I think this happens in the private sector, but apparently women get paid around 80% of their male counterparts in the same type of role. This kind of disparity is further fuelled by the "social norm" to not discuss pay with your colleagues as it is generally frowned upon. Whether or not this "social norm" was established by men I'm uncertain of, but it is a completely ridiculous notion that only further perpetuates companies getting away with discriminatory pay. There should be open dialogue between coworkers to enable transparency.

I know quite a few big corporations have actually taken onboard equal pay, but there are still heaps of them out there which haven't.