1 Introduction
As is well documented, the recognition of women’s rights to non-discrimination based on sex and/or gender and to gender equality is a lengthy process, marked by obstacles and sometimes backlash.1 Indeed, the evolution that took place in the field of the law reflected the evolution in the power relationships between women and men, marked by the ‘public man, private woman’ divide,2 a binary and hierarchical division of human beings, based on their biological sex. On the basis of this patriarchal construct, group characteristics have been attributed to human beings, such as intellect to men and feelings to women. Gender stereotypes and gender stereotyping have helped to maintain the power divide based on sex and gender.3 This has had numerous consequences for access
The evolution of rights and their implementation occur at the local, national, regional and international levels. Most often, change in the legal system occurs because of civil society engagement and sometimes also as a response to situations, such as conflicts and/or socio-economic crises.
At the national level, constitutions, laws and ordinances, and court cases can be the source of the legal basis for the recognition of women’s rights. Programmes and strategies can support change. At the international level, a number of UN documents, adopted by the UN General Assembly or other organs play a huge role. Some have a normative nature and are legally binding for the States that ratify them. Others have a declaratory nature: without binding force, they are political declarations that often serve as an important tool for advocacy. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the main UN Declaration.6 Together with the two covenants, one on civil and political rights7 and the other on economic, social and cultural rights,8 it forms the International Bill of Rights. They all contain the principle of sex and gender equality and non-discrimination based on sex. Other thematic
2 Progress in the Rights of Women: Legal Concepts
2.1 From Formal to Substantive Equality
Recognition of the rights of women has occurred through the progressive development of legal concepts, influenced by the lasting efforts of women to ensure their rights.
The first step was the recognition of the same, formal rights as men to the same treatment by the laws, in one field after another. For instance, in the political sphere, women were finally recognised as citizens and granted the right to vote that had previously only been held by men, and to be elected to functions such as parliament or the executive.18 There were no longer any legal obstacles preventing them from co-defining the policies of their country or community at the local or provincial level. The same process of extending to women the rights that were only held by men also occurred in other fields, such as in the laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance, education, work and social security.
However, formal gender equality did not eradicate the inequality and differences of treatment in practice that women were and still are exposed to. Indeed, in a world marked by the division of labour based on sex, women still do not benefit from an equal situation with men in all fields. Most notably, women are still expected to undertake most of the domestic and care activities, and they do so.19 Gender stereotypes still convey (explicitly or implicitly) that women are more devoted (or should be) to these tasks than to their
The insufficient progress towards gender equality is the reason why the concept of substantive equality20 was developed, as a way to overcome the perpetuation of gender inequality and discrimination in practice. Substantive equality is now a standard for all treaty bodies and for many courts that agree that a different treatment may be needed to overcome inequality. Possible measures include quotas for hiring and promoting women, study grants for girls or women, and reduction of transport costs for schoolgirls, in order to overcome discrimination in the labour market or in access to education. Substantive equality aims to remedy the structural obstacles to gender equality21 and achieve the transformation of society.
2.2 Forms of Discrimination
Progressively, what had been conceived as the “natural order” between the sexes marked by a hierarchy between men – the superior beings – and women – the inferior ones – came to be seen as discrimination against women. Different forms of discrimination were identified and prohibited. The first to be recognised was direct discrimination, that is discrimination against women just because they are women, on the sole basis of their being women and not men. The refusal to grant women the right to vote is an example of such direct discrimination. Other examples included the lack of access to higher education or to certain professions, as was frequent even in the 1950s or 1960s in many industrialised countries.22 Such direct discrimination has largely been eradicated from many legal systems; however, the legal subordination of women
However, the second, more subtle form of discrimination, that is indirect discrimination, plays a huge role and is far more difficult to detect and overcome. Indirect discrimination occurs where a seemingly gender-neutral norm in practice discriminates against women, without an objective justification. The cedaw Committee noted that ‘Moreover, indirect discrimination can exacerbate existing inequalities owing to a failure to recognise structural and historical patterns of discrimination and unequal power relationships between women and men’.24 For instance, if jobs (or high-level jobs) in the civil service or private sector are being advertised and offered only as full-time posts, this will affect a much larger number of women than men. Women will be excluded from these opportunities as many of them tend to work part-time, whether willingly or not, because of unequal sharing of household and care responsibilities, insufficiency or lack of childcare facilities and care facilities for invalids or other family members in need of care.
