Does Indonesian Law Guarantee Gender Equality? World Bank's Assessment

Indonesia's laws guaranteeing gender equality are not strong enough, resulting in a ranking of 7th out of 10 Southeast Asian countries, according to this data.

This assessment was presented by the World Bank in its 2022 report, *Women, Business, and the Law*.

The World Bank assessed countries' ability to guarantee equal rights for men and women through legal regulations.

The assessment was based on the existence of laws in each country guaranteeing women's freedom of mobility, protection at work, equal pay, equality in marriage, childcare, asset ownership, business opportunities, and pension benefits.

The World Bank then assigned a score of 0-100 to each country. A score of '0' indicates no guarantee, while a score of '100' means the country has provided full guarantees.

Using this scoring system, Indonesia received a cumulative score of 64.4 out of 100. The details of the assessment are as follows:

1. Mobility Guarantee: Score 100

Legally, women in Indonesia are free to choose their place of residence and travel independently. This differs from the situation in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, where, according to the World Bank, national laws still impose restrictions on women's mobility.

2. Business Opportunities: Score 75

Indonesia has guaranteed fairly equal business opportunities for men and women. However, the World Bank notes that Indonesia does not yet have laws prohibiting discrimination against women in the provision of business credit.

3. Equal Pay: Score 75

Equal pay for men and women in Indonesia is considered fairly good. The World Bank's assessment points out that Indonesia lacks laws mandating equal remuneration for jobs of equal value.

For example, there is no equality between the remuneration of drivers (generally men) and domestic helpers (generally women).

4. Pension Benefits: Score 75

Indonesia has implemented the same pension policy for all genders. However, the World Bank notes that the amount of pension does not take into account maternity leave or childcare leave, which are generally needed by women.

5. Asset Ownership: Score 60

Opportunities for men and women to own assets and property in Indonesia are equal. However, the World Bank notes that there is still a disparity in inheritance rights from parents.

6. Employment Protection: Score 50

Indonesia has laws prohibiting discrimination and guaranteeing equal employment opportunities for all genders. However, there are no laws specifically addressing the protection of women from sexual harassment in the workplace.

7. Equality in Marriage: Score 40

No Indonesian law requires a wife to be subservient to her husband. However, Indonesia received a low score on this indicator because there are still differences in the divorce proceedings for men and women.

8. Childcare: Score 40

Indonesia received a low score on this indicator because its laws do not yet regulate special childcare leave generally needed by mothers, and maternity leave pay is not 100% covered by the government.

The World Bank also highlights that Indonesia's maternity leave is only 90 days, lower than Vietnam and Laos, which offer more than 100 days of maternity leave.

(See also: Married Women Experience the Highest Wage Gap)