10 Inclusive and Safe Countries for Women in 2023: Is Indonesia on the List?

The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, in collaboration with the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace, and Security, has released a ranking of countries considered the safest, most inclusive, and most equitable for women.

The assessment is based on a Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) index with a score range of 0-1. Higher scores indicate greater safety for women.

Denmark ranked first in 2023 with a score of 0.932. "Denmark ranked highest with a score three times higher than Afghanistan, which ranked lowest," the research team wrote in their report, as quoted on Sunday, March 24, 2024.

Switzerland ranked second with a score of 0.928, followed by Sweden in third place with 0.926.

Finland, Iceland, and Luxembourg followed, each with a score of 0.924.

Norway was seventh with 0.920, followed by Austria, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, as shown in the graph.

"The five Nordic countries are ranked in the top seven. All countries in the top quintile belong to the group of developed countries or Central and Eastern and Central European countries," stated the research team.

Indonesia scored 0.700, placing it 82nd out of 177 countries studied.

The Georgetown Institute's research also shows that countries with good women's performance are also more peaceful, democratic, prosperous, and better prepared to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The research team noted that the world is currently grappling with a climate emergency, the rise of authoritarian and anti-democratic forces, large-scale forced displacement, armed conflict, and the various impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

These increasingly complex and layered crises, the team said, weaken women's status and threaten to reverse progress made over several decades.

"The WPS Index reinforces the priority of investing in women as crucial to protecting the security and well-being of everyone. Women's well-being and national well-being go hand in hand," the research team stated.

The WPS Index includes 13 indicators of women's status classified into three dimensions: inclusion (economic, social, political); justice (formal and informal discrimination); and security (at the individual, community, and societal levels).

Data for the performance assessment comes from the latest and reputable sources such as the UN, the World Bank, the Gallup World Poll, and many more.

The following are the countries with the highest 2023 WPS Index scores:

* Denmark 0.932
* Switzerland 0.928
* Sweden 0.926
* Finland 0.924
* Iceland 0.924
* Luxembourg 0.924
* Norway 0.920
* Austria 0.911
* Netherlands 0.908
* New Zealand 0.904

(Also read: 10 Countries with the Highest Women's Empowerment in the World 2022, Europe Dominates)