Gender Equality To Be Achieved In 300 Years, UN Report

According to a study published on September 7 by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), closing legal protection gaps and ending discriminatory laws against women might take 286 years to complete.

Gender equality was one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) the UN set in 2015, and it was one of those 17 SDGs that the UN planned to achieve by 2030. But according to the Gender Snapshot 2022 study, recent occurrences including the COVID-19 pandemic, violence against women, hostility to women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, and natural catastrophes and humanitarian crises have raised risks for women and girls.

The paper, which used research from African nations, observed that “The pandemic placed girls at greater risks of gender-based violence, mental health disorders, and food and economic insecurity,” Business Standard. As per the report, the pandemic will cost women around the world an estimated $800 billion in income in 2020.

Additionally, the pandemic increased the number of incidents of violence and confrontations against women. It said, “Globally, one in every ten women and girls aged 15–49 was subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner in the previous year.”

Several nations, notably the United States, have seen a setback for women’s rights to reproductive health. On June 24, the US Supreme Court reversed the landmark Roe versus Wade decision from 1973, which had established abortion as a constitutional right.

As 2030 draws to a close, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous claimed that the world has come to a turning point for women’s rights and gender equality. According to Bahous, “the facts demonstrate irrefutable regressions in their [women and girls’] lives rendered worse by the global crises—in incomes, safety, education, and health.” The longer we wait to stop this tendency, the more money it will cost us all, said Bahous.

The survey estimates that 102 million individuals reside in countries where abortion is totally prohibited. At the same time, 1.2 billion women and girls of reproductive age live in nations that have some restrictions on legal abortion.

The study found that there are fewer women than males in influential and decision-making roles. In July, just 26.4% of parliamentary seats were held by women globally, and in 23 countries, their representation was less than 10%.