rica	3.20
8	Cuba	5.40
9	Dominican Rep.	6.60
10	Ecuador	7.60
11	El Salvador	8.10
12	Guatemala	7.80
13	Guyana	4.20
14	Haiti	8.20
15	Honduras	7.00
16	Jamaica	7.30
17	Mexico	6.60
18	Nicaragua	7.30
19	Panama	4.70
20	Paraguay	6.40
21	Peru	7.10
22	Trinidad & Tobago	4.70
23	USA	3.30
24	Uruguay	1.90
25	Venezuela	9.50
	The Americas Avg	5.84
	World Avg	7.15
q=25. No data: 338

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 poverty-stricken vulnerable.₉. Some industries (diamond, clothing, coal) from some countries (Burundi₁₀, Eritrea₁₀, Indonesia₁₁) are a particular concern. The Walk Free Foundation, say in their 2023 report, that 50 million people are living in modern slavery₁₀, and, nearly two-thirds of those in forced labour are employed at the end of supply chains working for large multinationals that creating products consumed by rich countries₁₂.

For more, see:

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

See:

• Religion and Abolition of the Historical Slave Trade

2.3. Freedom in the World

#freedom #human_rights #hungary #politics #USA

Freedom in the World (2024)
Pos.		Lower is better Score
1	Antigua & Barbuda	2.0
2	Argentina	2.0
3	Bahamas	1.5
4	Barbados	1.0
5	Belize	1.5
6	Bolivia	3.0
7	Brazil	2.5
8	Canada	1.0
9	Chile	1.0
10	Colombia	2.5
11	Costa Rica	1.0
12	Cuba	6.5
13	Dominica	1.0
14	Dominican Rep.	3.0
15	Ecuador	3.0
16	El Salvador	4.5
17	Grenada	1.5
18	Guatemala	4.0
19	Guyana	2.0
20	Haiti	5.5
21	Honduras	4.0
22	Jamaica	2.0
23	Mexico	3.5
24	Nicaragua	6.5
25	Panama	2.0
26	Paraguay	3.0
27	Peru	3.0
28	St Kitts & Nevis	1.5
29	St Lucia	1.0
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	1.0
31	Suriname	2.0
32	Trinidad & Tobago	2.0
33	USA	2.0
34	Uruguay	1.0
35	Venezuela	6.5
36	Puerto Rico	5.5
	The Americas Avg	2.7
	World Avg	3.7
q=36. No data: 2213

Freedom House's long-standing annual report has been running since the 1970s, collecting data on political rights (PR) and civil liberties (CL). Their reports rate countries as "Free", "Partially Free" or "Not Free", however the results here are based on their numerical values. Many countries score the best combination of scores (1 and 1), which is why the table of results show many places equally placed in 1st place. In the past two decades, some well-established democracies like the USA and Hungary have been falling. Whilst most of the world in general is improving rights and freedoms over time, the 2020s has seen some regression.

For more, see:

• " Which are the Best Countries for Human Rights, Equality and Tolerance?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

See:

• Which are the Best Countries for Human Rights, Equality and Tolerance?

2.4. Human Rights Watch Comments

#human_rights

Human Rights Watch Comments (2017)14
Pos.		Higher is better Score14
1	Argentina	-2
2	Bolivia	-3
3	Brazil	-2
4	Canada	8
5	Chile	2
6	Colombia	-3
7	Costa Rica	1
8	Cuba	-6
9	Ecuador	-3
10	Guatemala	-1
11	Haiti	-2
12	Honduras	-1
13	Mexico	-2
14	Panama	1
15	Paraguay	1
16	Peru	-1
17	USA	4
18	Venezuela	-5
	The Americas Avg	-0.8
	World Avg	-1.9
q=18. No data: 4015

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.

For more, see:

• "Human Rights" by Vexen Crabtree (2026).

See:

• Human Rights

2.5. Nominal Commitment to HR

#human_rights

Nominal Commitment to HR (2009)16
Pos.		Higher is better Treaties16
1	Antigua & Barbuda	13
2	Argentina	24
3	Bahamas	11
4	Barbados	11
5	Belize	16
6	Bolivia	21
7	Brazil	21
8	Canada	19
9	Chile	23
10	Colombia	19
11	Costa Rica	23
12	Cuba	11
13	Dominica	12
14	Dominican Rep.	14
15	Ecuador	23
16	El Salvador	18
17	Grenada	7
18	Guatemala	21
19	Guyana	11
20	Haiti	12
21	Honduras	20
22	Jamaica	14
23	Mexico	23
24	Nicaragua	19
25	Panama	20
26	Paraguay	23
27	Peru	23
28	St Kitts & Nevis	9
29	St Lucia	6
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	15
31	Suriname	12
32	Trinidad & Tobago	12
33	USA	8
34	Uruguay	23
35	Venezuela	19
	The Americas Avg	16.5
	World Avg	15.1
q=35. No data: 232

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.