The third form of discrimination is intersectional discrimination.25 It occurs when a woman is discriminated against not only on the basis of her sex but also because of other criteria characterising her identity or situation, such as being a foreigner, a migrant woman, a woman with a disability, or belonging to a religious, ethnic or sexual minority.26 Fighting against indirect and intersectional
2.3 Sex and Gender
Although the Convention only refers to sex-based discrimination, interpreting article 1 together with articles 2 (f) and 5 (a) indicates that the Convention covers gender-based discrimination against women. The term “sex” here refers to biological differences between men and women. The term “gender” refers to socially constructed identities, attributes and roles for women and men and society’s social and cultural meaning for these biological differences resulting in hierarchical relationships between women and men and in the distribution of power and rights favouring men and disadvantaging women. This social positioning of women and men is affected by political, economic, cultural, social,
religious, ideological and environmental factors and can be changed by culture, society and community. The application of the Convention to gender-based discrimination is made clear by the definition of discrimination contained in article 1. This definition points out that any distinction, exclusion or restriction which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms is discrimination, even where discrimination was not intended. This would mean that identical or neutral treatment of women and men might constitute discrimination against women if such treatment resulted in or had the effect of women being denied the exercise of a right because there was no recognition of the pre-existing gender-based disadvantage and inequality that women face’.28
Treaty bodies and many courts state that discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on gender, including gender identity and/or sexual orientation and falls under the anti-gender discrimination prohibition.29
3 Progress in the Rights of Women
3.1 Equal Participation, Representation and Decision-making Positions: Economic and Political Participation
Formal equality is now being considered insufficient in many countries in the context of political rights. Indeed, decades after being granted political rights, women are still generally under-represented in most political institutions, with the average proportion of women in the lower chamber of parliament being 25% and few countries having a woman as head of government or head of State.30 The same situation is seen in the judiciary,31 the civil service, the
The number of women in decision-making positions in the economy, including in the private sector is also increasing, often thanks to measures being taken, either temporary or long-term. Nevertheless, the glass ceiling remains a reality in most countries, unless they have taken implementable temporary or permanent measures to ensure substantive equality. For instance, imposing a quota of 40% women on corporate boards has been efficient. Diversity is being advocated as a good governance tool as it has been proven that mixed teams are more efficient.34
3.2
Progress is being made regarding the economic consequences of dissolution marriages or of de facto unions (unions of people who are not married or are not in registered partnerships). This has led to fairer sharing of the economic responsibilities for the children the partners had together, and also to better financial protection for the parent who cared for them full-time at home or had a part-time professional activity. The subrogation of the debtor of child maintenance by the State (or the institution tasked with this) means that women no longer have to fight in court themselves, sometimes for years, to get the financial support decided by the court in the divorce judgement or in the divorce agreement. A number of countries have introduced some kind of subrogation, that is State support, that can effectively prevent poverty of mothers and their children.35 The sharing of assets accumulated during the marriage or partnership, including future pensions, is now becoming more equal in many countries. The whole of the occupational pensions linked to professional activity often went to the ex-husband, and the ex-wife who had stayed at home or reduced her professional activity and thus supported her husband’s career by taking care of all domestic chores, was exposed to a high risk of poverty. Revisions of the relevant laws have been made to ensure that couples who lived a number of years together and had to accumulate forced savings in these pension funds during this time, will receive an equal share of these amounts.36 These legislative changes tend to decrease the attractiveness of the traditional division of labour, when men realise that they will have to forgo half of their (future) pension!
The issue of gender-based violence has started to be taken seriously in certain countries in court decisions regarding the custody of the children. Whereas previously it was thought that children had to have contact with both parents and male partners or husbands were entitled to joint custody of their children, even when they had been violent towards the mother of the children,37 court decisions (and sometimes also the legislation itself) are changing
Progress is also being made in tax law for households. In many countries, the couple continues to be considered as the tax unit, with the husband as its head. The income of the wife, considered as a secondary income, is added to the income of the husband. This means that their income reaches a higher level of taxation than if they were each taxed separately. This discourages the professional activity of women40 and tends to support traditional role models,
A wide variety of measures exist to facilitate reconciliation of family and work responsibilities such as paternity or parental leave, efforts to increase the availability of good-quality, affordable nurseries and kindergartens, and harmonisation of school schedules with the work schedules of the parents.42
3.3 Labour and Social Laws
Labour laws and preventive measures are increasingly dealing with harassment in the workplace and specifically sexual harassment in the workplace. The adoption of ilo Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 “recognizes the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment”.43 Statistical and other methods have been developed to ensure the respect of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. The idea of a universal basic income is the subject of a lively discussion.44 The introduction of minimum wages is an efficient tool to improve the situation of women, as they generally account for most of the workers in the lower wage category.45
In the field of social laws, many European countries are trying to overcome the negative consequences for women of the linkage of social protection to the traditional division of labour, with men as breadwinners and women as
3.4 Education
In most but still not in all countries, all formal obstacles to the access of girls to primary, secondary and (not always) tertiary education have been removed.48 However, practical obstacles remain, such as the costs of transportation, school uniforms or materials, and lack of water, sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities in schools. In addition, school-related gender-based violence plays a huge negative role. Thus, millions of girls may still be deprived of schooling,49 mainly at the secondary and tertiary levels. Yet, completion of secondary school has been proven to be one of the most efficient measures to ensure national development and limit the number of early and child marriages, teenage pregnancies and of children per woman.
