This chapter departs from the fact that while taking note of the detrimental role of corruption, there is an optimistic tone to the analysis of most chapters in this book. Over time, more and more EU member states have fallen into the most favorable category for gender equality “low level of executive corruption, high level of women in parliament” and the analyses shows increasing levels of female education and female labor force participation. But most of the analyses in the previous chapters ended in 2018, before the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) and before illiberal parties such as Fidesz in Hungary, under the leadership of Viktor Orbán, and Law and Justice Party (PiS) in Poland, under the leadership of Jarosław Kaczyński, had strengthened the hold over their countries with negative consequences for gender issues. In this chapter figures regarding corruption and gender equality are updated. The aim of the chapter is also to broaden the analysis by making comparisons to regions outside of Europe. The pivotal role of being a democracy versus an authoritarian state is discussed.