38/46 Report of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice - Note by the Secretariat
Document Type: Final Report
Date: 2018 May
Session: 38th Regular Session (2018 Jun)
Agenda Item: Item3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
GE.18-07710(E)
Human Rights Council Thirty-eighth session
18 June–6 July 2018
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice
Note by the Secretariat*
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of
the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice,
pursuant to Council resolutions 15/23, 26/5 and 32/4. In its report, the Working Group takes
stock of the first six years of its mandate and analyses the lessons learned. While highlighting
the successes, limitations and main challenges faced in the struggle for women’s rights and
empowerment, the Working Group reasserts women’s fundamental right to substantive
equality and calls for concerted efforts to counter rollbacks and the increasing attacks against
the universality of women’s human rights. It examines opportunities to strengthen the
international women’s human rights machinery, focusing particularly on its role in forging
strategic partnerships and alliances and creating enabling environments to advance women’s
human rights. In the report, it also encapsulates its work and some of its impact, while setting
the vision for the mandate in the coming years.
* The annex is being circulated without formal editing, in the language of submission only.
United Nations A/HRC/38/46
Contents
Page
I. Activities ....................................................................................................................................... 3
A. Sessions ................................................................................................................................ 3
B. Country visits ........................................................................................................................ 3
C. Communications and press releases ...................................................................................... 3
D. Other activities ...................................................................................................................... 4
II. Thematic analysis: reasserting equality, countering rollbacks ...................................................... 4
A. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 4
B. Global context of persistent discrimination and backlashes against women’s rights
and the need to strengthen the protection system.................................................................. 5
C. The Working Group’s efforts to contribute to the advancement of the
elimination of discrimination against women ....................................................................... 12
D. Setting the vision for the next years of the mandate ............................................................. 16
III. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................... 18
A. Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 18
B. Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 19
I. Activities
1. The present report covers the activities of the Working Group on the issue of
discrimination against women in law and in practice, from the submission of its previous
report (A/HRC/35/29) to April 2018.
A. Sessions
2. The Working Group held three sessions in Geneva during the period under review. At
its nineteenth session (15–19 May 2017), it held meetings with other special procedure
mandate holders, a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, a member of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment
of Women (UN-Women), representatives of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and representatives of several civil society
organizations. The Working Group also started organizing the handover to the new members
and discussed possible future thematic priorities. Jointly with civil society organizations and
the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, it organized a well-
attended public event on strengthening protection networks for women human rights
defenders to combat discrimination.
3. At its twentieth session (9–13 October 2017), the experts completed the handover to
their successors. The experts met with the new Special Representative of the Secretary-
General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, organized an informal brainstorming session on the
issue of surrogacy with the participation of the World Health Organization (WHO), the
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), OHCHR and the Special Rapporteur on the sale
and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other
child sexual abuse material (see A/HRC/37/60). The Working Group also organized a well-
attended meeting with Member States.
4. At its twenty-first session (22–26 January 2018), the Working Group, including the
four experts whose terms had begun on 1 November 2017, reviewed its working methods
and elaborated the vision for the mandate in the coming years. It met with a former Working
Group member, members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, representatives of UN-Women, WHO and UNFPA and OHCHR staff. The Working
Group also organized a meeting with Member States and Geneva-based civil society
organizations. On 25 January, the International Gender Champions organized an event
introducing the new experts to the Geneva international community.
B. Country visits
5. The experts visited Samoa from 8 to 18 August 2017 (A/HRC/38/46/Add.1) and Chad
from 4 to 14 December 2017 (A/HRC/38/46/Add.2). The Working Group thanks the
Governments of those countries for their cooperation before and during the visits. It also
thanks the Government of Poland for having invited it to conduct an official visit in 2018.
The Working Group currently has 32 pending requests for visits and encourages States to
respond positively to those requests.
C. Communications and press releases
6. During the period under review, the Working Group addressed communications to
Governments, individually or jointly with other mandate holders. The communications
concern a wide range of subjects falling within its mandate, including discriminatory
legislation and practices, allegations of abuse of women human rights defenders and
violations of their rights, gender-based violence and violations of the right to sexual and
reproductive health.1 The Working Group also issued press releases, individually or jointly
with other mandate holders, treaty bodies and regional mechanisms.2
D. Other activities
7. Since its previous report to the Human Rights Council, the experts have undertaken
numerous activities in their capacity as members of the Working Group (see annex).
II. Thematic analysis: reasserting equality, countering rollbacks
A. Introduction
8. In the present report, the Working Group takes stock of the first six years of its
mandate and analyses the lessons learned. It is grateful for the responses to the questionnaire
it sent out in July 2017 to all Permanent Missions in Geneva and other stakeholders, seeking
information on lessons learned, key challenges and opportunities relating to the work of the
mandate.
1. Conceptual framework
9. The Working Group, in establishing its conceptual framework and working methods,
stressed that the elimination of discrimination against women in law and in practice required
a comprehensive and coherent human rights-based approach that ensured that women were
at the centre of efforts to hold principally States accountable for implementing international
standards guaranteeing civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights (see
A/HRC/20/28). The Working Group addressed the elimination of discrimination against
women in law and in practice in all fields from the perspective of States’ obligations to
respect, protect and fulfil women’s human rights.
10. It emphasized that national, regional and international human rights mechanisms, as
well as grass-roots activists, played critical roles in ensuring the full enjoyment by women of
their human rights. For legal guarantees to benefit all women, implementation frameworks
and strategies must be responsive to the intersections of gender-based discrimination with
other grounds of discrimination.3
11. Indeed, the work of the Working Group has covered all women, acknowledging that
women are not a uniform group. Nearly 40 years of reporting to the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women have proven that there are multiple and
intersecting forms of discrimination against women around the world and within countries
that reinforce and sustain each other. All women, in their diversity and many different
circumstances, are affected differently by discriminatory laws and practices. Nevertheless,
there are shared aspects of discrimination against women that persist in all cultures, although
with differing levels of intensity and differing impacts.
12. Furthermore, throughout the first six years of the mandate, there has been a need to
constantly reiterate, even within the human rights system, that women are not just another
vulnerable group, as they are often treated by some. They are half of the world population
and often the majority of each of the vulnerable groups, hence eliminating the persistent
discrimination and backlashes against women’s rights should be addressed both as a stand-
alone goal and as a mainstreaming issue.
13. The Working Group has observed how concepts such as “complementarity”, “equity”
and “protection of the family” have been used to undermine women’s rights by challenging
universal human rights to equality and non-discrimination. Such concepts are also employed
to justify State and non-State violations of these rights, and non-compliance with State
1 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Communications.aspx.
2 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/NewsSearch.aspx?MID=WG_Women. 3 See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No.
28 (2010) on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention, para. 18.
obligations to eliminate discriminatory practices based on stereotyped roles for men or
women (see A/HRC/29/40).
