27th February 2023

Testimony for the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on the ERA, 28 February 2023

Our Global Executive Director, S. Mona Sinha, submitted the below written testimony for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on 28 February 2023, The Equal Rights Amendment: How Congress Can Recognise Ratification and Enshrine Equality in Our Constitution.

Download your file

Your name(Required)

Key recommendations

Equality Now has seen the pervasive damage done to women and girls wrought by legal inequality, including the promotion of gender-based violence (GBV) in discriminatory laws. Conversely, we have seen the tremendous benefits gained by countries that have embraced equality in the law, including in their constitutions, the supreme law of the land.

We strongly believe that the Equal Rights Amendment will bring about further positive legal and social change, as it has in other countries, and make an enormous difference in the lives of all American women and girls, their families, and their communities. It could provide further protection from gender-based violence, including sexual and domestic violence, child marriage, FGM, and other forms of violence and discrimination.

Having been ratified by the requisite number of states, all constitutional requirements have been met for the ERA to be codified and become the supreme law of the land. Please support S.J. Res. 4 and call for the urgent incorporation of the Equal Rights Amendment into the United States Constitution.

Explore more resources

1

2

3

Kenya Joint Shadow Report on the implementation of the Maputo Protocol

Submitted by Equality Now on behalf of 13 joint stakeholders, this shadow report assesses Kenya’s implementation of the Maputo Protocol and highlights urgent gaps in law, policy, and practice affecting women and girls. It calls on Kenya to strengthen protections against gender-based violence, advance reproductive rights, end discriminatory family law practices, improve access to justice, and protect marginalised women, including refugees, widows, older women, and women with disabilities.

Mauritius Joint CSO Shadow Report on the implementation of the Maputo Protocol

The Mauritius Joint CSO Shadow Report on the Implementation of the Maputo Protocol highlights the urgent need to strengthen protections for the rights of women and girls in Mauritius. The report documents persistent challenges, including gender-based violence, discrimination, barriers to justice and healthcare, and economic inequality, while calling for comprehensive legal and policy reforms aligned with the Maputo Protocol.

Submission Update to the Universal Periodic Review – United States of America 53rd Session of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council

This update examines recent legal and political developments impacting women’s and girls’ rights in the United States, including the continued failure to guarantee constitutional sex equality, ongoing gaps in protections against child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), growing concerns surrounding online sexual exploitation and abuse (OSEA), and the United States’ increasing disengagement from international human rights systems. It also highlights emerging legislative trends, survivor experiences, and the broader implications of weakened accountability and protection…

Newsletter Sign-up

Make a donation

I want to donate