2.7 billion women legally barred from choice of jobs – World Bank

Globally, women are accorded only three-quarters of the legal rights that men enjoy constraining their ability to get jobs or start businesses and make economic decisions that are best for them and their families, a new index released by the World Bank on Wednesday said.

World Bank Group Interim President, Kristalina Georgieva, said that “Change is happening, but not fast enough, and 2.7 billion women are still legally barred from having the same choice of jobs as men.

“If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well,” said Georgieva.

According to the World Bank boss, it is paramount that we remove the barriers that hold women back, and with this report we aim to demonstrate that reforms are possible, and to accelerate change.”

The index, introduced in the study Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform, looks at milestones in a woman’s working life, from starting a job through to getting a pension, and legal protections associated with each of these stages. The data spans a ten-year period where 187 countries are scored according to eight indicators.

Achieving gender equality is not a short-term process, requiring strong political will and a concerted effort by governments, civil society, international organisations among others, but legal and regulatory reforms can play a foundational role as an important first step.