14. In recent years, the Working Group has observed how the concept of gender itself has
been challenged, misunderstood and misused to further undermine the struggle towards the
elimination of discrimination against women and towards gender equality. In this regard, the
hostilities against so-called gender ideology, particularly vehement in Latin America and
Eastern Europe, exemplify the growing challenges in the quest for equality. Conservative
lobbies advocating against gender ideology, presented as a threat to “traditional values”,
wrongly see efforts to advance gender equality as the imposition of ideas and beliefs that
seek to destroy such institutions as the family, marriage and religious freedom. This
movement has been particularly vocal in opposing policies or even debates on issues of
scientifically based comprehensive sexuality education in schools, women’s sexual and
reproductive rights, marriage equality and gender-based violence. The term “gender” has, for
instance, been challenged by the movement against the ratification of the Council of Europe
Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
(the Istanbul Convention) on the grounds that it imposes gender ideology. These conservative
groups argue that international law prohibits only sex discrimination, denying that the term
“gender” has been used in international norms and standards since the 1970s. The Working
Group recalls that, in its general recommendation No. 28, the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women interpreted the prohibition of sex discrimination, as
contained in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, as including gender-based discrimination. Attacks against gender ideology are used
by conservative actors to oppose the universal applicability of human rights standards on the
basis of non-discrimination and to undermine achievements made in the recognition of
women’s human rights and in the implementation of gender equality.
2. A new sense of urgency
15. In the past six years, the Working Group has documented the gains made over decades
of global advocacy. It has also drawn attention to the remaining gaps and the obstacles to
achieve gender equality, particularly due to the rise of movements opposing the universality
of women’s rights, contributing to fragmenting and weakening the human rights system. This
calls for all actors to unite in an effort to protect, promote and fulfil women’s rights, while
fighting against retrogressions. Yet, rising authoritarianism in political governance,
economic crises and rocketing inequality and politicization of traditionalist religions have
posed considerable challenges to the human rights system. The corrosion of women’s human
rights is a litmus test for the human rights standards of the whole of society.
16. Nearly 40 years after the adoption by the General Assembly of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, no country in the world has
successfully eliminated discrimination against women or achieved full equality. This should
no longer be tolerated or normalized. Today, there is a need to protect the gains from the past
and to urgently advance women’s substantive equality, which is crucial for the indivisibility
of human rights and for the human development of families, communities and countries. This
new sense of urgency has led the Working Group to shed light on issues subjected to
particular resistance and to reflect on ways to further strengthen women’s human rights
machinery in a collective struggle to eliminate discrimination against women.
B. Global context of persistent discrimination and backlashes against
women’s rights and the need to strengthen the protection system
1. Acknowledging progress made in advancing gender equality
17. Throughout its work, the Working Group has documented achievements, good
practices and the main challenges in the quest for the elimination of discrimination against
women.
18. International commitment to fulfilling women’s right to political participation has
grown substantially. Over the course of the twentieth century, women’s right to vote has been
almost universally implemented. In fewer than two decades after the Fourth World
Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, held in Beijing, the
global average for women’s political representation has doubled.4 The introduction of quotas
in some countries that were undergoing political transition resulted in significant increases in
women’s parliamentary representation. Positive trends have also been seen in terms of
extending special measures and affirmative action to other areas of public life beyond
parliamentary representation (see A/HRC/23/50).
19. In recent years, women demanding dignity and rights have marched worldwide and
have increasingly used social media to take action. Technology has enabled new forms of
women’s political expression and engagement. Movements denouncing gender-based
violence against women, such as #NiUnaMenos and #MeToo, have swept much of the globe,
following decades of advocacy from women’s rights movements demanding an end to
violence against women in environments that normalize discrimination against women.
Gender-based violence is one of the worst manifestations of such discrimination.5
20. Significant progress has been made in closing the gender gap in education, and women
have increasingly participated in the cultural and scientific lives of their communities and
nations. 6 Women’s labour force participation has increased significantly and women
entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized enterprises have made considerable contributions
as crucial economic actors. Initial efforts have been made by some countries to increase
women’s participation in economic and financial leadership by imposing gender quota
requirements for corporate boards. Moreover, in times of crisis, some countries have chosen
alternatives to austerity measures to ensure women’s continued economic inclusion (see
A/HRC/26/39).
21. The right of women and girls to equality in the family has been recognized in
international human rights law and guaranteed in most modern legal regimes, which have
reformed family law systems to enshrine gender equality. In some countries, progress has
been made in challenging gender stereotypes and the unequal roles and responsibilities
attributed to women and men in the family. A considerable number of countries have
developed laws criminalizing domestic violence and providing protection for victims (see
A/HRC/29/40).
22. Efforts to combat negative stereotypical messages regarding women’s bodies have
been deployed by civil society organizations and international entities and have been
incorporated in national policy by many Governments (see A/HRC/32/44). Women’s sexual
and reproductive rights have been increasingly recognized in international standards.
Maternal mortality has been almost halved over the past 20 years.7
23. An impressive body of regional and international human rights standards has been
developed over the past few decades, in which recognition and protection of women’s right
to equality has been central and prioritized. Considerable progress has been made in the
number of national constitutions guaranteeing gender equality and laws enacted to prohibit
sex discrimination and gender-based violence. In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on
Women consolidated the hard-fought progress and achievements by agreeing on a
comprehensive plan to advance women’s right to equality: the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action. In 2010, the Human Rights Council decided to establish the Working
Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice as part of its
independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. While the founding of the Working
Group is undoubtedly a success in terms of strengthening the women’s rights machinery, it
also reflects the recognition by the international community of the persistent discrimination
against women worldwide.
24. Despite these achievements made over long years of struggle, discrimination against
women and impunity for the violation of women’s rights persist in both the private and public
spheres, in times of conflict as in times of peace, and in all regions of the world. Not only is
the advancement of women’s rights and full equality too slow, uneven and far from a global
4 See www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif-arc.htm. 5 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22759&LangID=E. 6 See A/72/155 and www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/priority-areas/gender-and-science/. 7 See www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/9789241507226_eng.pdf.
reality (see E/CN.6/2015/3), but women’s hard-fought achievements now risk being
reversed. An unprecedented pushback has been progressing across regions by an alliance of
conservative political ideologies and religious fundamentalisms. Retrogressions have been
occurring, often in the name of culture, religion and traditions, and threaten the hard-fought
progress in achieving women’s equality.
2. Deadlocks, retrogressions and backlashes
Family and culture
25. In its reports, the Working Group has demonstrated the persistence of a global
discriminatory cultural construction of gender, often tied to religion, and the continued
reliance of States on cultural justifications for adopting discriminatory laws or for failing to
respect international human rights law and standards. It has particularly emphasized that
failure to ensure the equality of women and girls within the family undermines any attempt
to ensure their equality in all areas of society (see A/HRC/29/40).
26. Throughout its work, the Working Group has shown that discrimination against
women and girls and the backlash against their rights all too often start in the family where,
for example, women and girls are undervalued, may be limited to certain roles, experience
harmful practices and patriarchal oppression, and suffer other human rights abuses, including
domestic violence and sexual abuse. As indicated by the Working Group, although
discriminatory laws governing family life have been repealed in most countries, such laws
are still in force in a few others (ibid.). In some countries, women are deprived of their
fundamental rights due to, inter alia, a lower minimum age of marriage for girls, guardianship
systems, forced marriage, polygamous marriage, discrimination in nationality rights, divorce
rights and unequal rights to custody, inheritance and access to property and land. In the name
of perceived honour, purity and tradition, girls and women are subject to “honour” killing,
child marriage,8 widowhood rites and female genital mutilation,9 among other violations of
their rights. In some regions, there has been no progress at all towards eliminating child
marriage.10
27. Within the United Nations system, the Working Group has observed that States have
misused references to culture, religion and family in an effort to dilute their international
obligations to fulfil women’s rights and achieve gender equality. One extremely revealing
fact is the high number of reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, particularly to article 16 on equality in the family,11 in which
States deny women’s and girls’ right to equality in deference to religious norms, and refute
their accountability for the universal applicability of human rights (see A/HRC/29/40). This
also shows that equality in the private domain — the family — remains one of the biggest
hurdles to achieving gender equality.
