"Women’s Rights Still Seen Through the Foggy Lens of Biases, Discrimination, and Injustice", 21 Dec 2018

...Companies create benefits including jobs, and contribute to economies by paying taxes. But there are many areas where they need to pay far greater attention to mitigate adverse impacts of their operations. Women continue to face discrimination at the point of entering the workforce, in the benefits they receive, the promotion opportunities they are offered or denied, the sectors in which they work and the positions they are offered. All too often, they also face harassment and bullying and many companies fail to integrate them better when they re-enter workforce...

...Today, 104 countries have laws that prevent women from working in some jobs. The Global Gender Gap report 2017 documented an increase in the gender income gap, with women paid an average of $12,000, compared with $21,000 for men. Women still own less than 20% of the world’s land, even though they contribute to almost half of the workforce in agriculture. Reports confirm that core components of talent management still disadvantage women, creating a vicious cycle in which men continually dominate executive positions...

...It is encouraging that more business leaders focus on advancing women at work in combating inequalities...

We must go beyond policies.

The real challenge is to change age-old narratives that perpetuate gender inequalities. It is about wider social change and examining the human rights responsibilities of businesses, the impact of business operations and their supply chains on women, and how all stakeholders, including government, civil society, and business can better contribute to achieving the UN’s mission of “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”