Estimated benefit to global output of closing gender gaps in labour force participation and management in OECD countries alone – Moody’s Analytics 2023.
Estimated worldwide reduction in the number of people going hungry if women had equal access to resources like land and credit
– FAO 2011.
The increased likelihood that peace agreements will last 15 years or more when women are involved in negotiations
– UN Women 2015.
The number of countries that have delivered full legal equality for all women and girls
– World Bank Group 2024.
Globally, women have less than two-thirds the legal rights of men. In 37 countries, it’s less than half. A glaring injustice that also creates and sustains the conditions for sexual violence and exploitation, as well as such harmful practices as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early and forced marriage (CEFMU).
Removing barriers to economic agency enables women to secure their independence and flourish as full and equal participants in their economies. Indeed, it is estimated that closing gaps in workforce participation and management in OECD countries alone could add $7 trillion to the global economy.
Gender inequality is one of the strongest predictors of armed conflict – and equality one of the strongest predictors of peace – with studies highlighting that violence against women in particular correlates strongly with state fragility and conflict likelihood, even when controlling for other economic, political, and religious factors.
Gender equality correlates positively with climate resilience and leads to a significant increase in secure livelihoods, risk mitigation and bio diversity. It is also linked to more forward-looking, sustainable governance, with gender-diverse leadership bodies tending to prioritise green innovation and better manage climate risks.
In 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, 189 governments agreed to a global blueprint for women’s rights and equality. Thirty years on, legal inequality persists across the world. And in some cases, it’s getting worse.
In the sixth edition of our flagship Words & Deeds report, we examine how governments have failed to repeal or amend sex-discriminatory laws and highlight the urgent reforms needed to achieve full legal equality for women and girls.
At Equality Now, we are uniquely positioned to seek, shape and secure the legal and systemic change necessary to achieve lasting gender equality around the world.
We are legal experts who inform and advise on the creation of better laws and implementation. We are catalysts of change who convene and connect with organisations around the world to support progress in its many forms. And we are tried and true reformers, who challenge governments to live up to their responsibilities while championing survivors and marginalised voices.