28. Under the guise of protecting the family, some States are taking initiatives aimed at
further diluting human rights. While recognizing that the family is the fundamental group
unit of society and is entitled to protection, the Working Group insists on the need to reassert
women’s right to equality in all aspects of family life and to recognize that diverse forms of
family exist. Protection of the family cannot be used as a justification for laws, policies or
practices that would deny women and girls their full and equal human rights (ibid.). The
advancement of women and girls depends on the recognition in law and in practice of their
right to equality as members of communities and families.
29. As the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights has highlighted, diverse
religious fundamentalists often work together tactically at the international level to thwart
advances in women’s human rights. She has also observed that enabling women’s enjoyment
8 See www.girlsnotbrides.org/what-is-the-impact/. 9 See www.unfpa.org/female-genital-mutilation. 10 See www.unicef.org/media/media_102783.html. 11 See www.universal-rights.org/urg-policy-reports/march-universality-religion-based-reservations-
core-un-human-rights-treaties-tell-us-human-rights-religion-universality-21st-century/.
of all human rights, including cultural rights, is an essential component in the fight against
extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism (see A/HRC/34/56).
30. While the Working Group is committed to the principle of upholding freedom of
religion or belief as human rights to be protected, it regrets the increasing challenges to
gender equality in the name of religion. It joins other international human rights expert
mechanisms in reiterating that freedom of religion or belief should never be used to justify
discrimination against women (see A/HRC/29/40).
Women’s autonomy and sexual and reproductive rights
31. It is in this context of rising fundamentalisms and backlashes against women’s rights
that the current discourse on women’s sexual and reproductive rights is taking place at the
international level. Too many women are being deprived of their sexual and reproductive
health and rights. While the maternal mortality rate has declined, over 800 women still die
every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, with the lives of the
most marginalized women at the highest risk. 12 An estimated 225 million women are
deprived of access to essential modern contraception, 13 often leading to unplanned
pregnancies. For girls, pregnancy and childbirth is one of the most common causes of death
in developing countries, with girls under 15 years of age facing five times the danger. As a
result of unsafe abortions, each year some 47,000 women die,14 and a further 5 million suffer
temporary or permanent disability.15
32. In some countries, women still live with the threat of criminal punishment for sexual
or reproductive conduct such as adultery, prostitution/sex work or termination of pregnancy.
In others, women are even accused of murder if they have a miscarriage or obstetric
complication (see A/HRC/32/44). Criminalization of behaviour that is attributed only to
women is inherently discriminatory.16 So is denying women’s autonomous decision-making
and access to services that only women require and failing to address their specific health
and safety, including their reproductive and sexual health needs.
33. Some 25 per cent of the world’s population lives in countries with highly restrictive
abortion laws. The Working Group has documented how politicized religious conservative
movements in numerous countries have influenced decision-making to either halt or roll back
progress, making concerted efforts in various regions to retain or even introduce prohibitions
on termination of pregnancy. In a few countries, there have been attempts made to have a
total ban, even where the pregnancy threatens the life of the pregnant woman. There have
also been moves to further restrict funding of contraceptives. The commitment to upholding
women’s human rights regarding termination of pregnancy, as evident in some pioneering
high court decisions, has not been upheld by all the highest courts in different regions.17
34. The Special Rapporteur on cultural rights has shown how fundamentalist and
extremist abuses of cultural rights aim to limit the enjoyment of women’s human rights and
restrict the sexual and reproductive rights of all (see A/HRC/34/56). In this regard, the
Working Group reaffirms that health-care providers’ conscientious objections to
reproductive health care cannot be accommodated if such objections would put women’s
health or lives in danger.
35. The right of a woman or girl to make autonomous decisions about her own body and
reproductive functions is at the very core of her fundamental right to equality and privacy,
involving intimate matters of physical and psychological integrity, and is a precondition for
the enjoyment of other rights.18 Countries where women have the right to termination of
12 See www.unfpa.org/maternal-health. 13 See www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/human-rights-contraception/en/.
14 See www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/unsafe_abortion/9789241548434/en/. 15 See http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPRH/Resources/376374-1261312056980/RHAP_Pub_8-
23-10web.pdf.
16 Ibid. See also www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/03/un-body-politics-explainer/. 17 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/WomensAutonomyEqualityReproductive
Health.pdf.
18 See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 3 and 17.
pregnancy and are provided with access to information and to all methods of contraception
have the lowest rates of termination of pregnancy. In countries where induced termination of
pregnancy is restricted by law and/or otherwise unavailable, safe termination of pregnancy
is a privilege of the rich, while women with limited resources have little choice but to resort
to unsafe providers and practices. WHO data has clearly demonstrated that criminalizing
termination of pregnancy does not reduce the number of women who resort to abortion
procedures. Rather, it is likely to increase the number of women seeking clandestine and
unsafe solutions. Indeed, 25 million unsafe abortions are still performed each year.19
36. In the current discourse, the need to put women’s human rights at the centre of policy
considerations regarding termination of their pregnancy is being obfuscated by the rhetoric
and political power behind the argument that there is a symmetrical balance between the
rights of two entities: the woman and the fetus. However, there is no such contestation in
international human rights law. It was well established in the 1948 Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and upheld in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that the
human rights accorded under international human rights law are accorded to those who have
been born. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration provides that all human beings are born
free and equal in dignity and rights. Those who believe that personhood commences at the
time of conception have the freedom to act in accordance with their beliefs, but not to impose
their beliefs on others through the legal system.20
37. The Working Group reiterates that much of the discrimination women face in terms
of their right to access health services relating to their pregnancy and their resulting
preventable ill-health, as well as maternal mortality and morbidity, can be attributed to the
instrumentalization and politicization of women’s bodies and health (see A/HRC/32/44).
Criminalizing termination of pregnancy is one of the most damaging manifestations of that
instrumentalization, subjecting women to risks to their lives or health and depriving them of
autonomy in decision-making. The lack of universal access to comprehensive sexuality
education and contraceptive information and services, particularly for adolescents and girls,
and the practice of child marriage, lead to teenage pregnancy and the exclusion of girls from
education and employment, hence limiting their enjoyment of many other rights.
Economic and social participation
38. In its reports, the Working Group has demonstrated how women still face structural
disadvantages and discrimination in the economic and social spheres throughout their life
cycle. Social and cultural barriers still prevent many girls from completing their education,
and legal discrimination, entrenched inequalities in wages and labour force participation and
caring responsibilities prevent women from participating equally in economic and social life.
