A vicious circle: How gender gap makes workplaces unsafe for women

India's top companies lack women leaders, contributing to poor workplace safety for women. With only 1.6 per cent of Fortune 500 companies led by women, gender disparity remains deep-rooted

At first look, the tragedy at R G Kar Hospital and the revelations from a report on sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry may have a tenuous link with the latest Fortune India list of India’s 500 largest companies. But there is a connection. The first two highlight the lack of basic safety for women in the Indian workplace. The second probably explains why it’s likely to stay that way for some time to come.

The clue lies in the gender of the chief executive officers/managing directors of India’s largest companies by turnover. There is no