United Nations, Mar 17 (IPS) – The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) brought together global leaders, gender equality advocates and youth representatives at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters to advance efforts to strengthen mechanisms of justice, equality and representation for women and girls around the world. With the challenges faced especially in conflict areas, this year’s priority theme-“Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls – Focused on repealing discriminatory laws and removing persistent structural barriers that prevent women and girls from being fully heard, represented, and treated equally.
CSW adopted this at the opening of the session on 9 March agreed conclusionWhich followed a week of spirited discussions among Member States, emphasizing the need to improve access to justice for women and girls. During these discussions, several countries, including the United States, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, proposed objections, in which they sought to modify the language that strongly supported these reforms and to revisit the provisions of previous agreements.
These efforts received significant backlash from other member states, who argued that such objections would undermine years of progress in gender equality reforms. The CSW President ultimately decided to preserve some core elements of previous agreements while incorporating progressive changes.
As the Commission called for adoption of the outcome, efforts to block these changes were brought forward by the US, which argued that the provisions involved “controversial” and “ideological” issues. These efforts ultimately failed, with only the US receiving votes, with other states including Egypt and Nigeria calling for a delay in the voting process to allow time for continued negotiations.
Agnes Callamard said, “At a time of serious reaction to human rights and multilateralism, the adoption of agreed conclusions protecting long-standing gender equality standards is a powerful signal that global commitments still matter and that efforts to turn back the clock will not be challenged.” Amnesty InternationalGeneral Secretary of.
“While the loss of consensus is disappointing, a weak text – or no outcome at all – would have sent a particularly disturbing signal to women and girls who continue to face barriers to access to justice and multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. In an environment marked by widespread impunity, Amnesty reiterates its call on States to step up resistance to attacks on gender justice,” Callamard said.
women currently hold only about With 64 percent of legal rights granted to men, “discriminatory laws and patriarchal norms” continue to hinder progress toward justice. These inequalities are particularly evident in conflict situations, where women and girls face increased risks of violence, displacement and exclusion from justice, opportunities and decision-making.
The UN Women Executive Director said, “We meet at a time of multiple global crises, peace eludes us, and the world becoming extremely and increasingly fragmented. And gender inequality is exacerbated by the evils of war and conflict, from Afghanistan to Haiti, Iran, Myanmar, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and beyond.” Sima Bauhaus At the inauguration of the 70th session of CSW. “When women and girls are denied justice, the harm goes far beyond any single case: it affects the fabric of our society and good governance. Public trust is eroded, institutions lose legitimacy, and the rule of law itself is weakened. A justice system that fails half the population cannot claim to uphold justice.”
Discrimination and exploitation are increasingly reducing access to legal protections and essential services, while women human rights defenders are increasingly being attacked. Sexual and reproductive health rights are also being rolled back, and the United Nations has reported an 87 percent increase in cases of conflict-related sexual violence over the past two years. Women and children bear the greatest burden of violence and displacement in conflict zones. Currently, the number of women and girls living within 50 kilometers of the deadly conflict is at its highest level in decades.
To commemorate CSW70, IPS spoke to Anna, a 20-year-old Ukrainian activist and UNICEF member Global Girl Leaders Advisory Group. This initiative brings together 14 adolescent girl leaders from around the world who work to ensure that women and girls’ perspectives are represented in global decision-making, and present recommendations directly to the UNICEF Executive Board.
Anna was a teenager studying abroad when the conflict in Ukraine began, and was unable to return to her family near the border. Since then, it has experienced significant challenges as a result of the war, including limited access to essential services such as education and psychosocial support, many of which have been disrupted or are under stress due to the war.
“When the war starts, the changes in society are immediate and visible,” Anna said. “Borders advance, cities are destroyed, and millions are forced to leave their homes. While many men go to the front, women often become the pillars holding communities together – running local initiatives, leading volunteer networks, managing businesses and supporting families.”
Such changes also bring structural conflicts, as many women are forced to leave their homes and live with their children or elderly relatives. Such displacement can lead to loneliness and uncertainty, Anna said. Although women take on more responsibility, inequality still does not go away. “Women still face pay gaps, stereotypes about leadership, and the expectation that they must remake society and quietly do the emotional labor of taking care of everyone else. It can feel impossible to stop from fully processing everything, as another responsibility, another task, or another crisis immediately takes its place.”
in Ukraine today, Roughly speaking About 32 percent of women in the 20-24 age group and about 49 percent of women in the 25-29 age group lack access to education, employment or training, compared to about 16.4 percent and 12.2 percent of men in the same age group, respectively. In times of conflict, women are often the first to lose these opportunities and the last to gain them. Girls’ education is often most affected, as families are displaced and conflict causes girls to take on additional responsibilities for their families and supporting household incomes. Many people are forced to drop out of school to support their families.
“My own educational journey has been deeply shaped by the war. I was first displaced to Poland, and when I returned to Kharkiv for my senior year, it was not easy to continue my studies,” Anna said. “I consider myself incredibly privileged. I had a supportive family who believed in me and helped me move forward. But not every girl has that kind of support system – someone to catch her when she starts to fall behind.”
Additionally, the psychosocial stress of conflict and violence often makes girls ineligible to study or engage in training programs. With little access to justice, healing and empowerment mechanisms for assaulted women and girls, these challenges often go unheard, and impunity for sexual violence and abuse persists, causing girls to suffer significant amounts of trauma, anxiety, depression and fear.
Anna said, “Girls in crisis often carry a kind of psychological burden that is both invisible and personal – it’s not just the direct exposure to violence, but the way war silently settles into everyday life and bodies.” “For many women and girls living near conflict zones, mental health is shaped by constant proximity to violence. “You wake up, watch the news, hear another siren, and feel what we call in Ukrainian ‘kom в горлі’, or a lump in the throat.”
Sexual violence is particularly prevalent near conflict zones, Anna says, creating “a persistent atmosphere of fear that reaches every woman who hears the story”. She said many girls in Ukraine grow up with the knowledge that their bodies could be targets of violence. When girls are in school, studying for exams, or volunteering, many have an awareness that women nearby have endured “unimaginable violence”.
According to UN reportAbout 54 percent of the countries surveyed reported that there are laws that do not link rape to consensual grounds, and about 75 percent of the countries surveyed have laws that allow forced marriage of a girl. Additionally, 44 percent of countries lack laws that guarantee equal pay for women and girls. It is estimated that it may take 286 years to close these gaps.
“The justice that women and girls deserve, which is their right, cannot wait. We must pursue it collectively at the United Nations, in our national laws and policies, in your courtrooms and traditional justice mechanisms. In doing so, we must engage the whole of society, including men and boys and youth, to contribute to our collective effort for equality,” Bahous said.
IPS UN Bureau Report
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