As part of Women's History Month, the CEO of the Women's Business Development council shares just how far women have come locally and globally, when it comes to equal pay.

In 1872, Congress started talking about equal pay for women.  Fifty years ago, CT signed the Equal Pay Act into law.  

"What's distressing about that, is that it's 2013 and we're still talking about fair pay for women," said Fran Pastore, CEO of the Women's Business Development Council.  

In CT, the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women says in 2011, women earned 78 percent of their male counterparts.  In January, Governor Malloy announced the CT Department of Labor will study why this gap still exists.

But Pastore says the issues women in CT face are the same around the globe.  Recently, she travelled to a small town in Costa Rica, to teach women financial literacy and business development.  

Pastore says for decades, women, especially, have become entrepreneurs, as a way of increasing income.  

There's still more to do, but Pastore says women have come a long way.  

The CT commission on women will celebrate pay equity day on April 9.