Women are living through dark times. Gender-based violence kills one woman every 10 minutes, and feminist attitudes and policies—after decades of hard-won progress—are now regressing due to an onslaught of anti-feminist rhetoric in the news, on podcasts, and across social media. Younger generations are shifting to more conservative viewpoints, and anti-feminist beliefs amongst young men have been on the rise.

These shifting attitudes make it even harder for women to navigate gender bias on their path to economic equity and empowerment. One study across 20 countries found that 40% of respondents felt it was “natural for men to earn more than women,” 23% agreed that men should be paid more than women for the same job, and 34% believed that men make better business executives than women. What’s more, another study found that 60% of Gen Z men across 31 countries believe that women’s equality actually discriminates against men.

In many of these countries, deeply ingrained patriarchal attitudes deny women autonomy and limit their access to education, financial resources, job opportunities, and business or property ownership—the full spectrum of economic independence. In rural regions where employment opportunities are scarce, one of the best ways for women to reach economic empowerment is through entrepreneurship, but social norms biased against women often create barriers to success. And even when women overcome these barriers, their success can prove dangerous.

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