Social Institutions and Gender Index SIGI 2021 Regional Report for Southeast Asia

Preface Foreword Acknowledgements Reader’s guide The Social Institutions and Gender Index 2019 conceptual framework Geographical coverage Timing and data sources Qualitative data Quantitative data SIGI scores and classification Glossary References Abbreviations and acronyms Executive summary Discriminatory social institutions constitute major barriers to women’s empowerment and their investment in human capital Laws and social norms limit women’s access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and enable harmful practices that result in poor health and well-being outcomes While parity in education supports women’s empowerment, deeply embedded social norms lead to gender segregation in education Women’s economic and political empowerment is hindered by discriminatory laws and social norms A path towards gender equality: Key policy recommendations 1 The Social Institutions and Gender Index in the Southeast Asian region Social Institutions and Gender Index overview SIGI results in Southeast Asia show that discriminatory social institutions remain important Discriminatory social institutions yield a high economic cost, whereas increasing gender equality would constitute a tremendous growth opportunity SIGI results highlight wide variations across Southeast Asian countries The strongest forms of discrimination are those related to family and civil liberties Discriminatory social institutions constitute major barriers to women’s empowerment Low health status resulting from discriminatory practices and social norms constrains women’s empowerment Parity in education supports Southeast Asian women’s empowerment, but discriminatory social institutions and biases continue to shape educational choices The economic empowerment of Southeast Asian women is hampered by discriminatory norms and practices that curtail their labour participation, access to resources and skills development Women’s empowerment requires amplifying women’s voices in decision-making bodies A path towards gender equality: Key policy recommendations Update and harmonise legislation in line with international standards Develop enforcement mechanisms to effectively deliver justice Adopt a holistic and intersectional approach, taking into account women’s diversity while engaging men and boys as positive agents of change Strengthen the scope and the quality of sex-disaggregated data collection at all geographical levels Improve communication and awareness References Notes 2 Thematic analysis Introduction Discrimination in the family is the most challenging issue in the Southeast Asian region Greater efforts are needed to end the practice of child marriage in Southeast Asian countries by 2030 Legislation on equal household responsibilities should be strengthened to foster gender equality in the home Divorce rights are guaranteed in the majority of Southeast Asian countries, but child custody practices offer a mixed picture The enforcement of inheritance rights is key to women’s economic empowerment in Southeast Asian countries Restricted physical integrity is the dimension in which the Southeast Asian region scores the best Violence against women still represents a significant challenge in the Southeast Asian region More data are required to estimate the prevalence of female genital mutilation in some Southeast Asian countries Missing women is an area of concern in Viet Nam Women’s reproductive autonomy rights are limited and often threatened by discriminatory laws across Southeast Asian countries Restricted access to productive and financial resources Laws guarantee women’s access to land and non-land assets, yet exclude some groups of women Women’s access to financial services has made great strides Deeply entrenched social norms and specific legal restrictions hamper women’s workplace rights Restricted civil liberties Nationality laws uphold gender inequality in citizenship rights Women’s political voice has improved at the national level since 2017 While legal frameworks generally protect women’s freedom of movement, social practices continue to limit women’s mobility Legal pluralism continues to hamper women’s access to justice References Notes Annex A. The SIGI’s methodology Aggregation and construction of the index Step 1: Building the Gender, Institutions and Development Database Step 2: Building the indicators Step 3: Building the dimensions Step 4: Building the SIGI Definition of the variables Questions used to calculate the SIGI scores Annex B. Estimating the economic cost of discriminatory social institutions Estimating the cost of discriminatory social institutions Estimating the potential economic gains from gender equality References Notes Achieving gender equality and tackling discriminatory laws, social norms and practices set a direct path toward a more inclusive economy and society. The SIGI 2021 Regional Report for Southeast Asia provides new evidence-based analysis on the setbacks and progress in achieving gender equality between 2014 and 2019 in 11 countries. The report uncovers the discrimination women face within social institutions in various dimensions; in the family and household context, in relation to physical integrity and access to productive and financial resources, as well within the political and civil spheres. The SIGI 2021 Regional Report for Southeast Asia explores the interaction between women's empowerment and discriminatory social institutions by looking specifically at four core areas - health, education, the economic dimension and decision making. It also unveils the cost of discriminatory social institutions for Southeast Asian countries and the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for women and girls. Building on the regional analysis of how discriminatory social institutions continue to hinder efforts toward SDG 5, the report provides a set of policy recommendations to enhance governments' efforts to deliver on their gender equality commitments by 2030