3.5 Gender-based Violence against Women
Gender-based violence against women is increasingly being recognised as a widespread issue threatening social peace and development,53 all the more so in the context of the covid 19 pandemic. Many countries have revised their definition of rape and other sexual crimes, putting the issue of consent or rather lack of consent at the centre. This is what Article 36 of the Istanbul Convention stipulates for sexual violence, including rape, ‘Consent must be given voluntarily as the result of the person’s free will assessed in the context of the surrounding circumstances’.54 States also introduce legislation on marital rape, abandoning the traditional conception that by the celebration of marriage, a woman has agreed to all future sexual acts requested by her husband,
3.6 Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Important changes have occurred in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights. There is a tendency towards safe and legal abortion, covered by the national health system, information on and access to modern contraceptives, as well as comprehensive sexual education in schools.56 Maternal mortality has also been decreasing, but with very different patterns depending on the region. The maternal mortality rate in 2017 varied from 11 per 100 000 live births in high-income countries to 462 per 100 000 live births in low-income countries.57
3.7 Increased Awareness and Renewal/Revival of Feminism
The revelations of massive violations of women’s human rights during conflicts and the scandalous exploitation of women in the film and media industry, have triggered a widespread reaction. Awareness of the negative consequences of gender inequality and discrimination against women for individuals, communities, nations and the world has risen, together with the development of a
4 A Political Tool: The sdgs, Agenda 2030
A recent political instrument, the Sustainable Development Goals (sdgs), was adopted in 2015.61 Also called Agenda 2030, the sdgs play an important role
5 Challenges to the Rights of Women
5.1 The covid-19 Pandemic and the sdgs
Even before the covid-19 pandemic, it was evident that (most of) the sdgs that should have been reached by 2030 would not be reached for lack of sufficient will, action, and financing. The pandemic has increased gender inequality and gender-based violence, as it has disrupted economies, devastated employment, health, social and education systems, locked down people, in both rich and emerging economies, impacting women disproportionally.63 The reduction of inequality within and among countries as embodied by Goal 10 has been halted by the pandemic as “the most vulnerable groups are being hit the hardest by the pandemic”64 and this means women first and foremost.
Women are starkly under-represented in decision-making bodies dealing with the recovery measures, and the fear is that “Without women in decision-making roles, covid-19 measures taken by governments are more likely to ignore women’s needs and it could further exacerbate the unequal recovery opportunities from the pandemic, which is already threatening to reverse decades of progress on gender equality”.68 Far too few measures69 address the mid- and long-term needs of women and will be able to effectively fight issues such as poverty, gender-based violence, and lack of economic opportunities. And yet there are measures that could help secure better outcomes, as shown by the gender tracker of undp and UN Women70 and unesco’s summary of gender-sensitive measures regarding education in the context of covid-19.71
5.2 Neo-Liberalism
Neo-liberalism,72 in the various forms it has taken since the 1970s, has brought increased gender inequality and poverty for most women, while opening up economic opportunities for some women. The reduction of the welfare State through budgetary cuts, privatisation and flexibilisation of the labour market have impacted women disproportionally. These impacts affect women as beneficiaries of State measures, workers employed in large numbers in the health, education and social services and as workers, often in the lowest income groups, who are also tasked with caring responsibilities.73 Millions of women in industrialised countries are trapped in on-call work with zero-hour contracts, and have no protection under labour or social law. Structural adjustment programmes imposed on developing countries have increased their incapacity to ensure basic services for their populations, as austerity measures did in more developed economies.74
The privatisation of public services and/or reduction of public budgets for childcare, health care, education, water distribution, and transportation has increased unpaid care and household workloads for women, thus increasing the gender care gap. Women find themselves in an ever more disadvantaged position on the labour market. Women-headed households are particularly
5.3 Increased Gender-based Violence against Women
In countries in conflict, physical and sexual violence has been used against women and girls as a weapon of war as well as to impose a renewed masculine domination, and its use is increasing.76 Child marriages increase as a response to poverty, exposing girls to unending sexual violence perpetrated by their husband and other forms of violence by members of his family. They are also at risk from early pregnancies, which are dangerous for their health and education, because they have to drop out of school.
