United Nations, July 6: More than half of the world's working women -- an estimated 600 million -- are trapped in insecure jobs, often outside the purview of labour laws, and many of them face discrimination at the workplace, says a new UN report.
Violence against them also remains widespread though more women are gaining access to basic rights, according to the report issued by 'UN Women', the world body's entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women set up in July last year.
It said that 28 countries have reached or surpassed the 30 per cent mark for women's representation in Parliament, but women are generally paid between 10 and 30 per cent less than men.
"And yet, while examples of countries making immense strides in promoting gender equality abound, in many more, women continue to be deprived of economic resources and access to public services," said the 169-page report.
"All too often, women are denied control over their bodies, denied a voice in decision-making, and denied protection from violence," it said.
The report said some 600 million women, more than half of the world's working women, are in vulnerable employment, trapped in insecure jobs, often outside the purview of labour legislation.
"Even where labour laws extend to these zones, they are often un-enforced, leaving women exposed to low wages and poor conditions," it said.
In the developing world, the report said, more than one third of women are married before the age of 18, missing out on education and exposed to the risks of early pregnancy.
An earlier UN Women report described violence against women as a pandemic, which cost countries billions of dollars in productivity as well as health and judicial services.
"Still, violence against women and girls remains a global pandemic, violating women's rights and perpetuating harm in every country and community," it had said.
The new report said that rule of law and women's rights were weakest in the private and domestic sphere, including their rights to live free from violence and to make decisions about marriage, divorce and reproductive health.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
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