All around the world, women have struggled(奋斗，抗争) for equal treatment in the workplace. But in some countries the struggle is more basic: to be allowed into the workplace at all. In an experiment, married mothers in Egypt were offered free or cheap child care near where they lived, to make it easier to go out and find jobs. Only 11% took up the offer(接受了提议). The obstacle(障碍，阻碍), for many, was husbands who thought it wrong for women to work outside the home. And although 90% of Egyptian women disagree, the weight of tradition can be hard to defy—as can the literal heft of a reactionary husband.(尽管90%的埃及女性不同意，但传统的重压难以违抗，正如守旧丈夫的实际分量一样。)
在世界各地，女性一直在为职场中的平等待遇而奋斗。但在某些国家，这种斗争更为基本：能否被允许进入职场。在一项实验中，埃及的已婚母亲获得了住所附近免费或廉价的托儿服务，以便她们更容易外出找工作。只有11%的人接受了这一提议。对许多人来说，障碍在于丈夫们认为女性外出工作是不对的。尽管90%的埃及女性不同意这种观点，但传统的重压可能难以违抗——正如一个守旧丈夫的实际分量一样。
In much of the Middle East, north Africa and South Asia, many men believe their family’s honour depends on female seclusion(幽居，与世隔绝). They fear that if a wife goes out to work any farther away than the backyard vegetable plot, she might meet a man to whom she is not related and bring disgrace on(给……带来耻辱) her kin(亲属，家人). This backward belief may be enforced with threats. In India violence against women is so normalised that nearly 40% even of women think a husband is sometimes justified in beating his wife.(在印度，针对女性的暴力已如此常态化，以至于近40%的女性甚至认为丈夫有时有理由殴打妻子。) In Mali the figure is nearly 70%.
在中东、北非和南亚的大部分地区，许多男性认为家庭荣誉取决于女性的幽居。他们担心，如果妻子外出工作，走得比后院菜地更远，就可能遇到非亲非故的男人，给家人带来耻辱。这种落后的观念可能会通过威胁来强化。在印度，针对女性的暴力已如此常态化，以至于近40%的女性甚至认为丈夫有时有理由殴打妻子。在马里，这一比例接近70%。
Such attitudes make whole populations poorer. In South Asia only a third of women are in the labour force; in the Middle East and north Africa, only a fifth are. Since 1990 the share of labour income that accrues(（利益）归于，累积) to women has risen from 35% to 44% in liberal France; in patriarchal(父权制的) Pakistan, from 1.5% to a still-woeful(悲惨的，可怜的) 9%. Removing the barriers to women working would raise income per person by a fifth in many countries, estimates the World Bank—a bigger economic benefit than avoiding a typical civil war.(世界银行估计，消除女性工作障碍将使许多国家的人均收入提高五分之一，这比避免一场典型内战的经济效益还大。)
这种态度使整个人口更加贫困。在南亚，只有三分之一的女性参与劳动力市场；在中东和北非，只有五分之一。自1990年以来，在自由的法国，女性获得的劳动收入份额从35%上升到44%；而在父权制的巴基斯坦，从1.5%上升到仍然可怜的9%。世界银行估计，消除女性工作的障碍将使许多国家的人均收入提高五分之一——这比避免一场典型内战带来的经济效益还要大。