In all countries, regardless of whether they are in conflict or not, gender-based violence has been proven to have increased during the pandemic, and the lockdown has exacerbated domestic violence,77 including against women refugees in camps.78 School-related gender-based violence is increasing as well. There is increased concern about gender-based violence in the public sphere as well as in cyberspace, which is also affecting girls and women disproportionately. Women in politics are exposed to several forms of violence – physical, sexual and psychological – often from their colleagues. They are also far more likely to be the targets of sexist and hate speech, and threats of violence in cyberspace than men, including death threats and threats of sexual violence.79
Migrant women are exposed to even greater risks than women who are citizens of a country because of their status as migrants, and also because of other characteristics (for example, level of education, mastery of language). In particular, if they are undocumented migrants, the risk of exposure to violence is high and they are unable to defend themselves for fear of deportation should they denounce the crimes committed against them to the police or social services.81 Yet, women are migrating in increasing numbers, in search of a better life, and/or to flee poverty and conflicts as well as the degradation of their environment and living conditions due to climate change. Being trafficked into all sorts of forms of labour exploitation, in industry, agriculture, and the sex industry is the culmination of gender-based violence and abuse against women and girls.82
5.4
Despite more progressive laws and programmes in many fields, as well as national and international norms, resolutions, and plans of action, in practice, the situation changes very slowly. Women are still excluded or under-represented in decision-making positions in politics and the economy, and they are still being underpaid, overworked and overexposed to men’s violence. Persistent stereotypes83 regarding masculine and feminine roles and tasks maintain the division of labour, restricting the fields and activities that are open to women and girls, and limiting their access to power, economic and personal autonomy. Stereotypes perpetuate, for instance, the very unequal sharing of care and domestic work84 and the dominance of men in the public sphere. They also condition access to and quality of healthcare.85 Numerous religious organisations (Catholic, Protestant, Russian Orthodox, Muslim) and some States are promoting a regressive view of “the family” recognising only the legal marriage between a man and a woman, opposing divorce, single parenthood, same sex unions, and abortion, among others, thus cementing the division of labour under a religiously based argumentation, and contesting women’s economic autonomy.86
5.5 The Slow Pace of Change
Laws and practical programmes and measures are a necessary tool but are not sufficient to overcome the deeply ingrained discrimination and gender-unequal basis and organisation of societies. Progress is slow. In developing countries, many women remain stuck in the informal labour market because
In addition, women’s ignorance of their rights and ignorance – if not refusal by State officials to implement women’s rights, in the education, justice, social and health sectors for instance, and by employers and religious leaders, among others – play an important role in the perpetuation of unequal relationships, gender inequality and discrimination. The negative impact of sexism on individuals and societies is still not sufficiently acknowledged. Too little, too late could be a summary of the situation up to now, to which one should add the danger arising from organised movements of masculinist men, some of whom absolutely hate women and have a very active “manosphere”.89
5.6 Backlash against Human Rights and Multilateralism
A backlash against human rights and multilateralism is evident, with women’s rights being singled out.90 Attacks against freedom of speech, association, assembly, against the universalism, the indivisibility, interdependence and inter-relation of all human rights are seen daily, within the UN system
Alliances of various States that do not share the values of democracy and rule of law erode the protection of human rights and attempt to reduce their role and importance. One way to do this is to under-finance the international mechanisms tasked with their monitoring. The role of the treaty bodies93 and of some of the regional human rights commissions in monitoring violations of human rights is threatened because the lack of adequate resources prevents them from doing their work properly and meeting their deadlines.94
5.7 Misusing the Language of Human Rights and Attacks on “Gender Ideology”
The language of human rights is being used by opponents to undermine their significance. Attacks on so-called “gender ideology”95 and anti-gender equality, anti-abortion and anti-lgbti campaigns96 have been conducted by
6 Conclusion
Coordinated action to prevent the continuation of existing and the development of new forms of violations of women’s human rights is urgently needed,
With the urgent need for social justice and a redefinition of values and the role of States, the coronavirus pandemic might be an opportunity for a new global world order in which gender equality and the prohibition of discrimination based on sex and gender are a reality, with respect for nature and for all of us human beings. Beyond talk, we need a much more energetic commitment and actions by all stakeholders towards the full implementation of the principles of gender equality and prohibition of discrimination against women and girls, as part of a global agenda of environmental, climate and social justice.