For more, see:

• "Human Rights" by Vexen Crabtree (2026).

See:

• Human Rights

2.6. HR Treaties Lag

#human_rights #international_law #micronesia #politics #small_islands

HR Treaties Lag (2019)17
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Yrs/Treaty17
1	Antigua & Barbuda	12.76
2	Argentina	5.90
3	Bahamas	13.93
4	Barbados	9.94
5	Belize	8.88
6	Bolivia	6.70
7	Brazil	7.36
8	Canada	5.73
9	Chile	4.12
10	Colombia	3.68
11	Costa Rica	4.05
12	Cuba	7.80
13	Dominica	11.14
14	Dominican Rep.	10.24
15	Ecuador	2.15
16	El Salvador	6.80
17	Grenada	13.86
18	Guatemala	8.10
19	Guyana	7.85
20	Haiti	12.61
21	Honduras	7.64
22	Jamaica	7.61
23	Mexico	4.08
24	Nicaragua	8.10
25	Panama	4.26
26	Paraguay	8.78
27	Peru	4.64
28	St Kitts & Nevis	15.00
29	St Lucia	14.11
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	9.98
31	Suriname	12.81
32	Trinidad & Tobago	12.26
33	USA	14.23
34	Uruguay	2.25
35	Venezuela	6.51
	The Americas Avg	8.45
	World Avg	10.02
q=35. No data: 232

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 (2025).

See:

• Human Rights

3. Gender Equality

3.1. Gender Inequality

#gender #gender_equality #human_rights #misogyny #women

Gender Inequality (2022)18
Pos.		Lower is better18
1	Argentina	0.30
2	Bahamas	0.33
3	Barbados	0.29
4	Belize	0.46
5	Bolivia	0.42
6	Brazil	0.40
7	Canada	0.07
8	Chile	0.20
9	Colombia	0.41
10	Costa Rica	0.24
11	Cuba	0.30
12	Dominican Rep.	0.44
13	Ecuador	0.37
14	El Salvador	0.37
15	Guatemala	0.48
16	Guyana	0.42
17	Haiti	0.62
18	Honduras	0.42
19	Jamaica	0.35
20	Mexico	0.36
21	Nicaragua	0.40
22	Panama	0.39
23	Paraguay	0.43
24	Peru	0.37
25	St Lucia	0.35
26	Suriname	0.41
27	Trinidad & Tobago	0.27
28	USA	0.18
29	Uruguay	0.24
30	Venezuela	0.52
	The Americas Avg	0.36
	World Avg	0.34
q=30. No data: 2819

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	Argentina	74.321
2	Bolivia	91.321
3	Brazil	86.321
4	Canada	41.121
5	Chile	79.921
6	Colombia	91.221
7	Ecuador	92.321
8	Guatemala	89.621
9	Haiti	98.922
10	Mexico	90.221
11	Nicaragua	93.221
12	Peru	89.121
13	Trinidad & Tobago	87.422
14	USA	50.721
15	Uruguay	78.622
16	Venezuela	92.421
	The Americas Avg	82.90
	World Avg	83.93
q=16. No data: 4223

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	Antigua & Barbuda	1951
2	Argentina	1947
3	Bahamas	1963
4	Barbados	1950
5	Belize	1954
6	Bolivia	1952
7	Brazil	1934
8	Canada	1920
9	Chile	1949
10	Colombia	1954
11	Costa Rica	1949
12	Cuba	1934
13	Dominica	1951
14	Dominican Rep.	1942
15	Ecuador	1967
16	El Salvador	1961
17	Grenada	1951
18	Guatemala	1946
19	Guyana	1953
20	Haiti	1950
21	Honduras	1955
22	Jamaica	1944
23	Mexico	1953
24	Nicaragua	1955
25	Panama	1946
26	Paraguay	1961
27	Peru	1955
28	St Kitts & Nevis	1951
29	St Lucia	1924
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	1951
31	Suriname	1948
32	Trinidad & Tobago	1946
33	USA	1920
34	Uruguay	1932
35	Venezuela	1946
36	Bermuda	1944
	The Americas Avg	1947
	World Avg	1930
q=36. No data: 2224

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 #jordan #judaism #laos #morocco #netherlands #pakistan #philippines #religion #religious_violence #saudi_arabia #spain #sweden #turkey #UK #vietnam

Anti-Semite Opinions (2014)25
Pos.		Lower is better %25
1	Argentina	24
2	Bolivia	30
3	Brazil	16
4	Canada	14
5	Chile	37
6	Colombia	41
7	Costa Rica	32
8	Dominican Rep.	41
9	Guatemala	36
10	Haiti	26
11	Jamaica	18
12	Mexico	24
13	Nicaragua	34
14	Panama	52
15	Paraguay	35
16	Peru	38
17	Trinidad & Tobago	24
18	USA	9
19	Uruguay	33
20	Venezuela	30
	The Americas Avg	29.7
	World Avg	36.8
q=20. No data: 3826

Anti-Semitism is the word given to irrational racism against Jews. It's not the same as anti-Judaism (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_27,28,29,30. As Christianity rose to power in the West and presided over the Dark Ages, there were repeated violent outbursts against Jews of the most horrible kind. Entire Crusades were 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 East₃₁, which are undergoing their own Dark Age. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey see the most oppressive and violent actions towards Jews_32,33. Jews in Muslim countries face a host of restrictions and "ceaseless humiliation and regular pogroms"₃₄. 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 males₃₅.

