As women fight for gender parity in and out of the workforce a new study shows that in most of Europe, women are slowly catching up to men.
But just as gender similarities are an asset to the world of work, are there female perspectives that men don’t share, which provide unique and useful insight?
Pushing back against fear and rumour is a “continuous effort" on the part of individuals and groups who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Intersex, according to one leading activist in the Caribbean region, where discrimination continues to be rife.
![Pictured in Ethiopia is 6-year-old girl who underwent FGM because her mother, believed she could not marry honourably without it, saying, "From our own experience we know that [cutting] causes problems. However it is the tradition."](https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/assets/2018/02/6-2-2017FMG4.jpg/image350x235cropped.jpg "Pictured in Ethiopia is 6-year-old girl who underwent FGM because her mother, believed she could not marry honourably without it, saying, \"From our own experience we know that [cutting] causes problems. However it is the tradition.\"")
Welcome to the ‘UN Gender Focus’ podcast.
For this first episode of 2018 we’ll hear from Nafissatou Diop of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) about international efforts to stamp out the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
2017 was a watershed year for women and women’s rights around the world.
From the Global Women’s March last January, to the #MeToo movement, women around the world stood up and demanded their right to be heard.
They insisted on the right to thrive in an environment free of violence, discrimination, harassment and stigmatization.