See among others, Gita Sen and Marina Durano (eds), The Remaking of Social Contracts, Feminists in a Fierce New World (Zed books 2014); Albie Sachs and Joan Hoff Wilson, Sexism and the Law. A Study of Male Belief and Judicial Bias (M. Robertson 1978). See for a wealth of data, United Nations, ‘The World’s Women 2020. Trends and Statistics’ <
Jean B Elshtain, Public Man, Private Woman (Princeton University Press 1981).
Rebecca J Cook and Simone Cusack, Gender Stereotyping. Transnational Legal Perspectives (University of Pennsylvania Press 2010); See also Simone Cusack, ‘The CEDAW as a Legal Framework for Transnational Discourses on Gender Stereotyping’ in Anne Hellum and Henriette Sinding Aasen (eds), Women’s Human Rights. CEDAW in International, Regional and National Law (Cambridge University Press 2013).
For an analysis of these numerous consequences in various fields, see Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women. Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (Vintage 2019).
Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas (First published by the Hogarth Press 1938, Penguin Books, 1979); UN Women, ‘Turning Promises into Action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (2018); e.g. in 2020, the Commission on the Status of Women (csw) expressed concern that ‘that major gaps remain and that obstacles, including structural barriers, discriminatory practices and the feminization of poverty, persist’ and recognized ‘that 25 years after the Fourth World Conference on Women, no country has fully achieved gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls’. Political Declaration on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, ecosoc, UN Doc E/2020/27 (e/cn.6/2020/10) 6/33, ‘Report of the Commission on the Status of Women. Report on the Sixty-fourth Session’ (2020) para 6.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948), Article 2.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (16 December 1966), Article 2 para 1, Articles 3 and 26.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (16 December 1966), Article 2 para 2 and Article 3.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (ohchr), ‘Universal Human Rights Instruments’ <
ohchr, ‘Human Rights Treaty Bodies’ <
For instance, the cedaw Committee has performed pioneering work in considering violence against women as a form of discrimination defined in Article 1 of the cedaw Convention and prohibited in Article 2, in its General Recommendation 19 of 1997, updated by General Recommendation 35 in 2018. This was the basis for further developments in the fight against violence against women and girls, including at the regional level.
See International Labour Organization (ilo), ‘Violence and Harassment Convention’ (2019) No. 190; See also the internet portal of ilo regarding Care economy. ilo, ‘The Care Economy’ <
European Convention on Human Rights (4 November 1950).
Organization of American States, ‘Basic Documents in the Inter-American System’ <
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1 June 1981), Article 2.
For Europe, Istanbul Convention Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (11 May 2011); for the Americas, Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Belém do Parà); for Africa, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (1 June 2003).
General Assembly Resolution A/RES/70/1 and United Nations Development Programme (undp), ‘The sdgs in Action’ <
The granting of the right to vote started in 1893 in New Zealand (although women did not get the right to be elected to Parliament until 1919) and the fight for this right is ongoing as women in some countries still cannot vote, or be elected, as men can.
United Nations, ‘Time Spent in Unpaid Work; Total Work Burden; and Work Life in Balance’ <
See Andrew Byrnes and Puja Kapai Paryani, ‘Article 1’ in Patricia Schulz et al. (eds), The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol, (2nd edn, forthcoming OUP 2022); See also, for an account of the four dimensions of substantive equality, Sandra Fredman, ‘Substantive Equality Revisited’ (2016) 14 International Journal of Constitutional Law 712.
See Andrew Byrnes and Meghan Campbell, ‘Article 2’ in Schulz et al. (eds), The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol, (2nd edn, forthcoming OUP 2022).
