The United Nations’ report “Progress on the World’s Women 2011-2012: In Pursuit of Justice,” was released on Friday, saying millions of women around the world continue to experience injustice, violence and inequality at home, and in their working and public life, and real justice for them still remained out of reach.
The UN organisation for empowerment of women launched its flagship publication that offers a comprehensive global review of women’s rights around the world, on issues from gender-based violence to equality in pay and from representation in government to post-conflict justice.
Finding noteworthy advances in gender equality and women’s empowerment, especially in women’s legal and political rights, the report cautioned that there was still a long way to go in order to create a world in which women were really placed on an equal footing with men.
However, from a less bright perspective, the report found that donors spent $4.2 billion annually on aid for justice reform, but only five percent of this spending specifically targeted women and girls.
The report said 603 million women continued to live in countries where domestic violence was not considered a crime and over 2.6 billion women lived in countries where marital rape had not been explicitly criminalised.
Moreover, women were still paid up to 30 percent less than men in some countries; and 53 percent of working women – 600 million in total – were in vulnerable jobs, such as self-employment, domestic work or unpaid work for family businesses, which often lacked the protection of labour laws.
The report said 117 countries had equal pay laws, yet women were still paid up to 30 percent less than men in some countries in practice.
There were still less than 30 percent women in parliaments in a vast majority of countries.
The report said unfortunately, in many countries around the world, legal and justice systems were not yet “well-functioning” and were characterised by laws and justice systems that were biased against women. Some practical solutions provided in the report included establishing one-stop shops, employing more women as police, judges or legislators; providing legal aid and awareness for women, and creating specialised courts. In short, it was all about putting women on the frontline of justice delivery and investing in justice systems that could respond to women’s needs.
However, the report suggested that there was a great need to repeal laws that discriminated against women and ensure that legislation protected women from violence and inequality at home and workplace.