, which ranks the 50 most visited tourist destinations in the world based on eight factors: how safe it is to walk alone at night, intentional homicide of women, non-partner sexual violence, intimate partner violence, legal discrimination, global gender gap, gender inequality index, and attitudes toward violence against women. Each factor was weighted and given a score, which added up to the danger index number; for this study, the higher scores mean the more dangerous countries. Here's how the countries stacked up.
The 10 Safest Countries for Solo Female Travelers
Spain | 212.04
Singapore | 245.26
Ireland | 247.31
Austria | 251.63
Switzerland | 252.78
Norway | 259.92
Portugal | 277.58
Croatia | 286.53
Canada | 290.83
Poland | 291.23
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The 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Solo Female Travelers
South Africa | 771.82
Brazil | 624.28
Russia | 592.71
Mexico | 576.05
Iran | 553.11
The Dominican Republic | 551.32
Egypt | 546.91
Morocco | 542.75
India | 541.25
Thailand | 533.22
South Africa received the worst score in the "safe to walk alone at night" category as well as intentional homicide of women and non-partner sexual violence, while Spain did best in the intimate partner violence and global gender gap categories.
As a solo female traveler, I have been to four of the 10 countries listed as "most dangerous" and would still recommend traveling there, but with some precautions. Traveling on a facilitated group trip with a tour company is always a good idea if you want the security of a group, and U.S. residents should make sure to enroll in STEP, the government program that will send travelers important information and alerts on their destination while they're traveling abroad.
