Which ASEAN country best guarantees gender equality?

Laos is the country best able to guarantee gender equality in Southeast Asia, according to the World Bank's *Women, Business, and the Law 2022* report.

The report assesses countries' ability to ensure equal rights for men and women through legal frameworks.

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

The World Bank assigns a score on a scale of 0-100. A score of '0' indicates no guarantee, while a score of '100' means the country has fully guaranteed gender equality and the protection of women's rights.

Southeast Asian countries' scores on gender equality, according to the World Bank:

1. Laos: 88.1
2. Vietnam: 85.0
3. Singapore: 82.5
4. Cambodia: 81.3
5. Philippines: 78.8
6. Thailand: 78.1
7. Indonesia: 64.4
8. Myanmar: 58.8
9. Brunei Darussalam: 53.1
10. Malaysia: 50.0

All Southeast Asian countries have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Therefore, all the above-mentioned countries are obligated to create laws to eliminate all forms of discrimination and guarantee equality between men and women in social, economic, political, and other spheres of life.

Indonesia received a relatively low score because its laws are deemed insufficient to protect women from workplace sexual harassment.

The World Bank also assessed that Indonesian law has not yet achieved equality in marriage, childcare, and inheritance matters, where women are still disadvantaged.