An award-winning human rights campaigner from South Africa says it will still take many years to achieve full equality for women.

Dr Wendy Orr said: ’The World Economic Forum brought out a report last year that said at the current rate of progress it will take over 200 years to achieve full equality in the workplace.

’That is in terms of representation of women across all levels including the gender pay gap etc.

’And I think we forget about the very significant societal and cultural issues that we still have to address in terms of gender equality.

’For instance look globally, at gender based violence and child marriages.

’Every year for instance, over a million girls under the age of 15 are married against their will, and having babies at the age of 13,14,15.

’It’s legal in many countries and that’s the problem.

’These issues need to be addressed.’

She said there were still many countries in the world where domestic violence is not classified as a crime, ’where men almost have a right to beat their partners.’

Dr Orr is group head for inclusion for the South African based Standard Bank Group.

She was in the island to promote the HeForShe campaign, a United Nations global solidarity movement for gender equality.

Standard Bank in the Isle of Man is committed to the campaign and made a bold statement by changing the colour of its logos on its digital platforms from blue to magenta, the same colour as the UN Women HeForShe brand

Dr Orr said: ’This was a very bold and prominent symbolic statement about our commitment and the Isle of Man embraced it wholeheartedly.

Dr Orr spoke to Business News at the island offices of Standard Bank following a discussion with the Chief Minister Howard Quayle.

She said: ’I think it is very positive that the Isle of Man has adopted and is now promulgating the equality legislation .

’That is an important move on the part of government.’

Johannesburg-based Dr Orr’s career path turned from medicine to diversity and inclusion after she had served three years as a commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa - a position to which she was appointed by then President Nelson Mandela.

Her path to the TRC began in 1985 when, while working at the district surgeon’s office in Port Elizabeth, she became the first and only doctor in government employment to reveal evidence of police torture of political detainees, when she successfully sought a Supreme Court interdict against the police to stop them from assaulting and torturing political detainees.

Subsequent to this she remained active in health and human rights issues, particularly in respect of the rights of political detainees.

Dr Orr told Business News of her admiration for President Mandela who died in 2013.

Dr Orr said she felt privileged to have known Mandela.

She said: ’He was one of those people who, and this is going to sound cliched, lights up a room.

’He walked in the door and there was just an overwhelming sense of generosity, of a profoundly ethical human being, of someone who just personified integrity.

’The first time I saw him was when he attended a graduation ceremony at the University of Cape Town and it was a huge hall, seating about 2,500 people. I was right at the back and he walked in and the room literally lit up. It was charisma, not in a pop star kind of a way but in a very real, human kind of way.

’He was an astonishing human being, his capacity for forgiveness and acceptance to say that we must move on, was inspirational.’

Dr Orr said that if Mr Mandela was still alive then she would be sure he would have signed up to being a champion of the HeForShe campaign.