In 2026, women are still not permitted entry at any of these nine places around the globe—from entire islands to men’s clubs in the United States.
Whether it’s under the guise of religion, laws, restrictions, or outdated traditions, discrimination against women is still very much present in 2026. Here in the United States, for instance, we’re still fighting for paid maternity leave on the federal level, bodily autonomy with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as well as access to basic health services, and closing the pay gap. In other countries, women are banned from universities, entering a business without a head covering, or ascending a particular mountain or entering a temple.
Sometimes sex-based discrimination is blatantly insidious or seemingly innocuous. For instance, it’s not always the case that women are barred from specific physical spaces anymore, but are denied the right to work certain professions or join particular organizations. Or it’s that their bodily autonomy is entirely restricted with severe penalties (like jail time) or their access to education is flat out denied. While some of the “places” on this list are actual sites where women can’t enter, others are more symbolic, with deep-rooted misogyny built into the very foundations of the traditions themselves.
