Many Societies Gradually Moving to Dismantle Gender Discrimination,

Yet More Can Be Done, Says World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim

London, September 24, 2013 —A new World Bank and IFC report finds legal and regulatory barriers to

women’s economic inclusion have decreased over the past 50 years globally, but many laws still hinder

women’s participation in the economy. Laws restricting women’s economic activity are currently most

prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The third in a series, Women, Business and the Law 2014: Removing Restrictions to Enhance Gender

Equality monitors regulations affecting women entrepreneurs and employees in 143 economies. This

edition highlights reforms carried out over the past two years, examines the evolution of women’s

property rights and legal decision making ability since 1960 and expands coverage to examine legal

protections addressing violence against women.

“The ideal of equality before the law and equality of economic opportunity isn’t just wise social policy:

It’s smart economic policy,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “When women and

men participate in economic life on an equal footing, they can contribute their energies to building a

more cohesive society and a more resilient economy. The surest way to help enrich the lives of families,

communities and economies is to allow every individual to live up to her or his fullest creative potential.”

“Our latest edition of Women, Business and the Law shows that many societies have made progress,

gradually moving to dismantle ingrained forms of discrimination against women,” said Kim. “Yet a great

deal remains to be done.”

This report finds 44 economies have made 48 legal changes, thus increasing women’s economic

opportunities over the past two years. Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, the Philippines and the Slovak Republic had

the most reforms. Among the reforms, husbands can no longer unilaterally stop their wives from working

in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, the Philippines has lifted restrictions on night work for women, and the Slovak

Republic increased the percentage of wages paid during maternity leave.

The report finds economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have the most extensive lists of jobs

women cannot do. For example, in the Russian Federation women cannot drive trucks in the agricultural

sector, in Belarus they cannot be carpenters and in Kazakhstan they cannot be welders. These

restrictions may have arisen from a desire to protect women, but can limit their employment options. The

report shows economies with the most job restrictions on women have lower female participation in the

formal labor force.

"Progress on gender equality under the law is accelerating," said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director,

Global Indicators and Analysis, World Bank Group. “Our data shows that over the past 50 years

countries everywhere have started removing long-standing restrictions on women's ability to participate

more fully in the economy. Although the progress has been uneven across the world, there is widespread

recognition that the economic empowerment of women is crucial for competitiveness and prosperity."

Between 1960 and 2010, more than half the restrictions on women’s property rights and ability to conduct

legal transactions were removed in the 100 economies examined. Restrictions in three regions – Sub-

Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and East Asia and the Pacific – were cut in half. While

some restrictions were removed in South Asia and in the Middle East and North Africa, these two regions

reformed the least.

Another major innovation in the report is new data on the existence and scope of laws on two areas of

violence against women: sexual harassment and domestic violence. Covering 100 economies, the data

show that prohibitions against sexual harassment in the workplace are widespread – 78 economies

have legislation and over half of these criminalize the behavior. Legislation on domestic violence is also

widespread –76 economies have laws prohibiting domestic violence. The region with the fewest laws on

domestic violence is the Middle East and North Africa.

The report shows lower gender legal parity is associated with fewer women participating in firm

ownership, while policies encouraging women to join and remain in the labor force are associated with

greater income equality. Even though the report offers signs of improvement for women’s economic

opportunities globally, it shows economies can do more to ensure women’s participation in economic life.

About the Women, Business and the Law Report series:

Women, Business and the Law measures how laws, regulations and institutions differentiate between

women and men in ways that may affect women’s incentives or capacity to work or to set up and run

a business. It analyzes legal differences on the basis of gender in 143 economies, covering six areas:

gaining access to institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building credit,

and going to court. The project provides a clear picture of gender gaps based on legal differences in

each economy, but it does not capture the full extent of the gender gap, nor does it indicate the relative

importance of each aspect covered. This year’s report was published by Bloomsbury Publishing.

About the World Bank Group

The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and development expertise

for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for

Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which

together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment

Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Each institution plays a distinct role in pursuing the World Bank Group’s mission to fight poverty

and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please visit

www.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and www.ifc.org.

For more information on the report and its findings, please visit: wbl.worldbank.org.

For more information on the historic time-series data, please visit: wbl.worldbank.org/TimeSeries

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