• The chief of DFAT, Frances Adamson, has openly criticised the lack of women in senior roles in the organisation
• At a conference on the role of women in national security Adamson spoke candidly about the absence of women as head of mission in major trade cities
• The DFAT Secretary reminded the audience Australia has never had a female head of mission in London, Washington, Tokyo or Jakarta
• “It’s not good enough that there are only two women ministers on the National Security Committee of Cabinet” Adamson said

• Defence Chief, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, stressed the importance of a diverse workforce within defence at the Women and National Security Conference, held in Canberra
• "A diverse workforce is all about capability. The greater our diversity, the greater the range of ideas and insights to challenge the accepted norm, assess the risks, see them from a different perspective, and develop creative solutions," he said
• While side-stepping questions around when Australian might expect its first female chief of Army, Navy, or Airforce, the Defence Chief singled out the Navy for its efforts to increase the number of women in leadership positions

• The UK Government has introduced new rules that require companies with more than 250 employees to publish their gender pay gap figures
• Critics suggest this is unnecessary, and the public is already well aware of gender pay gaps
• while the information will provide median and hourly pay, it won’t reveal any difference in pay rates for similar jobs

• According to the UK Minister for Women and Equalities, the UK pay gap is 18.1%, and whilst the gap has narrowed, her government wants to eliminate it completely
• Under the new rule 9,000 private, voluntary and public sector employees will be required to publish their pay gap figures online​

• Tech giant Google is facing US Government charges for allegedly "systemically" paying women less than their male counterparts
• The US Department of Labor (DOL) wants access to the company’s compensation data
• Google has disagreed with the claims made by DOL, dismissing the request a “fishing expedition that has absolutely no relevance to the compliance review”

• On March 27 Trump revoked the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order
• The order, introduced by former President Obama, included a rule for pay-check transparency, as well as a ban on forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment claims
• Noreen Farrell, director of the anti-sex discrimination law firm Equal Rights Advocates, said Trump is "on the attack against workers and taxpayers"
   

• Hillary Clinton says Russian interference cost her the election
• Speaking at the Women in the World Summit Clinton said she was deeply concerned about Russia
• Clinton called Russian President Vladimir Putin's influence on the election "an act of aggression," and said the world leader "has a deep desire to dominate Europe and to send [the U.S.] into a tail-spin."

• The Kenyan High Court has given the sitting parliament 60 days to ensure that at least one third of law makers are female or it faces dissolution
• In the 2010 version of the Kenyan constitution, it guarantees women a third of parliament’s seats but due to its male dominated assembly the legislation was not able to pass

• In an address to the Malaysian Parliament, a former sharia judge suggested victims of rape can ward off a “bleak future” by marrying their rapists, whilst also acknowledging that rape is a crime

• In the wake of Equal Pay Day in America, Fortune examines the 3 biggest contributors to the gender pay gap: the 'Motherhood Penalty'; negotiation; and employer bias

• Ivanka Trump will be using her unpaid role as special assistant to her father to advocate for the economic empowerment of women
• In an interview with CBS she said that she will be doing this very quietly
• “I think most of the impact I have, over time most people will not actually know about,” she said

• Actress Scarlett Johansson scoffed at Ivanka Trump's suggestion that her impact would be 'behind-the-scenes'
• “If you take a job as a public advocate, then you must advocate publicly, you can’t have it both ways.”

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