Nancy Weiss Malkiel, “Keep the Damned Women Out”: The Struggle for Coeducation (Princeton University Press 2016), showing that it took from 1969 to 1974 to see the top US universities accept women students, and for a brief presentation, ‘When Women Were Admitted to Ivy League Schools, the Complaints Sounded a lot Like a Trump Tweet’ Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, 21 October 2016) <
cedaw Committee’s General Recommendation 33 on Women’s Access to Justice; See the Concluding Observations and Recommendations (co) of the cedaw Committee to different countries: CO Qatar, cedaw/c/qat/co/2 (2019) para 49(b); CO Singapore, cedaw/c/sgp/co/5 (2017) para 44; CO United Arab Emirates, cedaw/c/are/co/2-3 (2015) paras 45–6; CO Brunei Darussalam, cedaw/c/brn/co/1-2 (2014) paras 38–9; CO Algeria, cedaw/c/dza/co/3-4 (2012) paras 46–47; See also Zainah Anwar (ed), Wanted: Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family (Musawah, Sisters in Islam 2009).
cedaw Committee’s General Recommendation 28 on the core obligations of States parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, paras 9, 16 and 35; Christa Tobler, Indirect Discrimination. A Case Study into the Development of the Legal Concept of Indirect Discrimination under EC Law (Intersentia 2005).
See Byrnes and Paryani (n 20); see also Dimitrina Petrova (ed), ‘Special Focus: Intersectionality’ (2016) 16 The Equal Rights Review 5.
cedaw Committee’s General Recommendation 28 (n 24) para 18, ‘The discrimination against women based on sex and gender is inextricably linked with other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, status, age, class, caste and sexual orientation and gender identity. Discrimination on the basis of sex or gender may affect women belonging to such groups to a different degree or in different ways to men. States parties must legally recognize such intersecting forms of discrimination and their compounded negative impact on the women concerned and prohibit them’.
The Fourth World Conference on Women, UN Doc a/conf.177/20, ‘Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’ (15 September 1995) paras 19, 24, 38; and Platform for Action: about 160 mentions of gender, gender-sensitive policies and programmes, mainstreaming a gender perspective, in the 12 Chapters.
cedaw Committee’s General Recommendation 28 (n 24) para 5.
cedaw Committee’s General Recommendation 28 (n 24) para 18.
See women’s participation in national parliaments, Inter-Parliamentary Union (ipu), ‘Monthly Ranking of Women in National Parliaments’ <
For instance, International Development Law Organization (idlo), ‘Women Judges in Kenya: Closer to Parity, Far From Meaningful Equality’ (11 March 2020) <
See ipu, ‘Women in Parliament in 2020, the Year in Review’
Council of Europe, ‘Achieving Balanced Participation of Women and Men in Political and Public Decision-Making: a Gender Equality and Democratic Requirement’ <
catalyst, ‘Women on Corporate Board (Quick Take)’ (13 March 2020) <
UN Women, ‘Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in the Context of Child Custody and Child Maintenance. An International and Comparative Analysis’ (2019) 30 Discussion Paper.
The Swiss legislation was progressively adapted, the last time in 2017: according to article 122 of the Swiss Civil Code, occupational pensions assets accrued during marriage until the introduction of divorce proceedings are shared between the ex-spouses. The principle of equal sharing can be replaced by equitable sharing, see articles 122 to 124 (e).
For an example of this approach, see the individual communication González Carreño v Spain case, cedaw/c/58/d/47/2012: the Committee found Spain had violated the Convention by not protecting the daughter of Ms González Carreño against the violence of her father. He enjoyed unsupervised visitation rights although his ex-wife had invoked his violence against her in the divorce proceedings and had on numerous occasions alerted the social services and civil courts about the danger he presented to her daughter, whom he finally killed before committing suicide.
To “take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that, in the determination of custody and visitation rights of children, incidents of violence covered by the scope of this Convention are taken into account” and that “the exercise of any visitation or custody rights does not jeopardize the rights and safety of the victim or children”. The expert body monitoring the implementation of the Convention’s standards (grevio), has found evidence of gender bias towards women in custody decisions and lack of attention paid by courts to patterns of abuse by fathers in all 10 States parties monitored so far.
Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).
