For most of the world’s women, the laws that exist on paper do not translate to equality and justice. Some 600 million women, more than half the world’s working women, are in vulnerable employment, trapped in insecure jobs, often outside the purview of labour legislation. Despite major progress on legal frameworks, millions of women report experiencing violence in their lifetimes, usually at the hands of an intimate partner. Meanwhile, the systematic targeting of women for brutal sexual violence is a hallmark of modern conflicts.
Although equality between women and men is guaranteed in the Constitutions of 139 countries and territories, inadequate laws and implementation gaps make these guarantees hollow promises.
In the largest gender discrimination class action ever to go to trial in the United States of America, 12 female employees of the pharmaceutical company Novartis alleged they were discriminated against on pay and promotions. The jury found unanimously in their favour and Novartis agreed to pay US$175 million to settle the matter, including $22.5 million for improvements to policies and programmes to promote equality in the workplace.
http://progress.unwomen.org/
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