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. 2017 Sep;5(9):e916-e923.
doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30292-9. Epub 2017 Jul 26.

The SWPER index for women's empowerment in Africa: development and validation of an index based on survey data

Fernanda Ewerling  1 , John W Lynch  2 , Cesar G Victora  1 , Anouka van Eerdewijk  3 , Marcelo Tyszler  3 , Aluisio J D Barros  4
Affiliations

The SWPER index for women's empowerment in Africa: development and validation of an index based on survey data

Fernanda Ewerling et al. Lancet Glob Health. 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Background: The Sustainable Development Goals strongly focus on equity. Goal 5 explicitly aims to empower all women and girls, reinforcing the need to have a reliable indicator to track progress. Our objective was to develop a novel women's empowerment indicator from widely available data sources, broadening opportunities for monitoring and research on women's empowerment.

Methods: We used Demographic and Health Survey data from 34 African countries, targeting currently partnered women. We identified items related to women's empowerment present in most surveys, and used principal component analysis to extract the components. We carried out a convergent validation process using coverage of three health interventions as outcomes; and an external validation process by analysing correlations with the Gender Development Index.

Findings: 15 items related to women's empowerment were selected. We retained three components (50% of total variation) which, after rotation, were identified as three dimensions of empowerment: attitude to violence, social independence, and decision making. All dimensions had moderate to high correlation with the Gender Development Index. Social independence was associated with higher coverage of maternal and child interventions; attitude to violence and decision making were more consistently associated with the use of modern contraception.

Interpretation: The index, named Survey-based Women's emPowERment index (SWPER), has potential to widen the research on women's empowerment and to give a better estimate of its effect on health interventions and outcomes. It allows within-country and between-country comparison, as well as time trend analysis, which no other survey-based index provides.

Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean empowerment in each SWPER domain for the 34 African countries analysed Data are centred on zero because SWPER is a standardised measure. Thus, if the average empowerment level is zero, the country empowerment level equals the African average. Positive values indicate that the average empowerment is higher than the African average, and negative values imply the opposite.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between the SWPER domains and the Gender Development Index
Figure 3
Figure 3
Association between modern contraceptive use (A), institutional delivery (B), stunting prevalence (C), and the SWPER domains Coefficients are prevalence ratios comparing the fifth quintile of empowerment (most empowered) versus the first quintile (least empowered). Crude and household wealth-adjusted results are shown.
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