(From guardian.co.uk) -- Up to 2,000 women in business and finance have gathered to call for more action to stop gender inequality in the City and across the British economy as a whole.
The conference came as a new poll showed that 79% of London-based female professionals said men and women were treated differently in the workplace.
"There is gender asbestos - it's in the walls and it will take a bit of time and more work to get it out," said Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, chief executive of 20-first, a Paris-based gender consultancy.
Just over half of women questioned believe their firm is committed to ensuring gender equality, but only a third say management has made any improvements in addressing the issue over the past five years, according to a YouGov survey of 610 women commissioned by Deutsche Bank.
