Latvia Placed 19th Among the Safest Countries Worldwide for Women Traveling Solo

According to the travel portal EnjoyTravel which analyzed over 20 countries in order to determine the best destination for women travelling alone, Latvia is among the top countries to visit.

The study looked at eight criteria to determine the safest places for women traveling alone in the world. These are:

• Crime and Safety Index
• The percentage of women who have been victims of violence
• Rates of female homicide
• Domestic violence laws
• Women who feel confident walking in the dark at night
• Attitudes to violence against women
• Public Transport and Taxi Safety
• Global gender gap index score

SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that according to EnjoyTravel the maximum number points a nation can receive is sixty.

In this top 20 list of countries, Latvia ranks 19th overall with 46 points for violence against women. 32 percent of Latvian women have experienced some form of violence. More than half the women feel safe to walk at night. Latvia's safety rating is therefore more than 60 points out of 100.

The Latvian woman is highly educated with a literacy level of more than 99 percent. Latvia has a population of less than 2 million people and is one of Europe's greenest countries, with over half of its territory covered in forests.

According to the Crime Index, it is below 38. This makes Latvia one of the most safest nations in the world.

Estonia ranked 15th among other Baltic countries, and Lithuania ranked 13th.

Estonia is one of Europe's smallest countries, with a population of just 1.3 million. Around 20 percent of women have been victims of violence. The country, on the other hand has an excellent safety index of more than 76 out 100.

Lithuania is also ranked eighth in the world for gender equality, and its overall statistics are good. Only two percent of the population believe that violence against women is justified by men.

Slovenia, Taiwan, and Oman are the three countries that women find the most safe to travel. Slovenia, for example, is one of the rare countries that celebrates International Women's Day as an official holiday. Nearly 80 percent of women report feeling safe outside their homes even at night. Taiwan has a 40 percent female representation in its parliament.

Oman is the country with the lowest crime rate in the world, and also the least number of women who are killed.

Women are encouraged in this country to study higher education and the government organizes campaigns to raise awareness of women's rights. This is despite Oman being an Islamic nation, where freedom of expression can be restricted.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com