Gender Indicator

In terms of the overall Z-score for the Gender Indicator in the Inclusiveness Index in 2019, Burundi, Sweden, and Mozambique had the three highest scores, respectively. Interestingly, Thailand, Kuwait, and the United States all had the three lowest Z-scores for the Gender Indicator in the Inclusiveness Index in 2019. This means that every other country in the world has more gender parity that these three countries. The United States could be ranked so low based on the small percentage of women represented in the lower house of parliament as well as its high incarceration rate for women. Regarding female participation in the labor force in 2019, Yemen had the smallest percentage at 7.7% while Tuvalu had the highest at 52.3%. When analyzing the percentage of women represented in the lower house of parliament in 2019, several countries had few if not no women serving in parliament. Rwanda had the highest percentage of women represented in the lower house of parliament in 2019, likely because when the country’s constitution was rewritten following the genocide in 2003, the law mandated that 30% percent of parliamentary seats be reserved for women. Almost two decades later, Rwanda has 61% of parliamentary seats represented by women – more than double the mandate. It is clear that policies such as quotas are beneficial towards moving equality forward for women.

When comparing these three indexes for women’s access to financial resources, we can see that most countries have an index of 0 or 0.25, which means there are laws protecting women’s rights to these assets. Of the three visualizations, women’s access to land assets in 2019 has the most countries with an index of 1, indicating the most restrictions for women accessing land, with most countries earning an index of 0.25. In contrast, while there were numerous countries with null values, most countries had an index of 1 for laws for women’s access to non-land assets in 2019/ Regarding women’s access to formal financial services in 2019, just four countries had an index of 1, including Chad, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, and Niger. This indicates that most countries offer some sort of laws providing women with access to formal financial services. While there is still lots of progress needed to protect women’s rights to land, non-land assets, and access to formal financial services, this is clearly one area where countries can institute laws to improve overall inclusiveness.

The equality of women is important in all spaces of daily life, but it is essential in the workplace. The index for laws for workplace rights for women indicates that the government sees the need to protect women from discrimination in the workplace and makes laws accordingly. However, most countries earned an index of 1 and therefore do not have laws providing women with rights in the workplace. Even the United States has an index of 0.75 for workplace rights for women in 2019. The Gross National Income Female to Male Ratio is a measure of pay equity – the lower the ratio, the more men get paid higher than women. Yemen, Syria, and Jordan had the lowest GNIs of any country, indicating these countries have the largest pay gaps in the world. Meanwhile, Burundi and Mozambique had the highest GNI ratios of any country, which is a likely contributor to their high Z-scores for the Gender Indicator. The United States has a ratio of 0.66, indicating a lack of gender parity in wages. This measure demonstrates how individuals and organizations value the contributions of women in a financial sense, and countries that pass laws to protect the workplace rights of women can in turn promote a more inclusive society.

Violence towards women is a direct indicator of marginalization and oppression. Therefore, laws that protect against violence towards women and provide women access to justice when violence occurs is crucial for creating a society that is inclusive of women. In 2019, the index for laws against violence against women had many countries with null values and no countries with a value of 0. This suggests that there are no countries in the world that fully protect women from gender-based violence. There are two countries in our analysis that had an index of 1, meaning little to no protections for women from violence: Russia and Equatorial Guinea. In contrast, the index for laws protecting a woman’s access to justice after gender-based violence occurs, most countries earned an index of either 0 or 0.25. This indicates that most countries around the world recognize the need for women to access justice. Indonesia is the only country in our analysis that scored an index of 1, implying that there are little to no laws requiring women’s access to justice following a crime. In order to create a nation that is fully inclusive of women, the government must institute laws to protect women against gender-based violence and provide them with access to justice.

Restricting the movements of a group of people through the law is a strong indicator that the country seeks to control the group’s presence in public life. Despite women being granted the right to drive in Saudi Arabia in 2018, the rights of women to freely move around remain restricted, earning the country an index of 1, alongside Yemen, Sudan, Qatar, Jordan, and Iran. All of these nations have laws that prevent women from fully participating in public life equal to that of men. Fortunately, most countries in this analysis had an index of 0, meaning there are no laws restricting the free movement of women. In addition to movement, countries that are inclusive have explicit laws that protect women’s political voice at the ballot box. While only a handful of countries have such protections and have an index of 0, most countries scored an index of 0.25 or 0.5, meaning these countries have little to no explicit laws protecting the rights of women to express political opinions. The only country to receive an index of 0.75 is Oman, which actively bans political opposition parties from forming, which effectively prevents women from being able to organize independently. The participation of women not only in government but in social and political parties is critical for creating a more inclusive world.