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For the second consecutive year, a wide survey found people in Latin America are the least likely to say they live in countries where women are treated with respect and dignity, ranking below the Middle East and North Africa.

The Gallup survey found a wide range of opinions within Latin America: while 63 percent of respondents in Ecuador said women get respect, only 20 percent said the same in Peru and Colombia.

i i

A Gallup survey found that respect for women was strongest in Asia and Europe, and weakest in the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America. Gallup hide caption

itoggle caption Gallup

A Gallup survey found that respect for women was strongest in Asia and Europe, and weakest in the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.

Gallup

"A median of 35 percent of adults across 22 Latin American countries said their women are treated [with respect] — about half as high as percentages in any other region of the world," Gallup says.

Asia ranked highest in the survey, with 76 percent saying women are respected. Europe wasn't far behind in second place, with 72 percent. The survey was conducted among thousands of people in some 150 countries in 2012 and 2013.

Update at 5 p.m. ET: The U.S. Results

Responding to a request for more information, Gallup says that in the U.S., 77 percent of respondents said women are treated with respect and dignity.

Our original post continues:

Ecuador was the only Latin American nation where more than 60 percent of respondents said women were respected, a result that Gallup's analysts attribute to new laws and awareness campaigns. It's one of just five countries in the region where more than 50 percent said women are treated with respect.

The survey also found an interesting disparity: In some countries, men were far more likely than women to say that women are respected. The widest gap was in Jamaica, where men were more than twice as likely to say women were respected (41 percent to 19 percent). Argentina had the second-largest gap (50 percent to 36 percent).

“Do you believe women in this country are treated with respect and dignity, or not?”

% Yes

% No

% Don't Know

Ecuador

63

35

2

Uruguay

57

38

5

Venezuela

54

43

3

Mexico

54

43

4

Panama

51

45

4

Suriname

47

49

4

Costa Rica

45

49

5

Argentina

43

54

3

Nicaragua

42

57

1

Chile

38

60

3

Haiti

37

59

4

El Salvador

32

63

5

Honduras

31

68

2

Dominican Republic

30

68

1

Jamaica

30

66

4

Bolivia

28

69

3

Paraguay

27

72

1

Brazil

27

69

4

Guatemala

27

72

1

Trinidad & Tobago

25

66

9

Colombia

20

78

2

Peru

20

76

4

Source: Gallup poll conducted in person and by telephone in 2012 and 2013. Margin of error ranged from ±3.5 percentage points to ±5.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Gallup says its survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with around 1,000 people in 19 Latin American countries, and 500 in three others.

Latin America

women

polls

In the parts of the world that we cover in our blog, many people live in villages.

Villages have their problems, to be sure. There may not be a doctor or clinic nearby. Girls may not be able to go to school. Clean water might be a long walk away.

But a new book points out that village life has its advantages.

We asked psychologist Susan Pinker, author of The Village Effect: How Face-to-Face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier and Smarter, to explain the benefits of living in a community of about 150 people, the average population of traditional villages throughout history around the world.

What is the village effect?

The village effect is a metaphor for the social contacts we all need as humans in order to thrive. These are the strong social ties that develop naturally in a village, where by necessity you cross paths with each other repeatedly every day. When you think of most villages, there is a central square, a public area where everyone converges or passes by going to the grocer or the post office or city hall or to sit at a cafe. And that is something we have less and less of today in our era of online connections. Commerce is moving online, everything is moving online, and these traditional village spaces are disappearing.

Why is 150 the ideal number for a village population?

One-hundred-fifty is the number that comes up time and again in the types of social interactions that work smoothly. We see it throughout history — whether we're talking about the number of people in traditional hunter-gatherer societies, Neolithic villages, an English country village or the number of Christmas cards we send out. These are people with whom you have strong enough ties that you could ask to borrow $10 until the next payday.

How do these 150 "village" ties compare to online ties?

Not all types of social ties are created equal. Oxford evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar posits 150 as the maximum number of meaningful relationships that the human brain can manage. We know from our own lives there are only so many people that you can invest in that way, that you can call and invite to dinner or check in on when sick.

The Village Effect

How Face-to-Face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier, and Smarter

by Susan Pinker

Hardcover, 368 pages | purchase

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Read an excerpt

These are the types of social ties that develop naturally in a village, where by necessity you cross paths with each other repeatedly every day. When you think of most villages, there is a central square, a public area where everyone converges or passes by going to the grocer or the post office or city hall or sit at a cafe. And so these ties develop naturally through frequent in-person contact.

These are different from the weak contacts that you might have in your online social networks. You could walk by some of these online contacts on the street without even recognizing them. These weak contacts are great if you need a recommendation for a restaurant in a strange city, for instance, or [are] looking for a cleaning lady or other types of information. But in terms of social ties, it's the difference between your mother's lasagna or homemade chicken soup compared with fast food.

