A U.N. report on gender equality says women are living longer, healthier lives and getting more education, but violence and discrimination against women are widespread and only a few are cracking the "glass ceiling" to top leadership.

On the plus side, women's life expectancy has increased to 72 years compared to 68 for men, and women globally are having fewer children -- 2.5 children in 2010-2015 compared with 3 children in 1990-95.

But the report by the Statistics Division of the U.N. Department for Economic and Social Affairs released Tuesday says over one-third of women worldwide have been victims of violence, fewer than 4 per cent of the world's leading corporations have female CEOs, and in many countries women continue to economically depend on their spouses.