Women fight pay gap at work

In a recent international survey on gender equality opinions and experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, most (87 per cent) female respondents from India have said they feel at risk, or know someone who feels at risk, of assault or harassment in some place or another. In the same survey, about 26 per cent women say they are not paid as much as their male counterparts.

According to India-based findings of the report by Women Deliver and Focus 2030, women in India cited public places to be the most common place where they felt at-risk. "Fifty-five percent of female respondents feel at risk, or know someone who feels at risk, "online", and 40 per cent do "in the place where (they) work or study".

Twenty-six per cent of female respondents in India feel at risk, or know someone who feels at risk, of assault or harassment in their home," said the report.

Of the 1,003 respondents surveyed, 48 per cent of female respondents in India state that they have had their "freedom of movement restricted against their will by family members or (their) partner".

Seventeen per cent of respondents rank "implement access to well paid jobs, equal pay, financial independence, and property rights" as their number one priority. In order to improve women's economic opportunities and decision-making powers, respondents cite measures like preventing violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, guaranteeing social protection and decent working conditions for women in low paying jobs and achieving equal access to education and professional training for women and men.

Notably, according to the report, 26 per cent of female respondents in India said that they are "not paid as much as male counterparts where (they) work". This figure rises to 32 per cent among female respondents aged 45 to 59. Furthermore, 28 per cent females feel that they have "not had the same access to promotion opportunities as (their) male peers". —IANS