Religious Restrictions Around the World
How do governments and social actors limit religion? Our interactive has tracked restrictions on religion in 198 countries and territories since 2007.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Virginia Villa
Former Research Analyst
Virginia Villa is a research analyst at Pew Research Center focusing on religion. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California.
Publications
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Religiously unaffiliated people face harassment in a growing number of countries
Religiously unaffiliated people were harassed by governments, private groups or both in 27 countries in 2020.
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Four-in-ten countries and territories worldwide had blasphemy laws in 2019
79 countries and territories out of the 198 studied around the world (40%) had laws or policies in 2019 banning blasphemy.
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report
Globally, Social Hostilities Related to Religion Decline in 2019, While Government Restrictions Remain at Highest Levels
Social hostilities involving religion, including violence and harassment against religious groups by private individuals and groups, declined in 2019, according to Pew Research Center’s 12th annual study of global restrictions on religion, which examines 198 countries and territories.
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Women in many countries face harassment for clothing deemed too religious – or too secular
Women in 56 countries experienced social hostilities due to clothing that was deemed to violate religious or secular dress norms.
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Most states have religious exemptions to COVID-19 social distancing rules
Only 10 states are preventing in-person religious gatherings in any form, according to our analysis of recent state-level regulations.
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5 facts about vaccines in the U.S.
Most Americans believe the health benefits of the MMR vaccine are high and the risks are low. Many favor school-based vaccine requirements.
