The Global Rollback on Human Rights: Why Legal Equality Still Matters

Thirty years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, while there has been some progress toward legal equality, we are also witnessing an alarming rollback on fundamental human rights.

Around the world, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and democratic freedoms are under attack. Governments are repealing hard-won legal protections, restricting reproductive rights, silencing civil society, and fueling discrimination through regressive policies.

At a time when protections for marginalized communities should be strengthened, we are instead seeing legal systems used to perpetuate inequality, uphold patriarchal control, and undermine the rule of law.

This makes the Beijing+30 edition of Words & Deeds: Holding Governments Accountable more relevant than ever.

As we approach CSW69 and the Beijing+30 review, the global community must recognize that gender equality cannot be taken for granted—it must be defended.

A Widespread and Coordinated Backlash Against Human Rights

The rollback on human rights is not happening in isolation. It is being driven by authoritarianism, nationalism, and coordinated anti-gender movements that seek to:

• Dismantle legal protections for women and girls and vulnerable groups
• Undermine international human rights treaties and monitoring mechanisms
• Silence civil society organizations and grassroots activism

Across regions, we see clear patterns of regression:

1. The Attack on Reproductive Rights

• In the United States, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has led to near-total abortion bans in multiple states, with further efforts to criminalize access to reproductive healthcare.
• Poland has imposed one of Europe’s strictest abortion laws, leading to preventable deaths and increasing human rights violations.
• In Latin America, countries like the Dominican Republic continue to enforce total abortion bans, despite international pressure.

These restrictions violate CEDAW and other international laws and human rights standards, yet governments are doubling down, rolling back protections instead of expanding them.

2. The Rise of Legal Discrimination Against LGBTQ+ Communities

Countries around the world are enacting laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. For example:

• In Russia, LGBTQ+ rights are being systematically erased—“anti-propaganda” legislation was adopted in 2024 that prohibits the promotion of a ‘child-free lifestyle,’ which followed a ban in 2022 on LGBTQ+ relationships. Similarly, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia have also adopted laws curtailing LGBTQ+ rights, specifically prohibiting the dissemination of “propaganda” about LGBTQ+ people.
• Uganda’s draconian anti-LGBTQ+ law enforces life imprisonment and the death penalty for same-sex relationships, violating multiple human rights treaties.
• The U.S. has seen an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws, including restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare, book bans, and bans on discussing gender identity in schools.

This rollback on rights directly contradicts international legal commitments and the principles outlined in the Beijing Platform for Action.

3. Attacks on Civil Society and Women’s Rights Defenders

Authoritarian and nationalist governments are increasingly using repressive laws to silence activists, human rights defenders, and organizations advocating for gender equality. For example:

• India has weaponized foreign funding laws to restrict women’s rights organizations and suppress feminist movements.
• Georgia and Kyrgyzstan have passed “foreign agent” laws, branding NGOs that receive international support as threats to national security.
• Iran has violently cracked down on women protesting gender-based discrimination, arresting and imprisoning those who oppose the regime’s mandatory hijab laws.

When civil society is silenced, criminalized, or discredited, legal reforms stagnate, and human rights violations persist unchecked.

4. Entrenching Sex Discrimination in Legal Systems

Despite decades of advocacy, sex-discriminatory laws remain deeply embedded in legal systems worldwide. For example:

• Too many countries still do not prohibit child marriage, reinforcing cycles of gender-based violence and economic dependency.
• Women in multiple countries are denied equal rights in marriage, divorce, inheritance, and nationality, making them financially vulnerable and legally subordinate to men.
• Labor laws continue to exclude women from key industries, restricting economic opportunities and perpetuating the gender wage gap.

The Beijing Platform for Action set the expectation for full legal equality. Thirty years later, many governments have failed to act—or are actively reversing progress.

Why the Beijing Platform for Action and Words & Deeds Report Matter More Than Ever

In a moment of crisis, international frameworks like the Beijing Platform for Action serve as critical instruments to promote and protect human rights. They provide:

✔ A clear roadmap for legal and policy change
✔ A tool for accountability—governments signed onto these commitments, and they must be held to them
✔ A benchmark for civil society and activists to measure progress and expose failures

The Beijing+30 edition of Words & Deeds is a wake-up call. It highlights where governments have failed to meet their obligations, identifies legal loopholes that enable violence and discrimination, and demands urgent action to prevent further backsliding

Final Thoughts: This is a Defining Moment

We are at a crossroads. Either the world takes a stand against the rollback on women’s rights, or we risk losing decades of progress.

The Beijing Platform for Action set the global agenda for gender equality—but it is only as strong as the political will to uphold it.

The Beijing+30 edition of Words & Deeds is more than a report—it is a Call to Action for everyone to do their part to ensure legal equality everywhere.

📢 The time to act is now.