Week unclouded. 3 quick women’s news bites
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News can be overwhelming to follow. Important news bites can get lost amongst all the hard and breaking news. Here are a couple of the headlines from this week that impact women.
It’s the law: More women on boards by next year
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By June 2026 large listed companies in Malta have to increase the representation of women on boards. This week the Gender Balance on Corporate Boards Directive - known as the Women on Boards Directive - officially came into force, targeting improved gender representation on the boards of listed companies across all EU Member States.
The directive lays out clear targets: In the case of large listed companies (SMEs are excluded), 40% of non-executive directors, or 33% of all directors must belong to the underrepresented sex.
According to 2024 research carried out by the European Institute for Gender Equality (based on data from 2022), the share of women on the boards of the largest quoted companies in Malta increased by just one percentage point since 2023, reaching 17% in 2024.
Will Malta make the target?
Mums are still the ones taking leave to be with kids
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The low uptake of parental leave amongst men continued to highlight the gender role issues in Malta.
Times of Malta reported government figures that showed that only 87 men took parental leave over the past nine years compared to 4,458 women. The figures broke down the parental leave intake in the public sector.
This means that dads took under 2% of the available four-month parental leave, which is offered to both parents after maternity and paternity leave. That’s just in the public sector. The reality in the private sector is still a mystery since there is no data available.
This is now moving on to become a political debate. Will anything change?
Strength training can help menopausal women
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This week the BBC reported a study that showed that strength training helps women in menopause.
The research by the University of Exeter showed that menopause does not affect a woman's ability to build muscle while exercising. It found that resistance training could alleviate some of the physical issues which arise due to menopause.
The researchers found that the women who consistently engaged in the resistance training programme, compared to a standard exercise routine, experienced improved hip function and lower body strength as well as increase in full-body flexibility and balance amongst other things.
Share your news
Do you have some women-related news you want to share? Or perhaps an idea or topic you feel deserves to be spoken about and ‘unclouded’? Or an inspiring story to share?
If so you can comment below or send an email on hello@womanunclouded.com so we can discuss how to get your voice heard.