Giving Compass' Take:

• Daniele Selby unpacks the legal, cultural, and practical barriers to women's workforce participation around the world.

• Which of these barriers are most significant in communities where you work? How can funders help to erode these barriers? 

• Read about three reasons to boost women's work. 

Just six countries — Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden — give men and women equal rights when it comes to work, according to the World Bank. In these countries, men and women are entitled to the same legal protections against sexual harassment in the work place, equal pay is mandated, and both parents have the right to take paid parental leave.

But, in at least 180 other countries, this is far from the case.

In Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Afghanistan, which the World Bank ranks among the worst countries for gender equality when it comes to laws regulating work, equal pay for equal work is not legally required. And women are not allowed to work the same hours, particularly during the night, as men, limiting the job opportunities they can seek.

Women in Bhutan and Pakistan can’t sign their own names to take the steps necessary to start their own businesses, like registering a company or getting a loan. Instead, they are legally required to sign these documents with their fathers’ or husbands’ names.

In many cultures, men are still seen as “breadwinners,” while a woman’s place is considered to be in the home. Attempting to break away from this long-held norm can make women vulnerable to domestic violence or abuse. A woman’s “job” — frequently, even if she has another job — is raising children, caring for sick or elderly family members, cooking, and looking after the household. All of this is work, for which women typically are not compensated.

Often, in developing countries or within families living in poverty, women must work out of economic necessity, but the jobs considered “appropriate” for them to take on may be limited by cultural norms. For example, in India, teaching is considered a suitable job for women; however, working as a mechanic or a driver is considered inappropriate.

High rates of informal work are closely tied to low education rates, according to the ILO. And, globally, 132 million girls are out of school, and with conflict, natural disasters, and displacement on the rise, that increasing.

But without education, girls, who grow up to be women with career aspirations, face limited job opportunities.

Read the full article about global women's workforce participation by Daniele Selby at Global Citizen.