Women hold only 64 percent of the legal rights men enjoy globally, a UN assessment found, documenting regression across multiple countries as laws are rewritten to restrict freedoms and allow abuse without consequence.
No nation grants women full equality under the law, according to the report released for International Women’s Day. Rape laws in more than half the world’s countries are not based on consent. Nearly three-quarters of nations still legally permit child marriage. Forty-four percent lack guarantees of equal pay for work of equal value.
The findings suggest decades of progress have stalled or reversed in key areas.
Women in many places face legal barriers to property ownership, divorce, passing citizenship to children, or working and traveling without a husband’s permission.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said denying justice to women and girls erodes public trust, undermines institutional legitimacy and weakens the rule of law. A justice system failing half the population cannot claim to uphold justice, she said.
The report, titled “Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls,” warned that survivors often encounter stigma, fear, financial obstacles and distrust of institutions meant to protect them. As a result, justice remains out of reach for many.
Some gains have been recorded. Eighty-seven percent of countries now have domestic violence laws. More than 40 nations strengthened constitutional protections for women and girls over the past decade.
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But laws alone do not ensure justice, the report noted. Implementation gaps and cultural resistance prevent legal protections from translating into lived equality.
At the same time, troubling setbacks are emerging. Hard-won rights are being rolled back in some jurisdictions. Digital abuse and online violence are rising. Fifty-four percent of countries lack consent-based definitions of rape. The 676 million women and girls living within 50 kilometers of active conflict zones face largely absent justice systems where perpetrators act with impunity. Rape is used as a weapon of war, with reported sexual violence cases rising 87 percent in two years.
Secretary-General António Guterres called International Women’s Day a moment for action rather than reflection alone. When women are not equal under the law, true equality does not exist, he said. Ensuring justice for all women and girls is essential for building fairer, stronger societies.
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He urged support for UN Women and women’s movements worldwide to help turn rights into reality. Investing in women and girls is among the surest ways to improve the world, Guterres said.
The report arrived as debates intensify over whether progress toward gender equality has stalled permanently or represents temporary resistance to change. Advocates say the regression reflects organized backlash from groups threatened by women’s empowerment, while some governments frame restrictions as protecting traditional values.
Whether the trajectory can be reversed depends partly on political will and partly on sustained pressure from civil society. Past advances came through decades of activism, litigation and legislative battles that overcame entrenched opposition.
The justice gap documented in the report affects women across income levels and geographies, though burdens fall heaviest on those in conflict zones, authoritarian states and communities where customary law supersedes statutory protections.
Closing that gap will require confronting power structures that benefit from maintaining inequality.