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By Randall JeppesenPROVO - How a country treats its women could be an important factor in understanding how it treats its neighbors. That's the finding of a new study by a BYU-led research team.
The study, called "Heart of the Matter," appears in the new issue of the journal International Security, published by Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
The study basically says regions of the world that treat women well are the areas that have the most peace.
Researchers came up with their conclusions after studying maternal health, the amount of say women have in government, gender-based violence and more.
The study suggests a good way to help resolve international conflict could be to help improve the status of women in areas where females are often devalued.
The researchers spent seven years building a new database that covers 260 factors regarding the treatment of women in 174 countries. Then they used that data to show a statistically significant relationship between the security of women and peacefulness of nations.
The authors say much further research is necessary before their results can be considered authoritative.
For more details of the study, see the BYU news release.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
