Women, Business and the Law - Gender Equality, Women Economic Empowerment

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Highlights

Women, Business and the Law Economy Summaries

The economy summary series delves into legal reforms that advance women’s economic empowerment. It also identifies gaps that persist before men and women achieve equality before the law. Each summary draws on Women, Business and the Law data from 1970 to 2020 and input from civil society organizations.

Kenya

Rwanda

Sri Lanka

Case Study: Challenging Entrenched Marital Power in South Africa

This first in a series of Women, Business and the Law case studies examines more than three decades of reform toward removing the husband's marital power from South African legislation, offering important insights on optimal contexts for change and the role of women in ongoing advocacy efforts.

Women, Business and the Law Regional Profiles

The regional profile series presents data on laws, regulations, and reform trends that advance women’s economic empowerment. It highlights persistent gaps and identifies best practices to help achieve equality before the law. Each profile draws on Women, Business and the Law data from 1970 to 2020. Regional profiles in the series include Western and Central Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa.

Western and Central Africa

Eastern and Southern Africa

Events

NORDSCI CONFERENCE Oct 12, 2021

How Laws Affect Women's Economic Opportunities

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS FORUM Oct 12, 2021

WATCH THE REPLAY: Gendered Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

GENERATION EQUALITY FORUM Jul 01, 2021

WATCH THE REPLAY: Providing Childcare in the COVID-19 Era

Cámara Argentina de Comercio y Servicios May 17, 2021

El Impacto de las Regulaciones en la Inclusión y Equidad de Género

LAUNCH EVENT Mar 01, 2021

WATCH THE REPLAY: Women, Business and the Law Live Launch

Blogs

EMILIA GALIANO & NISHA AREKAPUDI Jul 16, 2021

How can laws that promote women’s economic inclusion be operationalized in practice?
NATÁLIA MAZONI SILVA MARTINS Jun 25, 2021

Generation Equality: A call for data-driven action to support working women
JULIA BRAUNMILLER Jun 23, 2021

What can the COVID-19 crisis teach us about building gender-sensitive justice systems?
MARINA ELEFANTE & ALENA SAKHONCHIK May 28, 2021

Can the law promote provision and uptake of childcare?
OLENA MYKHALCHENKO & ISABEL SANTAGOSTINO RECAVARREN May 13, 2021

In 38 countries, women can still be fired for being pregnant

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Resources

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The Rights of Women with Disabilities

This topic note showcases the results of a pilot research on the legal rights of women with disabilities in 176 economies as part of the 10 Commitments on Disability-Inclusive Development.

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50 Years of Women's Rights

How have women’s legal rights evolved over the last 50 years? This infographic explores how more than 1,500 reforms enhancing women’s economic empowerment were passed in every country over the past 50 years.

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Protecting Women from Violence

This topic note examines the legally-mandated access and existence of certain key support services in a set of 100 economies on regulation aimed at closing gaps between laws and their implementation.

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Tackling Childcare

This note showcases how different countries regulate private childcare services. It builds awareness of how quality childcare services are linked to women’s economic empowerment and identifies areas for reform.

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Discriminatory Laws Against Women: A Survey of Literature

This working paper reviews the empirical literature on the impact of gender discriminatory laws on women’s outcomes across various domains constituting Women, Business and the Law’s measure of gender inequality.

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Saving for Old Age

Differences women face in their working lives relative to men can result in unequal economic outcomes in retirement. This case study examines the gender gap in access to pensions.