Is Today International Women’s Day? A Stark Reminder of the Global Justice Gap

As the world observes International Women’s Day, a sobering report from UN Women highlights a deeply concerning reality: women globally face a significant “justice gap,” with discriminatory laws prevalent in most countries. This gap is widening amidst increasing conflicts, democratic backsliding, economic pressures, and a shrinking space for civic engagement.

A Regression of Women’s Rights

“As the world navigates democratic backsliding, rising conflicts, economic pressures and shrinking of civic space, there is an increasingly organised pushback at gender equality and regression of women’s rights,” stated Sarah Hendriks, UN Women Director, Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division, during a recent briefing. She emphasized that justice systems aren’t isolated from these pressures; they actively reflect them.

The report, titled Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls, details how legal frameworks are being reshaped to restrict women’s freedoms, silence their voices, and allow abuse to occur without accountability. It warns that the systems designed to protect women and girls are failing them, leaving them vulnerable to abuse, injustice, and impunity as backlash against gender equality intensifies.

Five Key Barriers to Justice

The report identifies five critical areas hindering fair outcomes for women and girls, who face greater obstacles to justice than men in nearly 70% of surveyed countries:

• Discriminatory Legal Frameworks: Laws that inherently disadvantage women.
• Social Norms: Deeply ingrained societal beliefs that perpetuate inequality.
• Implementation Gaps: Discrepancies between laws on the books and their actual enforcement.
• Traditional Justice Systems: Systems operating outside state control, often reinforcing inequalities.
• Conflict Settings: War and instability exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.

These barriers collectively mean that women worldwide possess only 64% of the legal rights enjoyed by men. Shockingly, 54% of countries lack consent-based legal definitions of rape. “Where power remains unequal, justice rarely operates neutrally. This is where retreat from gender equality becomes very visible,” Ms. Hendriks explained.

The Impact of Conflict

The rise in global conflicts is further jeopardizing women’s rights. In 2024, a staggering 676 million women and girls live within 50km of a deadly conflict – the highest number since the 1990s. This has led to an 87% increase in reported conflict-related sexual violence violations. Human Rights Watch consistently documents these abuses, highlighting the urgent need for intervention.

“Far too often impunity prevails,” Ms. Hendriks stated. “When justice fails women and girls, the damage goes far beyond any single story, any single woman’s life. Communities lose faith, public trust erodes and justice institutions lose legitimacy.”

Progress and Recommendations

Despite the grim statistics, the report acknowledges progress. No country has achieved full legal equality between women and men, but since 1970, over 600 million women have gained access to economic opportunities through family law reforms.

UN Women recommends eight key actions for governments to implement by 2030, including judicial reforms “shaped by women and for women,” and increased resource allocation to address these concerns. Currently, nearly 90% of organizations working to end violence against women and girls are experiencing reductions in essential services, with only 5% confident in their long-term sustainability.

The commitment to justice extends to the field. In South Sudan, a team of justice experts, escorted by United Nations peacekeepers, travelled to remote communities to provide access to courts after years of waiting. The UN also warns that in war-torn Sudan, rape is being weaponized, and simply being a woman significantly increases the risk of hunger, violence, and death.

On this International Women’s Day, the message is clear: achieving true gender equality requires a fundamental overhaul of justice systems worldwide, ensuring that all women and girls have equal access to protection, fairness, and accountability.