Erin Hern, associate professor of political science, recently shared her expertise on how to measure gender discrimination under systems defined by legal pluralism for an international organization as it prepares to update an index widely referenced by researchers and policymakers.

Hern joined a working group of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based international group of 38 democracies that works to promote economic growth and trade while setting global standards on issues ranging from tax policy to education and environmental protection. As a lead discussant, she addressed the challenges of determining how to measure gender discrimination in plural legal systems.

Legal pluralism refers to the coexistence of two or more parallel or overlapping legal systems within a country. Hern has researched and written on discrimination in Africa, where most countries are legally plural due to colonialism, religious law and other factors.  She has maintained that such systems are often doubly bad for women, as they reinforce patriarchal threads in Indigenous practices alongside male-dominated Anglo-European laws.

Referring to the OECD working group, Hern said, “We also discussed how to measure discrimination when women can theoretically opt into a gender-equal legal system, but social and familial pressures might make that impossible for them.”

The panel was held in advance of the OECD’s fifth edition of the Social Institutions and Gender Index, the most widely used measure of international gender inequality in academic and policy work. The index includes measures of gender inequality in countries by looking at discrimination in the legal system, within families, in education, in the economy and physical integrity.

Hern is among a small group of subject area experts who were invited to join the panel to explore challenges related to measurement data. Their feedback and perspectives will influence changes to the methodology and content areas as the organization prepares to release the next edition in 2027. Other invited speakers included academics, topical experts from the United Nations, think tank fellows and representatives from private organizations such as the Clooney Foundation for Justice.

Hern is the author of “When do Women Win in Legally Plural Systems? Evidence from Ghana and Senegal” (Journal of Modern African Studies, 2022) which examines how women navigate complex legal and social systems to claim their rights in courts.

By Jessica Youngman