Alastair Tomas and Pierce O’Reilly, ‘The Impact of Tax and Benefit Systems on the Workforce Participation Incentives of Women’ (2016) Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd) Taxation Working Paper No. 29; this is still the situation in Switzerland, although efforts to introduce individual taxation (or at least another system that would not discriminate unfairly between married couples and non-married ones) have been ongoing for years, see Administration Fédérale des Contributions, ‘Imposition du Couple et de la Famille’ <
See the proposal to modify the Swiss Constitution to introduce individual taxation of married spouses, Initiative Populaire pour l’Imposition Individuelle, ‘De Quoi s’Agit-Il?’ <
ilo, ‘Work-Life Balance’ <
ilo, ‘Eliminating Violence in the World of Work’ <
bien, ‘About Basic Income’ <
See for the discussion in the USA, Courtney Connley, ‘59% of Workers Who Would Benefit From a $15 Minimum Wage Are Women – Here’s How It Would Affect the Pay Gap’ cnbc (03 February 2021) <
See ilo Recommendation 202, ‘Social Protection Floors’ (2012) para 2, ‘social protection floors are nationally defined sets of basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion’. Paras 4 and 5 define them, including essential health care, basic income security for children, basic income security, in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity, disability and old age.
ilo, ‘Social Protection Floor’ <
In some countries, girls who are pregnant or have given birth are not allowed to continue their education or to come back to school, see Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 36 (2017) on the right of girls and women to education, para 24 (g); ‘Concluding Observations on the Combined Initial to Third Periodic Reports of Solomon Islands’ (2014) cedaw/c/slb/co/1-3 para 32 (f) and ‘Concluding Observations on the eighth periodic report of Australia (2018)’, cedaw/c/aus/co/8, para 41 (bn) and 42 (b).
unesdoc, ‘From Access to Empowerment: unesco Strategy for Gender Equality in and Through Education 2019–2025’ <
For an analysis at the international level dealing with all aspects of girls’ and women’s education, see Barbara Bailey and Hilary Gbedemah, ‘Article 10’ in Schulz et al. (eds), The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol, (2nd edn, forthcoming OUP 2022).
Swissuniversities, ‘Equal Opportunities & Diversity’ <
Swiss National Science Foundation, ‘Gender Equality’ <
The World Bank, ‘Gender-Based Violence (Violence against Women and Girls)’ (25 September 2019) <
Council of Europe, ‘Complete List of the Council of Europe’s Treaties’ <
UN Women, ‘Facts and figures: Ending Violence against Women’ <
Rebecca J Cook and Verónica Undurraga, ‘Article 12’ in Schulz et al. (eds), The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol, (2nd edn, forthcoming OUP 2022).
who, ‘Maternal Mortality’ <
Grassroot initiatives can cover many issues, such as agricultural development and/or environmental protection, See Maria Fides F Bagasao, ‘Why Organized Grassroots Women Matter in the Sustainable Development of Rural Communities’ <
See The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (awid), and its support to young activists, <
UN Women, csw 65th session, 15–26 March 2021, <
General Assembly Resolution (n 17); United Nations (n 17).
undp, ‘Gender Equality as an Accelerator for Achieving the SDGs’ (4 February 2019) <
United Nations (n 17). It is well worth reading the various goals and their detailed presentation, for instance on education, United Nations, ‘Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All’ <
United Nations, ‘Goal 10. Reduce Inequality Within and Among Countries’ <
UN Women, ‘From Insights to Action: Gender Equality in the Wake of COVID-19’ <
unesco, ‘Over 11 Million Girls May Not Go Back to School after the COVID-19 Crisis’ <
unesco, ‘Global Education Coalition. COVID-19 School Closures around the World Will Hit Girls Hardest’ (31 March 2020) <
undp, ‘Women’s Absence from COVID-19 Task Forces Will Perpetuate Gender Divide, Says UNDP, UN Women’ <
UN Women, ‘Global Gender Response Tracker: Monitoring How Women’s Needs are Being Met by Pandemic Responses’ <
UN Women, ‘Expert’s Take: Five Steps to Make the COVID-19 Social Protection and Jobs Response Work Better for Women’ <
unesco, ‘#HerEducationOurFuture: Keeping Girls in the Picture during and after the COVID-19 Crisis. The Latest Facts on Gender Equality in Education’ (2021) <
Seen as giving priority to freedom of markets and capital, reducing the role of the State, government being seen as “the problem and not the solution” as Ronald Reagan said at his inaugural address in 1981; Richard Meagher, ‘Neoliberal Language Lessons. How Right-Wing Power Along With Free Market Ideas Shifted from Conservative Christians to the Tea Party’ (Political Research Associates, 30 October 2014) <
Rahila Gupta, ‘Has Neoliberalism Knocked Feminism Sideways?’ (2012) <
For an a contrario argumentation of what the economy and the States should deliver, see Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom (Anchor Books 2000); and Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine. The Rise of disaster Capitalism (Penguin Books 2007).
