For more information about the OECD Development Centre’s gender programme: [email protected] LATIN AMERICA www.genderindex.org AND THE CARIBBEAN SIGI REGIONAL REPORT Social Institutions & Gender Index Table of contents Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................................2 Acronyms and abbreviations ......................................................................................................3 Section 1 • The SIGI in Latin America and the Caribbean ....................................................5 Regional overview ...................................................................................................................6 Key messages .........................................................................................................................9 Key results ............................................................................................................................10 Description of the SIGI and its sub-indices .........................................................................13 SIGI classification .................................................................................................................14 Section 2 • SIGI sub-index analysis ....................................................................................19 Discriminatory family code ...................................................................................................20 BOX 2.1: MenCare: Engaging men as positive, non-violent fathers and caregivers ............................26 Restricted physical integrity .................................................................................................27 BOX 2.2: Mexico: Changing adolescent girls’ and boys’ attitudes towards gender-based violence ..35 Son bias ................................................................................................................................36 Restricted resources and assets ..........................................................................................41 Restricted civil liberties ........................................................................................................47 BOX 2.3: Advancing ‘Parity Democracy’ in the LAC region through a regional Framework Law ........53 Section 3 • The development cost of discriminatory social institutions........................55 The cost of gender-based discrimination in LAC ................................................................56 Boosting women’s economic contribution in LAC by recognising, redistributing and reducing the unpaid care burden ..................................................................................63 BOX 3.1 Unpaid care work .....................................................................................................63 Eliminating violence against women as a development strategy for LAC countries ...........70 Annex ........................................................................................................................................77 Methodology .........................................................................................................................78 SIGI 2014 framework: Variables and coding ........................................................................80 Latin America and the Caribbean country SIGI scores per sub-index ................................83 Country ISO codes ...............................................................................................................83 Notes .........................................................................................................................................84 References ...............................................................................................................................85 Acknowledgements The SIGI Regional Report for Latin America and the Caribbean was prepared by the OECD Development Centre’s Social Cohesion Unit: Alexandre Kolev, Keiko Nowacka, Gaëlle Ferrant, Annelise Thim, Léa Fuiret and Lisa Bernard. The OECD Development Centre would like to thank the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Agency for Foreign Affairs and Development, and the Austrian Development Agency for their strong support of the Development Centre’s work on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The OECD Development Centre would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for their co-operation, feedback and expertise: Gary Barker, Nina Ford, Alexa Hassink and Ruti Levtov, Promundo Global; Andrew Morrison, Claudia Piras and Carmen Maria Masters Mapp, Inter-American Development Bank; Luiza Carvalho, Lara Blanco, Victoria Diaz Garcia, Irune Aguirrezabal and Adriana Quinones, UN Women Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office; Paula Cerutti, Elena Crivellaro, Valerie Frey and Linda Smiroldo Herda, OECD. Thanks to the country profile authors: Nayibe Tavares-Abel and Gwendolyn Beetham Particular thanks to Stephan Klasen, University of Göttingen. © OECD, 2017 The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this document are the sole property of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD, its Development Centre or of their member countries. This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Acronyms and abbreviations CCTs Conditional cash transfers CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CSO Civil society organisation DHS Demographic and Health Surveys ECA Europe and Central Asia FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FGM Female genital mutilation FLFP Female labour force participation GDP Gross domestic product GGG Global Gender Gap Index ILO International Labour Organization IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union IPV Intimate partner violence LAC Latin America and the Caribbean LFP Labour force participation MDG Millennium Development Goal MENA Middle East and North Africa OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development SA South Asia SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SIGI Social Institutions and Gender Index SMEs Small and medium-sized enterprises SSA Sub-Saharan Africa UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNSCR United Nations Security Resolution VAW Violence against women WEF World Economic Forum WHO World Health Organization The SIGI in Latin America and the Caribbean Regional overview The Latin America and the Caribbean region boasts an impressive track record for advancing gender equality, with women and girls today enjoying regionally unprecedented access to empowerment opportunities and greater protection of their human rights. The region is one of the strongest performers in the 2014 edition of the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI). This is largely due to the region’s long-term efforts to remove the legal barriers confronting women and girls from enjoying equal rights and opportunities. It reflects policy solutions aimed at boosting their voice and agency within the family as well as in economic, political and public life. All Latin American and Caribbean countries demonstrate very low to medium levels of discrimination across the five sub-indices of the SIGI (Figure 1.1). This SIGI Regional Report on Latin America and the Caribbean highlights the positive strides, commitments and momentum to challenge gender-based discrimination in social institutions, notably in land, property and financial rights, and in legal reforms to eliminate gender-based violence. It also pinpoints weak implementation of laws and persistent discriminatory social norms as important stumbling blocks to further progress. Figure 1.1. Share of Latin American and Caribbean countries by level of gender-based discrimination in social institutions Medium Low Very low 4 9 6 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Share of LAC countries Note: This figure presents the share and the number of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the SIGI classification. 19 of the 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are ranked in the SIGI (See Annex on page XX). No countries in the region have been classified as having high or very high levels of gender-based discrimination in social institutions. Source: OECD (2014a), Gender, Institutions and Development Database, http://stats.oecd.org. Discrimination against women is defined as follows in Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: (it) shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. 6 The SIGI in Latin America and the Caribbean The socio-economic transformations of the region have benefited from improvements in women’s growing voice and agency. Over the past two decades, gender-responsive policies and legislative reforms enacted at the national level,