It may take more than 70 years for women to get equal pay status with men. Also one out of three women will suffer some form of physical and/or sexual violence that cripples their ability to work, says a hard-hitting wake-up call by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

“We cannot accept that at current rates of change,” Guy Ryder, ILO Director–General, said in a statement, calling upon governments to “act, rethink and innovate” to ensure that the future of work also deals with the future of women at work.

It was two decades ago that the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing had adopted a Declaration and Platform for Action on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Twenty years later, while much has been achieved in the areas of national gender equality policies and legislation against discrimination based on sex, progress on the ground remains elusive.

“A large gender pay gap hasn’t narrowed much, with women still earning on average 23 per cent less than men. And new evidence is emerging that mothers suffer a wage penalty, often over and above the gender pay gap,” said Ryder. 

With more and more women joining the workforce, the percentage of women in top management and in positions of political leadership has also improved, but only 5 per cent of Fortune 500 companies are headed by women, and only one out of 12 governments worldwide has a woman head.

The dichotomy does not end there. On the one hand, the percentage of women who work as self-employed or unpaid family members has declined, but on the other, more women are now working in low-paid jobs worldwide.

Calling for more supportive policies, ILO suggests maternity protection and work-family policies, as 41 per cent of working women still don’t have adequate maternity protection. Child care facilities, equal pay, closing the gender gap in education and jobs are some other measures that could help, it adds.

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