Women's Rights and Gender Equality: A Global Index to Monitor Government Action

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Law
• Artificial Intelligence

Background:

• Global gender inequality is increasing, with significant backlash against women's rights.
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) framework lacks systematic monitoring tools for state compliance.
• The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women's potential is constrained by data accessibility and analysis limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce the CEDAW Index, an AI-powered digital dashboard to enhance accountability for CEDAW recommendations.
• Provide a systematic tool for monitoring state compliance with CEDAW, focusing initially on gender-based violence.
• Develop a scalable framework to extend across the full scope of CEDAW.

Main Methods:

• Developed an AI-supported digital dashboard (CEDAW Index) consolidating state reports, civil society shadow reports, and committee concluding observations.
• Assigned implementation status to CEDAW recommendations and tracked variables like region, income, and crisis context.
• Integrated civil society perspectives to counterbalance government reporting and analyzed data from 117 countries (1997-2020).

Main Results:

• Identified 423 laws implemented or amended in response to law-related recommendations, representing 46% of such recommendations.
• The pilot analysis informed the dashboard's design and highlighted the potential for tracking progress on gender-based violence.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of consolidating diverse data sources for monitoring CEDAW compliance.

Conclusions:

• The CEDAW Index offers a novel pathway to enhance transparency and accountability in global gender equality efforts.
• The tool can amplify advocacy by providing data-driven insights into women's rights implementation.
• Addressing challenges like government opacity and AI limitations is crucial for reinforcing women's rights globally.