Globally, females possess only 64 percent of the legal entitlements afforded to males, according to the United Nations.

Global progress on women's rights is regressing, with women holding only 64 per cent of the legal rights that men enjoy worldwide, according to a UN report. This staggering disparity is a stark reminder that decades of progress have not been enough to achieve equality under the law.

n

The report, titled 'Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls', reveals that laws are being reshaped to restrict women's freedoms and silence their voices, allowing abuse to go unpunished. This has resulted in women and girls being failed by the very systems meant to protect them.

n

The report warns that the consequences of this failure are dire, leaving women and girls exposed to abuse, injustice, and impunity as backlash against gender equality intensifies. The 2026 International Women's Day highlights the urgent need to address this critical issue.

n

The day shines a spotlight on the alarming inequality in justice systems around the world, where women and girls are denied basic rights and protections. The report notes that in more than half of the world's countries, rape laws are not based on consent.

n

Nearly three out of four nations still legally allow girls to be forced into marriage, cutting short their childhoods, education, and future. Furthermore, 44 per cent of countries do not have laws that guarantee equal pay for work of equal value.

n

About 54 per cent of countries lack a consent-based definition of rape, and in many places, women still face legal barriers to owning property, seeking divorce, or passing citizenship to their children. Women may even be restricted from working and moving freely without their husband's permission.

n

According to UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous, denying justice to women and girls has far-reaching consequences, eroding public trust, weakening institutions, and undermining the rule of law. Bahous emphasizes that a justice system that fails half the population cannot claim to uphold justice at all.

n

Despite these challenges, the report notes that some progress has been made, with 87 per cent of countries now having laws against domestic violence and over 40 nations strengthening constitutional protections for women and girls in the past decade.

n

However, the report cautions that laws alone are not enough, as survivors often face stigma, fear, financial barriers, and a lack of trust in institutions meant to protect them. As a result, justice remains out of reach for far too many women and girls.

n

The world is witnessing troubling setbacks, with hard-won rights being rolled back in some places, and new forms of violence, such as digital abuse, increasing. For the 676 million women and girls living within 50 kilometres of active conflict zones, justice systems are largely absent, and perpetrators act with impunity.

n

Rape continues to be used as a weapon of war, with reported cases of sexual violence rising by 87 per cent in just two years. UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasizes that women's rights are human rights and investing in women and girls is essential for creating a better world.

n

International Women's Day is a call to action, urging support for UN Women and women's movements worldwide to help turn rights into reality for every woman and girl. Guterres stresses that when women are not equal under the law, true equality does not exist.

n

Ensuring justice for all women and girls is essential for building fairer, stronger societies everywhere, and now is the time to act, according to the UN chief. The urgent need for action is clear, and the world must come together to address the critical issue of inequality in justice systems.