Women do 2.6 times more unpaid care and domestic work than men.21 Older women suffer
from a gender pension gap, making them particularly vulnerable to poverty, and all women
face the persistent risk of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence in
schools, workplaces and other public places, in addition to the home (see A/HRC/26/39).
39. Indeed, women continue to be paid less than men for work of equal value and are
severely underrepresented in top leadership in decision-making bodies in business, finance
and trade, including in international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and
the World Trade Organization, and in cooperatives and trade unions. Furthermore, women
have been grossly underrepresented in the formulation of the macroeconomic policies that
have led to rocketing inequality, austerity measures and the undermining of care services on
which women are more dependent than men. Today, there are more girls in schools than ever
before, but one out of five adolescent girls is still out of school.22 Moreover, women’s higher
19 See www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/unsafe_abortion/9789241548434/en/. 20 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/WomensAutonomyEqualityReproductive
Health.pdf.
21 See www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2018/sdg- report-gender-equality-in-the-2030-agenda-for-sustainable-development-2018-
en.pdf?la=en&vs=5653.
22 See http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs48-one-five-children-adolescents-youth-out- school-2018-en.pdf.
educational achievements worldwide have not always translated into corresponding
leadership positions or even equality in the economic field. While more women have entered
the workforce, they still represent only 49 per cent of working age women,23 against 75 per
cent of working age men.24 Globally, the gender pay gap still stands at 23 per cent.25 Women
often have access only to vulnerable forms of employment; the majority of women in
developing countries are employed in the informal sector or in family businesses, and do not
always receive wages directly. In countries where women’s income mainly comes from
agricultural activities, they generally have very limited ownership of land.26
40. While women’s economic empowerment has proven to be among the least
controversial issues relating to gender equality, the underlying cultural, social and political
causes of economic inequality have not been successfully and fundamentally tackled.
Women’s economic and social rights will never be fulfilled if the necessary infrastructure for
care services, enforcement of equal pay for work of equal value, and regulation of women’s
labour rights in the informal sector, in which many women are employed globally, are not
put in place.
Political and public participation
41. Throughout its work, the Working Group has showed that globally, women remain
underrepresented in all branches and at all levels of government. The percentage of women
parliamentarians around the world still stands at only 23 per cent and only 17 per cent of
Heads of State or Government are women. 27 Women are also underrepresented in
international and regional entities,28 and their voices and concerns are often omitted from
peace agreements and rebuilding strategies. The Working Group has recognized that
democratic deficits, poverty and social exclusion, inequality in the family, violence and
stereotyping are all persistent barriers to women’s full enjoyment of their rights to political
participation (see A/HRC/23/50).
42. The Working Group has also expressed growing concern regarding the unique
challenges faced by women human rights defenders around the world, driven by deep-rooted
discrimination against women and stereotypes about which roles are “appropriate” for
women in society. Today’s rising fundamentalisms of all kinds, coupled with political
populism, unchecked authoritarian rule and disproportionate focus on corporate profits over
human rights, have altogether intensified the obstacles defenders face. For instance, those
working on rights contested by fundamentalist groups (women’s sexual and reproductive
rights) and those denouncing the actions of extractive industries and businesses face a
heightened risk of violence, including murder.29
Taking stock
43. During the first six years of the mandate, the experts have identified the fact that, of
the many obstacles to gender equality that women face throughout their life cycle, the areas
of family, culture and sexual and reproductive rights remain the most significant challenges
and are those in which there has been a backlash against gains in women’s equality. The
Working Group regrets that women’s economic empowerment and political participation are
too often tackled as isolated issues. The interdependence of human rights cannot be
overlooked: persistent discrimination in family, cultural and sexual and reproductive rights
have a debilitating impact on women’s capacity to claim equal standing in all aspects of life.
This selective approach towards discrimination against women is an unfortunate practice by
States and within the United Nations system, and is a core problem affecting the way gender
equality is addressed and a major obstacle to sustainable progress. Without eliminating
23 See https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.NE.ZS?view=chart. 24 See https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.MA.NE.ZS?view=chart. 25 See http://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/infographic/changingworldofwork/en/index.html. 26 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/Womenslandright.pdf. 27 See www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/4/women-in-politics-2017-map. 28 See www.gqualcampaign.org/home/. 29 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WomenHumanRightsDefenders
Gender.aspx.
discrimination in family, cultural and sexual and reproductive rights, there will be no lasting
progress in the other fields.
3. Strengthening the system to better promote and protect women’s rights in a
comprehensive manner
44. In its resolution 35/18, the Human Rights Council expressed profound concern about
the backlash against the progress made by civil society to fulfil women’s human rights.
Throughout its mandate, the Working Group has witnessed the resurgence of a very
conservative and retrogressive narrative in international forums and at the national level, and
attempts to reinstate policies or legislation that are harmful to women. Such laws or policies
particularly affect women’s enjoyment of their right to equality in the family and their rights
to health and autonomous decision-making.
45. As reported in a study on the impact of conservative actors in the international arena,
there have been concerted efforts to water down existing agreements and commitments and
to introduce regressive language in international human rights documents. There have also
been attempts to undermine United Nations agencies, treaty monitoring bodies and special
procedures. Anti-rights actors’ discourses and strategies have led to deadlock in negotiations
and had a substantive impact on the human rights framework and the progressive
interpretation of human rights standards, especially those relating to gender equality and
sexuality.30
46. Furthermore, the Working Group has observed that the women’s human rights agenda
is significantly fragmented. The selective prioritization of the less controversial issues means
that gender equality is not addressed in a comprehensive manner, neglecting the
interdependence and indivisibility of women’s human rights. The Working Group recognizes
the considerable progress made in terms of mainstreaming gender within the United Nations
system. However, the impact of such efforts will remain insufficient as long as the United
Nations system shies away from addressing the nuclei of resistance that are negatively
affecting women’s rights.
47. The Working Group concurs with the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, who
emphasized that all such anti-rights trends, whether on the part of States or non-State actors,
at the international or national levels, must be met with a vigorous international human rights-
based challenge, which must centre women’s human rights (see A/72/155, para. 3). In this
context of backlashes, devoting adequate resources to mechanisms working to achieve
women’s human rights is crucial. So too is enhancing communication and collaboration
between all stakeholders and avoiding any inconsistency within the system.
48. At a time when the world should be moving relentlessly forward towards ever greater
equality and the elimination of discrimination, women’s rights activists find themselves far
too often confronted by those who would use the specious justifications of tradition, culture,
religion or State sovereignty to keep women from taking their rightful place in society and
family as equals, or from exercising full control over their bodies and their personhood.
Despite the principle, upheld in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, that
human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent, the Working Group has observed
efforts by conservative actors and fundamentalist groups to undermine the foundation on
which the whole human rights system is based. The Working Group insists that global
leadership, including international human rights bodies, States, United Nations entities and
civil society, needs to guard against the backlash, to ensure that the human rights legal
framework is not undermined. The Working Group considers that the time has come to
review with a critical lens the unfulfilled commitments made to women and to take corrective
action.
30 See www.awid.org/ours-report.
C. The Working Group’s efforts to contribute to the advancement of the elimination of discrimination against women
49. In the face of this backlash, the Working Group has consistently reiterated its call for
the elimination of any laws, policies or practices that have a discriminatory effect on women
and girls, and has committed to denouncing any anti-rights rhetoric and actions that hinder
the upholding of human rights standards, particularly regarding gender equality.
