The SIGI draws on 12 social institutions variables from the OECD Gender, Institutions and Development (GID) Database that have been grouped into five categories or subindices: Family Code, Physical Integrity, Son Preference, Civil Liberties, and Ownership Rights (see figure).
Family Code
Family Code refers to institutions that influence the decision making power of women in the household. It contains four variables:
- early marriage measures the percentage of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 who are married, divorced or widowed, providing an indication of forced or arranged marriages;
- polygamy measures the acceptance within a society of men having multiple wives; women in polygamous relationships are frequently prevented from pursuing a professional or academic career and are generally much younger than their husband;
- parental authority measures whether women have the same right to be a legal guardian of a child during marriage, and whether women have custody rights over a child after divorce;
- inheritance measures whether widdows and daughters have equal rights as heirs; in many countries, inheritance is the only way in which women can obtain ownership of land, for example.
Physical Integrity
Physical integrity comprises different indicators on violence against women, including the existence of female genital mutilation. It contains two variables:
- violence against women measures the existence of women's legal protection against violent attacks such as rape, assault and sexual harassment;
- female genital mutilation measures the share of women who have been subjected to any type of female genital cutting.
Son Preference
Son preference reflects the economic valuation of women, based on the variable missing women, which measures gender bias in mortality due to sex selective abortions or insufficient care given to baby girls. This indicator is inspired by the work of Nobel Laureat Amartya Sen; SIGI countries have been coded by Prof. Stephan Klasen of Göttingen University.
Civil Liberties
Civil liberties capture the freedom of social participation of women. It contains two variables:
- freedom of movement measures the level of restrictions women face in moving freely outside of their own household, for example by being able to go shopping or visit friends without being escorted by male members of the family;
- freedom of dress measures the extent to which women are obliged to follow a certain dress code in public, for example being obliged to cover their face or body when leaving the house.
Ownership Rights
Ownership rights cover women's right and de facto access to several types of property. It includes three variables:
- women's access to land measures women's right and de facto access to agricultural land;
- women access to property other than land measures women's right and de factor access to other types of property, especially immovable property;
- women's access to credit measures women's right and de facto access to bank loans; even though women generally have the legal right to obtain credit, they frequently face restrictions as banks may ask the written permission of a woman's husband or require land a collateral which women are frequently deprived of.
