Leading international institutions and private sector corporations have concluded that women’s economic participation is critical to global growth and prosperity. However, today nearly 90 percent of nations still have laws on the books that impede women’s work, thereby undermining economic development. Diana Farrell and Jody Heymann discuss the legal barriers that women face, with particular focus on workplace discrimination. Heymann presents findings from a new global study of 193 countries showing that more than 81 million working women do not have legal protections against gender-based employment discrimination. This meeting is part of a high-level series, in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to explore the economic effects of inequality under the law.