Laws that limit women’s economic freedom have a negative impact on a country’s prospects for growth, according to the World Bank’s 2018 “Women, Business and the Law” report. The report found that “women continue to face widespread barriers that keep them out of jobs and prevent them from owning a business by restricting their access to credit or control over marital property.” These barriers diminish the economic prospects of close to three billion women around the world, in almost every one of the 189 economies studied by the report’s authors. Additionally, many countries fail to protect women from domestic and sexual violence or workplace harassment, further limiting equality of opportunity.
The report’s authors stated, “[o]ur message is simple: no women, no growth . . . [g]iving women equal opportunity is a moral and economic imperative and rescinding discriminatory laws is an important first step.”
The full report is available for download on the World Bank’s website.
Compiled from: Summers, Hannah, No women, no growth': regressive laws prevent economic equality, says study, The Guardian (March 30, 2018).