Governments should fulfil women’s rights pledges, says Human Rights Watch
New York, US (PANA) – Governments should mark International Women’s Day on Sunday with moves to expedite progress on gender equality, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
They should plan for concerted action and dedicate resources to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and to eliminate discrimination in law and practice, it said in a statement.
The human rights watchdog noted that this year is the 25th anniversary of the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which set out a progressive women’s rights agenda in 12 areas and mobilised widespread political will and action.
A planned two-week meeting at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York to take stock of advances since Beijing has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns.
But the Generation Equality Forum, co-hosted by Mexico in May 2020 and France in July will bring together governments, the private sector, and civil society groups to create blueprints to accelerate progress on women’s and girls’ rights.
“Inspiring activism and organising around women’s rights over the past 25 years has led to massive gains, but entrenched discrimination, gender-based violence, and neglect keep many women and girls from enjoying their full rights,” said Nisha Varia, women’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
“We need to prioritise women and girls who have been marginalised based on factors such as disability, age, race, ethnicity, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity, and Indigenous or migration status.”
Human Rights Watch said over the past 25 years, it has reported on a wide range of violations of women's rights and human rights abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
There have been notable advances in many areas. Although many women workers are in poorly regulated sectors with low wages and exploitative working conditions, they have organised to achieve key legal protections.
These include the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, which set new international standards and catalysed reforms in dozens of countries, and the newly adopted ILO Violence and Harassment Convention.
Legal reforms have focused both on removing harmful and discriminatory laws and on introducing new legal, economic, and psychosocial – mental health – protections, it said.
Countries across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East have repealed laws that allow rapists to escape prosecution by marrying their victims.
Human Rights Watch said 155 countries have laws addressing domestic violence, including almost half the countries in the Middle East and North Africa in the past five years.
Regional human rights treaties in Africa, the Americas and Europe have set forth minimum standards for preventing and prosecuting gender-based violence and providing needed support for survivors.
Despite this progress, it said, discriminatory laws and protection gaps remain, and enforcement of existing laws is often weak.
"Women’s and girl’s rights to access and own property, including land, still lag behind. In Kenya and Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch found married women and widows face formidable barriers to claiming property and land," it added.
-0- PANA MA 6March2020