For more, see:

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

See:

• Anti-Semitism

4.2. LGBT Equality in the 2020s

#2020s #equality #homosexuality #human_rights #ICCPR #intolerance #sexuality #tolerance

LGBT Equality in the 2020s36
Pos.		Higher is better Score36
1	Antigua & Barbuda	-2.25
2	Argentina	4.72
3	Bahamas	-0.45
4	Barbados	-2.63
5	Belize	0.90
6	Bolivia	-0.01
7	Brazil	4.80
8	Canada	2.83
9	Chile	4.32
10	Colombia	2.18
11	Costa Rica	3.93
12	Cuba	0.08
13	Dominica	-3.42
14	Dominican Rep.	-0.63
15	Ecuador	2.55
16	El Salvador	0.80
17	Grenada	-4.83
18	Guatemala	0.08
19	Guyana	-3.23
20	Haiti	-1.27
21	Honduras	-0.51
22	Jamaica	-4.87
23	Mexico	4.35
24	Nicaragua	0.23
25	Panama	0.74
26	Paraguay	0.84
27	Peru	2.40
28	St Kitts & Nevis	-2.48
29	St Lucia	-4.13
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	-4.87
31	Suriname	0.34
32	Trinidad & Tobago	-0.19
33	USA	4.68
34	Uruguay	3.81
35	Venezuela	-1.63
36	Bermuda	1.08
37	Cayman Islands	1.35
38	Falkland Islands	1.33
39	Greenland	1.62
40	Saba	1.62
41	Sint Eustatius	1.62
42	Bonaire	1.62
	The Americas Avg	0.41
	World Avg	-1.21
q=42. No data: 1637

Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) folk is rife across the world. Legal restrictions co-exist alongside social stigmatisation and physical violence₃₈. LGBT tolerance and equal rights have been fought for country-by-country against tightly entrenched cultural and religious opposition. Adult consensual sexual activity is a Human Right and protected by privacy laws₃₉. Despite this, it is illegal to be homosexual in over 60 countries (as of 2025)₄₀. The Vexen LGBT Equality Index as part of the Social and Moral Development Index grants points to each country depending on its LGBT stance since the 1970s_41,42. Europe is by far the least prejudiced region, but in the Middle East and Africa cultural prejudice 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 (2025).

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)43
Pos.		Lower is better43
1	Antigua & Barbuda	2.3
2	Argentina	2.8
3	Bahamas	2.5
4	Barbados	2.0
5	Belize	3.0
6	Bolivia	1.3
7	Brazil	3.3
8	Canada	2.8
9	Chile	2.5
10	Colombia	2.5
11	Costa Rica	2.5
12	Cuba	4.0
13	Dominica	2.8
14	Dominican Rep.	3.3
15	Ecuador	1.3
16	El Salvador	3.0
17	Grenada	3.0
18	Guatemala	3.0
19	Guyana	3.5
20	Haiti	2.8
21	Honduras	2.7
22	Jamaica	2.8
23	Mexico	3.0
24	Nicaragua	3.5
25	Panama	3.0
26	Paraguay	3.3
27	Peru	2.8
28	St Kitts & Nevis	1.8
29	St Lucia	3.3
30	St Vincent & Grenadines	2.3
31	Suriname	3.5
32	Trinidad & Tobago	3.3
33	USA	1.8
34	Uruguay	2.3
35	Venezuela	2.8
	The Americas Avg	2.7
	World Avg	3.0
q=35. No data: 232

Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Belief are upheld in Article 18 the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights₄₄. It affirms that it is a basic human right that all people are free to change their beliefs and religion as they wish₄₅. 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 era₄₆ of the 19th century. In democratic countries, freedom of belief and religion is now taken for granted₄₇. In 2016 a study found that over 180 countries in the world had come to guarantee freedom of religion and belief₄₈. The best countries at doing so are Belgium, The Netherlands and Taiwan_43,49 and the worst: Afghanistan, N. Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia_43,50.

Long-term studies have shown that religious violence and persecution both decrease in cultures where religious freedom is guaranteed₅₁. Despite this, there still are many who are strongly against freedom of belief₄₅, 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 religion₅₂ and "the denial of religious freedoms is inevitably intertwined with the denial of other freedoms"₅₃ 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