Women's Economic Opportunity Index - Economist Intelligence Unit

Appendix IISources and definitionsWomen’s economic opportunityA new global index and ranking4) Women’s Legal and Social StatusIndicator Source Year Indicator definitions and constructionAddressing violenceagainst women (existenceof laws protecting womenagainst women)Freedom of movement(opportunity to move freelyoutside the house) forwomenThe UN Secretary-General’s Database onViolence Against WomenOrganisation forEconomic Co-operationand Development,Development Centre2009 (currentlaws andlegislativeprovisions)This indicator looks at the presence of laws that protect women against violence.Indicator construction: A point will be awarded if a country has existing laws and legislativeprovisions, at the national level, that protects women against violence in the following areas:1) Domestic violence2) Sexual assault/violence or rape3) Sexual harassmentAdding the points gives the indicator score, which ranges from 0 to 3 (a four-point scale).For countries where there is no national-level legislation, but there is legislation or articles in legalcodes at the provincial level that covers the entire country’s jurisdiction, this is assumed to be theequivalent of having national-level laws.Please note that this indicator only considers whether legislation exists for the three types ofviolence, and does not include an assessment of the quality of the law.In addition, information on the existence of the relevant laws and legislative provisions wassourced solely from the UN Secretary-General’s Database on Violence Against Women. Informationin this database is sourced from the responses to a questionnaire relating to violence againstwomen that was received from UN Member States. Other information included in the UN Secretary-General’s Database on Violence Against Women was obtained from states parties’ reports to humanrights organisations, information provided by countries in the follow-up to the Fourth WorldConference on Women in 1995, and information from other UN entities.The maximum score a country can receive is 3, where 3= most favourable.2009 Lack of freedom of movement constrains women’s ability to work. Freedom of movement measuresthe opportunity of women to move outside the home.The following elements were considered when scoring this indicator: freedom to travel; freedomto join a club or association; freedom to do grocery (and other types of) shopping without a maleguardian; freedom to see one’s family and friends.0= No restrictions on women’s movement outside the home0.5= (Some) women can leave home sometimes, but with restrictions1= Women can never leave home without restrictions (that is, they need a male companion, etc.)The maximum score a country can receive is 1, where 1= least favourable.135 Economist Intelligence Unit 2010