About 47% of all women participate in the world of work.
They take up careers as teachers, coaches, farmers, priests, soldiers, and beyond. These 42 stunning portraits from Reuters show women at work around the world.
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Shinto priest Tomoe Ichino, 40, performs rituals of the indigenous faith of the Japanese people in Tokyo, Japan. She wears a pink robe because it makes her feel confident.
"In general, people think being a Shinto priest is a man's profession. If you're a woman, they think you're a shrine maiden, or a supplementary priestess," Ichino said. "People don't know women Shinto priests exist, so they think we can't perform rituals. Once, after I finished performing jiichinsai (a ground-breaking rtitual), I was asked, 'So, when is the priest coming?'"
Cristina Alvarez, 29, says she doesn't face inequality as a butcher in Mexico City, Mexico.
"I've never felt any gender inequality," Alvarez told Reuters. "I believe women can do the same jobs as men and that there should be no discrimination."
Elizabeth Mamani, 36, is a reporter working at Radio Union in Bolivia's national congress building in La Paz, Bolivia. She is sometimes barred from events because of her gender.
"When I started in this job, I did feel discrimination (from officials who controlled the access of members of the press to events). To counter discrimination in this profession, we as women, must excel, we must prepare ourselves in every field," Mamani told Reuters.
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