Globally, women have on average just three-quarters of the legal rights afforded to men. In the 1970s, women were afforded less than half of such rights. Since then, most of the improvement in the Women, Business and the Law index can be attributed to reforms mandating freedom from sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and laws introducing leave benefits for working parents. While there has been substantial progress over the past 50 years, the pace of reform is too slow. Amidst a global pandemic that threatens progress toward gender equality, reforms guaranteeing women's economic opportunity are more important than ever.
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