United Nations Meets to Discuss Urgency of Women’s Legal Rights

A report released on International Women’s Day 2026 by the UN Secretary-General found that, globally, women hold only 64% of the legal rights of men, thereby exposing them to “discrimination, violence, and exclusion at every stage of their lives.”

Six months later, on September 17, 2026, this year’s UN General Assembly published a joint report by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs titled The Gender Snapshot 2026. The annual report tracks progress on “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs). SDGs, which include ending gender-based poverty, food insecurity, and violence against women, and promoting female education, leadership, and equal pay, are social and economic benchmarks. They are measured across all UN member states, representing global efforts toward a more equitable future. This year’s findings were staggering.

Not a single country has achieved full legal gender equality. Despite 99 legal reforms aimed at removing discriminatory laws globally, 51% of 131 countries surveyed still have “significant” legal gaps. For example, women hold only 27% of parliamentary seats worldwide. Only 53% of married women aged 15-49 hold full decision-making power over their own sexual and reproductive health. Child marriage and female genital mutilation remain widespread despite decades of advocacy against them – one in three women will experience some form of sexual violence in her lifetime. Significantly, UN Women found that not a single gender equality-related SDG is on track to be met by its initial 2030 deadline, and at the current rate of progress, it will take 171 years to achieve these goals. In the meantime, only one in four countries has the infrastructure in place to publicly prioritize and track gender equality.

Historically, the United States has positioned itself among the world’s leading advocates for women’s rights, and yet, this global regression is reflected domestically. The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2026 Global Gender Gap Index ranks the United States 47^th out of 145 countries, marking a 25-place drop since its inaugural report in 2006. The WEF attributes this drop in part to a shrinking share of women in economic leadership and government positions. Among other regression indicators are the recent revocation of the federal right to abortion, government efforts to dismantle policies promoting social and economic diversity, and a broader shift backwards in public discourse surrounding women and other marginalized groups. Taken in conjunction with the UN’s and WEF’s findings, the U.S. is not an outlier of slowed progress.

For the sake of our daughters and granddaughters, global attention to women’s legal rights is more urgent than ever. As UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous notes: “When women and girls are denied justice, the damage goes far beyond any single case…the rule of law itself is weakened. A justice system that fails half the population cannot claim to uphold justice at all.”

Written by: Rachel Kelly

Sources:

1. U.N. Women & U.N. Dep’t of Econ. & Soc. Affairs, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2026 (Sept. 17, 2026), available at https://knowledge.unwomen.org/en/resources/gender-snapshot.
2. Press Release, U.N. Women, No Country in the World Has Reached Full Legal Equality for Women and Girls (Mar. 8, 2026), available at https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2026/03/no-country-in-the-world-has-reached-full-legal-equality-for-women-and-girls.
3. World Econ. Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2026 (2026), available at https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_Report_2026.pdf.
4. U.S. Ranks 43rd on Gender Parity Index This Year, Sliding 16 Slots from Last Year, NBC News (June 20, 2023), available at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-ranks-43rd-gender-parity-index-year-sliding-16-slots-last-year-rcna90189.
5. World Economic Forum’s 2026 Gender Gap Report Warns Women’s Progress Remains “Fragile” Despite Record Parity, Foreign Pol’y J. (Sept. 16, 2026), available at https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2026/09/16/world-economic-forums-2026-gender-gap-reports-warns-womens-progress-remains-fragile-despite-record-parity.
6. U.N. Secretary-General, Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls, U.N. Doc. E/CN.6/2026/3 (Jan. 2026), available at   https://docs.un.org/en/E/CN.6/2026/3.
7. New Archivist Says Equal Rights Amendment Is Still Dead, Wash. Times (Aug. 21, 2026), available at https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/21/new-archivist-says-equal-rights-amendment-still-dead.
8. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Remarks at the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China (Sept. 5, 1995).
9. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 597 U.S. 215 (2022).
10. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Dec. 18, 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 13.
11. Press Release, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Norton Reintroduces Resolution Calling on Senate to Ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Mar. 2, 2026), available at https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases/norton-reintroduces-resolution-calling-senate-ratify-convention-elimination