Women Hate Drone Strikes More Than Men

The gender divide is alive and kicking when it comes to at least one issue: drone strikes.

The Pew Research Center decided to find out how men and women in a multitude of countries felt about them — and the takeaway is that far more women than men, regardless of country, are against United States drone strikes. In the U.S., the gap isn't anywhere near as big as in other nations: here, 17 percent more women are against them than men.

In Japan, the Czech Republic and Canada, though, at least three times more women than men aren't fans. Pew commented:

Gender gaps are also often seen in global surveys over the use of military force, with women far less likely than men to say that force is sometimes necessary in the pursuit of justice. But the gender difference over drone strikes is unusually large.

American drone strikes have been controversial for as long as we've known about them, with the first strike reportedly occurring in Yemen in 2002. Drones — or, to use the official term, "unmanned aerial vehicles" — are used by the U.S. as a tool against extremist leaders and organizations. Few details about drone attacks are ever disclosed to the American public.

A document emerged just this week from the Pakistani government that drone attacks in the country have killed hundreds of civilians, and nearly 100 children. It's estimated that 95 percent of targeted killings by the U.S. administration since 9/11 have been carried out by drones.

Pew found earlier this month that although international approval of The United States is increasing, there remains widespread opposition to drone strikes. In America, nearly two-thirds of people agree with their use, and Israel and Kenya (?) are the only other generally "pro-drone" countries. At least three-quarters of people in 15 countries disapprove of American use of drones.

(Images: Pew Research Center, Mashable)