UN report calls for end to injustices faced by millions of women worldwide
(July 11, 2011) Millions of women worldwide continue to experience injustice, violence
and inequality in their homes, the workplace and public life, says a new United Nations
report that calls on governments to take urgent action to ensure real equality between
the sexes. “Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice” is the first major
report by UN Women, the agency launched earlier this year to spearhead the world body’s
efforts towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. The flagship report “aims
to inspire bold action by governments and civil society to meet their commitments
and also accelerate the achievement of women’s rights worldwide,” Michelle Bachelet,
Executive Director of UN Women, told a news conference at the UN Headquarters in New
York. The report points out that while 139 countries and territories now guarantee
gender equality in their constitutions, women continue to experience injustice, violence
and inequality in their home and working lives. UN Women calls on governments to
take a number of steps to end the injustices that keep women poorer and less powerful
than men in every country in the world. Among the findings of the report is that
while domestic violence is now outlawed in 125 countries, 603 million women worldwide
live in countries where it is not considered a crime. Also, women are still paid up
to 30 per cent less than men in some countries, and some 600 million women are employed
in vulnerable jobs that lack the protection of labour laws.