A female diver clad in 'Orihime,' or Vega, costume feeds fish to mark the Japanese traditional star festival Tanabata at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, 2010. Itsuo Inouye/AP
Judges wearing wigs attend a ceremony to mark the beginning of the new legal year in Hong Kong, 2012. The territory continued its common law system after it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. Bobby Yip/Reuters
DJ Wika Szmyt, 73, spends her retirement days behind a DJ console watching people dance to her rhythms. She plays disco, rumba or samba for a mostly elderly audience because she feels she is giving them a new take on life. She has also been involved in other musical projects, including parties where she plays for a younger and more demanding audience. Kacper Pempel/Reuters
Women work in the Kim Jong-suk Pyongyang Silk Mill in Pyongyang in this April, 2012 The factory is named after the wife of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung. Bobby Yip/Reuters
Dr. Celine Nobah (r.) of the Association of Women Researchers in the Ivory Coast (AFEMC-CI) stands beside a canoe as she conducts research to ensure that fish in the lagoon Ebrie are safe for consumption, in Nbadon, Abidjan March 4, 2013. The association was formed to raise the profile of women working in scientific research. It helps women raise funding for their projects and seeks to promote scientific research as a viable career option among young women by helping them obtain scholarships. Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters
Sardinian miner Giuliana Porcu, 44, stands next to truck during a protest 400 metres (1,312 ft) underground to block the entrance of the Carbosulcis mine in Carbonia, west of Cagliari, August, 2012. Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
China's first female astronaut Liu Yang waves as she comes out of the re-entry capsule of Shenzhou-9 spacecraft in Siziwang Banner of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region June, 2012. Liu and two other crew members emerged smiling from the capsule that returned safely to earth from a 13-day mission to an orbiting module that is a prototype for a future space station. Wang Jianmin/Xinhua/AP
Indian women police force march during Independence Day celebrations in Jammu, India, 2011. /Channi Anand/AP
Female mechanics work on brakes in the first garage run only by women in Le Cres, near Montpellier, southern France, 2008. France's first garage run entirely by women, includes ex-flight attendants and a beautician. After a 22 month training program, 15 women joined the garage as mechanics, bodywork specialists and saleswomen. Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters
A woman sells dried fish in a market on World Food Day in Lagos, Nigeria, Oct. 2012. Sunday Alamba/AP
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez (r.) waves to supporters after her swearing-in ceremony at the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 10, 2011. Fernandez took the oath of office for the second time, the only female leader in Latin America to ever be re-elected. Natacha Pisarenko/AP
Competitors race at the start of the women's skiathlon competition at the Nordic World Ski Championships in the northern mountain resort of Tesero in Val di Fiemme, February 23, 2013. Yves Herman/Reuters
Two female Egyptian lawmakers greet each other at a brief session of Parliament in Cairo, Egypt, July 2012. Mohammed Asad/AP
Kurdish female members of the Popular Protection Units stand guard at a check point near the northeastern city of Qamishli, Syria, March 3, 2013. Manu Brabo/AP
Tess, 2, sings with her mother Jaime Merchant, of Andover during the Wiggle Words program for toddlers from birth to 2 years old at the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, Massachusetts, in 2010. Ann Hermes/Staff
Gender quotas are receiving increased attention – and dividing governments – across Europe.
Christine Lagarde used to find them "offensive." Now the first female director of the International Monetary Fund sees gender quotas as a necessary, albeit temporary, tool to help women reach top jobs.
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