Timeframe
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2018-2024
Lead Researchers
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Professor Ramona Vijeyarasa
SDGs
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5. Gender Equality
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10. Reduced Inequalities
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16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Collaborators
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Rapido Social
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UTS Connected Intelligence Centre
- Posted on 15 Aug 2025
Evaluating women’s human rights in legislation globally
The law has the power to deliver concrete change to fulfill women’s rights, but we’ve lacked a set of global standards to assess and score laws on their ability to further women’s rights.
The Gender Legislative Index is a tool created to evaluate legislation for compatibility with women’s human rights. It was designed and created by Chief Investigator Ramona Vijeyarasa with collaborators Rapido Social (UTS Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology, FEIT) and the UTS Connect Intelligence Centre.
The GLI involves human evaluators and a machine-learning algorithm to evaluate the extent to which domestic laws respond to the different needs of men, women and non-binary people when measured against criteria derived from the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The Gender Legislative Index and Chief Investigator Vijeyarasa’s research was referenced by MP Ruth Forrest in Forrest’s motion that ‘Australian laws should not be gender-neutral where there are important differences between men and women that need to be taken into account’ (Forrest MP, 2022). The motion’s success saw Tasmania establish Australia’s only parliamentary committee in any state, territory or federal jurisdiction focused exclusively on gender-auditing of new bills: A Gender and Equality Committee.
The GLI has, to date, been used to evaluate over 130 laws from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia, facilitating a study published by Oxford University Press on the different women leaders make on the lives of fellow women through the law: The Woman President: Law, Leadership and Legacy for Women based on Experiences from South and Southeast Asia.
This research and industry engagements laid the groundwork for a successful application for an ARC Discovery Grant (2025-2027), as lead CI, with CIs from University of Sydney and University of Canberra.
Researchers
Professor, Faculty of Law
Webpage
Research from the UTS Faculty of Science explores the impact of climate change on rainfall and water flows in the Murray-Darling Basin.
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Transformative research partnerships driving gender equality and social inclusion in water, sanitation, and hygiene across the Asia-Pacific region.
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This project aims to improve the institutional effectiveness of coral reef restoration in the Philippines, by understanding political-economic influences on governance at multiple scales and applying lessons learned through action research.
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Tackling housing affordability is one of Australia’s biggest policy challenges. With a growing number of Australians expecting to be ‘forever renters’, UTS researchers are developing a new model that makes home ownership more accessible to Australians on low to middle incomes.
Webpage
Research from the UTS Faculty of Science explores the impact of climate change on rainfall and water flows in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Webpage
Transformative research partnerships driving gender equality and social inclusion in water, sanitation, and hygiene across the Asia-Pacific region.
Webpage
This project aims to improve the institutional effectiveness of coral reef restoration in the Philippines, by understanding political-economic influences on governance at multiple scales and applying lessons learned through action research.
Webpage
Tackling housing affordability is one of Australia’s biggest policy challenges. With a growing number of Australians expecting to be ‘forever renters’, UTS researchers are developing a new model that makes home ownership more accessible to Australians on low to middle incomes.