New research into the extent of protection of women and girls has revealed that the risk of human rights abuses, such as sexual violence, discrimination, trafficking and sexual exploitation, are at ‘extreme’ levels in just over 40% of the 197 countries studied…One of the main findings…relates to the conduct of state and private security forces that are utilised by companies in the protection of high value assets, such as oil drilling operations, mines or plantations. Maplecroft notes evidence of widespread patterns of rape by security forces in countries with weak governance structures…“Achieving gender equality is a basic human right and a crucial part of development,” states Maplecroft Analyst, Siobhan Tuohy-Smith. “Responsible businesses can play an important part by identifying and mitigating these risks in their supply chains through the monitoring of human rights and instigation of due diligence processes. [refers to Nike Foundation]