Published on Let's Talk Development

Empowering Caribbean women: The key to unleashing economic potential

A woman sells fresh fruits at the outdoor market in Guadeloupe. | © shutterstock.com Caribbean countries have made strides in women's economic equality, yet challenges persist. | © shutterstock.com

The Caribbean vibrant culture and tourism offer significant economic potential. To accelerate progress, these small island states must unlock the potential of their human capital, including both men and women.

The World Bank’s  Women, Business and the Law (WBL) report presents new data reflecting on legal and policy achievements which affect women’s economic empowerment across 14 Caribbean countries. It highlights steps to unlock women’s economic potential and achieve gender equality. Today, women in the region have only about 60 percent of the rights afforded to men, below the global average of 64 percent.
 

Caribbean countries have come a long way in granting women equal economic opportunities, thanks to groundbreaking reforms

Since the 1970s, Caribbean nations have enacted at least one reform directly affecting women’s livelihoods and economic opportunities. The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law database records  132 positive reforms across eight indicators  between 1970 and 2024.

Suriname, St. Lucia and Grenada account for a third of the overall progress on the WBL index made in the region. Their notable progress includes legislation protecting women from domestic violence, prohibition of gender discrimination in employment and the dismissing pregnant workers. Landmark Civil Codes in Suriname (1981) and St. Lucia (1989) enhanced women’s legal agency. Women were no longer required to obey their husbands in Suriname or to obtain their husband consent over choosing where to live, signing a contract or opening a bank account in St. Lucia.  Both countries also introduced legislation on sexual harassment in employment. 
 

…But there are still many challenges to overcome

Despite the historical progress, the Caribbean’s average WBL legal frameworks score of 59.8 out of 100 is lower than the global average of 64.2. Fewer positive changes are recorded for Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Women, Business and the Law report shows that to catch up with the world, Caribbean countries should attend to women’s safety, entrepreneurship, childcare, and parenthood (figure 1). 

 

The legal framework is the weakest when it comes to ensuring women’s safety

Protecting women from violence is a fundamental first step toward female empowerment. Close to half of all women in the region have experienced at least one form of violence in their lifetime. In Guyana, 55 percent of women reported having experienced at least one form of violence, including intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual abuse. Jamaica has the second-highest rate of femicide in the world.

Strengthening regulatory frameworks is the first necessary step to protect women and girls against all forms of violence. However, not even a third of the minimum needed legal protections are in place in the Caribbean. Only half of the Caribbean countries in the WBL database have laws to protect women against domestic violence. All but two countries – Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago – still provide for exceptions to allow marriages below 18 years of age inhibiting girls’ health and education prospects. Not a single country in the region has laws protecting women from femicide. Belize is the only country where sexual harassment is addressed in three different environments, including the workplace, education, and online.
 

The Caribbean region has less than a quarter of the policy frameworks measured by Women, Business and the Law for effective implementation of laws

In the Caribbean, the gap between laws and frameworks supporting their implementation is the largest for the indicator that scores the highest on the legal frameworks – Assets (figure 2). Women in the Caribbean have less access to land and other forms of ownership.

Similarly, the Pay supportive frameworks average score of 46.4 out of 100 indicates that the region is not even half-way there when it comes to the government’s investment in pay transparency measures to avoid discriminatory pay practices (i.e. pay gap reporting, pay audits, certification programs, and gender-neutral job classification systems). Much needed sex-disaggregated data on women’s sectoral employment is publicly available only in six countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.


Multi-stakeholder dialogue could pave the way forward on gender equality

Caribbean states have a lot in common, including physical proximity, common history and economic challenges and goals. Leveraging the momentum to combine efforts through peer-to-peer learning and regional dialogue could help find solutions that lead to a more equal and prosperous society.

The World Bank remains committed to supporting Caribbean governments in developing and implementing laws and policies to remove key obstacles to realizing gender equality for all. 


Lilia Burunciuc

World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean countries

Alena Sakhonchik

Private Sector Specialist at Women, Business and the Law, World Bank Group

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