1. The Working Group’s work
50. The Working Group has deployed considerable efforts to contribute to the
advancement of substantive equality and the development of progressive standards in a
number of thematic areas. It has challenged the status quo and addressed topics where norms
are contested or fragile but where protection of women’s human rights is essential to the
achievement of equality and the elimination of discrimination against women.
51. Since its establishment in 2010, the Working Group has sought to organize its work
in the manner that best serves the mandate given to it by the Human Rights Council and that
best advances the elimination of discrimination against women (see A/HRC/20/28). The
Working Group has sought to assist States and other stakeholders to find and maintain the
political will necessary to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women and to create an environment that is conducive
to achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, in accordance with Goal
5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, but also the cross-cutting principle of leaving no
one behind.
52. In view of the work being carried out by international and regional human rights
bodies and other special procedure mandate holders, the Working Group agreed that it would
build on existing standards and initiatives, and on the available knowledge and tools produced
to date by States, United Nations bodies, national human rights institutions and civil society
organizations. In accordance with the mandate provided by the Human Rights Council in
resolution 15/23, the Working Group has sought to draw upon the findings of the United
Nations human rights machinery and the broader United Nations system.
53. Like many special procedure mandates that share areas of thematic focus with treaty
bodies and United Nations bodies, the Working Group has worked to take advantage of its
complementarity with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,
UN-Women, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, and other mandate holders to ensure that its actions are mutually reinforcing
with those of others dedicated to the colossal task of eliminating the discrimination that still
has a daily impact on the lives of half the world’s population. In its resolution 23/7, the
Human Rights Council recognized the constructive approach of the Working Group.
54. The Working Group has sought to maximize the impact and utility of the tools that
are available to special procedures. It has also sought to make the best possible use of its
convening capacity as a Working Group, through its annual sessions in Geneva and New
York.
55. Additionally, it has taken advantage of new opportunities to advance the elimination
of discrimination against women, including by contributing to global processes such as the
Sustainable Development Goals and the Commission on the Status of Women, submitting
amicus briefs in relevant court cases and developing position papers on particular women’s
human rights issues that needed further clarification. In accordance with its mandate, the
Working Group has based its work on international human rights laws and standards, but also
compiled good practices going beyond these standards.
Thematic reports
56. In order to better fulfil its mandate, the Working Group has systemized its analysis in
five thematic areas: political and public (A/HRC/23/50), economic and social
(A/HRC/26/39), family and culture (A/HRC/29/40), health and safety (A/HRC/32/44) and
good practices (A/HRC/35/29). The Working Group has managed to embrace all areas
affecting women’s lives and give a broad and comprehensive overview of the persistent and
global discrimination against women and girls, in a concise and timely manner.
57. In its reports, the Working Group has striven to provide practical tools for States and
other stakeholders to address the major causes of and trends in discrimination against women.
While a plethora of literature exists on these topics, in its reports, the Working Group has
condensed the available information in order to enhance its practical utility, and has sought
to consistently advance progressive standards at the international level.
58. In their responses to the Working Group’s questionnaire, States agreed that despite
polarization and the sometimes contested nature of women’s human rights within the Human
Rights Council, the reports of the Working Group have influenced the language of Council
resolutions. For instance, in its resolution 35/18, the Council included progressive language
directly derived from the Working Group’s reports with regard to the right to bodily
autonomy, the naming of patriarchal norms, the existence of a democratic deficit due to
barriers to women’s political participation and recognition of the important role of feminists
and women human rights defenders. Language from the Working Group’s reports was
successfully incorporated in previous Council resolutions on discrimination against women,31
with some exceptions, particularly regarding issues relating to social protection floors,
equality in the family and safe access to termination of pregnancy.
59. In its response to the questionnaire, one State reported that the Working Group’s work
had inspired its national human rights institution to make recommendations focusing on
discrimination in cultural and family life. Another State indicated that the Working Group’s
reports had had an impact at the national level, including by being referred to by the
parliament in the framework of legislative initiatives. Another State reported that the
Working Group’s reports had proven particularly useful as a reference in the process of
drafting a national action plan on human rights.
Country visits
60. Through its country visits,32 the Working Group has worked with States and other
stakeholders to identify and promote good practices and exchange views on challenges
relating to the elimination of discriminatory laws and practices and has made
recommendations on the improvement of legislation and implementation of the law in a
manner that contributes to the empowerment of women. In preparing for country visits, the
Working Group works with United Nations country teams, including UN-Women, when
present. Its preparation includes following up on recommendations of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women and those of other special procedures. While
in the country, the Working Group systematically meets with all stakeholders at the national
and local levels, engages with communities, individual women, women’s organizations, and
traditional and religious leaders. It has striven to prepare comprehensive end-of-mission
statements that can build on the momentum of the visit to have maximum impact and provide
a preliminary road map to the elimination of laws and practices that discriminate against
women. The Working Group has also been able to visit a State that has not ratified the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and is thus
not subject to review by the Committee.
61. Some of the country visits have been valuable in bringing about changes to law and
practice. Following one country visit, a State approved a series of amendments to its
legislation on gender equality, including, as recommended by the Working Group, adopting
quotas for a minimum of 40 per cent for both sexes in government positions and on political
party electoral lists. The same State reported that the Working Group’s visit had been useful
for the establishment of its national human rights institution. Another State re-established the
practice of distributing emergency contraception following a recommendation from the
Working Group, and another set up a committee to reform discriminatory provisions in its
Family Code. Further to a Working Group recommendation, one State halted plans for the
31 See http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=188. 32 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/CountryVisits.aspx.
reinstatement of corporal punishment in schools, and another considered for the first time in
its parliament a law to combat gender-based violence.
62. The Working Group has also sought to implement effective follow-up to its country
visits, within the limits of the resources available, by sending follow-up letters and making
them and the responses publically available. It is regrettable that only one State has responded
thus far to the follow-up letters.33
Communications
63. In its communications to States,34 the Working Group has sought to collaborate with
other mandate holders, sending mainly joint communications on cases that involved cross-
cutting human rights issues. It has also used this tool to initiate a dialogue on selected
widespread discriminatory laws and policies, such as discrimination against women in
nationality laws, marital status and criminalization of adultery. Between 1 January 2011 and
31 March 2018, the Working Group sent 259 communications, 165 of which were sent jointly
with other mandate holders. Unfortunately, of all the communications sent, only 83
substantive replies were received from States.
64. Communications sent by the Working Group, independently and jointly with other
mandate holders, have contributed to reforming discriminatory laws and policies. For
example, States have amended nationality laws that denied women the right to confer
citizenship on their children on an equal basis with men, and marriage laws that provided
different minimum ages of marriage for boys and girls. Additionally, following one
communication by the Working Group, a national law society removed from its website a
note about discriminatory practice in terms of succession rules. The communications have
also supported action for the release or acquittal of women imprisoned or prosecuted under
discriminatory laws, including women who were imprisoned and threatened with flogging
for charges including apostasy, adultery, “indecent dressing”, a woman imprisoned for
having suffered a miscarriage and a migrant woman who was accused of killing her employer
after he threatened at knifepoint to rape her. In responding to the Working Group’s
questionnaire, one State acknowledged that it had instituted new protocols and new training
methods for State employees as a result of a communication from the Working Group.
Working Group sessions
65. The Working Group holds three one-week sessions every year. It has used the sessions
as an opportunity to meet with States and civil society organizations, and to engage in
dialogue and exchange views in order to make progress in the elimination of discrimination
against women. It has also viewed the sessions as an opportunity to improve its collaboration
with other mechanisms working on women’s human rights and other stakeholders,
systematically organizing meetings with other special procedures, treaty body experts,
United Nations entities, intergovernmental organizations, States and civil society from all
regions. In meeting with stakeholders, the Working Group has sought their contributions to
the preparation of its thematic reports, and aimed to enable each entity to benefit from one
another’s expertise, as well as trying to create new synergies and ensure consistency within
the system. These goals also underlie the Working Group’s use of its sessions to convene two
joint meetings with regional women’s human rights mechanisms.35
Other tools
66. The Working Group has used amicus briefs, submitted independently or jointly with
other mandate holders, to offer national courts expert advice on issues of domestic law that
are directly related to States’ international human rights obligations to eliminate
discrimination against women.36 The expertise of the Working Group is also reflected in the
33 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/CountryVisits.aspx. 34 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Communications.aspx. 35 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/HRMechanismsWomens_Conceptnote.pdf and
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/outcome_document.pdf.
36 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/AmicusCuriae.aspx.
position papers it has issued, which seek to provide conceptual clarity on selected areas
affecting the enjoyment of women’s rights where there may be widespread
misunderstanding, misconception, misperception or underdeveloped interpretation of
standards. Thus far, position papers have covered issues such as discrimination against
women in nationality,37 criminalization of adultery,38 women’s land rights,39 and women’s
autonomy, equality and reproductive health.40 These papers are particularly valuable given
the limited space available to focus on thematic areas, especially since the Working Group
does not report to the General Assembly.
67. The Working Group has brought its expertise in the area of women’s human rights to
bear in relevant global processes in order to ensure that a rights-based perspective is
incorporated in global efforts to achieve equality and eliminate discrimination. Independently
and jointly with other mechanisms, it has contributed to the processes of development and
achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.41 It has also led the special procedures
in an ongoing effort to ensure that Human Rights Council resolutions on protection of the
family are grounded in the understanding that discrimination against women within the
family is barred by international human rights law, and that true equality for women and girls
can never be achieved if they are treated unequally within their own homes.42
68. The Working Group has sought to cooperate with other special procedure mandate
holders in order to mainstream a gender perspective and to reinforce their shared goal of
advancing women’s human rights. For instance, the Working Group has engaged in a
productive and sustained collaboration with the Special Rapporteur on human rights
defenders, in order to address the specific issues faced by women human rights defenders. It
has also contributed to the reports of a number of other special procedure mandate holders
and submitted its views to treaty bodies in the process of drafting general recommendations
and general comments.
69. The Working Group has regularly contributed to the dialogue held by States at the
Commission on the Status of Women on the achievement of equality by women and girls and
the empowerment of women, and for the first time in 2018 contributed formally to the
Commission’s general discussion. The Working Group has persisted in its effort to contribute
to the work of the Commission, despite not yet having been allocated a formal role under the
Commission’s methods of work, such as that granted to the Special Rapporteur on violence
against women and the Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women.
2. Lessons learned and opportunities for improvement
70. The Working Group has identified a number of steps that could be taken in order to
enhance the institutional effectiveness of the international system in eliminating
discrimination against women and promoting gender equality, as detailed in the conclusions
and recommendations contained in the present report.
71. Formal involvement of the Working Group in the Commission on the Status of
Women, instituted for the first time in 2018, further to the request of the Human Rights
Council in its resolution 35/18, is an important step in bringing the Working Group’s
expertise on women’s human rights to the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated
to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
72. Furthermore, the responses to the Working Group’s questionnaire revealed that
several States were unaware of all the work undertaken by the Working Group and the efforts
37 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/DiscriminationAgainstWomenNationality.pdf. 38 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/AdulteryasaCriminalOffenceViolates
WomenHR.pdf.
39 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/Womenslandright.pdf. 40 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/WomensAutonomyEqualityReproductive
Health.pdf.
41 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/WGcontributions_to_Post2015Development Agenda.pdf.
42 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/JointLetterPresidentHRCProtection Family.pdf.
deployed to engage with all stakeholders. One of the aims of the present report was to comply
with States’ requests in their responses to give its work and activities more visibility and to
seek additional ways of improving its outreach. Unfortunately, due to limited resources, the
Working Group has experienced challenges in sustaining meaningful cooperation strategies
with all stakeholders, particularly with regional human rights mechanisms, or any outreach
strategy ensuring that its work is duly disseminated.
D. Setting the vision for the next years of the mandate
73. Despite considerable achievements in advancing women’s rights, overall progress
towards an equal and just society where women are free from discrimination has been slow
and uneven across the globe. Marginalized groups of women remain left behind, while
political conflict and natural disasters have created new populations of women in situations
of vulnerability. The recent resurgence of populism, xenophobia, religious fundamentalism
and sexism pose complex challenges for women who continue to battle on many fronts for
their rights and dignity (see A/HRC/35/29).
74. The extraordinarily challenging current context highlights the need to reassert the
human rights of women so that every woman and girl can aspire to equality and live a life of
dignity and respect. Achieving this vision requires a renewed focus on maintaining and
building upon the gains already made, and preventing rollback. This means taking stock of
the fulfilment of women’s rights globally, celebrating and learning from the progress that has
been made, shining a light on areas where women’s rights remain fragile and under attack.
Research from 70 countries over four decades has recognized the role of autonomous feminist
organizations in advancing women’s rights as the most critical factor in the implementation
of gender equality policies.43 As such, creating enabling environments for women’s human
rights defenders and women’s organizations is vital for advancing gender equality, and
sustaining positive change is a priority.
75. The Working Group will be guided by an overarching framework of preventing
rollback and reasserting equality, and will focus on the areas outlined below in its annual
thematic reports.
1. Women left behind: the causes and consequences of cumulative, multiple and
intersecting discrimination against women, with a case study on women deprived of
liberty
76. In the context of growing inequalities, the Working Group will explore the causes and
consequences of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against women, examining
the social, economic and political factors that push particular groups of women to the
margins. It will also examine the causes and consequences of multiple deprivations
experienced by some groups of women, which include a lack of access to basic services,
economic insecurity, the lack of a voice in decision-making, vulnerability to violence and
poor access to justice. To illuminate the causes and consequences of multiple deprivations
experienced by women, the Working Group will present a case study on how the failure of
States to protect the human rights of the most marginalized women results in the deprivation
of their liberty through detention and imprisonment and other forms of confinement in the
private and social context.
