By Emma Ujah,    Abuja Bureau Chief
ABUJA—Women still face various barriers to economic advancement in most parts of the globe, the World Bank has said.

In its Women, Business and the Law 2016 report released yesterday, the institution said that the womenfolk were mainly shut out of opportunities to certain jobs, credit and unprotected from violence.

A statement by the bank said: “The report, which examines laws that impede women’s employment and entrepreneurship, finds that women face job restrictions in 100 of the 173 economies monitored.

“For example, women are barred from working in certain factory jobs in 41 economies; in 29 economies they are prohibited from working at night; and in 18 economies they cannot get a job without permission from their husbands.

“Only half of the economies covered have paternity leave, and less than a third have parental leave, limiting men’s ability to share childcare responsibilities.

“In 30 economies, married women cannot choose where to live and in 19 they are legally obligated to obey their husbands. These and a range of other disparities monitored by the report have far-reaching consequences, negatively affecting not only women themselves, but their children, their communities, and their countries’ economies.

“The report counts nearly 950 instances of gender inequality, under seven indicators.”

Commenting on the report, bank’s President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, was quoted in a statement by the bank as saying, “it is a grave injustice when societies place legal restrictions on women’s ability to get a job, or participate in economic life.

“Women, like men, deserve every opportunity to fulfill their potential, no matter where they live.

“These restrictions are also bad economics as women represent over half the world’s population. We cannot afford to leave their potential untapped.”