… Only 4% Of Women Live In Economies With Near-Full Legal Equality.
…Enforcement Gaps Drop Scores From 67 To 47 Globally.
Daud Olatunji
Women across the globe enjoy only about two-thirds of the legal rights available to men, a new World Bank report has revealed, highlighting persistent gaps between laws on paper and their enforcement.
The findings, contained in the latest Women, Business and the Law report released on Tuesday, show that while many countries have laws promoting gender equality, actual implementation remains weak.
On average, countries scored 67 out of 100 for the adequacy of laws, but enforcement fell to 53, and the mechanisms supporting these rights dropped further to 47.
“Most countries look good on paper, but enforcement tells a very different story,” said Indermit Gill, World Bank Group’s Chief Economist.
“This gap reflects huge missed opportunities and limits economic growth.”
Safety and Childcare Remain Critical Barriers
The report examines women’s economic participation across ten areas, including safety from violence, childcare, entrepreneurship, employment protections, asset ownership, and retirement security.
Safety emerged as a major concern, with only a third of necessary protections in place globally, and enforcement failing 80 percent of the time.
Norman Loayza, Director of the World Bank’s Policy Indicators Group, said: “True equality begins with safety.
Women must be protected at home, at work, and in public to fully contribute economically.”
Childcare is another major obstacle. Fewer than half of the 190 economies surveyed provide financial or tax support for families, and only 30 percent of policies needed for affordable, quality childcare exist.
In low-income countries, just 1 percent of childcare support mechanisms are available.
Entrepreneurship also suffers. While women can legally start businesses in nearly all economies, only half of countries ensure equal access to credit, restricting women entrepreneurs’ ability to grow their businesses.
The report warns that demographic pressures make reform urgent. Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people, half of them girls, are expected to join the workforce, many in regions with the highest barriers to women’s employment.
“Ensuring equal opportunity for women is not a social luxury; it is an economic necessity,” said Tea Trumbic, lead author of the report.
“Societies benefit as a whole when women can fully participate in the economy.”
Despite enforcement challenges, the report notes some progress. In the past two years, 68 economies enacted 113 legal reforms aimed at promoting gender equality, especially in entrepreneurship and safety from violence.
Countries like Egypt, Jordan, and Oman expanded maternity leave, promoted flexible work arrangements, and strengthened equal-pay rules.
Sub-Saharan Africa led regional reforms, while Madagascar and Somalia lifted restrictions barring women from working in construction, manufacturing, and agriculture.
The World Bank urges governments to not only pass laws but also invest in policies, institutions, and enforcement mechanisms to ensure women’s rights translate into real opportunities.
“Legal equality must become a lived reality,” the report stresses, “or nations risk losing out on the economic contributions of half their population.”
Source : Premium Times
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