Women face injustice all across the world: UN Women report

‘Indirect dangers affect more women than rape’

In rich and poor countries alike, the infrastructure of justice is failing women, says a UN Women report. Legal reform is only a start, the report argues – laws must be implemented to translate into true equality. Across the board, existing laws are too often inadequately enforced keeping many women from reporting cases of gender inequality

Injustice towards women, it seems, has no boundaries. Justice remains out of reach for millions of the world’s women, a flagship report launched today by UN Women warns. ‘Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice’ is UN Women’s first major report, following the organization’s launch in early 2011.

Among issues affecting women the most, domestic violence impacts women all over the world. In 125 countries there are laws to protect them. Globally, 53% of working women – 600 million – are in vulnerable jobs, such as self-employment, domestic work or unpaid work for family businesses, which often lack the protection of labour laws.

Despite at least 117 countries enacting equal pay laws, on average women are still paid 10 to 30 percent less than men across all regions and sectors, the report says. Several studies have linked the gender pay gap with women’s caring responsibilities. In a study of 15 developed countries, where men did more housework, the gender pay gap was smaller, says the report.

The numbers at workplace are no less worrying–117 countries outlaw sexual harassment in the workplace. But 311 million working age women continue to live and work in countries without this legal protection. In terms of equal access to jobs, in a review of 126 countries, in more than a third, women are prohibited from working in the same industries as men. Laws to ‘protect’ women from dangerous or arduous jobs, or night work are now considered paternalistic and a limitation on women’s economic opportunities, the report points out.

“With half the world’s population at stake, the findings of this report are a powerful call to action. The foundations for justice for women have been laid: in 1911, just two countries in the world allowed women to vote – now that right is virtually universal. But full equality demands that women become men’s true equals in the eyes of the law – in their home and working lives, and in the public sphere,” said Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women in a statement.

Funding to strengthen women’s legal rights is inadequate, says the report. Of the $874 billion spent by the World Bank in the last 10 years, $126 billion went into public administration, law and justice systems, but only $7.3million went into programmes aimed at gender equality – 0.001% of the total budget.

On India, Laura Turquet, Lead Report Author, UN Women says that women workers in informal sector in India are most vulnerable. Labour laws do not necessarily protect women in this sector. “One of the issues in India is also the issue of domestic workers. Women still do more unpaid domestic and caring work than men in every region of the world,” she says. –http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/women-face-injustice-all-across-the-world-un-women-report/articleshow/9130154.cm