What works in France

France has implemented mandatory gender equality accountability through its Professional Equality Index, which requires companies with 50+ employees to publish annual gender-equality scores, with average scores rising from 84/100 in 2020 to 88/100 in 2023 and over 93% of firms now exceeding the 75-point compliance threshold. At the national level, France's 2019 Grenelle against domestic violence produced 54 measures with 52 fully implemented, including emergency shelter capacity more than doubling from 5,000 to 11,200+ places, 180,000 police officers trained, and 100,000+ calls to the 3919 helpline in 2024. These initiatives demonstrate France's systematic approach to gender equality spanning both workplace compensation transparency and violence prevention, though the practices do not quantify broader outcomes like representation in leadership or pay-gap closure.