Women Peace and Security Index 2017/18

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index ranks 153 countries based on 11 indicators across three dimensions: inclusion (education, employment, parliamentary representation, cellphone use, and financial inclusion), justice (legal discrimination, son bias, and discriminatory norms), and security (intimate partner violence, community safety, and organized violence). Iceland ranks first (.886), while Afghanistan and Syria rank last (.385). The report finds that while some countries perform well across all dimensions, many exhibit unbalanced achievements; for example, Latin America performs well on justice but poorly on inclusion. The index also highlights a disconnect between national income and women's well-being, noting that countries like Saudi Arabia rank significantly lower on the index than their per capita income would suggest. Additionally, the report analyzes the specific impact of conflict on security, noting that women in conflict-affected states face a 35 percent higher risk of intimate partner violence.

• The WPS Index ranks 153 countries, covering over 98 percent of the world's population, using a score from 0 to 1. Iceland is the top performer with a score of .886, while Afghanistan and Syria are tied for the lowest rank with scores of .385.
• The index identifies a pattern of unbalanced achievement across its three dimensions. For instance, Latin America and the Caribbean show strong performance in justice but poor performance in inclusion.
• There is a significant discrepancy between a country's per capita income and its WPS Index rank. Saudi Arabia ranks 89 places lower on the WPS Index than its global income ranking.
• Women in fragile or conflict-affected states face a 35 percent higher risk of intimate partner violence compared to women in other developing countries.
• The report identifies a global gender gap of approximately 7 percentage points regarding whether women feel safe walking alone at night in their community.
• Son bias is most severe in Azerbaijan and China, both recording 116 boys born for every 100 girls.
• Between 2010 and 2015, China and India accounted for the vast majority of 'missing girls' globally, with China having 5 million and India 4 million.
• Discriminatory norms regarding women's employment are highest in Pakistan, where 73 percent of men disagree that it is acceptable for women in their family to have a paid job outside the home.
• In the security dimension, the United States ranks 66th, largely due to intimate partner violence rates that are more than 10 percentage points above the mean for developed countries.
• Organized violence is highly concentrated; in recent years, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, and Syria have accounted for two-thirds of total global deaths from organized violence.

APA

Peace Research Institute Oslo (2017). Women Peace and Security Index 2017/18. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/a3129717-b11f-49d9-834d-f46fb5fdcc3e/WPS-Index-Report-2017-18.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Peace Research Institute Oslo. Women Peace and Security Index 2017/18. 2017. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/a3129717-b11f-49d9-834d-f46fb5fdcc3e/WPS-Index-Report-2017-18.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Peace Research Institute Oslo |title=Women Peace and Security Index 2017/18 |date=2017 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/a3129717-b11f-49d9-834d-f46fb5fdcc3e/WPS-Index-Report-2017-18.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{peaceresearchinstituteoslo2017women, author = {{Peace Research Institute Oslo}}, title = {{Women Peace and Security Index 2017/18}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2017}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/a3129717-b11f-49d9-834d-f46fb5fdcc3e/WPS-Index-Report-2017-18.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }