Poison of Patriarchy: Women’s rights under siege, 193 nations commit to action

Confronting a rising backlash against women’s rights, the UN’s 193 member nations made a commitment Monday to accelerate action on more than a dozen fronts to achieve gender equality.

A political declaration adopted at the start of the annual meeting of the UN’s preeminent body promoting equality for women and girls recognizes that men and boys must be “strategic partners and allies” to achieve the goal.

The declaration — approved by consensus and a bang of the gavel by the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women — coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing women’s conference where the world’s nations adopted a 150-page roadmap to achieve gender equality.

While it recognizes progress toward implementing the Beijing platform, the declaration also recognizes that after 30 years no country has achieved gender equality and that progress has been “slow and uneven,” with major gaps and obstacles to overcome.

A report released last week by UN Women, the agency focused on empowering women, found that nearly one-quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash against women’s rights in 2024. Its policy and program director, Sarah Hendriks, told a news conference the number of countries reporting a backlash is likely underreported and reflects “an increasingly hostile environment.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Monday’s meeting that three decades after Beijing’s conference, women’s rights are “ under siege.” Hard-won gains are being thrown into reverse, he said, pointing to attacks on reproductive rights and the discarding of initiatives promoting gender equality.

“The poison of patriarchy is back — and it is back with a vengeance: slamming the brakes on action, tearing-up progress, and mutating into new and dangerous forms,” he warned.

“Age-old horrors like violence, discrimination and economic inequality are rife,” the U.N. chief said. “The gender pay gap still stands at 20%. Globally, almost one in three women have been subject to violence. And horrific sexual violence in conflict is happening from Haiti to Sudan.”

He said new technologies including artificial intelligence are creating new platforms for violence and abuse, “normalizing misogyny and online revenge.” One result, he said, is that “up to 95% of all online deepfakes are non-consensual pornographic images. Ninety percent depict women.”

The 189 countries that attended the 1995 Beijing conference called for bold action in 12 areas, including combating poverty and gender-based violence, advancing women’s rights and health, and putting women at top levels in business, government and at peacemaking tables.

The Beijing platform also said for the first time in a UN document that women have the right to decide “on matters relating to their sexuality, including their sexual and reproductive health, free of discrimination, coercion and violence.”

Guterres urged governments and people around the world who care about equality for women and girls “to stand up and speak out” — and deliver on Beijing’s promise.