Table of Contents

  • Placing women and men on an equal footing in every walk of political, economic and social life – gender equality – is not only a moral imperative, but also an economic one. As this report points out, the cost to the global economy of gender-based discrimination in social institutions is USD 6 trillion (7.5% of the global GDP). The social impact of gender inequality affects the quality of life of millions of women in every sphere, but also has consequences for their families and communities. Much more is needed to achieve de facto equality between women and men. Social media movements as #MeToo, #BalanceTonPorc, #NiUnaMenos, and #JusticeforAsifa, are a stark reminder that violence against women and girls is an ongoing and pervasive problem that laws have been insufficient to remedy.

  • For the past decade, the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) has been measuring and addressing gender-based discrimination by looking at the invisible part of the iceberg and providing a clearer vision of how social institutions shape women’s lives. The SIGI looks at the gaps that legislation, social norms and practices create between women and men in terms of rights and opportunities. This innovative tool enables policy makers and development practitioners to understand the barriers to gender equality better and to identify the drivers behind persistent forms of discrimination. First launched in 2009, and subsequently in 2012, 2014 and 2019, the SIGI has served as the basis for a series of reports analysing the level of discrimination in social institutions and the progress on gender equality. SIGI publications have included global reports, regional reports and country studies.

  • This report provides an overview of the main outcomes of the SIGI in relation to women and the family, their physical integrity, access to productive and financial resources and their civic rights. Building on these outcomes, the report provides a set of policy recommendations to enhance governments’ efforts to deliver their gender-equality commitments.

  • Each thematic chapter provides detailed policy recommendations on the 16 SIGI indicators (detailing a comprehensive legal framework to address violence against women, for example), while this section lists cross-cutting policy recommendations. Transforming challenges into opportunities requires a three-pronged approach to all discriminatory social institutions included in the SIGI:

  • Gender equality is an integral part of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which contains the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “Agenda 2030’’ represents a unique opportunity for all development partners – governments, donors, the private sector, philanthropy and civil society – to work together for gender equality and the commitments made in the Agenda.Gender equality and women’s empowerment are included as a mainstreamed target and stand-alone Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5). This represents political recognition that the world cannot achieve the SDGs while holding back half the global population.

  • This chapter presents an overview of the global trends and results from the 2019 Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) and its four dimensions: discrimination in the family, physical integrity, access to productive and financial assets, and civil liberties. It outlines the main areas of progress and the main challenges regarding formal and informal laws, social norms and practices related to gender equality worldwide. It emphasises geographical disparities and the heterogeneity of progress. Finally, it briefly presents the SIGI components.

  • This chapter discusses the complexity of discriminatory social institutions and how these create barriers to the achievement of SDG 5 by 2030. It describes how barriers impede economic growth and outlines the economic costs of gender-based discrimination in formal and informal laws, social norms and practices. The chapter analyses gender gaps in social protection as an example of discriminatory social institutions, emphasising how these gaps increase women’s vulnerability. Moreover, it focuses on the importance of acknowledging intersectional discrimination, describing how migrant women and rural women are affected differently by gender-based discriminatory social institutions. Finally, the chapter evaluates the opportunities and challenges that digitalisation offers for women’s empowerment and gender equality.

  • This chapter presents an overview of women’s discrimination in the family. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that limit women’s decision-making power and undervalue their status in the household across 180 countries, covering areas such as child marriage, household responsibilities, parental authority, divorce and inheritance. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies to tackle gender inequality in the family sphere.

  • This chapter presents an overview of women’s restricted physical integrity. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that increase women’s vulnerabilities to a range of forms of violence and limit women’s control over their bodies, across 180 countries and covering areas such as violence against women, female genital mutilation, missing women and reproductive autonomy. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies in order to protect women’s physical integrity.

  • This chapter presents an overview of women’s restricted access to productive and financial resources. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that restrict women’s access to and control over critical productive and economic resources and assets across 180 countries, covering areas such as secure access to land, secure access to non-land assets, secure access to formal financial services and workplace rights. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies in order to improve women’s economic empowerment.

  • This chapter presents an overview of women’s restricted civil liberties. It examines discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – that obstruct women’s access to, participation and voice in the public and social spheres across 180 countries, covering areas such as citizenship rights, political voice, freedom of movement and access to justice. The chapter also seeks to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design effective gender-responsive policies in order to strengthen women’s political participation and civil liberties.