- A new report by the United Nations reveals that women globally have only 64% of the legal rights enjoyed by men, highlighting persistent gender inequality under the law
- According to the report, laws in some countries are being reshaped to restrict women’s freedoms, silence their voices, and enable abuse without accountability
- António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, called for urgent action to ensure women’s rights and strengthen justice systems worldwide
A new report by the United Nations has revealed that women worldwide possess only 64 per cent of the legal rights enjoyed by men, highlighting a troubling regression in gender equality across many parts of the world.
The report warns that despite decades of progress toward gender equality, women and girls remain unequal to men under the law in every country.
Titled “Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls,” the report states that some laws are increasingly being reshaped in ways that restrict women’s freedoms, suppress their voices, and allow abuse to occur without consequences.
It further warns that women and girls are being let down by the very justice systems designed to protect them.
According to the findings, these gaps leave women vulnerable to abuse, injustice, and impunity, particularly as resistance to gender equality grows in many societies.
The issue has become a central theme of the International Women’s Day 2026, which emphasises the urgent need to close the global justice gap affecting women and girls.
The observance this year highlights persistent inequality within justice systems worldwide.
“The reality is stark. In more than half of the world’s countries, rape laws are not based on consent,” the report reads.
“Nearly three out of four nations still legally allow girls to be forced into marriage, cutting short childhoods, education and future.
“44 per cent of countries do not have laws that guarantee equal pay for work of equal value.
“About 54 per cent of countries lack consent-based definition of rape.”
In several countries, women still face legal limitations when it comes to owning property, seeking divorce, passing citizenship to their children, or even working and travelling freely without their husband’s consent.
The Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, warned that denying women justice has far-reaching consequences for society.
“Public trust erodes, institutions lose legitimacy, and the rule of law itself is weakened. A justice system that fails half the population cannot claim to uphold justice at all,” Bahous said.
Despite these challenges, the report acknowledges that some meaningful progress has been achieved in recent years.
“Today, 87 per cent of countries have laws against domestic violence and more than 40 nations have strengthened constitutional protections for women and girls in the past decade,” it says.
However, the report stresses that legislation alone cannot guarantee justice.
“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”, the report says.
At the same time, the report notes worrying reversals in some parts of the world, where previously secured rights are being rolled back while new forms of abuse, particularly digital violence, continue to grow.
“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.
“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.”
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, emphasised that protecting women’s rights is critical to building a better world.
“Women’s rights are human rights and investigating women and girls is one of the surest ways to make the world a better place.”
International Women’s Day, he added, should serve not only as a moment of reflection but also as a call for urgent action.
“When women are not equal under the law, equality does not truly exist.
“Ensuring justice for all women and girls is essential for building fairer, stronger societies everywhere. Now is the time to act,” he said.
Guterres also urged stronger support for UN Women and women’s rights movements across the world to help ensure that legal protections translate into real-life equality for every woman and girl.