This International Women’s Day, invest in legal equality and unlock women’s potential. Because when women rise, we all rise.

In 2025, there are still billions of women living without full legal equality. Laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and/or gender represent a violation of the basic human rights of women and girls. By limiting access by half of the world’s population to education, employment, and property ownership, sex-discriminatory laws also stifle economic growth.

At Equality Now, we believe that full legal equality is an achievable goal. 

We challenge legal discrimination everywhere through our unique combination of strategic advocacy and global collaboration:

• We hold governments accountable for discriminating on the basis of gender by highlighting regressive legislation through our periodic global reviews.
• We build coalitions and seed movements to advocate for fairer laws and better practices across every area of civil, commercial, and criminal litigation.
• We strengthen grassroots efforts through global campaigns. We raise and amplify the voices of local communities to leaders, policymakers, and citizens everywhere.
• We collaborate with regional and national partners, drawing upon the collective wisdom of a large and diverse community of women and feminist organizations and combining it with our own legal expertise and resources.

Over the past 30 years, we have contributed to the elimination or progressive amendment of 85 discriminatory laws across the world. Progress is not only possible, it is happening.

In 2024, together we:

• Changed laws on child marriage in Colombia, Sierra Leone, Washington State, Virginia, and New Hampshire, protecting millions of girls.
• Successfully defended the Gambia’s anti-FGM law.
• Contributed to changing sexual violence laws, including in Kyrgyzstan where the new law includes protections for women with disabilities.

Equality Now has the knowledge, expertise, and capacity to support governments around the world to fast-track global economic growth through the reform of national legislation, customary laws, and legal practices in the areas of family, civil, penal, labor, and commercial law.

But reaching and influencing governments and international policy-makers takes more than ambition and commitment – it also requires investment.

That’s why, this International Women’s Day, we ask you to help us unlock the potential of women everywhere by investing in legal equality.

• Find out why investing in legal equality is a smart economic move. Download our ‘Unlock Women’s Potential. Unlock the World’ campaign leaflet.
• Learn about the current status of legal equality in the world. Read the newly released 6th edition of our flagship “Words and Deeds” report.
• Invest in legal equality. Make a donation to Equality Now today to unlock women’s potential and unlock the world. Companies can get in touch with our corporate partnerships team at supporters@equalitynow.org to discuss how they can unlock women’s potential.