Female rights in Austria are well-established through strong legal frameworks ensuring equality, though challenges remain regarding a persistent gender pay gap and underrepresentation in top corporate roles. Austria ranks 13th in the EU for gender equality, with comprehensive laws against discrimination, domestic violence, and a 30% quota for women on company boards.
With regard to women's rights, the priority in Austria is based on the equal treatment of both genders, rather than having equal rights only. Thus, Austrian women benefit from their government's attempt to compensate for gender-specific inequality of burdens.
However, like #France, it is being weaponized to crackdown on Muslim communities in Austria - especially women. The Islamophobic measure will apply to girls in both public and private schools. Breaking Austria has enacted a Hijab Ban for Muslim girls under the age of 14.
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Sweden as well as Germany and the Netherlands were the nations offering full equal rights for men and women, at least from a legal perspective.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Austria have advanced significantly in the 21st century, and are now considered generally progressive. Both male and female forms of same-sex sexual activity are legal in Austria.
When did you realise transgenderism threat to women's rights in Austria? #FQT
Is Turkey LGBT friendly?
LGBTQIA+ travellers should be aware that while Turkey is nominally secular, it can also be very conservative and negative attitudes towards queer individuals are common, particularly outside major cities in more remote towns. Gay couples are advised to use discretion and avoid public displays of affection.
“Austria has relevant equality and non-discrimination laws in place and the Federal and Länder governments have implemented measures to address racism.
Finland, along with neighbours Sweden and Norway, has one of the strongest global reputations for gender equality. The Scandinavian country's government uses a systematic and target-oriented approach to tackle sexism, and has its own Gender Inequality Policy.
Safety. Both Austria and Germany are safe countries to live in, with low crime rates. However, petty crimes such as pickpocketing and theft do occur more often in big cities in Germany than in Austria, but this is a common theme in any large city.
Austria banned full-face veils in early 2017. Austria's ban comes from a deal to save the coalition government. The ban prohibits full-face veils such as the niqab and burka in courts and schools. Austria is investigating the possibility of banning headscarves for women employed in public service.
In Austria, 36 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by any perpetrator since the age of 15. This is 5 percentage points higher than the EU-27 average (31 %). 44 % of women have experienced health consequences of physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15.
In northern Sweden, the city of Umeå has built a reputation as one of the world's most feminist cities. Despite long winters with little sunlight, women here report feeling significantly safer at night than the national and European averages.
While Austria's environmental track record is strong, challenges in energy efficiency, forest resilience and waste generation require continued efforts to achieve long-term sustainability goals.
The 2025/26 global Women Peace and Security Index (WPS Index) scores and ranks 181 countries on women's wellbeing. It uses 13 indicators that span women's inclusion, justice, and security to generate scores from 0 (worst) to 1 (best). Denmark continues to lead the rankings, while Afghanistan performs the worst.
Iceland is consistently ranked as the safest country in the world, holding the top spot on the Global Peace Index (GPI) for many years, including 2024 and 2025, due to its low crime, lack of military, political stability, and strong community focus. Other top contenders often include Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, and Denmark, depending on the specific report's criteria, with Singapore also ranking highly for personal safety.
The WPS Index ranks 181 countries globally based on women's status across three key dimensions: inclusion, justice, and security. Retaining its top position since 2023, Denmark ranks No. 1, leading as the best country for a woman, followed by Iceland and Norway.
Buddhism. The prevalence of the Bhikkuni Sangha, the female monastic tradition, within Buddhism is indicative of the respect given to women within the religion.
It's a tie — Syria and Afghanistan. Those two countries are the worst places to be a woman, according to the 2018 Women, Peace and Security Index, put together by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo.
In fact, a policy of increasing discrimination and scapegoating by an important sector in Austrian policy, as well as most of the media, have replaced the previous dominant inclusivist approach. Despite this less friendly environment, most Austrian Muslims have a feeling of belonging to Austria.
Under the citizenship by merit provisions, an applicant is required to invest actively in the Austrian economy, for example, in the form of a joint venture or direct investment in a business that creates jobs or generates new export sales. Significant direct investment is generally required.
On Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, Austria scored 67 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"), a four-point drop from its 2023 score and a ten-point drop from its highest score of 77 in 2019.
