IT will take Scotland hundreds of years to close the gender inequality gap unless urgent action is taken, a new report by the Equal Opportunities Commission warns.

For the first time the EOC has identified 21 leading indicators which demonstrate how many years it will take in various sectors like income, justice and family to achieve sex equality.

The Commission claims it could take another 200 years before Scotland sees the "power gap" closing, with an expected 120 years before we see an equal number of men and women working as local councillors, or council leaders, if no measures are taken to improve selection by parties.

We are also 20 years away from achieving sex equality in full-time employment and 30 for part-time. The average woman working full-time could lose out on £330,000 over the course of her working life.

A further worrying indicator reveals the rape conviction rate, which is at an all-time low of 3.9%, will never get better unless policies improve in how incidents are reported and how court cases are conducted.

Rowena Arshad, EOC Scotland Commissioner, said it would take "generations for the unfinished revolution to be completed".

She said men and women's roles had changed dramatically over the last 30 years but life around us hadn't changed at the same pace.

"Scotland is still a long way from being an equal nation.

"These startling indicators suggest that the reality of far too many men's and women's lives is out of step with their aspirations.

"Today, most women work, many men no longer define themselves as breadwinners and both sexes often struggle to find the time they need to care for others in their lives," she said.

"Inequality is affecting every part of our lives. Failure to act will have consequences for the social and financial health of countless individuals - as well as the nation as a whole."

Completing the Revolution is EOC Scotland's final report before they are absorbed into the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights in October.

Five new pop art images have been designed to support the campaign. One shows a picture of a woman peering though a keyhole saying: "So that's what one looks like," with the catchline: "With so few women getting top jobs she'd never seen a boardroom before."

On Tuesday the EOC will launch a new Gender Agenda website inviting people to take a Quality of Life MOT.

There are six questions on whether you think men and women have an equal chance of getting better paid jobs, how safe you feel in your area, and whether your job offers you the flexibility you need to meet other commitments in your life.

Each user will then be given a personal quality of life score, together with recommendations for change, giving links to advice, resources and organisations.

Dr Marysia Zalewski, director of the gender studies department at Aberdeen University, said sexism was "entrenched in our society".

"There has been something of a revolution but things haven't changed anywhere near enough.

"This tells us there is something really wrong which is entrenched in our society on how we think about what men and women can do.

"It's getting worse with regard to employment. Surely there are more places of work that could provide more flexible hours of working.

"And how damaging is it in a professional career for men or women to take some time out?"

Dr Zalewski said legislation was not working because sexist attitudes were no longer "blatant". "It (legislation) works for those who need redress but a lot of discrimination is not blatant. People try not to be sexist but it's ingrained in our culture.

"I think most of it isn't illegal and it's difficult to see. We have a long way to go but something needs to be done over and above legislation."

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "Across our society, women tend to experience disadvantage, but a great deal of progress has been made in improving their lives and we welcome the EOC Gender Agenda as a contribution to tackling gender inequality.

"To progress gender equality we need to take account of the needs and experiences of both men and women.

"The new Gender Equality Duty will be an important instrument in bringing about change and improvement.

"This duty means public bodies have a legal requirement to ensure men and women are treated fairly, with their different needs being built into public policies, practices and services.

"To help public bodies perform their gender-equality duty, we placed specific duties on listed Scottish public authorities, which required them to publish a gender-equality scheme setting out the actions they will take to meet their duties.

"The EOC's Gender Agenda will be an important tool in helping Scottish Ministers to set these priorities."