2. Protecting and realizing women’s rights in the changing world of work
77. The Working Group will examine women’s rights in the world of work in the context
of the rapidly changing nature of work, including informal work, increasing automation,
digital platforms, the so-called gig economy and job insecurity. While in recent decades,
increasing numbers of women have been engaging in paid work across the world, this
progress has not been matched with improving pay, conditions and the security of women’s
work. In developing nations, many women work in informal and vulnerable forms of
43 S. Laurel Weldon and Mala Htun, “Feminist mobilisation and progressive policy change: why governments take action to combat violence against women”, Gender & Development, vol. 21, No. 2 (July 2013).
employment and the issue of unpaid care work remains a major challenge globally. Systemic
discrimination continues to pose a barrier worldwide to women’s enjoyment of their right to
work, including their lack of access to decent work and workplace entitlements, and the
increasing recognition of sexual harassment in the workplace. With the nature of work
changing rapidly, there are both opportunities and risks for women’s economic rights.
3. Ensuring the prioritization of sexual and reproductive health and rights in situations
of crisis and insecurity
78. The Working Group will examine how women’s sexual and reproductive health and
rights can be better protected in times of crisis. There is growing evidence that in times of
crisis and insecurity — whether stemming from natural disasters, conflict or other
emergencies — women’s and girl’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are particularly
at risk and not adequately recognized, leading to a higher risk of unplanned pregnancy and
death during childbirth. In such situations, child, early and forced marriage are known to
increase and women are more vulnerable to sexual and other forms of violence and
exploitation. The Working Group will examine the factors that put women’s sexual and
reproductive health at risk in conflict and emergency settings and will attempt to set out the
standards and good practices needed to protect women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive
health and rights in a crisis-prone world.
4. Realizing the rights of girl children and adolescent girls
79. The Working Group will examine the situation of girl children, which has not yet been
given the comprehensive attention it deserves. Girl children and adolescent girls face unique
challenges from multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, which are often neglected.
Families and communities perpetuate gender stereotypes that undervalue girls and deprive
them of agency and opportunities. For example, families may not invest in girls’ education
as they do for boys, and girls are often forced into early marriage. Early marriage and the
instrumentalization of girls’ bodies often result in teenage pregnancy, with irremediable
consequences for girls’ health and opportunities. The report will also be an opportunity to
address the gaps in national and international policies and strategies to tackle the specific
obstacles faced by girl children and adolescent girls. Uncovering the human rights violations
faced by girls is key to understanding the life cycle of women’s inequality, while their
empowerment is a sine qua non for just societies and achievement of gender equality. The
Working Group will identify abuses and risks faced by girls during childhood and
adolescence worldwide, and restate and progressively develop the standards in this area.
5. A rapidly shifting world: emerging issues and strategies for the realization of women’s
rights
80. The Working Group will take stock of emerging issues in the global context and their
impact on the realization of women’s and girls’ human rights. Specifically, the Working
Group will look at broader economic, environmental and social trends such as the climate
crisis, rapid environmental degradation, growing inequalities, technological disruption and
demographic change, through the lens of women’s human rights. It will also examine
emerging strategies for advancing women’s right to equality, such as the increasing use of
technology to mobilize and connect women’s movements and the accountability of men and
other actors for women’s rights.
81. Beyond this thematic approach, the Working Group intends to ensure continuity with
regard to the methods of work and the vision of the previous members of the Working Group,
including by strengthening cooperation and alliances with international and regional human
rights bodies, working more closely with regional and grass-roots organizations and
continuing its efforts to improve its outreach to all stakeholders.
III. Conclusions and recommendations
A. Conclusions
82. The road to gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ human
right remains long and challenging. Women are scarcely represented in national and
global political and economic decision-making bodies and are too often overrepresented
in vulnerable employment and paid less than men, impeding their economic
independence. They face pervasive violence, lack control over their bodies and lack
autonomy, and are too often seen as sexualized objects. In all spheres of life, power and
entitlement are still concentrated in the hands of men. Women facing multiple and
intersecting forms of discrimination experience inequality even more acutely. The
continuing existence of direct and indirect discrimination, both visible and invisible, is
the reason why women lag behind in nearly all human progress indicators.
83. Equality between women and men is humanity’s struggle. In the face of
discrimination against women and one of its worst manifestations, gender-based
violence, everyone has a duty to act. The international community must move forward
on setting and implementing standards on gender equality to counter the alarming
trends towards undermining human rights principles and jeopardizing the gains made
in women’s rights. Solidarity and unity among the whole human rights movement is
crucial. While acknowledging that there is great diversity within the feminist
movement, and that experiences, perspectives and objectives vary, differences need to
be overcome and objectives reconciled to unite against fundamentalists who oppose
gender equality.
84. Efforts to mainstream gender have constituted a positive step, but they will
remain insufficient as long as the United Nations system shies away from addressing
nuclei of resistance and maintains its fragmented policies. Recognition of the
interdependence of equality in all fields of women’s life is key to achieving full and
lasting equality. Isolated or sectoral measures focused on the least controversial fields
are inappropriate to address root causes of persistent discrimination. There is an urgent
need to improve the coherence of international mechanisms aimed at eliminating
discrimination against women and a need for global leadership and partnerships.
85. International human rights bodies and United Nations entities need to guard
against the current backlash in order to ensure that the human rights legal framework
is not undermined. The human rights community should make every effort to block any
position in international human rights spaces that endorses patriarchal and
discriminatory norms, misusing culture, religion and State sovereignty as fallacious
justifications. Women’s human rights are fundamental rights that cannot be
subordinated to cultural, religious or political considerations.
86. Freedom of religion should not be opposed to gender equality, and human rights-
based education should be used as the main catalyst for change. The Working Group
reiterates that there should be no compromise or tolerance for human rights violations
or rollback of international human rights standards.
87. States have legal obligations to fulfil women’s right to equality. It is therefore
essential to apply the existing human rights obligations of Member States, making sure
that there is both awareness of and accountability for elimination of discrimination
against women and empowerment of women within this framework. States have a duty
to respect women’s human rights and to exercise due diligence to ensure that those
rights are not violated by the State, its agents, private corporations, armed groups or
individuals. Equality in law and in practice, which enables women to participate fully
in political, public, economic and social life, is also a crucial factor for the success of
sustainable development. The costs of discriminatory practices in terms of health,
education and economic development are a barrier to sustainable development. The
goals, targets and indicators of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development should
be interpreted through the lenses of human rights obligations. The Sustainable
Development Goals should be seen as an opportunity to make progress on the
elimination of discrimination against women and gender equality, not to dilute States’
human rights obligations.
88. Today, the human rights community needs more than ever to unite forces to
preserve the democratic space. The fight against all forms of discrimination against
women must continue until women everywhere obtain full equality in public, political,
economic, social, family, cultural and religious life and in health. Practices such as
polygamy, child marriage, female genital mutilation and “honour” killings have no
place in any democratic society. The voices of women human rights defenders must not
be silenced.
89. It has been 70 years since women’s right to equality was enshrined in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nearly 40 years since the ground-breaking
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women came
into existence and 25 years since the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
established that women’s rights are an indivisible part of human rights. The Working
Group calls for immediate action: waiting for the next century to achieve equality is
intolerable, as is rolling back hard-fought gains. There is no acceptable justification for
waiting for the elimination of discrimination against women; it is a long overdue
political commitment that must be fulfilled without delay.
