WOMEN SPECIAL .....CLOSING THE GAP

CLOSING THE GAP

Iceland has become the first country in the world to force companies to prove they pay all employees the same — irrespective of gender, sexuality, or ethnicity. While the North Atlantic island leads the pack, here are other nations that rate high on the gender equality scale

Norway

The Scandinavian country is big on gender equality with the Gender Equality Act being adopted by the parliament in 1978. Since then, they have introduced the Sexual Orientation Anti-Discrimination Act (the prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression) as well as paternal leave for new fathers, which was introduced in 1993 and revised a few years ago.

Sweden

Seeing a large number of women in parliament is considered a rare sight in a number of countries. But not Sweden. The nation has among the highest percentages of women in parliament in the world

(44.7 per cent) while the other Nordic countries are almost as successful. Sweden has always been in the top five on the Global Gender Gap Report since its inception.

Rwanda

Many are surprised that Rwanda often features above France or America on the gender equality list, but after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has strongly promoted equal rights for men and women. The areas that see the most equality are politics and economy. Rwanda has topped the global list of countries with the most female political parliamentarians for more than a decade.

Philippines

When it comes to Asia, Philippines is one of the few countries that have closed the health and education gender gap. The nation also ranks high when it comes to the number of female legislators, senior officials and managers, as well as in its female literacy rate. The country had its first female president, Corazon Aquino, way back in 1986.

Singapore

This tiny country makes it to the list in Asia because of the increase in women’s salaries relative to men’s. It got its first woman president — Halimah Yacob — last year. However, it is one of the worst performing countries on the sex ratio at birth indicator.

glynda.alves@timesgroup.com

ETP 15JAN18