See UNESCO (n 67) and UNDP (n 68).
Jamey Keaten, ‘Rights Experts Flag Violations of Rape, Sex Abuse in Yemen’ ap News (3 September 2019) <
undp, ‘Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19’ (11 May 2020) <
unchr, ‘Gender-Based Violence on the Rise during Lockdowns’ (25 November 2020) <
ipu, ‘The Shadow Pandemic: Violence Against Women in Politics’ (08 December 2020) <
UN General Assembly, A/74/137, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences on a Human Rights-based Approach to Mistreatment and Violence against Women in Reproductive Health Services with a Focus on Childbirth and Obstetric Violence’ (11 July 2019); and for further information see the ohchr page of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, <
UN General Assembly, Resolution a/res/72/140, ‘Violence against Women Migrant Workers’ (2017).
See General Recommendation 35 on Gender-Based Violence, updating General Recommendation 19 of the cedaw Committee for an analysis of violence as a continuum; See also Christine Chinkin, ‘Violence Against Women: The International Legal Response’ (1995) 3 (2) Gender and Development 23, and Janie Chuang and Sulini Sarugaser-Hug, ‘Article 6’ in Schulz et al.(eds) (n 20). For exploitation of women in the agricultural sector, see for instance a European Union study on the situation in Italy and Spain, Letizia Palumbo and Alessandra Sciurba, ‘The Vulnerability to Exploitation of Women Migrant Workers in Agriculture in the EU: the Need for a Human Right and Gender Based Approach’ (May 2018) <
Cook and Cusack (n 3).
Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-first session, 13–24 March 2017, ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work, Report of the Secretary-General’, e/cn.6/2017/3, in particular paras 25–27; ilo ‘Care Work and Care Jobs for The Future of Decent Work’ (2018) <
Lori Heise et al., ‘Gender Inequality and Restrictive Gender Norms: Framing the Challenges to Health’ (2019) 393 (10189) The Lancet 2440.
Karolina Wigura and Jaroslaw Kuisz, ‘Poland’s Abortion Ban is a Cynical Attempt to Exploit Religion by a Failing Leader’ The Guardian (London, 28 October 2020) <
Rebecca Homes and Nicola Jones, Gender and Social Protection in the Developing World: Beyond Mothers and Safety Nets (Zed Books 2013).
ilo, ‘Gender Pay Gap Widens for Higher-earning Women’ <
Laura Bates, ‘Men Going Their Own Way: The Rise of a Toxic Male Separatist Movement’ The Guardian (London, 23 August 2020) <
The Observatory on the Universality of Rights (ours), ‘Rights at Risks: OURs Trends Report2017’<
ours, ‘The Observatory on the Universality of Rights Trends Report 2021’ and its 2017 report, ‘Rights at Risk: Key Impacts on the Human Rights System’ <
International Service for Human Rights (ishr), ‘UN Adopts Landmark Resolution on Protecting Women Human Rights Defenders’ <
Christen Broecker and Michael O’Flaherty, ‘The Outcome of the General Assembly’s Treaty Body Strengthening Process: an Important Milestone on a Longer Journey’ (2014) Policy Brief.
Basak Cali and Alexandre Skander Galand, ‘Strengthening and Enhancing the Effective Functioning of the UN Human Rights Treaty Body System Individual Complaint Mechanisms’ (February 2020) <
Heron Greenesmith, ‘Gender Ideology Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow’ Political Research Associates (26 March 2020) <
As an example of one organization promoting only one form of family and opposing rights of lgbtq persons, Peter Sprigg, ‘Why “Sexual Orientation” and “Gender Identity” Should Never be Specially Protected Categories under the Law’ (2018) Family Research Council.
For instance, the adoption of a resolution on “the family” at the Human Rights Council, ishr, ‘States Silence Debate on Family Diversity at Human Rights Council’ (2014) <
Human Life International, ‘About Us’ <
Marie Juul Petersen and Turan Kayaoglu (eds), The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Human Rights (University of Pennsylvania Press 2019).
See the influence of churches on debates on sexual and reproductive health and rights for instance in Poland: so far the Catholic Church’s links with the conservative government have imposed more restrictions to an already restrictive legislation, but there might be a change in public opinion, ‘The Guardian View on Poland’s Catholics: Losing Faith in their Church’ The Guardian (London, 2 December 2020) <
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, ‘Inequality and Gender’ (2021) <
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