What can’t a woman do?
A woman can’t get paid the same as her male counterpart
On March 4th, 2024, the World Bank released a press statement entitled “New Data Show Massive, Wider-than-Expected Global Gender Gap” in which they revealed that “98 economies around the world have enacted legislation for equal pay for women for work of equal value. Yet only 35 economies—fewer than one out of every five—have adopted pay-transparency measures or enforcement mechanisms to address the pay gap.”
A Woman Can’t Enjoy One-Third of the Legal Rights A Man Can
In the same press release by the World Bank; the Women, Business, and Law 2024 report expanded its factors in its scope of analysis, adding two new indicators: safety from violence and access to childcare services. The report disclosed that in the global workforce; women only enjoy 64% of the legal protections that men do. This metric dropped from the previous estimate of 77%.
A Woman Can’t Have a Pension Benefit That Accounts For Childcare-Related Absences
A woman is expected to be the family’s caregiver. She is expected to be the mother of her child, above all else. But in 81 countries around the globe; a woman cannot get a pension benefit if she has a childcare-related issue to tend to. Check if your country is one of them. Because if it is; try giving women less sh*t for prioritizing her career sometimes; especially when her family might need it.
A Woman Can’t Expect the Law to Protect Her if She’s Assaulted in Public
While 151 countries legally provide protection to women against sexual abuse in the workplace; only 40 of them have laws protecting women against sexual abuse in public spaces like the bus, and metro that a woman could be using as her mode of transport to work. While India does have those laws; even the women’s compartment in public transport services isn’t exclusively for women. The Indian laws from 2012 were supposed to protect women from eve-teasing. But nearly 56% of the reported sexual harassment cases in India back in 2021 were in public transport services. I think we can let the number speak for this one.
“All over the world, discriminatory laws and practices prevent women from working or starting businesses on an equal footing with men. Closing this gap could raise global gross domestic product by more than 20% – essentially doubling the global growth rate over the next decade – but reforms have slowed to a crawl.”
Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank.
Women are capable of changing the world; if only they were given a voice in it. So, while women can do anything for this world, it’s time the world did something for them.
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