Editing Lesotho (section)

===Violence against women===
{{Main|Women in Lesotho}}
According to the U.N., in 2008 Lesotho had the highest rape rate of any country (91.6 reported rapes per 100,000 people).<ref>[http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_rat-crime-rape-rate "Countries Compared by Crime > Rape rate. International Statistics at NationMaster.com"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201093758/http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_rat-crime-rape-rate |date=1 December 2011 }}. nationmaster.com.</ref> International data from [[UNODC]] found the incidence of rape recorded in 2008 by the police to be the highest in Lesotho out of any country in the study.<ref name="unodc1">[http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crime-statistics/Sexual_violence_sv_against_children_and_rape.xls "Rape at the National Level, number of police recorded offenses".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210321/http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crime-statistics/Sexual_violence_sv_against_children_and_rape.xls |date=29 October 2013 }} [[United Nations]].</ref> A study in Lesotho found that 61% of women reported having experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives, of whom 22% reported being physically forced to have sexual intercourse.<ref>[https://apha.confex.com/apha/133am/techprogram/paper_114115.htm "Magnitude of sexual violence in Lesotho"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201559/https://apha.confex.com/apha/133am/techprogram/paper_114115.htm |date=29 October 2013 }}. confex.com.</ref> In the 2009 [[Demographic and Health Surveys|D.H.S. survey]], 15.7% of men said that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she refuses to have sex with him, while 16% said a husband is justified in using force to have sex.<ref>[http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR241/FR241%5BNEW_completeHHQst_3March2012%5D.pdf Lesotho. Demographic and Health Survey 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029205745/http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR241/FR241%5BNEW_completeHHQst_3March2012%5D.pdf |date=29 October 2013 }}. Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Maseru, Lesotho. November 2010</ref> In another study, researchers concluded that "Given the high prevalence of HIV in Lesotho, programs should address women's right to control their sexuality."<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 17209284 | volume=37 | issue=4 | title=Sexual violence in Lesotho|year=2006 | journal=Stud Fam Plann | pages=269–80|first=L |last=Brown | doi=10.1111/j.1728-4465.2006.00105.x}}</ref> The ''Married Persons Equality Act 2006'' gives equal rights to wives regarding their husbands, abolishing the husband's [[marital power]].<ref>Buhle Angelo Dube. [http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/lesotho.htm The Law and Legal Research in Lesotho] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620014058/http://nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Lesotho.htm |date=20 June 2010 }}. nyulawglobal.org</ref> The [[World Economic Forum]]'s 2020 Gender Gap Report ranks Lesotho 88th worldwide for [[gender parity]], while neighboring South Africa ranks 17th.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2020.pdf|title=The Global Gender Gap Report 2020|publisher=World Economic Forum|pages=221, 315|access-date=19 July 2020|archive-date=17 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217140602/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2020.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>