Why is the village effect so important?

If you have a cohesive community, you will have extra helping hands for the young and the old and everybody in between. The village effect impacts not only those who are vulnerable but it helps people feel they belong somewhere.

And if we know anything from all of the demographic studies in neurosciences, if you are lonely or isolated, it is almost a death sentence.

When you are getting together face to face, there are a lot of biological phenomena: Oxytocin and neurotransmitters get released, they reduce stress and allow us to trust others. Physical contact unleashes a whole chain of events that make us and make the other person feel good, and affects our health and well-being.

By contrast, according to research, we've never been lonelier as a society than we are now, and this can take a toll on our health.

Those of us who don't live in villages — are we out of luck?

You can create your own village effect. Get out of your car to talk to your neighbors. Talk in person to your colleagues instead of shooting them emails. Build in face-to-face contact with friends the way you would exercise. Look for schools where the emphasis is on teacher-student interaction, not on high-tech bells and whistles.

We need to recognize that digital connections should enhance but never replace the real-life connections. I don't think we all should throw out digital devices and move back to the village. I'm not romanticizing village life but using it as a metaphor as what is disappearing: deep social ties and the in-person contact we all need to survive.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Read an excerpt of The Village Effect

Susan Pinker

Village effect

After 40 days of seclusion, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made a public appearance, an outing that could help quell rumors about his health and status. Kim visited a new housing complex, according to state media that released photos of the event — but without attaching a specific date to it.

North Korea has confirmed only that Kim has been in "discomfort." The newly released photos show Kim using a cane, possibly confirming theories that he underwent ankle surgery. More than a month ago, he was seen limping as he walked.

From the Korea Herald:

"Kim's visit to the newly built residential district for satellite engineers and a new energy research institute marked his first 'field guidance' trip since attending a concert on Sept. 3. The official Korean Central News Agency did not mention the date of the trip, but it was thought to have been Monday.

"In a photo carried in the Rodong Sinmun, a ruling Workers' Party mouthpiece, Kim looks vigorous, though he has apparently lost some weight and still relies on a cane. Seoul's intelligence officials speculated that he has gout and had surgery on his leg, with French doctors entering Pyongyang for his treatment."

Kim's disappearance from the public eye has led to speculation that included theories that he had suffered from a serious medical problem — or even a coup. The rumors increased on Friday, when the leader didn't attend a large celebration marking the 69th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.

Some of the theories were rounded up last week for The Two-Way by Krishnadev Calamur.

Kim Jong Un

North Korea

For the second consecutive year, a wide survey found people in Latin America are the least likely to say they live in countries where women are treated with respect and dignity, ranking below the Middle East and North Africa.

The Gallup survey found a wide range of opinions within Latin America: while 63 percent of respondents in Ecuador said women get respect, only 20 percent said the same in Peru and Colombia.

i i

A Gallup survey found that respect for women was strongest in Asia and Europe, and weakest in the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America. Gallup hide caption

itoggle caption Gallup

A Gallup survey found that respect for women was strongest in Asia and Europe, and weakest in the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.

Gallup

"A median of 35 percent of adults across 22 Latin American countries said their women are treated [with respect] — about half as high as percentages in any other region of the world," Gallup says.

Asia ranked highest in the survey, with 76 percent saying women are respected. Europe wasn't far behind in second place, with 72 percent. The survey was conducted among thousands of people in some 150 countries in 2012 and 2013.

Ecuador was the only Latin American nation where more than 60 percent of respondents said women were respected, a result that Gallup's analysts attribute to new laws and awareness campaigns. It's one of just five countries in the region where more than 50 percent said women are treated with respect.

The survey also found an interesting disparity: In some countries, men were far more likely than women to say that women are respected. The widest gap was in Jamaica, where men were more than twice as likely to say women were respected (41 percent to 19 percent). Argentina had the second-largest gap (50 percent to 36 percent).

“Do you believe women in this country are treated with respect and dignity, or not?”

% Yes

% No

% Don't Know

Ecuador

63

35

2

Uruguay

57

38

5

Venezuela

54

43

3

Mexico

54

43

4

Panama

51

45

4

Suriname

47

49

4

Costa Rica

45

49

5

Argentina

43

54

3

Nicaragua

42

57

1

Chile

38

60

3

Haiti

37

59

4

El Salvador

32

63

5

Honduras

31

68

2

Dominican Republic

30

68

1

Jamaica

30

66

4

Bolivia

28

69

3

Paraguay

27

72

1

Brazil

27

69

4

Guatemala

27

72

1

Trinidad & Tobago

25

66

9

Colombia

20

78

2

Peru

20

76

4

Source: Gallup poll conducted in person and by telephone in 2012 and 2013. Margin of error ranged from ±3.5 percentage points to ±5.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Gallup says its survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with around 1,000 people in 19 Latin American countries, and 500 in three others.

Latin America

women

polls