B. Recommendations
90. The Working Group recommends that States:
(a) Give the issue of women’s right to equality high visibility and top political
priority;
(b) Systematically integrate into legislation and policy the recommendations
contained in the Working Group’s thematic and country reports and its
communications in order to ensure that obligations to eliminate discrimination against
women are met;
(c) Repeal all discriminatory laws and practices, including those that
discriminate against women on traditional, cultural or religious grounds and laws that
exclusively or disproportionately criminalize action or behaviour by women and girls,
taking into account the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by many
women and girls;
(d) Give priority to establishing, strengthening and investing in institutions
devoted to the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality;
(e) Create an enabling, supportive environment for civil society and other
stakeholders to combat the backlash against women’s human rights and to resist all
anti-rights trends and movements with a definitive response grounded in binding
human rights obligations, with women’s and girls’ rights at the centre;
(f) Counter the narratives around gender ideology used by conservative
lobbies to misinform societies and undermine the advancement of women’s rights and
gender equality;
(g) Promote recognition of the fact that cultural, religious and family values
are not incompatible with women’s and girls’ human rights, and recognize the equality
of women and girls as a fundamental tenet of international human rights law that must
be protected, respected and fulfilled in all States and at all levels of society, including
within the family;
(h) Continue promoting and protecting the fundamental principle that all
rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated;
(i) Ensure respect for women’s rights to make decisions about their own
bodies and to receive comprehensive sexuality education so they can enjoy their right
to sexual and reproductive health, including safe, legal and affordable access to
contraception and termination of pregnancy;
(j) Establish parity, including through temporary special measures, to ensure
equal representation of women in public, political and economic decision-making and
leadership;
(k) Develop strategies to increase women’s access to decent work and achieve
equal pay;
(l) Ensure social protection floors for care work, which would facilitate the
participation of women equally with men in economic and social activities;
(m) Institute measures to combat discriminatory social norms and harmful
stereotypes about women’s and girls’ bodies, roles and capabilities.
91. The Working Group recommends that the Human Rights Council enable it to
implement its mandate with the support it requires in terms of resources and
cooperation with other entities, including regional mechanisms, national human rights
institutions and local women’s rights organizations, and assistance to increase its
visibility and outreach to grass-roots actors who might not have access to the
international system.
92. The Working Group recommends that the United Nations system:
(a) Maintain existing international law guarantees of women’s human rights,
their right to equality in all fields of life and their right not to be discriminated against,
and resist all attempts to derogate from them, including by conservative or religious
lobbies;
(b) Reassert the validity of the terminology relating to gender issues and
counter its misuse;
(c) Develop an integrated policy framework that reflects the indivisibility of
all rights and the interdependency of ending discrimination in all fields of women’s life;
(d) Ensure that women human rights defenders and grass-roots organizations
have effective protection and proper access to United Nations forums in the context of
shrinking space for civil society;
(e) Strengthen cooperation and synergies and identify system breakdowns,
and recommend how to overcome them, within the context of the current United
Nations reform processes, inviting all concerned entities to participate in a self-
questioning and accountability exercise on how to best serve the cause of women’s
rights;
(f) Continue working towards gender parity at the United Nations and make
commitments to mainstream gender a reality;
(g) Ensure that the Working Group can contribute meaningfully to the work
of the Commission on the Status of Women, including by institutionalizing the Working
Group’s formal reporting before the Commission and by participating in the Expert
Group Meeting that precedes each Commission session;
(h) Ensure that the special procedures genuinely mainstream women’s rights,
while recognizing that a growing number of mandate holders have devoted full reports
to the situation of women’s rights in relation to their mandate;
(i) Further institutionalize communication and collaboration between the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Working
Group, recognizing current efforts to have at least one of their annual sessions overlap,
thus enabling more meaningful and systematic exchanges;
(j) Convene a formal, high-level meeting gathering all mechanisms and
entities working on women’s rights at the international and regional levels to explore
further ideas for collaboration and for the effective promotion of women’s human
rights and the elimination of discrimination against women and girls. Such a meeting
could be convened by UN-Women, with the support of OHCHR.
93. The Working Group recommends that civil society find synergies between the
progressive movements defending women’s rights and strive to reconcile diverse
objectives with a view to advancing common priorities and strategically challenging
those fundamentalist actors who oppose gender equality.
94. The Working Group recommends that national human rights institutions
leverage their unique position in the national human rights machinery and act as a
bridge between Members States and international human rights mechanisms.
Annex
Activities undertaken by the experts as Working Group members since its last report to the Council
1. The Working Group submitted an amicus brief 1 regarding the criminalization of
termination of pregnancy in Northern Ireland to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom,
which was presented before the Court on 26 October 2017.
2. On 3 November 2017, the Chair of the Working Group held a discussion with the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in a plenary session. She
briefed the Committee on the highlights of the Working Group’s recent work and emphasized
the need to further strengthen cooperation, collaboration and coordination, especially in the
context of the backlash against the gains in women’s rights. The meeting agreed to further
explore ways for effective collaboration, including through the holding of an annual joint
session.
3. On the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2018, a member of the
Working Group participated in a Facebook Live event on women human rights defenders.
4. Two members of the Working Group attended the sixty-second session of the
Commission on the Status of Women. For the first time, the Working Group formally
reported to the Commission’s general discussion, as newly mandated by the Human Rights
Council.2 The Working Group also addressed the Commission’s interactive dialogue on
accelerating the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and
achieving concrete results by 2020. The members of the Working Group participated in a
number of other events, including a consultation organized by the Victims’ Rights Advocate,
a “meet and greet” for Working Group members hosted by civil society, an Expert Group
Meeting, a side event on violence against women in politics, a consultation on strengthened
cooperation between global and regional women’s rights mechanisms, and side events on
achieving gender parity in United Nations human rights bodies, men’s accountability for
change, and women’s human rights advocacy in a time of backlash. Along with the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, the Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women and representatives of regional women’s rights mechanisms,
the experts also met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
5. A member of the Working Group participated in the US Human Rights Network
National Convening on Advancing Human Rights, held in December 2017 in Atlanta. She
participated in a panel discussion on Gender and Poverty Strategy, in February 2018 at New
York University, to discuss the preliminary findings of the Special Rapporteur on extreme
poverty and human rights from his country visit to the United States of America. She was
part of a joint thematic dialogue on sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex between
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights, and United Nations human rights mechanisms, held in Washington D.C. on
26–28 March 2018. She also participated in a conference on Challenging Criminalization
Globally: Inter-disciplinary and intersectional dialogue on un-policing identity, morality,
sexuality and bodily autonomy, organized by CREA and Global Health Justice Partnership
at Yale University on 17–18 April 2018.
6. A member of the Working Group participated in a regional consultation organized by
the Special Rapporteur on the right to development in Addis Ababa on 27 and 28 March 2018
and participated in a regional consultation organized by the African Commission on Human
and Peoples’ Rights on human rights in conflict situations in Africa held on 5 and 6 April
2018 in Addis Ababa.
1 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/AmicusCuriae.aspx. 2 See Human Rights Council resolution 35/18.
7. A member of the Working Group participated in a briefing on special procedures, with
a focus on the mandate of the Working Group, together with the Special Rapporteur on
violence against women. The meeting was organized in Zagreb on 12 April 2018.