• According to a report named “Women, Business and the Law 2024” by the World Bank Group, legal rights for women worldwide are significantly lower than initially perceived and on considering legal distinctions related to violence and childcare, women are found to have less than two-thirds or 64 per cent of the rights enjoyed by men.

Background

• The Women, Business and the Law (WBL) report is a yearly study that measures the laws that affect women's economic opportunities.
• The multilateral development bank releases a series of reports every year that analyse laws and regulations affecting women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies.
• The paper presented in-depth analysis of the challenges obstructing women’s entry into the global workforce, hindering their ability to contribute to prosperity for themselves, their families and their communities.
• This report is based on eight indicators such as Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension.

Major Highlights of Report

• No country, including the most affluent economies, ensures equal opportunities for women, the latest report found.
• India’s rank has marginally improved to 113, with a score of 74.4 per cent.
• India’s score has remained constant since 2021, its ranking witnessed a decline from 122 in 2021 to 125 in 2022 and further to 126 in the 2023 index.
• Indian women have just 60 per cent of the legal rights compared to men, slightly below the global average of 64.2 per cent, the document found.
• India receives one of its lowest scores in the indicator evaluating laws impacting women’s pay.

Global Scenario

• Globally, the practical gender gap is very wide, on assessing the disparity between legal reforms and actual outcomes for women.
• Only 14 countries scored a perfect 100 and they are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
• Indian Government’s initiatives for Women Empowerment

About World Bank

• Founded in 1944, as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) along with the IMF.
• The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are known as Bretton Woods institutions because these two were founded in 1944 at an international conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
• Members: 189 member countries and India is member.
• Headquarters: Headquarters: Washington, D.C., USA
• President: Ajay Banga
• World Bank is group of Five Institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).