🇱🇸 Kingdom of Lesotho
Visiting: Dangerous
Do not go to Lesotho unprepared: the risks are real. Violent crime is the defining risk: homicide ranks 173rd, one of the highest rates in the world. Nothing ranks highly here: there is some exposure to conflict, ranking 72nd, and freedom is only partly protected, at 74th. Women's safety is poor, ranking 130th, and the roads are hazardous, at 150th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Lesotho: 22.2
Ranked 8th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Twenty-two killings per 100,000 people a year is more than twice the ten that marks the deadliest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
Take it seriously. Nearly four times the world average, and a real risk for a visitor.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Lesotho: 21.6
Ranked 31st in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty-two deaths per 100,000 people a year is well above the world average of fifteen but short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe, in a car or on foot — four in ten of the deaths are pedestrians.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Lesotho: 1.20
Ranked 72nd least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Nothing in twenty-five years. The last conflict death the Uppsala conflict database records in Lesotho was in September 1998.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing armed reaches a visitor, in Maseru or the mountains.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Lesotho: 6.56
Ranked 74th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Lesotho the lowest are protest, press and due process at 2. Total 16 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
A constitutional monarchy where the army's role in politics has brought instability. Daily life is open, but protest, press and the courts are all rated with significant limits.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Lesotho: 4.4
Ranked 78th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Decriminalised in 2012 when the new penal code dropped the old common-law offence. The law index sits at 56 and public opinion at 32.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable, with discretion. Small advocacy groups work openly now, but social conservatism runs deep.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Lesotho: 6.45
Ranked 51st least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The courts rate fairly and no attacks on women are recorded. Only 29 percent of women feel safe walking alone at night, and partner violence in the past year is seventeen percent.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care in Lesotho.