Some of the Worst Countries for Women

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Girls get just five years of formal education before going to work. They are four times more likely than men to contract HIV.

HAITI: Nearly 50 percent of women in the capital's shantytown, Cité Soleil, have beensexually assaulted - not surprising when you consider that rape was criminalized only three years ago.

NEPAL: The female literacy rate is at 35 percent; if girls aren't married off in their teens, there's a good chance they'll be sold by their families to sex traffickers.

SIERRA LEONE: This is the worst place to be a woman, according to the Human Development Report. Only 24 percent of women are literate, and one in eight die during pregnancy or childbirth. Life expectancy is 43.

AFGHANISTAN: A woman dies during childbirth every half-hour, the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Domestic violence is endemic; 87 percent of Afghan women have been assaulted by a family member.

From: Marie Claire