gender country profile
- Lesotho 2004 DHS

Gender data may not match individual country reports exactly as data have been standardized for comparative purposes.

Note: Please roll over asterisks (*) to see notes.

  Women Men Notes
Do women and men have equal access to education and information?
Women and men age 15-49 who cannot read (%) 4.6 24.4 (*)
Women and men age 20-24 who have attended secondary or higher education (%) 45.8 34.6  
Women and men age 15-49 who are not regularly exposed to any media (TV, radio, or newspaper) at least once a week (%) 42.1 40.6 (*)
 
  Women Men Notes
Do women and men have equal opportunities for employment?
Women and men age 15-49 who were employed in the 12 months before the survey (%) 44.8 46.2 (*)
And, among those who were employed in the 12 months before the survey:
Women and men age 15-49 earning cash (cash only or cash and in-kind) (%) 62.7 67.1  
Women and men 15-49 employed in professional, technical, or managerial occupations (%) 6.7 6.8 (*)
Women and men 15-49 employed in all non-agricultural occupations (%) 67.5 61.9 (*)
Percent of currently married women age 15-49 who do not have control over their own earnings (among those employed for cash) 9.5 na  
 
  Women Men Notes
Do women make decisions in households?
Households headed by women or men (%) 37.3 62.7  
Currently married women 15-49 who alone or jointly have the final say in the following decisions, and currently married men who say that a wife should have the greater say alone or have an equal say with husband:
own health care (%) 48.5 u  
making large purchases (%) 40.3 u  
making daily purchases (%) 60.2 u  
visits to friends or relatives (%) 51.8 u  
none of these decisions (%) u u  
 
  Women Men Notes
How do marriage and fertility patterns differ between women and men?
Women and men age 20-49 who were married by age 18 (%) 31.7 2.0 (*)
Women and men age 20-49 who had sexual intercourse by age 15 (%) 5.8 3.3 (*)
Total fertility rate: average number of births per woman 3.5 na  
Women age 15-19 who have begun childbearing (%) 20.2 na  
Mean ideal number of children among women and men age 15-49 3.0 3.6  
Currently married women age 15-49 currently using a modern method of contraception (%) and currently married men who used a method with their last partner (%) 35.2 u  
 
  Women Men Notes
Are children treated differently based on their gender?
Primary school age children (6-11 years) that are attending primary school (%) 87.7 81.4  
Secondary school age children (12-17 years) that are attending secondary school (%) 26.6 15.6  
 
  Women Men Notes
Does society justify wife beating?
Women and men age 15-49 who agree that a husband is justified in beating his wife if: (*)
she burns the food (%) 12.6 12.9  
she argues with him (%) 36.2 39.1  
she goes out without telling him (%) 24.2 29.7  
she neglects the children (%) 37.1 38.0  
she refuses to have sex with him (%) 20.1 19.6  
at least one of these reasons (%) 48.3 51.4  
 
  Women Men Notes
Do women and men experience physical or sexual violence?
Women and men age 15-49 who have experienced physical violence by anyone:
since age 15 (%) u u  
in the past 12 months (%) u u  
Women and men age 15-49 who have ever experienced sexual violence by anyone (%) u u  
Ever-married women and men age 15-49 who have experienced physical or sexual violence by their spouse or partner:
ever (%) u u  
in the last 12 months (%) u u  
 
  Women Men Notes
Do women and men have the knowledge and empowerment necessary to reduce their risk of contracting HIV?
Women and men age 15-49 who know that the risk of contracting HIV can be reduced by:
using condoms (%) 77.5 69.6  
limiting sex to one uninfected faithful partner (%) 82.4 75.6  
Women and men age 15-49 who know that a healthy-looking person can have HIV (%) 75.3 69.3  
Women and men age 15-49 who had sex with more than one partner in the 12 months preceding the survey among those who had sex during the period (%) 11.0 30.4  
Mean lifetime number of sexual partners among those who have ever had sex 1.1 6.5  
Women and men age 15-49 who were tested and received results from an HIV test takenin the 12 months before the survey (%) 6.3 4.8  
 
  Women Men Notes
Does HIV affect women disproportionately?
Women and men age 15-49 who tested HIV-positive (%) 26.4 19.3  
 


na not applicable u data not collected or cannot be calculated