15th September 2023

The United States of America – Submission to the Human Rights Committee – 139th session, September 2023

Equality Now, the ERA Coalition, Unchained at Last, the US End FGM/C Network and the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi) present the following submission in advance of the 139th session of the Human Rights Committee (‘the Committee’) taking place between October 9 and November 3, 2023, where it will consider the United States’ Fifth Periodic Report.

Key recommendations

This submission focuses on four specific areas: 1) the longstanding failure by the State party to enshrine an explicit right to equality on the basis of sex in the US Constitution; 2) the continuing legality of child marriage in the majority of US states;  3) the lack of comprehensive protections against female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C);  4) the prevalence of discrimination, harassment and gender-based violence in the digital space, and lack of protection or effective remedy for online sexual exploitation and abuse (OSEA).

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Backlash on addressing inequality in Georgia: Submission to GREVIO for the first  round of thematic evaluation, 6 February 2026

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Joint Eastern and Southern Africa Civil Society Forum Declaration Communiqué to End Child Marriage

Equality Now, together with civil society organisations from across Eastern and Southern Africa, issued a joint declaration on International Human Rights Day, reaffirming child marriage as a human rights violation and calling for coordinated, rights-based action to translate laws and commitments into protection, justice, and dignity for girls across the region.

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