India drops 28 places to 140th out of 156 countries on the 2021 WEF Global Gender Gap Index

Discrimination against women is on the rise domestically.

 This is clearly evidenced by the fact that India has slipped 28 places in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index.

India ranks 140th in the list of 156 countries for 2021. India ranked in 112^th position in 2020 clearly a drastic shift has taken place within one year.

According to the latest Global Gender Gap Index report, discrimination against women in the political and economic spheres continues.

 India has lost 13.5 percent of its internal index of political empowerment. This is due to the fact that the number of women ministers drastically fell from 23.1 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2021.

The share of women in the professional and technical field also fell to 29.2 percent.

 Economically, the income earned by women is about one-fifth of the income earned by men.

According to the WEF Global Gender Gap Index Report, the Covid-19 pandemic has created new barriers to the development of inclusive and prosperous economies and societies.

“Pre-existing gender gaps have asymmetrically amplified the crisis between men and women, even though women have been on the frontline of crisis management as essential workers,” according to the report.

Bangladesh stood out as the best performer in South Asia on the gender gap index, with a global ranking of 65, followed by Nepal at 106, Sri Lanka at 116, and Bhutan at 130.

 In South Asia, Indian stands as the third-worst performer followed by Pakistan and Afghanistan with a global ranking of 153 and 156^th position.

Iceland continues to top the Global Gender Gap Index those next places are occupied by Finland and Norway.

Despite advances in education and health, women continue to face economic and workplace barriers, as well as declining political participation.

The report also advocated for the implementation of strategies emphasizing equal hiring practices and skill development.

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